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Lincoln Continental suicide doors: A lot has changed since 1961

It looks like we've hit peak Lincoln Continental for the 21st century with the Coach Door Edition. At least, 80 people will be enjoying the best that Lincoln (and Cabot Coach Builders) can offer. We figured now was a perfect time to look back at the original Continental with suicide doors, now that there's a return to form. Make sure to scroll through the barrage of historical Continental photos Lincoln provided to us from its archive above. Lincoln was aiming to offer a design throwback to the 1961 Continental with its return to suicide doors. Back then, Lincoln wanted a car to compete with GM's " Standard of the World," ergo Cadillac. The goal was to make a car so enticing that people might want to buy a Lincoln instead of a Cadillac as their next luxury-mobile. It never stomped down Cadillac, but the Continental made a strong statement. Sales spiked at 54,755 Continentals in 1966 – Cadillac sold 196,685 cars that same year. For nine years (1961-1969), Lincoln made the Continental with suicide doors as the only option (barring the two-door coupe introduced in 1966). The car was offered as a four-door convertible or hardtop for most of the suicide-door generation, but the convertible was dropped after 1967. It was the droptop that was most iconic, and the car many of us picture today when thinking about that Continental. The pillar-less look of the Convertible with the top removed and the doors swung wide exudes class and luxury. This generation of Continental appeared in movies like "James Bond's Goldfinger", and more recently in "The Matrix." Celebrities owned them back in the day. Who doesn't want to exit their large convertible through suicide doors onto the red carpet, right? 2019 Lincoln Continental Coach Door Edition View 51 Photos Obviously, Lincoln wanted the normal Continental released for model year 2017 to take the world by storm. As rumors swirl of its untimely death after 2020, it's safe to say the new Continental hasn't exactly done that. What if it had suicide doors to begin with? Would we have been looking at the next Mercedes beater? Probably not. But still, we would have been blown away if that's what Lincoln showed us at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. Maybe those in the market would have been too. The new Continental with suicide doors serves an entirely different purpose than the original. Producing only 80 of them makes sure of that. Maybe a few celebrities will buy one, but this one won't have the same cultural impact of the old.

Lincoln Continental to end after one-and-done generation?

After only 18 months on sale, the vultures of rumor have begun circling above the Lincoln Continental. Ford Authority says "sources intricately familiar with Ford Motor Company's future product plans" for the domestic luxury brand say the Continental won't get another chance at life after this generation. Those sources didn't detail Ford's reasons for dispatching the executioner on another sad task, but if this is true, even the reasons we can only guess make enough sense to justify the move. The Continental launched into a crossover mania still mushrooming in strength like some Marvel villain, the equivalent of a new dinosaur hatching a few months before the Chicxulub Impact Event. In 18 months, the Continental sold 18,846 units, 12,012 of those sales happening in 2017. In the U.S. this year, sales amounted to 1,573 units through February, about 25 percent down on the annualized monthly rate. It could be worse: The Lexus GS has found 1,009 U.S. buyers so far this year, the Acura RLX, 285. Conversely, the Cadillac XTS — yes, a fleet darling — secured 3,163 sales in the same period. And the German kingpins live in another dimension, with BMW scooting 5,641 5 Series models off dealer lots, and the Mercedes E-Class boasting 8,411 sales of all three variants. Even the much more expensive and much more profitable Lincoln Navigator rang up 2,351 sales in the first 60 days of 2018. That's disheartening reading, especially after Ford reportedly spent more than $1 billion to bring the Continental to market. Sedan segment woes look to have killed the Continental's platform siblings, too, making the Lincoln's demise simply part of the cull. The CD4 architecture also underpins the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ. Ford canceled the Fusion redesign and won't commit to making either vehicle after 2020. Lincoln's passenger car sales declined more than 30 percent last month; meanwhile, Lincoln needs to spend its money on the crossovers that are selling, and investment in the coming three-row Aviator that will replace the MKT. Ford has a CD6 platform in development that suits front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive vehicles. Under previous CEO Mark Fields, a new Fusion, Mustang, and MKZ would ride on the CD6, as well as the new Explorer and a Lincoln brother. Those plans left with the previous administration, and company sources told both Ford Authority and The Truth About Cars not to expect a Continental revival on that architecture. Related Video:

Car-crazy 5-year-old boy writes automakers for treasures, gets big response

Part of the beauty of children is that they can find worth in something adults might deem unworthy or overlook entirely. Five-year-old Patch Hurty didn't see garbage or a broken piece of a car when he spotted a Ford badge lying on the side of a road. He saw an artifact, a souvenir, a start to a collection he could only dream of. Ezra Dyer of Popular Mechanics tells the story of Patch and his quest to turn that one lost badge into a museum of manufacturer logos. According to the article, Hurty is a car fanatic through and through, even using car names as a way of learning to read. After finding the Ford badge near his Connecticut home, he and his mom put together a plan to reach out to dozens of automakers, confessing his love of things on four wheels. In each letter, Patch assembled a picture of himself standing next to one of the cars, and a penny to pay for whatever he hoped was sent his way. The response was unexpectedly and overwhelmingly positive. Of the more than 50 letters he sent out, including to obscure or defunct companies such as Bugatti, Suzuki, and Saturn, a majority responded with warm notes and some type of souvenir. Two of the coolest responses came from Lincoln and Bentley. Lincoln sent a sketch of a Continental (all car lovers enjoy drawing cars, right?), and Bentley sent a wheel center cap. How awesome is that? The story reminds us of something that can easily be lost in all of the negativity involved with the auto industry: Everybody is in this because of a common infatuation with automobiles. For more details on the souvenirs Patch received and accompanying photos, read the rest of the story. Related Video: News Source: Popular Mechanics Read This Bentley Bugatti Ford Lincoln Saturn Suzuki