Sept 25: Lincoln MKZ and Memories

It's almost time for Lincoln to take the wraps off of their new and (for them) boldly styled 2013 MKZ. Poor old Lincoln has strugged in the luxury car market since I was a kid (don't ask), never really succeeding to top Cadillac and then being obliterated by the Japanese and German brands. A couple of years ago Ford decided to go for it and bring Lincoln back as a strong luxury car brand. Redesign the showrooms and redesign the cars. No more Fords in tuxedos, the new cars would be real Lincolns. The very Fusion based MKZ (originally named Zephyr) would be one of the first of the new Lincolns. 



This beautifully styled concept showed the future MKZ line for line. No part of this body looks like it was derived from the Fusion, like the current model.

Let's digress a little bit...........I grew up in a lunch bucket town in the Maritimes, lots of blue collar jobs and almost no fancy cars. The local dealers probably didn't sell a new Cadillac or Lincoln a year. So when our neighbour's relatives from Maine showed up in a new Lincoln coupe, like the one below, it was a very big deal (to little 8 year old me anyway).

My dad asked if they would take me for a drive and of course they agreed. Their teenage son got behind the wheel and took me around our town, ending up at the local den of iniquity, the pool hall. "Just stay in the car, Barry", he said, as he would just be a few minutes. At least a long hour later, with a cold, heavy fog rolling in off the bay, he came out to find a very cold little Barry sitting in his car, unable to raise the power windows without the key. My first and last experience with this option for about 15 years. I got my Lincoln experience, my cold and my taste of the future, all in one drive. Why that dope didn't drop me at home before heading to the pool hall, I'll never know.

Now back to the Lincoln of today. You can see from the production pics below, that the new MKZ is a dead ringer for that beautiful concept above.........

I love the look, but can it back it up with the power and handling that this segment demands? Even staid old Lexus has had to reshape their image away from the grampa cars. I'll be very interested to see the first tests which should appear shortly. Lincoln has a great opportunity, now can they pay for those expensive new showrooms? Time will tell.

Until next time........