Lincoln Chief Designer: We Do not Want To Follow Germany

It was launched in concept form at the New York Auto Show last year, and the series-production version was unveiled at the Detroit auto show this week. We are talking, of course, Continental, Lincoln new ship. We spent some time with the brand's chief designer David Woodhouse, Brit by birth but who have a deep understanding of American-style luxury.

Based on the platform front-wheel-drive but definitely bigger than MKZ, Continental was designed taking premium offerings by Audi, BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes-Benz. But while Cadillac has-with much success, it must be said-trying to beat Germany in the game itself they build superior performance sedan, Lincoln will not follow that path. You will not find a front splitter, carbon-ceramic brakes, or recording the data on performance-Lincoln. "We are an American brand and clearly did not want to imitate Germany," said Woodhouse.

And he adds: "We want to be very wise and therefore will not show the size of the engine in our car." Conversely, Continental is all about luxury and style, exemplified by the door handle chrome unique, in his words, "emphasizing the elegance and ease of operation," and the company decided to create a rear compartment that is wide enough, it is not like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, saw no need to make a long wheelbase derivatives for the Chinese market.

Woodhouse asserts that one of the elements most prominent new sedan will spread quickly among the lineup: "Every Lincoln will finally get a new grille that was launched by Continental, including Navigator, etc. This is the new face us. This will happen when a new model is launched or a mid-cycle facelift, [have seen] in the MKZ, whichever comes first. "

We also asked about the possibility of returning Woodhouse Continental kit false; it is, after all, the trademark Lincoln styling elements for decades, and the Mark VIII was built 1993-1998 represents a rather unfortunate attempt to modernize it. Do't hope to return, Woodhouse said: "We have regularly seen the cover of the spare wheel is shown, but every time we have concluded that it was too old-fashioned. The time has passed" The same is true of a bench seat ". There is a good case should be made for a bench front seat, and we have demonstrated our solution on the 2009 C Concept. But there packing difficulties, "Woodhouse told us.

Lovers of interior design will celebrate the return of the blue: The upscale Black Label slim will feature an optional "Rhapsody" interior, executed in dark blue, like the concept of Continental. This is a bold step: After falling out of fashion in the early 1990s, blue interior has been cleaned from the portfolio of almost every car manufacturer, and survived only with low volume, some of the above-luxury brands. It will be interesting to see if Lincoln can give a new lease of life with the color scheme. For its future brand portfolio, Woodhouse remained mother, but he would offer this: "Of course every designer wants to build a coupe, although there are no plans for one at this time." We think it's unfortunate.

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