Ford Motor Co. is bringing back the Lincoln Continental.
DETROIT, MI - Ford Motor Co. is bringing back the Lincoln Continental.
On Monday, the Dearborn automaker revealed the Lincoln Continental Concept, signaling an all-new sedan coming from Ford's luxury brand next year.
The winged grille of current Lincoln model cars has been ditched in favor of a full, centered grille, showing the new face of Lincoln.
The Lincoln badge has been raised and placed prominently in the middle of the grille. E-latch door handles are flush with the body of the car.
"Luxury at its best is about simplifying and quietly exceeding expectations, rather than being the loudest statement on the road," Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO, said in a release. "The Continental Concept showcases the promise of quiet luxury from Lincoln going forward. It also is a strong indication of what's to come next year as we introduce our new Lincoln Continental full-size luxury sedan."
The luxury sedan concept also showcases forthcoming technologies coming from Lincoln. Using sensors, lights inside and outside of the car become aglow to greet you when you approach it, for example.
A panel on the center console allows rear passengers to control climate settings of the vehicle. The center console also deploys a "tablet-supporting" lap tray for rear-seat passengers, Lincoln said.
The car uses a 360-degree camera for enhanced-park assist.
Under the hood, the Lincoln Continental Concept is powered by a Lincoln-exclusive 3.0-liter V6 EcoBoost engine.
The Lincoln Continental first appeared in 1939, and continued its original model run until 1948, before reappearing 1956 to 1980 and again from 1981 to 2002.
Ford is showing off the concept just as the New York International Auto Show is set to get underway this week. The show, which has press preview days April 1 and 2, is known for automakers showing off some of their luxury clout. Cadillac is expected to unveil its top-of-the-line CT6 sedan on Tuesday.
The revival of the Continental comes at a time when Lincoln's passenger car sales have been suffering.
In 2014, sales of Lincoln's two model cars were collectively off by 2.3 percent to 42,169 units. In February, Lincoln car sales dropped 37 percent to 2,393 units, as sales of the MKZ plummeted 40 percent 1,834 units and the MKS decreased 28 percent to just 559 units.
For the Lincoln Continental Concept, the Rhapsody Blue paint color has also been revived, bringing back the luxury sedan's signature color.
"The Lincoln Continental name is associated with iconic beauty and elegance," said David Woodhouse, Lincoln design director. "Capturing those qualities and building upon them drove us as we crafted this thoroughly modern sedan concept."
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter