If you're going to launch an all-new car, don't hide it behind a wall of pretty classics
It’s only right and proper that long-established brands lean on their heritage. History sells cars if it connects with the people.
Ford, Fiat, Mercedes and BMW have all made a big play of their models of yesteryear in an effort to make sales. Mini has more heritage than most, even if the Issigonis era is now several places removed from the latest models.
But a brand needs to ask some searching questions when planning a motor show stand that suggest heritage is all they have. Particularly when just months earlier it cited the then-forthcoming MKZ as the saviour of the struggling brand.
That brand is Lincoln. Half a dozen Continentals and Zephyr Tourings sat proudly on the luxury marque’s stand at the LA motor show, as beautiful as they were large.
The new model was almost completely hidden from view in a tinted glass-walled box that resembled a tiny showroom. The doors were manned by Lincoln heavies.
As a result, few motoring hacks were aware of the car, which is the first of four to be introduced over the coming years. Even fewer took a look inside. Not even Autocar’s snapper, Stan, could shoot it. A black car, in a dark room, with no space to fit the car in his view finder. Column inches will almost certainly elude it.
Me? I found the 1956 Continental MkII and 1961 Continental Sedan far more interesting.