bluebeastsrt

I've read this Lincoln is supposed to drop next year. If true it'll make for a sexy M3 fighter!

JIM5.0

Wow, I never even heard of any rumors to take the S550 and expand it into the Lincoln badge. Does FoMoCo plan on actually doing this? I'm intrigued; that's for sure.

Interesting concept of the S550 variant; but with the Mustang as the pony car flagship, I'm not sure a rebadged Mustang of the very same DNA of the Mustang would be distinct enough to be worth Ford's time.

bluebeastsrt

It just making its way thru the rumor mill right now. Id like to see it as long as it wasn't a mustang knockoff. It would need to be more upscale. Theres money to be made in the luxury/sport segment.

99GTvert

...it'll probably cost $70,000. Also unless it only has the top dog engine from the mustang or an exclusive motor with great power (maybe AWD?) I don't see it being a great success to keep around for a while.

Aside from powertrain what else could they do to separate from the mustang?

bluebeastsrt

I don't know that you would need to differentiate from the mustang? Like you said offer the top of the line gt350 power train only. Add a much more refined interior. More supple white leather with either carbon fiber or Crome trim and a very high end sound system. Price it competitively with the CTS-v and the M3s. Just use it as a halo car for the Lincoln brand. You wouldn't need to sell a ton of car sines it'll share platform with the Mustang.

JIM5.0

That would be a great move, just like how GM brought the 5th Gen ZL1 which is an incorporation of the Caddy CTS-V's LSA engine into the Zeta chassis.
Well, in this case, it would be kind of a reverse in which Ford takes the entire S550 chassis with GT350 engine and badges it as a Lincoln coupe (or sedan, if Ford is willing to make a 4-door luxury S550).

Of course, just as the Chevy 5th Gen ZL1 is more powerful than the CTS-V, detune the S550 Lincoln GT350 engine by a dozen BHP or so and keep the GT350 the leading subtrim model.

jz78817

yes, Lincoln cars need to differentiate from any related Ford-brand cars. Lincoln's biggest problem up until now is that most of their vehicles could be described as "Fords with a different grille and nicer leather." The MKS is a blatant example of this; it doesn't sell because the Taurus is 90% of the car for 70% of the price. The new MKZ and MKC are the first ones where the effort has been made to have Lincolns actually stand out.

Honda has had the same problem with Acura. Most of Acura's lineup can be safely described as "Accords and Pilots with nicer leather and parrot beak grilles. Oh, and weird headlamps."

IMO if Lincoln was to do a RWD car, it should be a 4-door. They don't need a Lincoln Mustang.

bluebeastsrt

See jims post above! Just like the Camaro ZL1 and the Caddy CTS-V share extensive parts. Lincoln and the S550 Mustang could share similar qualities. Lincoln currently offers zero cars that generate any kind of excitement among automotive Enthusiasts! Using The S550 chassis would give Lincoln a performance based car that could go toe to toe with the M3s and the CTS-Vs of the world with a version of the GT350 power plant. Luxury performance cars don't sell in large quantities so using the S550 chassis only makes sense because the Mustang will be the volume mover but a high performance Lincoln on a S550 chassis would shine the spot light on the Lincoln brand and get people talking about it without all the R/D of building a stand alone chassis. It would be sacrilegious to offer a 4 door Mustang! But how hard would it be to extend the S550 chassis to add two more doors on a Lincoln? In the same vane as the M3/M4 offerings. Think about it. If Porsche can throw another set of doors on a 911 and call it a Panamera why couldn't Lincoln do the same and call it a Mark9 and the Mark9 coupe?

Genxer

That car could work. Looks cool, it has the gadgets and the status. For some people that's where it ends. Purchasers are not all savvy gear heads.

As far as Acura/Honda yes, lots of similarities. Again more status and gadgets, but to be fair Acura usually offers more HP in their engines vs Honda.

SPARTAN VI

Now that's a Lincoln I'd buy.