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Lincoln considering giving cars real names again

Enthusiastic reaction to the Continental concept might be the death knell for Lincoln's alphabet soup of monikers. "Without divulging the future, we're very excited about the Continental name and the attention it's gotten," Ford President of the Americas Joe Hinrichs said to Automotive News. Hinrichs admitted that the current MK names could confuse those not familiar with the models. Hinrichs suggested that one way Lincoln might differentiate itself was to "leverage its heritage." While this is certainly nothing explicit, the talk could be an indication of an upcoming overhaul for the brand's naming scheme. The Continental is set to hit the market next year as a replacement for the MKS as the company makes a major push into China. Lincoln bosses reportedly gave the designers the model name as inspiration for what to create. The brand's health has slowly been improving since former Ford CEO Alan Mulally was ready to completely kill the brand. Last year, a new boss was appointed to the helm, and there were reports of a modular platform under development. Let us know in Comments what Lincoln names you want to see revived. The Town Car is likely the best-known model from the brand after the Continental, and Zephyr has fairly recent history as the brief moniker for the MKZ. Related Video:

NHTSA upgrades Ford floor mat unintended acceleration probe

According to a Bloomberg report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has upgraded an investigation into complaints of unintended acceleration lodged against Ford vehicles. The investigation began in June of 2010 when just three complaints had been received and it only concerned the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, but this was at a time when the phrase "unintended acceleration" made grown men go pale. With 49 additional complaints received since then, the investigation has been reclassified as an engineering analysis - the last phase before a recall - and it has been expanded to include the Lincoln MKZ, making for a total of "around 480,000" units affected between the three sedans from the 2008 to 2010 model years.
The ostensible cause is that floor mats are trapping the accelerator pedal, but according to a Ford statement at the time, the entrapment is due to owners placing the optional all-weather floor mats, or aftermarket floor mats, on top of the car's standard floor mats. NHTSA has backed up that assessment, pinning the blame on "unsecured or double stacked floor mats."
On the face of it, it would appear that NHTSA has upgraded the status not because of Ford's error, but owner error, and Ford has stated publicly that it is "disappointed" in NHTSA's move. On top of NHTSA still being skittish after that other unintended acceleration debacle, it could be seen to be taking its time investigating all of the variables: it's reported that Ford changed its accelerator pedal design in 2010, a "heel blocker" in the floorpan has been considered a potential culprit in how the floor mats could be trapping the pedal, some drivers have said the floor mats weren't anywhere near the pedal, and according to a report in the LA Times, in "a letter sent by Ford to NHTSA in August 2010, the automaker said it found three injuries and one fatality that 'may have resulted from the alleged defect.'"

Conan O'Brien takes McConaughey's Lincoln ad to its logical conclusion

We all had to see this coming. Conan O'Brien has released a parody of Matthew McConaughey's new ads for the 2015 Lincoln MKC and remixed them with lines from one of his most critically acclaimed recent roles.
The now much darker commercial probably isn't how Lincoln would prefer the MKC to be marketed, but really in a few of the actual ads, McConaughey already seems moments away from breaking into a full Rustin Cohle from True Detective impression. The cadence and tone of his voice are just so close to that character, especially in the one where he's talking to the bull standing in the middle of the road. It very nearly verges on parody anyway; Conan is just turning all of this up to 11.
It's a little surprising that the writers didn't dig a little deeper into the McConaughey oeuvre for the parody. Maybe McConaughey could have taken the MKC for a party at the Moon Tower from Dazed and Confused. In any case, it's worth a quick watch, so check it out.