Despite the traditional cues, the Concept C is not without a youthful sense of humor. Perhaps you've heard how some MINI and Jeep drivers wave or flash their lights when they are passed by someone driving the same type of vehicle. The Concept C takes this bit of roadway camaraderie and automates it: Every time a Concept C detects another Concept C driving in the opposite direction, it 'winks' one of its lights.
Open Wide and Say "Ikea"
Open the Concept C's pillarless suicide doors (reminiscent of those employed on the 1961 Continental), and both driver and passengers alike are greeted with a wall-to-wall minimalist treat. Bench style seats are a nod to Lincoln's past and make good use of the car's width, and thanks to thin frames, they also help maximize interior space. We've seen thin seat technology for years now on showcars, and their clean lines and space savings will hopefully find their way into an actual production vehicle soon. It's also interesting to note how the Concept C's seats themselves are sculpted, as when you sit in them, your lower legs naturally kick out an almost recliner-like fashion. We were actually able to sit inside the Concept C at a special preview last week, and though we thought this might feel off-putting, in our experience it was rather relaxing and allowed rear seat passengers to make the most of the space underneath the front seats.
Despite its short footprint, the C's interior feels light, airy, and capacious. In part, that's a function of the interior's relentlessly white color, but it's also due in large measure to the glass roof that mimics the form of the Lincoln cross emblem. The minimalist floating instrument panel and hubless steering wheel also do their part to reduce claustrophobia, and the latter is another styling cue that looks and feels decidedly French in execution. The light gray recycled wood veneer adds a subtle touch of much-needed contrast and cuts down appropriately on what otherwise could have been a very severe and clinical feeling accommodations. The interior's potential for austerity has been further softened through the use of prominent stitching and laser-engraved seat etching (the color in the floral pattern is actually the next layer of leather peeking through).
The dashboard itself is an interesting form, and not only because of what it doesn't have: push buttons, physical gauges, or air vents. Instead, most of the information readouts are handled digitally, and the slim air vents run in a ribbon around the border of the glass roof panel in the roof. The leather-wrapped instrument panel is dominated a center touchscreen control and by three display sections that show information relevant to both driver and passenger. To the left side of the speedometer, vehicle-related functions like fuel economy and vehicle diagnostics are displayed. On the right side, occupant-related information is shown, including HVAC settings, audio controls, navigation, and phone. The center screen houses a future-think version of SYNC, which includes an avatar persona named EVA that vehicle occupants can "talk" with to perform functions like adjusting the climate control, making phone calls, and setting nav destinations using conversational speech (as opposed to memorized commands). Passengers can while away the hours looking out of the large greenhouse, or they can access the Internet without distracting the driver thanks to a privacy screen. (For a video demonstration, click here).
Underhood:
You might expect a concept like the Lincoln C to be powered by some sort of exotic propulsion technology - a fuel cell, perhaps, or maybe a plug-in diesel hybrid with unobtanium batteries. Instead, Ford envisions the car powered by a more viable near-term powertrain solution: a 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine backed by a dual-clutch PowerShift six-speed transmission and stop/start technology. Ford sees this turbocharged, central direct-injection four-cylinder as good for 180 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque, while returning an estimated 43 miles-per-gallon on the highway.
What Does It All Mean?
So, what's the point of the Concept C is it merely some pie-in-the-sky Lincoln, a case of letting the designers blow off a little creative steam? We might have thought so, but after a recent afternoon at Ford's Dearborn Tech Center inspecting the car and talking with the Blue Oval's full slate of design gurus and executives, we began to change our mind.
When we asked Ford's group vice president of Design, J Mays, point-blank if the C is a conceptual trial balloon designed to gauge if Lincoln can play as a global brand (in markets where small premium cars are already accepted), he was quick to nip that notion in the bud. Ford, Mays astutely pointed out, must focus its energies on righting its fortunes in the U.S. before it could ever entertain taking Lincoln abroad. Given the unusual width of this car, the Concept C would actually be ill equipped to drive on many European or Japanese streets anyhow, and narrowing the car would probably prevent Lincoln-specific design cues like the full-width taillights from working visually.
In talking with Peter Horbury, executive director of Design, The Americas, we learned that Ford sees a real future in small footprint luxury automobiles. To this point, the U.S. market's message has been mixed, with cheeky premium cars from MINI and smart beating sales expectations, while others like the Audi A3, BMW 1-Series, and Volvo C30 have struggled to find an audience. But Horbury believes that Americans are moving away from the "value by the pound" mentality, as they are increasingly willing to pay top dollar for small, stylish, quality products like Apple's iPod and high-end mobile telephones. The recent regression of gasoline prices has certainly hurt the segment's odds for success in the short term, but whether it's fuel prices, public tastes, or emissions standards that conspire to make small cars a more viable solution, Ford sees small cars going upscale in America.
So... if Dearborn is serious about marketing a smaller Lincoln, who does it envision as the Concept C's prototypical buyer? Mays told us that the car intended to attract hip urban-dwelling, loft-living thirty-somethings with a flair for contemporary design. Fair enough. But that customer description is exactly the marketing demographic Ford told us they were tasking Mercury with attracting just a couple of years ago.
Reading between the lines, we think the Concept C is a concept car that is charged with getting the American consumer comfortable with the idea of a smaller Lincoln, in part so that they can expand the marque's footprint to absorb Mercury. If we are right, to dismiss the C as a bit of concept car confectionery is shortsighted. Instead, the C can reasonably be looked upon as a bellwether offering one that is heavily freighted with meaning and importance that extends beyond Lincoln to envelope Ford's entire portfolio of brands. If that is the case, the Concept C offers good reasons to be excited about the Blue Oval's future - unless you're a Mercury fan.
