I still remember the first time I rode in a Lincoln Continental. It was my grandfather’s ‘everyday’ car as he called it. But all I remember was the supple leather comfy seats. This was an old school luxury car at its finest. I, like many of our readers, always thought of the Lincoln Continental as a luxury car for the ‘older’ driver. But all that has changed. Or did we just grow up? Probably a bit of both.
The Lincoln Continental has seen a lot of changes over the years – many redesigns and technology/engines updates. It even disappeared from the Lincoln line up for a while. But the brand brought it back for 2017. Fully re-designed as the new flagship of quiet luxury in the Lincoln line up.
“The Continental name has long been associated with the best Lincoln has to offer, and this car delivers on that promise,” said Kumar Galhotra, president, The Lincoln Motor Company. “With this all-new model, we’ve focused on creating more human, personally tailored experiences for our clients – providing what we call quiet luxury.”
Design
The Lincoln Continental wants to play with it’s pricier competitors that have taken hold in the luxury car market. And it does so in spades. The Continental comes across as a touch grander in every direction than the Mercedes E-Class. The lines all flow nicely and the proportions seem almost voluptuous. The new face of Lincoln is a Bentley-esque grille. What we love about the Continental’s classic lines are the unexpected touches the brand has added. The door handles have been moved higher up on the door and blend in perfectly with the window trim – leaving the sides of the door sleeker.
Before you step inside – reach your hand out. The car responds and lights up, sensing the owner approaching. As you would expect, the interior is full of luxury finishes like real wood and soft leather. The seats might just be the most comfortable seats we have ever tried; they even come with optional built-in massage treatment. Rear-seat occupants enjoy the full limousine treatment with elevated seating and plenty of legroom.
The Continental comes with all the bell and whistles you would expect in a luxury car. A dash mounted touch screen, SYNC® 3, concisely presents audio, phone, available navigation and other features that can also be controlled by your voice. We love the 19-speaker Revel Ultima audio system using patented Clari-Fi™ music reconstruction technology to enhance digital sources for clear, crisp, dynamic sound. It’s like a rock concert on the road.
Power
An all-new Lincoln-exclusive 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 engine produces up to 400 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque means that this baby can fly. Available all-wheel drive paired with Dynamic Torque Vectoring transfers torque on demand to the appropriate rear wheel through corners – offering confident handling. Lincoln Drive Control provides the driver a choice of three settings – comfort, normal and sport – adapting steering and suspension setups to tailor ride and handling. Continuously controlled damping helps isolate Continental from road imperfections, while adaptive steering technology improves steering efficiency and effort.
Of course it comes with all the new standard safety features you would expect like pedestrian detect and pre-collision assist. The car also comes equipped with a 360-degree camera system that uses views from cameras mounted in the grille, decklid and 180-degree side mirrors. Finally, it comes with park-assist to make your life a little more stress free.
The all-new Lincoln Continental starts at $51,400.
