This is expected not only be a badge-bad job, but it really gets amazing results. Mercury plans to create a concept car C-segment for the year 2012. Mercury took a few cars Focus sedan and five-door hatchback from the Detroit Auto Show 2009 and C C-Max and Grand C-Max minivans from the Frankfurt Auto Show. And one sister who will work on options is Lincoln Concept-C.
Play the word association game with an average American, and when the topic is "Lincoln," you're likely to hear words like "traditional," "big," and "limousine." Terms describing compact hatchbacks like the Concept C shown above simply won't be on the tips of anyone's tongues.
This is a big country, with a lot of wide open spaces. Gas is still cheap. And a full-size pickup with a V-8 engine and most of the trimmings costs less than many well-equipped six-cylinder midsize sedans. Put simply, America has had no real need to think small. But it will soon.
Looking much like a Renault with Lincoln's "flying wing" '41 Continental retro cue grille, the Concept Car - 2012 Lincoln Concept-C is about the length of the '11 Focus, but about 2.75-inches wider for three-abreast seating via two flat benches. Ford designers cite the '39 Lincoln, '56 Continental II and '61 Continental as inspiration. But the a-pillar is curved much like a Renault Espace's, and the c-pillar ends in a Clio-esque bustle trunk. While there's no tumblehome, a deep shoulderline accents the profile.
The Concept Car - 2012 Lincoln Concept-C is an attempt to reinvent the American luxury for this brave, new automotive world. It's a uniquely American take on a vehicle genre the Europeans and Asians have owned over the past 40 years.
The Concept Car - 2012 Lincoln Concept-C has more interior space than a '61 Continental, J Mays and Freeman Thomas proudly note. The engine, theoretically - Lincoln didn't open the hood -- is a planned 1.6-liter EcoBoost four with central direct injection, variable valve timing on both cams and an interesting stop/start system to shut down the engine for red lights and stop signs. Restarts use a fraction of the starter energy required for a cold start by injecting and igniting fuel in the cylinder closest to top-dead-center on the compression stroke.
The six-speed, twin-clutch "Powershift" transmission uses more efficient dry clutches (Audi DSG's wet clutches require an oil pump). It gains 9-percent better fuel economy than a conventional automatic transmission, Ford says. Including some key weight savings, Ford expects the EcoBoost-powered Concept Car - 2012 Lincoln Concept-C would get about 25-percent better fuel economy than a similar car with a 2.0-liter.
Concept Car - 2012 Lincoln Concept-C