(first posted 11/7/2014) Most people, when they hear the word Lincoln, immediately think one of two things: Abraham Lincoln or the Lincoln Town Car. Now because we’re talking strictly cars, I’m going to exclude the former from consideration. After the Town Car, vehicles like the Continental, Mark Series, Navigator, and more recently, MKZ come to mind. But what if I say “sporty Lincoln”, what comes to mind now? Abraham Lincoln in a running singlet? Although many, even the Lincoln Motor Company, seem to forget it, there was in fact, a sporty Lincoln.
When it arrived in mid-1999 as a 2000 model, the LS was like nothing I had ever seen before from Lincoln. During my childhood, Lincoln as I knew it was a car for old people, like my neighbors Eugene and Eleanor Przybyszewski (pronounced Pre-beh-jsaw-ski). Married 50-something odd years, they were proud owners of a gray ’88 Lincoln Town Car, which they drove (very slowly, I might add) up and down Hawthorn Road. But the LS was a very different kind of Lincoln – one that the Przybyszewskis never would’ve driven.
For the first time in eight decades of history, Lincoln was catering a car exclusively for the driving enthusiast. Built on the all-new Ford DEW platform, which also underpinned the 2000 Jaguar S-Type and the 2002 Ford Thunderbird, the Lincoln LS was a rear-wheel drive sports sedan with cars like the BMW E39 5-Series on its radar. Available in V6 and V8 flavors, the LS was the first Lincoln since 1951 with an available manual transmission (its standard automatic was also the first-ever in a Lincoln with a five gears).
Visually, the LS looked like no other Lincoln. It was athletically styled, with short overhangs, flared fenders, and a sharp character line running the entire length of the vehicle. Complementing its aggressive stance were large lower air intakes, dual exhausts, and 5-spoke alloy wheels (16s were standard, 17s as part of the optional sport package – yes, I said “sport package” and “Lincoln” in the same sentence). Its chiseled front end gave way to a steeply raked windshield and fast roofline. The overall look was very European – reminiscent of the BMW E39, yet clearly distinctive with its own traits.
Available only with bucket seats and a full console with shifter, the LS’s interior would’ve been pure blasphemy to Mr. and Mrs. Przybyszewski. Its driver-focused layout included an asymmetric vertical center stack, placing its abundance of buttons in easy reach of the driver. Leather seats were standard, as was fake, but still rather rich-looking woodgrain trim. Compared to the exterior, the interior design was far more restrained. Leather and plastic grades weren’t quite up to 5-Series or A6 levels, with door and instrument panels looking like they belonged in a far cheaper Ford. It’s a shame Lincoln didn’t try to emulate the dramatic interior of the recently discontinued Mark VIII.
The LS’s debut was met with success. Reviewers praised its handling and ride quality. Initial sales were strong, Motor Trend awarded it Car of the Year, and it received perfect crash test scores earning a double-five-star frontal safety rating. But even very good cars need updates every few years to remain competitive.
The LS received a mid-cycle update in 2003 – one that theoretically should have refreshed the car’s looks, while boosting quality and strengthening its competitive edge. Touting over 500 new components, Lincoln’s update of the four-year old LS sounded promising. Power for both its 3.0L V6 and 3.9L V8 was up – nothing wrong with that (cue the Tim Allen grunt). Discontinued, was the five-speed manual, which accounted for less than 1% of total LS sales. Overhauling the remaining five-speed automatic resulted in smoother, more timely shifts.
While that’s all and well, the rest of the 2003 LS was less exciting. New wheel choices and revised exterior trim seemed to actually tone down its appearance a bit. Likewise, the interior, which was now shared with the Ford Thunderbird, was beginning to look a bit blasé. That chintzy-looking satin nickel trim could be found in nearly every FordMoCo vehicle from Navigator to Sable to Focus.
Adding to the LS’s distress was the fact that its styling was becoming increasingly stale. It was a breath of fresh air when introduced, but in just a few short years, most of its competitors had received full redesigns. Additionally, new entrants, such as the Infiniti G35 and Cadillac CTS, had joined the segment, making the LS even more also-ran. Next to these newer designs, the LS’s styling was looking pretty bland, and frankly, a bit more Town Car-ish.
After 2003, the LS was basically ignored for its final three years of life. Sales dropped off considerably, and the LS V6 was discontinued for its final season. Lincoln finally gave it the ax in 2006, replacing it with the less sporty, more traditional-minded Zephyr. With the LS’s discontinuation, Lincoln exited the sports-luxury segment, reverting to cars that would’ve appealed more to the Przybyszewski-type consumer.
The LS should have been the car to launch Lincoln’s renaissance. Although it may not have been as well-balanced as the BMW 5-Series it benchmarked, the LS was a viable competitor, and a solid foundation for establishing a reputation. More importantly, at the time, it was the most serious effort made by any American car company to build a luxury-sports sedan capable of going head-to-head against the best from Germany.
Heart-wrenching may be a strong description, but it’s truly unfortunate that Lincoln seemed to pass up on this incredible opportunity it had sitting in its lap. At the time of its introduction, the LS was easily one of the best cars built by the entire Ford Motor Company. Instead of building upon the LS’s merits, with consistent improvements and dedicated investment in a successor, Lincoln just patted themselves on the back and moved onto other things, killing any chance the brand had of becoming a world-class competitor.
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I test drove one of these back in 2008. Not a bad car, but not very stylish either. the salesman remarked how peppy it was when I hit the gas, I was amused and remarked that I wasn’t impressed with that either. It still handled like a slug, although better than my dad’s 72 Lincoln Continental (although that car was peppier) I ended up buying a Dodge Avenger. It got better mileage, is almost peppy, and with the 4 banger, the insurance is cheaper for my 18 year old. A peppy car should do 100 in the quarter while a fast street car should do 160 in the quarter.
“A peppy car should do 100 in the quarter while a fast street car should do 160 in the quarter.”
I guess if your idea of a fast street car is something you can compete in the SS/AH drag racing class. 160 in the 1/4 would be a high 8 – 9 second run. Motor Trend’s test of the 2014 Corvette had it doing the 1/4 at 117mph.
Your comment is full of lolz, my man PEte0097. You must drive a rocket car.
I’m going to guess those benchmarks are based on a video game
No, personal experience.
riiiiiight
I vaguely remember that game (circa mid-90s). What was it called?
Riding in my brothers 65 Mustang (see Swarrauto.com to see the thing on a dyno) driving my TC-3 with a 360 v8, TKO 5 speed, 8 3/4 rear. Top end over 150 as I only had it in 4th gear Been riding and driving hotrods since I was a kid. I even went cruising with my brother in the 50’s ( I was only 2 at the time) Did my first solo drive at 3 in a Kaiser Manhatten, my mom was not too pleased with that and they had to lock the cars from then on.
The LS always seemed to me like a decent car that arrived several years too late. By the time it was introduced, the aging Boomer crowd wasn’t likely to switch to Lincoln any more than the older generation that bought Marks and Town Cars would have switched to Acura, and Gen X didn’t yet have that kind of money or inclination. The point Lincoln most needed something like this car was probably around 1990–1992, to show that they were capable of playing in that league.
I don’t think it would have happened for various reasons, but if it had, I think the LS might have been more successful and would at least have given Lincoln-Mercury more to build on later in the ’90s.
Actually, I’m really curious about why it didn’t happen in the early 1990’s. It seems like they could’ve added a couple doors to the MN12 platform. With the InTech engine, it would’ve been an fair competitor to the new Seville…. maybe even the Germans. (The Mark VIII was pretty nice, after all.)
I think at the point Ford would have needed to plan that, the assumption was that Lincoln-Mercury dealers would have the FWD Continental for the traditionally minded and the Merkur-badged Scorpio as an import alternative. (The latter wouldn’t have been a bad starting point, but it would really have needed a more convincing engine.) We saw how well that turned out, but I’m guessing that was the assumption.
The FWD Continental was sort of the Seville competitor, or at least Lincoln thought it was. You could even get buckets and consoles and pseudo BBS style wheels on the Continental, but the Connie was conservative and still treaded the line between FWD DeVille competitor and Seville competitor without being either.
I suppose if you were comparing the FWD Continental to the mid-80s Seville and Eldorado (which Ford would have been), that wouldn’t be too outlandish an idea.
Yeah, it would have made a great Seville competitor around 1992-1993.
Drove these extensively when I worked in the service department at a Ford-Lincoln mega-dealer in 2013, along with every single other modern Lincoln model. They stick out in my mind because, generally, I hated most all of the pre-2006 vehicles that would come in the service bay (Vulcan Taurus, disposable Gen1 Focus, beat up Panthers and Continentals), but these… these were nice, even with higher miles on them.
The V8 models? Awesomely smooth. Even the V6 ones weren’t bad. In many ways, this was a nicer car than the newer MKZ, which was so obviously a tarted-up FWD Fusion – (the Fusion and MKZ drove exactly the same, with the nicer interior being the only difference).
I wouldn’t call the LS sporty by a long shot, but these were smooth cars with nice interiors for their era. Light years ahead of an early-2000s Taurus or Town Car in refinement. I think the biggest problem is that they were just kind of bland to look at and drive. Smooth, firm, and nice? Yes. Actually sporty? Heck no.
I think in the new car market they got lost in the sea of more fashionable options. Why spend $30-$40k on a pretty nice Lincoln when you can get an actual BMW or Mercedes and all the cachet that comes with it? In a way, these were doomed from the start because of the badge. They definitely seemed out of place at the dealership among the usual Taurii and Grand Marquis that would roll in the service bay. Too bad, because this platform had potential. I would love to find one of the unicorn manual versions, just to try it out.
Max,
What did/do you make of the MKS when they came in for service? Did you find them to be decent?
My former co-worker has a 2010 AWD model and he likes it but to me it’s just a glorified Taurus.
Lincoln did a better job with the MKS than the MKZ – the Taurus bones weren’t painfully obvious, and it was the most modern and luxurious sedan you could/can drive out of the Ford-Lincoln showroom. Late model Town Cars were smooth and reasonably quiet but clumsy and decidedly cheaper feeling.
We had an MKS as a service loaner and it was always my ride of choice for work errands outside of the dealership. Logged way more miles in it than the MKZ we also had. Not an actual Mercedes competitor or anything, but a pretty nice large sedan.
I really liked the MKS when it came out. As you said, it isn’t a Mercedes competitor, but had a very high-quality and comfortable interior and an attractive exterior design. As expressed in the past, my biggest complaint about the MKS and Taurus is that they are so tall. The beltline and roof are so high, they look like crossovers with trunks. The face-lifted MKS with the new grille killed the original’s good looks as well.
I test drove a 2013 MKS the other day and rather liked it, at least for what it was. I would agree that it could be a bit lower with even more room inside. That, and they could really lose the oversized console but other than that, I really liked it. It had enough get up and go as I’d ever use, it was very confortable, and it had plenty of room. Even as it sat, it certainly didn’t have the offensive console of the XTS and since pretty much every car has one of those stupid consoles, its just something that will have to be put up with. The Chrysler 300 does it best, of the bigger sedans, IMO though.
I liked the real wood, I liked the kind of sunroof they had on it, I liked all the other doodads as well. It seemed like it had enough to be fun but not too many because I really could give a damn less if I can sync my Ipad, phone, computer and whatever other thing up to my car all at the same time and that sort of crap. It was sufficiently big and imposing. I liked it.
It also didn’t suffer as much from the, “Oh no, oh no, I NEED to be a sports sedan!” like the XTS does. My wife commented the last time she saw one, “It looks too much like its trying to be some sort of sportscar, but its a Cadillac so it doesn’t look right…” Pretty much.
As to the LS, I kinda liked them but thought they were basically Ford’s attempt at a BMW knockoff. Gimme a Town Car any day. I have absolutely no use for corner carving or console shifters.
I wonder why they did a new (small) V8 for these instead of using the 4.6? There was definitely the opportunity to improve the styling 3-4 years in to entice new buyers or at least not have existing owners choose between the same car again or something (else) new. I’m not saying it is ugly but it is not brilliant. I also can’t help comparing it to Ford Aust’s Tickford Falcons, the TS50 and lwb TL50.
The V-8 wasn’t new — it was a cheaper version of the Jaguar AJ8 engine (which of course Ford paid for). My assumption is that Ford wanted to increase its utilization of that engine and figured its specifications were more in keeping with the LS V8’s goals. I suspect the 4.6 was also heavier, although I’m not sure.
It’s possible (though I may be just tilting at windmills here) that the 3.9 was used to play off Jaguar’s reputation as a sporty brand. FoMoCo didn’t want customers to think, “The 4.6? Isn’t that the same engine that’s in the Town Car and the F-150?”
Perhaps, although the fact that the 4.6 in various forms was going into trucks, Town Cars, the later Continental, the Mustang, et al, might have had something to do with it: expand usage of a relatively low-volume engine rather than add to the demand for one already used in large numbers.
The Town Car and F150 4.6 is the Iron blocked SOHC 2V variant, the DOHC 4V would be more fitting in a car like the LS and appropriate since other than the Town Car all the Lincolns used the aluminum blocked DOHC variant(Mark VIII, Continental, Navigator in iron 5.4 form, and Aviator) called the Intech, which is a much revvier engine than the 2V. Definitely would have been a contender IMO, especially if it got the true Cobra variant with the Mustang specific intake and cams, or better yet the Terminator supercharger in 03.
The problem with that is packaging. Have you ever actually looked at an InTech? It’s an *extremely* wide engine with the DOHC heads, fairly tall too. It was an absolute shoehorn job in the Mustangs that carried it, and very little excess space in the Mark VIII. It even created a few oddities in the Marauder engine compartments. I still don’t know how they managed to mount the thing transversely in the Continental…
I’ve obviously never measured but, looking at the LS, my “eyeball measurement” tells me there’s no way they would have gotten the InTech into that engine compartment. If they had then it could have been a better choice than the 3.9, though probably heavier which would have mitigated the gains. Once the 3.9 had been uprated for the 2003 model year, it was making 280 hp/286 lb-ft tq, whereas the N/A InTech of that era was making (depending on tune) 302 to 320 hp and 320 to 335 lb-ft. Noticeably more power than the 3.9 but I’m not sure what the weight differential was (not to mention the effect on handling).
The supercharged DOHC motor from the Terminator cobras was iron block, so despite the 390/390 rating it probably would have destroyed the handling as it had to be a heavy beast.
Correct me if I’m wrong but this car came out at the beginning of PAG (Premier Auto Group). Both Lincoln and Jaguar were key components of that group. Using a fellow PAG engine instead of a Ford engine seems like the right thing to do within that group.
Not only that, but using the Jaguar platform meant that using the Jaguar derived engines simplified the packaging. Also as a rather small and high revving V8 it certainly gave a different driving experience compared to the 4.6L.
Lincoln wanted to get younger buyers than the Przybyszewskis (Wheel of fortune in Poland: “May I buy a vowel, please?” Pat Sajak: ” No!”) They certainly had to offer them something fresher than the 4.6 Modular.
Would the 4.6 even have fit? As I recall from a T-Bird, there’s not a huge amount of room in the engine compartment. From having driven a Bird, I can attest that the engine is very smooth — a lot like a 4.5 or 4.9 Cadillac V8 from the early 90’s — but it looks like the whole idea of a sub-4-liter V8 is turning into a developmental dead end, given the amount of power we have learned how to get out of 4 or 6 cylinders.
When I saw a picture of this car for the first time it reminded me of the Mitsubishi Sigma from the early nineties.
Yup! Someone pointed that out to me years ago, and I have never been able to un-see the resemblance.
(The US got that Mitsubishi as the “Diamante”.)
And there was problem numero uno, and your not the first or the last person that I heard say that, I remember when these came out and friend of mine was working at a Lincoln-Mercury-Mitsubishi-Isuzu-Hyundai-Daewoo(I know…wow?) dealership and the resemblance between this and the Diamante across the lot was painfully obvious.
My sentiments exactly – a bit too ordinary and outdated by the time it arrived.
I see the resemblance in the headlights, but other than that they don’t look too alike. Maybe to non-car people they looked more similar.
Apart from the front I also see resemblance in the whole side profile of the car, from bumper to bumper.
I don’t see it as the Lincoln looks like the Mitsubishi, I see it as the Lincoln and Mitsubishi look like copies of the same BMW. The designers of both cars simply had a different picture angle of the same BMW taped on the wall they were forming the clays in 😛
Me thinks, both companies were looking at the BMW 5 Series.
Actually, Lincoln hires a BMW engineer to head the development of the LS.
Yes, definitely. I give Mitsubishi stylists credit for the fact that they managed to make the Diamante (and the subsequent Galant) look clearly enough like an ’80s BMW to make the resemblance evident without making it look specifically BMW-like to the point where you could really say, “Oh, that’s just an E28.”
Always looked pretty generic to me, but not as much a gurner as the other DEW98s.
I can remember this platform was going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread according to the buff books at the time, so after the hype I guess it was always going to be a bit of a disappointment.
This basic platform underpins the current Jaguar XF,so it eventually lived up to the expectations in one form at least.
Nice and a whole lot more exciting than the present range of Lincolns.They should be turning out a modern version unless there’s a a scheme to send Lincoln the way of Edsel and Mercury
“….the LS was easily one of the best built cars of the entire Ford Motor Co.”
I think that phrase and the “headline” go a long way to explaining what happened with Lincoln and this car in particular. Ford did a reasonable job copying BWM and Audi, but then they put it together with no more care than a Taurus.
I seem to remember Car and Driver did an extended test of an LS and it’s reliability over the term of the test was “spotty”.
I also agree with previous comments that Ford hung on to this design too long (something they copied from the Japanese beginning in the 80s) and like other Fords they barely updated the design. That, and yes, the “idea” was a few years (too) late.
BUT, in Ford’s “defense” the morass called PAG (Prestige Auto Group), was a distraction for the Lincoln division. Between the banding and disbanding and the moves of Lincoln styling in and out of Dearborn (?) it must have been a difficult working environment.
I’m sure it wasn’t a terrible car. I like the earlier interior better though it’s an obvious BMW facsimile.
No surprise here, I’ll take a Town Car, thanks. Lincoln is an American luxury brand. If I wanted a German sports sedan, I’d buy a real German sports sedan and get the genuine article. If that means Lincoln goes the way of the dodo, that’s okay. I think they should build what they’re good at or not build at all. Still don’t see the rationale for the continued existence of the old U.S. luxury marques if all they’re going to do is copy the Teutonic model.
I test drove this car (with the V-8) in 2001 for a Spanish language magazine and I was amazed by the engine and overall elegance.
Great article!
I always thought they stole, (cloned),, the Mitsubishi Diamante. I recall the 4.6L Modular V8 didn’t fit in this platform. Also they still sold the FWD Continental, until 2002?. The Premium Auto Group sure spread themselves pretty thin.
I seem to remember a pointed comment by the head of Ford (Nassar?) at that time that Lincoln wasn’t in the PAG. It cause a bit of controversy at the time, and didn’t do Lincoln a damned bit of good.
Did anything that Jacq the knife Nasser did do any good for FoMoCo?
Yeah, leave.
Wasn’t the original Focus one of his babies? It was sort of the first really global Ford we got here, even the Contour was changed from the Mondeo in lots of ways but the original Focus was almost identical to the European version.
I always liked these. They’re the kind of cars that fanboys say [insert old-line brand here] oughta make to compete with [whomever], but they never do because they’re [chicken/dumb/broke.] Well, they made it, didn’t work, the end.
Interestingly, the rwd Chrysler 300 succeeded in the same part of the marketplace not necessarily being the better car, but because it took the conceptual leap of making a modern sedan look “traditionally American.” I put that in quotes because I don’t see it, but whatever, I’m not the intended audience. The newest ones are handsome, though.
The 300, and for that matter the early Art and Science Cadillacs, weren’t so much “traditionally American” as they just plain made a statement, which these didn’t. Even though they appeared at the same time as the original Focus at the height of Ford’s “New Edge” design language, these look bland, anonymous and like too many other cars.
I always took “traditionally American” to mean “bold, brash, in your face and unapologetically aggressive and assured of its place in the world – and if you don’t like that, to hell with what you think,” distilled into a distinctive automotive style. The pickup trucks get this. The Charger and 300 get this. Traditional BOF SUVs like the Escalade get this.
Americans only like bland and nondescript because that’s how the reliability package was wrapped up. I bet if you give a car with that bold/brash American style a bit of Japanese reliability, you’ll have yourself an instant hit.
J.W. the LX series is exactly that. Theyre great cars, very reliable with performance that says American badass, mpgs just a tick below fwd V6 blandmobiles (even in Hemi form) but you notice them. The LX cars ARE an instant hit, and that’s what 10 years ago and still going strong. Boring old cammaccords sell more and prolly always will, but the LX made the statement that its perfectly acceptable and desireable for American car companies to make cars that are distinctly ‘AMERICAN’. And you give up virtually nothing (save anonymity) to the appliance cars.
Lumping ‘Americans’ into one bucket or another is over generalizing. There are people who specifically don’t want to stand out. They WANT to be boring drones who no one notices. That’s fine if its who you are, but unfortunately in our society, most people are held down to that lowest standard. God forbid that you drive an orange loud muscle coupe or a jacked up 4×4 otherwise youre ‘compensating for something’ or a ‘bad seed’ or some such drivel. Its the old ‘bucket of crabs’ theory in full swing. I know, because as a guy who you cant miss in a crowd driving a loud brash truck….I hear that garbage all the time. I don’t care tho…I do what I want!
One of my Dad’s friends once told me as a kid that you shouldn’t drive anything cooler than whatever your boss drives. I’ve only ever heard that statement from him but when you look at the blandness that is the automobile today, where the only color on the road is the lane markers and stoplights, I think a lot of people subconsciously live and die by that motto.
I see your point about brashness and aggression. I just thought the original 300C looked more like a chopped and channeled fake Bentley than the sort of “Flite Sweep” Chryslers I like.
The refreshed version changed just enough, IMO, with some lines and creases to give it a little visual motion.
Yes, maybe they look so similar to contemporaries. But I think they are beautiful in their own rights. There is subtlety in the design. I like it, because it is not a boy racer, not a brash brick like the Chrysler 300, not cute in a way that the Jaguar S-type is cute.
I test drove one and loved every moment of of it. I was so close to buying it (damn dog, I need a hatch). It made me feel like driving a car that is above the standard; the standard being the Camry, Accord, Taurus, Impala. It has that power and grip that’s always there even though you don’t have to use it. I had to wait for green and there was a hulkmobile (Suburban or something) to my left. A 10 year old boy was looking down at the LS with stony poker face. But just staring at the car and looking eye to eye for a second I could read his mind: ‘that’s a nice car!’
It is still in my mind, but I don’t want to poison the dog.
This is what happened when Lincoln tried to jump on the BMW-boomer bandwagon. A bland nondescript looking vehicle. Maybe the performance was decent, but the car itself just blended into the background.Maybe if Lincoln did build a traditional size car and “pushed” it to a younger audience, things would have been different.The results have landed Lincoln dead last in the luxo market. Lincoln is going to go the way of the Edsel and Mercury. Its just a matter of time
I see I’m not the only one who thinks that.
I suppose this was somewhat an unsung hero of sorts from Lincoln. A guy who had a rental LS on a business trip was impressed – as I was when riding in it, it just fell short in styling and apparently in quality.
No sale.
73ImpCapri:
You make an interesting point. In Lincoln’s case, off the top of my head, I can’t imagine Lincoln being able to “pull a design out of it’s cupboard” so to speak to pull off a Chrysler-like coup. Perhaps a modern iteration of the 60s Lincoln? Oddly(?) Ford debuted a concept called the 500 that could have done this…but instead it would eventually get FWD and make a failed attempt to supersede the Crown Vic. Ford wouldn’t learn from it’s Probe/Mustang mess.
I considered buying a used LS some years ago as I’ve always liked the exterior and interior design. Bland, perhaps to some understated I suppose to me. But I’ve seen enough of these cars that they just appeal to me. Had Lincoln management had some foresight this LS could have been the model for something better, perhaps a great sport sedan to compete with Cadillac’s CTS.
Thought about buying one when it first came out. But the thought of having to shop at a Ford dealership discouraged me, the idea that i have to go back to the same Ford dealership sent blood pressure up a few points and stop the idea cold.
Ford executives got to experience shopping at Bimmer, Lexus, Merc, Audi dealerships, heck even Caddy then go back to shop at the Ford for their Lincoln before even thinking of entering the Bimmer Lexus, Merc Audi league. Even the tile in restroom were different.
You are kidding me, the bathroom tile influences the brand of car you buy?
Go shop at one of the premium brands than we can have same discussion again? I am assuming that you are familiar and satisfied with your Ford/Lincoln dealerships of course.
toffee, I am not a new car buyer because I am a value shopper. When I shop for anything I look for the product I want and the price I pay. I don’t look for a ‘buying experience’.
If a car dealer provides an experience that requires me to urinate I am probably at the wrong place altogether.
That said, there must be a lot of people who want to have that exceptional buying experience. The cup of cappuccino while you wait for the papers to sign, the leather seat they offer you, the elevator music in the show room. —-I am way to practical to be impressed by that. I am the lousiest marketer you can imagine.
Wolfgang, I considered myself to be in the same camp as you. Then one day recently it was time to get the oil changed (for the first time) on our Acura TSX. I stopped by one quickie lube type place and asked what brand filters they used: some forgettable off-brand. So I thought I’d give the Acura dealer a shot, just to see what happened if i just showed up looking for a quick oil change and tire rotation.
I drove up to the portico, and a very nice young guy greeted me, and told me he’d have it taken car of and all the fluids checked , etc, asap. I went into their nice waiting area, had a cup of tea, read a newspaper, used their toilet (with nice tiles 🙂 , and in about 45 minutes, he came back and said it was all done. The bill was $47. Frankly, I’m a bit surprised that Acura doesn’t give free oil changes the first couple of years like some premium brands, but I knew that when I bought it.
Anyway, it was a very pleasant experience. And I couldn’t have had my tires rotated at the quickie place anyway. Admittedly, I could have gotten it all done elsewhere. But it was quick, convenient, and pleasant. And it probably doesn’t hurt to establish some contact/rapport with the dealer in the unlikely event of needing some warranty work.
I have been finding the same thing. Both the Honda dealer and Kia dealers near me do basic oil changes and such for less money than my indie mechanic, and they are closer to home. Both dealers have surprised me with their reasonable charges and their never trying to sell me anything.
@Wolfgang,
Well, in that case, the manufacturers really should target their effort on you? I am a new car buyer and I buy one every 18 months or so. I try hard to buy domestic, but at times its not easy.
If Lincoln wants to sell up market cars at up market price, they MUST re-invent their dealership. otherwise DOA.
@toffee:
I have been thinking about my comment and I have to back pedal a bit on it.
You are correct, the car business must cater to new car buyers first or they wouldn’t have any used ones to sell either. Obviously, the customer is king and if the customer is a frequent buyer like you the business does well in laying out the red carpet.
And yes, no matter what business it is, a decent restroom adds to a good impression.
To me this does not matter much in car buying, because I have only bought from dealers 5 times in my whole life. With gas stations and restaurants it matters to me a whole lot.
By the way I think the Lincoln Motor Company is trying hard. They even have a concierge to meet a customer:
When these came out you didn’t buy them at a Ford dealer unless you lived out in the boonies. Of course now you are stuck buying a Lincoln at a Ford dealer which it one of the reasons that they should have kept Mercury. In addition to the ability to provide a better or at least different dealership experience from Ford it allowed them to charge more for the Ford w/o cannibalizing Lincoln sales. When I was in the market for our SUV I priced out the Explorer, Mountaineer and Aviator. My full boat Mountaineer was much less than an equally equipped Explorer since they kept the price of a maxed out Mercury under the base price of the Lincoln. Meanwhile over at Ford they could move a few Explorers with price tags smack in the middle of the Aviator’s price range.
I test drove three of these when I was shopping for a replacement for my recently (and sadly) departed Mark VIII back in ’06. Two ’03s and an ’01, all V8 models. And I actually came somewhat close to buying one. While I wouldn’t call the exterior styling particularly memorable, it was attractive, and the revised tail design of the ’03 cars worked particularly well. It was a car that I wouldn’t have minded at all seeing in the driveway every morning. Drove quite well–I think calling it a true sports sedan is a bit generous, but it seemed surefooted and confident, and the engine was well matched the the chassis. Definitely smooth and didn’t have that traditional Lincoln isolation, which is a good thing on this type of car. (Would have liked to have driven one with the Sport package but I couldn’t find one, and it was a shame the manual was never offered with the V8.)
“It’s a shame Lincoln didn’t try to emulate the dramatic interior of the recently discontinued Mark VIII.”
That was the biggest weak point of the car in my opinion. The seats were comfortable, but I really disliked the look of the dash–that fake “satin nickel” trim was pretty terrible. If you’re going to give me something fake, I’d prefer fake wood. Or how about real wood? The VIII was one of the few lincolns to have genuine wood trim, though it was a thin veneer. The whole interior difference was just night and day, and a clear loss for the LS. It did have cooled front seats and a sunroof, but that didn’t make up for the deficient dash design.
The LS’s flaws were not its undoing in the end for me, though. I could have easily bought one, and almost did, but sitting next to the ’01 at the dealership was a 2003 Marauder. Sorry, LS, my heart had been stolen.
Could have been, should have been. The story of Lincoln in the past 20 years seems to be to kill off all their worthy cars. The excellent Mark VII and VIII didn’t get a successor Mark IX, though that may have been a function of the coupe market drying up. Yet Caddy managed to sell the Eldorado/ETC for another four years. The LS was replaced by the Fusion-in-a-fancy-suit Zephyr/MKZ. The Town Car wasn’t even replaced (the MKS doesn’t count). Even the Navigator has been left to wither, when it was once a very compelling competitor to the Escalade. Where have they been putting their money? The MKC? That’s an answer to a question no one was asking. Poor Lincoln…I thought we’d hear the death notice any day. But evidently Ford is planning on spending some money there? That will help, but they also need to reconsider that it should be. They need to reach higher again.
“The MKC? That’s an answer to a question no one was asking.”
If you look around any upscale area you’ll find plenty of compact luxo crossovers, it’s actually an up-and-coming segment that Lincoln can no more not be in than they could’ve not been in coupes in the ’70s. And it looks very different from the Escape it shares hard points with.
That being said, the Escape looks far more distinctive, and the ads with Matthew McConamghey’s musings (parodied by SNL, for the second time in L-M history) don’t help. It’s the sort of car that coulda been a contender if Lincoln was where it was in 1979 or if they had been in the segment since it started to be a thing in the mid-late ’00s, but is hardly the splash Lincoln needs to make if it wants to be seen as something other than an Uber car.
The MKC is selling well, so apparently it is the answer to a question some people were asking. Luxury crossovers are a hot segment.
With the ATS and CTS, Cadillac has been building the type of cars internet posters say everyone is clamoring to buy – rear-wheel-drive sedans on a unique platform and an overall character clearly inspired by the BMW 3-Series and 5-Series. The two most successful Cadillacs are still the SRX and Escalade. Sales of the ATS and CTS have been very disappointing. So Lincoln was hardly dumb in turning the Escape into an MKC.
Seeing as how there have been 3 generations of CTS, I really can’t see how sales have been “disappointing” much less “very disappointing” or else, it wouldn’t have made it this far. the current newest CTS has decreased in sales, but its transaction price has gone up, its no longer the entry level Cadillac and it will take some time for people to adjust to the higher prices. The ATS has done well too, considering its Cadillacs first ever serious contender in a category it has NEVER competed in and was limited to 1 body style, now there is a coupe ATS and V-series performance version are coming too. I wouldn’t worry too much about how Cadillac is doing.
Though I DO agree that there are way too many people that think the solution to everything is “make it like a BMW”, when that clearly isn’t the answer, since BMW isn’t really even “making it like a BMW” anymore.
Cadillac has had to idle production of the ATS and CTS to clear out bloated inventories. I’m not saying that they are bad cars – they clearly are not – but building imitation BMWs isn’t necessarily the path to success.
Cadillac is hurting right now because it needs more luxury crossovers. The new Escalade appears to be a hit, and the SRX has been a strong seller, but its sales are tailing off, largely because of its age. So Lincoln offering the MKC isn’t a dumb move.
I agree with the lux crossover segment being hot right now, and it is funny that the SRX which is hated by some of the RWD fanboys like poison is selling like hotcakes, the next gen SRX is already in testing, supposedly they are working on 2 others above the SRX and below too.
The LS would have been okay if it weren’t for the curve of the head/tail lights. They just don’t look right. The grille doesn’t look so great, either. It’s what happens when domestic car manufacturers go for the look of the car whose market they’re targeting. In this case, they tried to make the LS’ lights look enough like a BMW so they’d attract those people. Combined with a chassis and drivetrain that, although competent enough, didn’t live up to the promise, well, it didn’t work. As someone else pointed out, the LS looked and seemed more Mitsubishi than BMW.
I think where this car was really let down was in its styling, both in and out, it just wasn’t special or shocking enough, the 1st generation CTS came with controversial styling both inside and out that didn’t appeal to all people, but it made a splash, it was noticed, people talked about it. It even offered some oddball colors like a Lava Orange.This car just really disappeared into the back ground and stayed there until it was discontinued and no one noticed.
The ideal spook car…
If one really wanted this platform, why not buy a Jaguar S-type? Much more distinctve.
I really liked the S type when it came out but now I’m not so keen.I think the Lincoln has aged better though at the time I would have chosen the Jaguar
Jag did offer the supercharged S-type R (400 hp). It was especially odd–the base car had such an anti-performance image, I always wondered who would spend their money on such a thing.
It was quite a jump in price compared to an already dear S type and a very expensive car.
IMHO, the S-Type was one of the ugliest cars of the early 2000s. The LS may have been on the bland side, but the S-Type looked like a cartoon. They applied the retro look in all the wrong ways with it. Too be honest, the interior wasn’t that much nicer either, save for more wood. If we’re talking Jaguars, I would’ve much rather had a late-’90s XJ.
You nailed it. Ford somehow managed to offer an all time ugly jag and a totally blank Lincoln as their effort to break into the lucrative market dominated by BMW-Merc-Audi-Lexus.
result was predictable.
It was a bunch more expensive, though. I don’t remember how much the LS cost by the end, but my recollection is that it was under $40K, whereas the S-Type 4.0 was about $50K.
The LS is more proof that the phenomenon of hapless product planners at Lincoln is not a recent development.
I fully concur with the opinions that the styling is generic except for a few front and rear details. The interior is also quite generic.
It’s place in the Lincoln line-up was sort of hard to figure. It clearly covered the same market space and overlapped the D-186 Continental for three years. The Continental was at least a bit more distinctive, and had a much better name.
Speaking of the name, it sounded more like a trim line, seemed awfully similar to a certain Lexus product, and made zero sense in the Lincoln line up.
Hmmm….. How could they have done this right? Well, discontinue the D-186 Continental which was plenty ripe for replacing. Use the Continental name on the new RWD sedan, punch up the style inside and out, promote it well and update it more frequently.
It was too close to Lexus originally it was going to be called LS6(which I imagine GM might have had an issue with too) and LS8 for the 6 and 8 cylinder versions, but Toyota challenged the trademark registration.
I haven’t owned an American car since the 1969 Camaro I had in 1972. However I have been periodically tempted to ‘return home’ and the LS was probably the closest I came to that. I even test drove one in 2001 and liked it – a lot. However a couple of things held me back. I was coming out of a 1998 328i – IMHO one of the greatest cars of it’s era and a tough act to follow, and the Lincoln was less engaging and softer. Another thing that held me back was concern about depreciation. Finally, I grew up in the era of “Never buy a first year car”, and over time I kind of expanded that to “wait three years” to see what falls off. GM cars in particular but FOMOCO’s seem to get great reviews from owners and fanmags for two years.
as I recall these things turned out to have weak transmissions but, as usual, it took a couple years to show up
I kind of liked these, but was always amazed that the stick only came with the V6. Anyone who spends this kind of money on a sport sedan and wants a stick, certainly would rather pop for the V8, but what do I know. They made sure that the stick was in the cheap one only. I don’t think that the take rate would have been really high in either case, but it would have been better than 1%.
Agree with the bland styling as a problem. It was not unattractive at first, but it became dull and stale quickly.
They could have done a CTS-V style combination with the 32 valve 4.6 and the manual trans from the Cobra, that would have probably garnered some attention, though I don’t think that the DOHC 4.6 would fit, maybe they could have “borrowed” some of the supercharged engines from Jaguar?
I had a 2000 with the 5-speed manual. It’s a decent looking car, interior was fine. It was reasonably easy to work on and I kept mine until there was 155,000 on the clock. Handling was great. Felt a little heavy but didn’t mind being pushed. It could have used more HP but only way to get a clutch was to get a V-6. It was at it’s best as long distance car, 1000 miles a day were no problem, as comfortable as anything even though it was a bit cramped for a car that size. I preferred it over my v70 even though the interior wasn’t as nice and it probably wasn’t as fast, (as a v70…the LS was kind of slow).
When I first saw this car back in ’98, I couldn’t WAIT to get one, as I knew it was a great change in direction for Lincoln. They teased it too much before it was available, so I bought another new car instead and waited for it to be 3 years old before I ordered my ’02 LS. Although it does resemble a Diamante from certain angles, I really like the look of it. It’s been a great car — it is almost 14 years old now, has been quite trouble free, and the quality of the interior is evidenced by how nearly new it still looks. The exterior has also held up quite well. Mine is the V-6 version, which can knock down 24-27 MPG on the highway all the time. It is certainly a shame that Lincoln was distracted and didn’t provide many updates or advertising support during the time it was in production. I plan on keeping it a long time.
Time for Lincoln to show some “balls”. Rather than creating bait to snare yuppies,millenials, hipsters and others who shun American cars, maybe they should shoot for a new market….an older but not geriatric demographic who want a real luxury car.Create a revival of the `61 to `69 “suicide door” classic,make it full size, add a 300 hp plus V8, trim it in leather,brag about it being the “real deal” and plug it to the target audience. Prehaps by ignoring that whole BMW, Lexus, Volvo, Audi and Infinity mindset, a new breed of luxury car can be created. It has to be better than that God awful,locomotive like LSC.
Well, the only people who have money for a pricey luxury car at the moment are 20something tech industry hipsters and geriatric Boomers (who never much liked traditional luxury cars), so the eternal question is, “Who is actually going to buy something like that right now?” Also, Cadillac’s current marketing campaign seems to be trying for the same message and judging by their sales, it hasn’t been a runaway success.
I tend to agree. Maserati showed some “balls”, and they’ve succeeded. With a long, low sedan with a 300 hp plus V8, trimmed in leather.
I have to agree. Lincolns come off as feeble knockoffs of the Lexus ES, every one of them. Take a good hard look at the Chrysler 300. Now, would THAT car in a million years ever pass for a Toyota, or a Hyundai? How about the LS. Umm…there ya go.
Ask anyone younger, with taste in cars what they think of when you mention “Lincoln”. Some will say grampas town car, and that’s a bad thing. SOME though, will say “that sweet car from the Matrix”. Theres your inspiration, Lincoln. Either make it so, or just die already.
So, something like the recently unveiled Aston Martin Lagonda? The Lagonda isn’t particularly Lincoln-like (whatever that means at this point) in any specific detail, but when y’all talk about stance, that seems like a good reference point.
I fear Lincoln missed the boat on their opportunity to do so. The period the Chrysler 300 came out and the LS ended would probably have been the perfect time to introduce a car such as this, styling was at a transition period for the brand at this point so Lincoln could have easily gone retro with a 61 theme or whatever. Hell even platform wise it could have been a rebodied LS utilizing the same platform(hey it was modern enough to work for the still in production Jaguar XF)and using the Mustang’s new at the time 3V 4.6.
Unfortunately I think the current Oldsmolincoln styling theme introduced with the Zephyr at that time instead is so inundated through the division that any departure from it to build a brash unapologetically Lincoln flagship we’d desire would instantly make the rest of the now very extensive lineup of duds look even more pathetic, something I’m not sure the company would want to do. I’ll cynically guess that whatever may or may not be in the works on something like that no doubt would just end up looking like yet another MKZ copy.
I’m in the just die already camp, was with Mercury too.
That opportunity was the 2002 Continental concept. Lincoln should’ve put it into production as somewhat of a 300-fighter, though positioned slightly higher. The concept’s styling could still even work in 2014, with minor tweaks. I bet it would’ve gone a long way into enhancing Lincoln’s image.
That’s a good lookin’ car. Would I be interested to buy one? YES. But the thought of going to into a Ford dealership for the purchase and future services will instantly turn that YES into a HELL NO.
Where I live Lincoln has their own dealerships separate from Ford. I’ve never seen a Ford-Lincoln franchise. And to be honest, I’ve only gone back to Acura once since my purchase two years ago, for an oil change. It’s not worth the hour drive. I just take it 10 minutes away Sullivan Tire. The whole dealership experience thing has never really appealed to me. They’re always trying to get you to buy a new car or at the very least, pay extra for something your current car doesn’t need.
Ford was really screwing up with its styling around this time. There was this, the Contour/Mystique and Mark VIII.
The lesson here is that boring styling for a struggling luxury marque is never a good move. The same car with “boutique” styling sold a lot better as the Jaguar S-Type but that design got old quickly.
Cadillac nailed it with the Art & Science theme, which was striking and also long lasting.
I remember reading sometime back about a 17 year old stopped for doing 143 mph in one of these. When I lived in Texas, there was a local LS club that had some very nicely modified examples. Nice car.
Just to comment on the styling, this car doesn´t express the formula for a modern Lincoln. It could conceivably have been a Ford and even then not a good expression of Ford which, at least in the EU, was doing some super work. This is not super work. The detailing is horrible and the overall look is derivative. Amongst the detail horrors are the nasty grille and Hyundai headlamps, the wretched door shutline marching over the body with no regard to the forms it traverses and at the back, the could-not-decide lamps and hamfisted chrome garnish. The pronounced wheelarches were a fashion detail borrowed from other cars where they worked. On the inside, a Japanese-bland dashboard and non-real wood. For goodness´ sake: not one import from BMW, Audi or Mercedes offered fake wook and I don´t suppose Lexus or Infiniti were doing it either. The Euro-market Accord from the same time has this car licked inside and out and its not even in the Lincoln´s price class.