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Coach Door Everything! This low-volume Lincoln Continental needs to inspire future Lincolns

One of the stranger vehicles that came through the press fleets last year was the 2020 Lincoln Continental Coach Door Edition. And it was strange for a wide array of reasons. It’s an extremely limited-production model; Lincoln only built 150 examples, plus another 80 of the 2019 80th Anniversary Edition that first featured the same rear-hinged doors. ItÂ’s also obsolete, since Lincoln ended production of the base Continental last year. And even if Lincoln kept building Continentals, the model was effectively obsolete in a world dominated by crossovers and SUVs. Plus, as weÂ’ll touch on in a bit, its driving dynamics were rather old-school for better and worse. But after spending some time with this odd car, it became clear that Lincoln managed to make something special, and the coach doors shouldnÂ’t die with the Continental. Before we dig deep into what the car is like and the lesson Lincoln should learn from it, hereÂ’s a quick refresher. The rear-hinged Continental started with the 2019 80th Anniversary Edition as a run of 80 cars, followed by the 2020 Coach Door Edition. To give it the fancy doors, as well as the extra length they required, Lincoln partnered with Cabot Coach Builders in Massachusetts. They took a Black Label model with the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6, made the body modifications, and also added a few custom interior touches. Besides those changes, itÂ’s just like any other Continental Black Label. Well that, and it costs nearly $40,000 more. LincolnContinentalCoachDoors_03_HR View 36 Photos Since nothing really changes mechanically, thereÂ’s nothing about the Coach Door EditionÂ’s driving experience that sets it apart from a similarly equipped Black Label. The 400-horsepower twin-turbo V6 pulls hard all through the rev band and with no waiting. ItÂ’s a bit coarse for a luxury car engine, but the performance makes up for it. The relatively old six-speed automatic is quite smooth, though shifts are slow. Ride and handling change quite a bit depending on whether youÂ’re in the normal comfort mode or sport mode. Comfort mode does a great impression of the floaty, bobbing land yachts of the past, which is accompanied by quite a bit of body roll. Pop it into sport mode, and the body roll is significantly reduced, the steering weights up, and control is massively improved. It almost feels nimble. But the ride becomes stiff and bumpy, not something befitting a mini limo. So itÂ’s a mixed bag.

2020 Ford Explorer nabs IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating after updates

The 2020 Ford Explorer has been named a Top Safety Pick+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the agency's best rating. The redesigned Explorer initially fell short of that mark, however, only making the grade after Ford introduced a running change to the vehicle's design starting in May 2020 — a change made to the 2020 Lincoln Aviator as well. To achieve a Top Safety Pick+ award, a vehicle must have a Good performance rating in all six of the agency's crash tests. It also must have Acceptable or better ratings for all of its available headlamps and must earn Advanced or Superior ratings for its automated collision avoidance systems in tests of their performance against pedestrians and other vehicles. The 2020 Explorer initially achieved only an Acceptable performance in the IIHS's driver's-side small-overlap crash test, as the agency found a risk of injury to the driver's left foot due to intrusion into the footwell. Ford subsequently modified the design of the front subframe in a running change to Explorers and to Lincoln Aviators built after May 2020. The modified Explorer was re-tested, and this time the model achieved a Good performance in the driver's small-overlap test. That, combined with a Superior performance in both tests of the standard collision-avoidance system plus Acceptable ratings for both headlight systems, pushed the 2020 Explorer over the goal line to Top Safety Pick+. The Aviator, which shares the Explorer's platform, has received the same modification and achieves the same crashworthiness ratings. However, its standard headlights are judged Marginal, and therefore the 2020 Aviator achieves only the Top Safety Pick rating (even though its optional curve-adaptive LED headlights are judged Good). Related Video:

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: