Click image for a gallery of the suspected Lincoln MKT mule
According to an LA Times piece on the silliness that is modern vehicle naming, the paper appears to have flubbed a little bit revealing that Ford will introduce the 2009 Lincoln MKT at the Detroit Auto Show next week. What's the MKT? Well, the conventional wisdom suggests that it's a large 3-row crossover based on the Ford Flex architecture. We expect to see it wearing Lincoln's new, more dramatic styling language as introduced on the MKS along with a more upmarket interior in terms of look and feel. Looks like the spy shots that came out last week were timelier than we thought. While the mule pictured is disguised with Taurus X bodywork, not even that black mask can hide the new-look baleen whale grille that Lincoln has adopted. We won't need to wait much longer to see how this ultimately plays out, so as soon as we know the full skinny, you'll know, too.
[Source: Los Angeles Times via Inside Line]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Austin @ Jan 8th 2008 12:00PM
hope it does
Hamburglar @ Jan 8th 2008 12:00PM
set sail for fail!
C.W. @ Jan 8th 2008 12:06PM
if it was a taurus X with the new front end, then yes, it would fail. however, this is a picture of a MULE. your garden variety test vehicle with whatever body they can slap on it to make it legal to drive down the road so they can test air-flow and engine response in daily driving. The lincoln based Flex is probably the hottest 7 passenger vehicle you will see and I hope to God they unveil it to the public in Detroit so you can all shut-it and start drooling.
Austin @ Jan 8th 2008 12:00PM
Lincoln even has there own news conference time which is rare
Dave T. @ Jan 8th 2008 12:29PM
ding ding ding
jim @ Jan 8th 2008 12:12PM
Too many apples in the same basket, they need only a couple good Suv/Crossovers and that's it. They need more smaller fuel and space efficient cars not tanks. Two of their top engineers jumped ship yesterday! ??
nick.giordano @ Jan 8th 2008 12:16PM
Those two engineers were responsible for the Taurus and the Sport Trac. I say Chrysler can have 'em.
L3 @ Jan 8th 2008 12:17PM
i LOVE Lincolns and I WANT one.
Please everyone join me in a grassroots movement to pronounce the 'MK' in all models as 'MARK.' As in, 'Mark T,' 'Mark S,' and 'Mark X.'
The Other Bob @ Jan 8th 2008 12:37PM
How about a grassroots movement to get Lincoln to return to naming their cars properly.
Such as:
MKZ = Zephyr
MKX = Aviator
MKS = Continental
MKT = Any real name (Navigator?)
Navigator = Navigator
Town Car = Town Car
Robert @ Jan 8th 2008 12:36PM
That how it should be pronounced, but for some reason Lincoln's marketing dept only did that with the Mark LT truck.
Apu @ Jan 8th 2008 12:41PM
Marky Mark. Lame naming system, however it is pronounced. A marketing nightmare. Off-hand, I still don't know what the Lincoln Edge is known as.
Polly Prissy Pants @ Jan 8th 2008 1:24PM
I would like that very much. So this is the Lincoln Flex, right? Or is it a Lincoln Freestyle? Is there some site somewhere that explains what these names mean and which cars they refer to? I'm pretty sure the MKZ is the Fusion and the MKS is the Taurus but as soon as I think I have it figured out I forget and have to start over again.
Mike Botros @ Jan 9th 2008 3:56PM
polly... the flex and the freestyle/taurus x both share the platform with the taurus/sable/mks... so it doesn't matter which one it's based on... most likely it won't share much if any looks with either of them just like the MKS doesn't share a lot of looks with either the sable or the taurus...
so... the cars that share the same platforms are as follows:
D3 platform - Volvo S60, XC90, Ford Taurus, Taurus X, Flex, Mercury Sable, Lincoln MKS, MKT
CD3 platform - mazda 6, cx-9, ford fusion, edge, mercury milan, lincoln mkz/zephyr, mkx crossover
hope that helps...
DDL @ Jan 8th 2008 12:37PM
I'm surprised how little information is out yet about the anticipated debuts at NAIAS. Seems like last year everything was out of the bag before the end of December.
C.W. @ Jan 8th 2008 12:45PM
if it was a taurus X with the new front end, then yes, it would fail. however, this is a picture of a MULE. your garden variety test vehicle with whatever body they can slap on it to make it legal to drive down the road so they can test air-flow and engine response in daily driving. The lincoln based Flex is probably the hottest 7 passenger vehicle you will see and I hope to God they unveil it to the public in Detroit so you can all shut-it and start drooling.
Chocolate @ Jan 8th 2008 1:39PM
I hope they clear the snow off before the show ;-)