1986 Lincoln Continental One Of A Kind No Reserve on 2040-cars

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From Expedition to Navigator: our predictions for Lincoln's SUV

In the midst of all the buzz surrounding the new aluminum Ford Expedition and Expedition Max, we remembered the other large SUV the Ford Motor Company showed last year, the Lincoln Navigator concept. And since the Navigator has historically been built on the Expedition platform, we figured there's no better time to focus some of our predictions for the big Lincoln. First off, let's take a look at design. Having seen the new Expedition, we're fairly confident that the Navigator will look almost exactly like its concept. The strong similarities between two mean the Expedition serves as a preview of what a production Navigator will look like. For example, both vehicles' greenhouses we can see that the shape of the C-pillars are nearly identical. The only difference is that the Expedition's are painted body color, while the Navigator's are painted black. Additionally, the character line running along the top of the doors on both vehicles is roughly the same height. The same goes for the more subtle crease near the bottom of the doors. We also see no reason why Lincoln wouldn't use the full width taillights, fender vent, and grille treatment it used on the concept. Those are all easy design changes to create differentiation, and they're all right inline with the cues set by the Continental. View 15 Photos For powertrain, we're pretty certain the 400-horsepower 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 previewed on the concept is a certainty now. The Expedition and Expedition Max will be offered with a 3.5-liter EcoBoost as well, so we know it will fit. We expect the Expedition's engine will produce 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque as it does in the F-150. That's less power than the Navigator concept, but it would be reasonable to make the production Navigator a bit more powerful than its lowly Ford brethren to help justify the increased price tag. Towing capacity will probably be about the same between the Ford and Lincoln, which should be something over 9,000 pounds. The Navigator will probably use the same two-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive drivetrains, too. Inside is where the Expedition and Navigator will likely differ the most, particularly in seating. The Expedition offers seating for up to eight with an available second-row bench seat, and the Navigator concept had captain's chairs for every row. We're expecting the Navigator will only offer second-row captain's chairs since the cramped third row would be a waste of nice buckets.

McConaughey's bizarre new Continental ad is perfect parody material

So let's say you're running a car company and have a luxurious new flagship sedan and need to advertise it. What do you do? Did you answer with "film a commercial with a barely coherent Hollywood actor standing in a pond?" If so, perhaps you work for Lincoln, which brought back Matthew McConaughey to do another bizarre car ad. It starts with McConaughey and a Continental standing on a body of water. He starts talking about staring (or not staring) at the Conti, and then about sitting in the back seat (or not). The ad then cuts to McConaughey in the back who replies to the McConaughey in the front seat. Presumably, there are two McConaugheys at this point, and the front seat one just laughs in a slightly unsettling manner. He then makes a clicking noise, closes the center console and drives away. You can't make this stuff up. It's thoroughly strange, but we can't say we're entirely surprised. When Lincoln first launched some bizarre ads with McConaughey muttering sweet nothings about the MKC, the company got loads of attention. Admittedly a lot of that attention was to make fun of it, but you know the old saying that there's no such thing as bad press. Lincoln even brought him back for an encore in ads for the MKX and MKZ. In truth, we're also glad to see another bizarre Lincoln ad, mostly because we're hoping for another round of great parodies like the classic Jim Carrey spoof that aired on Saturday Night Live. Check out the ad above to see the strangeness. Related Video:

Ford Announces Four Recalls, 1.4M Vehicles Affected

Ford is taking a bit of the spotlight away from General Motors, announcing a major group of recall campaigns, covering a total of 1.4 million vehicles built between 2006 and 2013. Let's start with the big one, which covers the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and, according to The Detroit News, Ford-built Mazda Tribute CUVs. 915,216 vehicles are covered, all of which were built in model years 2008 to 2011. 736,000 vehicles are in the US, while Canada then Mexico make up the vast majority of the remainder. The problem is due to an issue with the torque sensor in the steering column, which could lead to sudden power steering failure. Manual steering would still be available, though. "Dealers will perform one of three service fixes, depending upon what diagnostic codes are shown when the vehicle is taken to the dealer," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker wrote to Autoblog in an email. "They will either update software for the power steering control module and the instrument cluster module; replace the torque sensor; or replace the steering column, which includes upgraded power steering control module software." The most recent generation of the Ford Explorer is suffering from a similar malady, thanks to an intermittent electrical connection (we think that means short circuit) in the steering column. Like the Escape and Mariner, manual steering would still be available in the event of a power failure. Ford will recall 195,527 examples of its Explorer, 177,500 of which are in the US. This recall covers model years 2011 to 2013. According to Automotive News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has stated that Ford will inform owners of affected vehicles by July 25. Ford is also recalling 200,000 Taurus sedans, over a corrosion issue in the license plate lamp. This particular recall, which covers vehicles from model years 2010 to 2014, is limited to drivers in northern climes. Vehicle owners in southern states are free to pass on the recall. Finally, 82,576 Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ sedans from 2006 to 2011 are being recalled because of floormats that can interfere with the accelerator pedal. Dealers will replace the offensive floormats with newer examples. "Ford is committed to providing our customers with top quality vehicles. We are equally committed to addressing potential issues and responding quickly for our customers," Felker wrote.