1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car 460v8 Classic Vintage Rust Free Arizona Car on 2040-cars

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2017 Lincoln Continental reimagined as a coupe

If nothing else, the production version of the Lincoln Continental has provided ample water-cooler fodder around the office. There are a few camps: the "it took guts to build it" folks giving credit where due on a handsome design with an ambitious interior, and the "MKZ misstep" group haranguing the Motor Company for blowing fancy new styling cues on a lesser beast. And yet, unifying forces exist. We can all agree that these artist renders depicting a Continental sans a pair of doors present a captivating notion. Back in 1939, the original Continental was a two-door. Over time, four doors of various types, including convertibles, infiltrated the lineup. The last time the Continental was on sale, it was a four-door front-driver based on the platform shared with the Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus. Even though the new production Continental, like that penultimate one, is based on a front-drive platform, the execution is much different. As you probably already know, it features a so-far unique 400-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 and an advanced torque-vectoring AWD system, standard. Some neat concept car touches, like the fancy door handles and patented 30-way adjustable seats, made it in. What a two-door would bring to the table is mainly stylistic, emphasizing the long parallel character line in the door with brightwork running under the window that's echoed in the lower door sculpting and chrome strip. It accentuates the car's length, and calls attention to the trim taillights and their interconnecting bar element. A longer door makes for a more elegant transition into the C-pillar. It makes the production Continental, with its blacked-out but still obviously chunky B-pillar, look fussy. We don't expect Lincoln to build a coupe – that may be too wild for a company that doesn't seem completely comfortable with the notion of reinvention – but these renders were just too good not to share. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Related Video:

Lincoln MKC recalled because start button located too close to touchscreen [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker responded to our questions and let us know that the fix for the push-button start on the 2015 MKC has the switch moved to the top of the of the column of gear shift buttons instead of the bottom. Owners should be notified about both campaigns "toward the end of February." After massive campaigns from General Motors and to fix Takata airbag inflators, 2014 will undoubtedly go down as The Year Of The Recall. And with little time to spare, Ford is getting in just under the wire to adding two more to its yearly total. The larger of the campaigns is actually one of the most bizarre campaigns we've heard of all year. Lincoln is recalling 13,574 units of its 2015 MKC compact crossover in North America to move the location of the push-button ignition switch on the dashboard. According to the automaker's announcement: "Due to the switch's close proximity to other controls, occupants are inadvertently shutting off the engine while driving." The button is located near the bottom of the touchscreen, which can apparently make it possible to hit by mistake. Back when Autoblog first drove the new MKC in June, we came away very impressed, but noted: "... we're still not completely sold on the aforementioned pushbutton transmission selector ... it still seems somewhat gimmicky and it can't be operated by feel alone, as you might when shifting a traditional console-mounted lever from Park to Drive." According to Lincoln, there have been no reported accidents or injuries stemming from this button misapplication. Of the affected vehicles, there are 11,144 in the US, 2,033 in Canada and 397 in Mexico. To fix the problem, dealers are moving the button to a different location and reprogramming the powertrain control module. According to Automotive News, models built since September already have a different layout. The change was reportedly done to match the rest of the Lincoln lineup. The second recall covers 12,205 units of the 2014 Ford Escape (2015 model year pictured below) and 2015 Lincoln MKC in North America because of a problem with nickel plating on the fuel pump. The issue can cause the pump to seize, which can cause the crossovers not to start or stall while driving. The automaker is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this fault. Dealers are replacing the fuel deliver module to fix the situation. Of the affected vehicles, there are 9,038 in the US, 3,074 in Canada and 93 in Mexico.

Weekly Recap: New bosses try to jump-start Cadillac and Lincoln

Both of America's domestic luxury brands seem to be stuck in neutral.
It's ironic that Cadillac and Lincoln got new bosses within days of each other this month. It's also a commentary on the fact both of America's domestic luxury brands seem to be stuck in neutral.