Threxx

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...leId=116471#10

A few points of my interest:
- I could have sworn that *this* was the car everyone was saying was going to come out with LED headlights? Are they there and edmunds just didn't mention them or am I thinking of a different car? I know that the Lexus LS460 will be using LED headlights in the "L" version of its car (extended wheelbase), but then again that's a 90k dollar car - this is a 35k dollar car. I was going to be very impressed if they were able to setup effective LED headlamps in a car in that price range.

-Exterior styling looks pretty good to me. The review speaks highly of the way the car drives. But WTF happened with that interior? I don't know much about Ford's platforming but I don't *think* this car shares or derives its platform or anything else with the Mustang, yet looking at a side by side pic of the interior of the Mustang and the interior of the MKZ I can't help but believe the same exact design team designed them. A LOT of the shapes, angles, and feature placements are almost identical between the two IMO. I guess I'm just saying considering one is a four door entry level luxury car and one is a 2 door pony car, both with two different FoMoCo brands stamped on them - they appear to share more than I would like to see.

Good Ph.D

Apparently they didn't hear that Ford did yet another 180 and decided that "MKZ" would actually be, "M-K-Z" and not "Mark Z". I still think its a lame attempt either way, now Im wondering is Acura going to sue them over "MDK" vs "MDX"...

Looking at that interior it does look like it has way too many Mustang pieces in it... Could be purely accidental since Mustang has a retro sixties interior and Lincoln has been trying to pull of the whole Deco interior, which concidentally, was hot the last time Lincoln was hot...

Its a step in the right direction, but like most things Ford its, "Very little, very late"...

guionM

That's going to be on the new full sized Lincoln coming out in '08.

Threxx, you do know the MKZ is simply the re-named Lincoln Zephyr that's been out for a year already, right?

Threxx

Yes - if I didn't that would mean I hadn't even read the article I posted!

But I thought one of the few changes was going to be LED headlights.

AZZKKER

i thought the new audi r8 was going to be the first one to use L.E.D.'s for headlights?

dream '94 Z28

That interior looks like a**. Best part about the car is if you say the name really fast you'rll eventually say 'monkey sex'.

Unfortunately, I can't claim credit for figuring that out.....

teal98

It scores a pretty good hit on the Acura TL, though, in reality, they probably won't often be cross-shopped. More power and torque and it runs on regular. I know there's an update to the TL coming with more power again than this. It'll be interesting to see how it does in a comparison.

Darth Xed

That dash is terrible looking, has a 1970's feel to it, and finally... how many vehciles can Ford use those HVAC vents on?

Z28Wilson

2007 Lincoln MKZ:



1979 Lincoln Continental:





I've often noticed that Darth...even the number and placement of HVAC vents is the same, the only real difference I see is that the 79's guages are square and the 2007's are round. Disco fever baby!

Darth Xed

Wow.

I knew it gave me that "70's groove" ( ) , but I didnt realize that it was THAT reminiscent of it...

SNEAKY NEIL

Yeah, that interior is really bad. The only vehicles I could see Ford getting away with it would be in trucks. I have said before that it has neither a sporty look or a luxurious look, it just looks old and out of place. I think Lincoln has no idea what they want thier cars to be.

routesixtysixer

This car strikes me as the anti-CTS; front drive and too-retro interior as opposed to rear drive and too-contemporary interior. Performance is now at least equivalent to current CTS 3.6, though we know the CTS is getting a significant upgrade in the near future. And since I think the CTS is the primary competition for the MKZ, for once GM isn't the one continually playing catch up, only to be overtaken within months of a major upgrade.

Threxx

I didn't know there was such a thing. I mean short of GM trying to make it look high tech with a bunch of neat looking but useless lights, displays, and gizmos (read: some digital dash cars of the 80s), it would seem that being as contemporary as possible would be a good thing. Some people say retro is, in a limited manner, the new contemporary style, but that doesn't mean everyone wants that. And for the rest of them the more contemporary the better as long as it's not gaudy and overdone - which I wouldn't even begin to think of looking at the new CTS interior.

guionM

OK. Someone has to take an unpopular view, and I guess I'm it.

I like the interior, and here's why:

If you look at alot of the interiors today, they look anywhere from too industrial (ie: Pontiac, the current CTS and most German cars) to straining to be too modern (most Japanese cars) to nice but dull (current Five Hundred, Lacrosse and Impala). There are some that look great but can be a bit gaudy (the 300C with the tortise shell and metallic trim or the Mustang with the dashboard trim package), and others that need color to make them look good (Charger with their SuperBee or Daytona package).

But the Lincoln Zephyr strikes a good balence. The boxy shapes are yesteryear, but IMO looks good and is no different than the yesteryear interior themes of the Solstice, new Camaro, or Cadillac's new dashes.

Although, the interior of the a 70s Lincoln is compared, the Zephyr's..er...MKZ's interior actually looks more like a 60s Lincoln interior, which I think was the goal. Like the Chrysler 300 and Mustang, you arent going to wake up in this interior and question which part of the world the car was made in, nor will you question which brand you're in.

If this interior were in an Impala, a Lacrosse, or even a CTS, I suspect opinions would be alot different. I like how Lincoln took a historic design (afterall, this WAS the Lincoln look for many, many years) and modernized it.

Z28Wilson

Not at all. It looked goofy then just as it does today.

And FWIW, I HATE the Camaro concept's interior.