February 17th, 2005

2006 Lincoln Zephyr strives for wider appeal

Nuanced tweaks in design and platform produce nuanced car

In name, Lincoln's new $30,000 (approximately) sedan refers back to the 1936 Zephyr, the first entry-level Lincoln

The fine-tuning of J Mays’ styling, as featured on the large 2005 Ford Five Hundred, is somewhat nuanced.

In form, note the A-pillars sweeping inward across the z-plane. More smooth than rigid, this is a pleasing touch that emphasizes the base of the car over the glass house. The wheel-arches are softly turned outward at their outermost corners, rather than being the fixed-radii circles we have seen on several of Mays’ designs.

Standing at some paces from the car, the overall form appears as a wedge, with a softly convex grille and a near-flush rear bumper connected by a beltline that is not quite parallel to the ground. Mays again features in that the front bumper, like the rear, is near-flush - thanks to a layer of polycarbonate/ polyester plastic composite, placed behind the front fascia and absorbing sufficient energy in a collision so as to not require a protruding bumper

One indication that Zephyr differs from Fords and Mercurys that have shared its geometric approach is the appearance of brightwork: grille, waterline, wheels, and rear badging are coated in chrome, the car drawing attention to itself as has been Lincoln tradition.

Lincoln LS enthusiasts, increasingly moving against the grain as this remarkably poised and powerful car fades from the public eye, have regularly cited its chrome as being key to its appeal.

In its form, Zephyr's grille has been allowed to flow below the base of the headlamps, and to gradually turn from vertical to horizontal at its base, rather than being resolutely rectangular. The subtle contrast between grille and headlamps permits each to fulfill its purpose: the former, to be emphasized for its expansiveness; and the latter, to peer outward in the suspicious manner that has characterized several visually sinister Lincolns of the past

Also drawing the eye are large LED tail-lamps in the rear, perhaps one of the car’s more controversial aspects.

Their determined angularity, and their easily comprehended outline, both suggest that they could be more suited to a smaller footprint. Part of the issue is that, with the car’s clean surfacing and the need for a low lift-over height, the tail-lights have a vast expanse of metal to break up.

The rear window is traditionally Mays, ending at the exact point that the flanks’ window frames leave the C-pillar.

The high rear deck is a touch bulky, but is likely aerodynamically optimal - and the long rear overhang affords a 15.8-cubic foot trunk

Inside the Zephyr is one of the best dashboards to sit behind in this corner of the market. Real trees went into its production, with wood; leather seats, and chrome-tinged details lending a traditional feel to the satin-nickel-finished console.

Director of interior design strategy Marek Reichman notes this blend of classic and modern, citing the dark ebony wood as contributing to the former, and light maple wood and aluminum to the latter. It works, well enough to the point that this is one of the few interiors in recent memory to be more attractive in person than in the controlled lighting of press shots


Lincoln Zephyr 2006 interior


Mercury Milan 2006 interior


Mercury Milan 2006

Note the horizontal (thus more traditionally American) layout of the Zephyr's satin-nickel-and-wood dash-board, contrasting the more vertically-stacked, European layout of Milan's.

This notwithstanding, one of the issues for Lincoln is that Mercury's renaissance (perhaps best exemplified by the Milan) combined with Lincoln's move downmarket now means that the mid-level division is more likely to verge on Lincoln's territory than to recall an upscale Ford.

As has been traditional for the Lincoln-Mercury sales and marketing division since the end of the World War II, both brands are served by the same dealership network

The 1936 Zephyr is widely recognized to have been the first successful streamlined car.

Its namesake is not quite as focused, but in that very relative lack of focus - and the minimalist budget it has required - may lie the benefit of mainstream appeal.

The resulting success could give Lincoln the profitability it needs to go back and ask Bill Ford for more money the next time around

Lincoln, according to author Thomas E. Bonsall, "suffers as a result of our distorted cultural bias toward things American.

"When it comes to Mass Culture, we think – unreasonably – that no one else in the world can hold a candle to us.

"When it comes to quality (from luxury goods to the fine arts) it is just the reverse. We automatically grant special status to things foreign, while reflexively denigrating our own achievements or, perhaps worse, ignoring them altogether."

Bonsall goes on to ask, "every educated American knows of Picasso, but how many could name a 20th Century American painter?

"It is no different with high-quality automobiles. If it is built in the Black Forest by elves, it is accorded an instant respect an American car maker has to struggle for years to attain. In the area of our finer accomplishments, people around the world tend to have a better appreciation for us than we do ourselves.

"After all, Picasso drove a Lincoln." (‘The Lincoln Story,’ Stanford University Press, 2004)

In a peripheral sense, Lincoln's newest car appears to be up against the exact perception issue that Bonsall cites.

Its luxury - what the driver sees - is American. Yet its mass culture (in the sense that the platform for this entry-level Lincoln derives from the Mazda6), foreign. Both of these aspects thus counter what Bonsall suggests the American public tends to favor.

Yet both have been tempered. Constrained by a budget that restricts its profitability aspirations, this Lincoln needs more volume - and thus seeks a more mainstream appeal: the best of both of its American and foreign worlds, striding the line between luxury good and mass culture, and exhibiting somewhat multinational execution.

 

Foreign Commonality, and American Differentiation

The man overseeing the new car's design, Ford Group Vice President of Design and Chief Creative Officer J Mays, previously worked in the Black Forest, penning Volkswagen’s New Beetle and assisting with the Audi TT. In doing so, Mays developed a love of geometry: a fondness for parallel waterlines and fixed-radii circles.

Meanwhile, under this Lincoln's body, Ford’s global resources have been tapped in procuring perhaps the only midsize front-wheel-drive platform in America that is capable not only of holding a corner at speed, but of delivering the linear, precise, and unpolluted feedback expected of a driver’s car: the Mazda6’s CD3.

Combine these two foreign philosophies into a brand that has long been virtually abandoned, trucks apart (see article: ‘Lincoln languishes as PAG plunders’); tweak them; focus on American refinement and interior quality and ambience, and we have the 2006 Lincoln Zephyr – Lincoln's first new car in five years.

However, Lincoln is neither the first nor the only division to receive the platform.

 

Maximizing Mercury's Gain

Somewhere between 2003 and 2005, the press stopped talking about the impending demise of Mercury. Part of the change has been the realization that Mercury's raison d'être lies in providing entry-level vehicles to Lincoln dealerships.

Moreover, we have also witnessed surprising evidence of increased effort at Ford to differentiate Mercury. Using the better platforms that Ford provides - namely, those of the Escape; Five Hundred, and Fusion - Mercury's tweaks have a better chance of succeeding. The division talks of progressive style, amounting to vertical, waterfall grilles; HID headlamps that tower slightly above them; LED rear lights, and chrome-ringed analogue clocks, together with suede inserts and satin-aluminum.

Last week in Chicago, Peter Horbury (of Volvo renaissance fame) presented the 2006 Milan, a car Mercury calls "uncommonly good." For as much SEAT Leon as there is to the Milan's rear, one might also consider that it seems apt: Mercury wants a Eurocentric appeal.

The issue with all of this, of course, is that Mercury has leapt from being simply a division of upscale Fords to potentially verging on Lincoln's territory. That both sit in the same dealerships makes differentiation critical.

 

Minimizing Lincoln's Loss

As we noted in the aforementioned article (dated August of 2003), expecting Lincoln to once again challenge Cadillac is currently unrealistic. The difference in allotted budgets is approximately eight-fold, and Cadillac - unlike Lincoln, which was folded into the Lincoln-Mercury sales and marketing organization in 1947 - has regularly retained control over its engineering and manufacturing.

Complicating Lincoln's authenticity further is that the Zephyr will sit next to the 2006 Mercury Milan in Lincoln/ Mercury showrooms. Both cars are derived from the same platform - and both feature identical mechanical upgrades to the basic Ford Fusion.

Given this, one must ask: will Mercury's gain (in using better Ford platforms than previously) overlap with Lincoln's loss (in its '06 Zephyr's commonality with Ford, rather than with Jaguar, as in the '00 Lincoln LS)?

The combination of Lincoln's limited budget with its Ford/ Mercury sharing of mechanical pieces makes differentiation that might justify Lincoln's higher prices excruciatingly difficult.

However, if the platform itself is inherently rigid, it can be tuned to suit a more relaxed character than that of the Mazda6 or Milan. Moreover, this leaves money to maximize cheaper, peripheral differentiation.

If Mercury is to be Eurocentric, Lincoln peripherally pushes itself to be as American as possible, without offending the mainstream upon whose numbers it increasingly depends as the line between volume and profit blurs.

Lincoln has - now as almost sixty years ago - to make the best of the corporate cards it has been dealt. Take your lemons, and make Lincolns!

Thus has Lincoln left the experimentation to Cadillac and Chrysler. The former has only grown stronger in recent years, while the latter is now retraining its dealers to tout the rebirth of rear-wheel-drive, having spent over twenty years telling us (in various forms) that "America (was) not going to be pushed around anymore."

Meanwhile, Lincoln seems content to permit its new entry-level car to tout safety and pander to fears about rear-wheel-drive in poor weather conditions. The styling is safe... comfortable; the interior, a lesson in pampering in this class.

To paraphrase Rover's old tagline, relax... it's a Lincoln.

 

American Differentiation: Tweaks to Styling

The aforementioned tweaks in Zephyr's two foreign philosophies - J Mays' styling and the CD3 platform - retain an aura of conservatism, yet add a tinge of upscale jewelry that Americanizes the more Eurocentric appeal of the Milan. It is inside Zephyr, away from the brief glances of those who might dismiss it as attempting to be something it is not, that it most differs from the other two cars - and most resembles Lincolns of old.

The fine-tuning of J Mays’ formerly strictly geometric styling, as featured on the large 2005 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, is somewhat nuanced. The first indication that Zephyr differs from the strictest of Mays' geometric approaches is the appearance of brightwork: grille, waterline, wheels, and rear badging are coated in chrome, the car drawing attention to itself as has been Lincoln tradition. Note that Lincoln LS enthusiasts, increasingly moving against the grain as this remarkably poised and powerful car fades from the public eye, have regularly cited its chrome as being key to its appeal.

Also drawing the eye are large LED tail-lamps at the rear, perhaps one of Zephyr's more controversial aspects. Their determined angularity, and their easily comprehended outline, both suggest that they could be more suited to a smaller footprint. Part of the issue is that, with the car’s clean surfacing and the need for a low lift-over height, the tail-lights have a vast expanse of metal to break up.

In the same vein, other details are permitted more freedom than has been Mays’ way: the grille has been allowed to flow below the base of the headlamps, and to gradually turn from vertical to horizontal at its base, rather than being resolutely rectangular. The subtle contrast between grille and headlamps permits each to fulfill its purpose: the former, to be emphasized for its expansiveness; and the latter, to peer outward in the suspicious manner that has characterized several visually sinister Lincolns of the past.

Finally, in form, note the A-pillars sweeping inward across the z-plane. More smooth than rigid, this is a pleasing touch that emphasizes the base of the car over the glass house. The wheel-arches are softly turned outward at their outermost corners, rather than being the fixed-radii circles we have seen on several of Mays’ designs. The rear window is more traditionally Mays, ending at the exact point that the flanks’ window frames leave the C-pillar. Standing at some paces from the car, the overall form appears as a wedge, with a softly convex grille and a near-flush rear bumper connected by a beltline that is not quite parallel to the ground. Mays again features in that the front bumper, like the rear, is near-flush – thanks to a layer of polycarbonate/ polyester plastic composite, placed behind the front fascia and absorbing sufficient energy in a collision so as to not require a protruding bumper. The high rear deck is a touch bulky, but is likely aerodynamically optimal - and the long rear overhang affords a 15.8-cubic foot trunk.

For all the picking and choosing that the Zephyr makes, geometrically, we must add a quick comment on the man whose styling strategy is being evolved. In our view, J Mays has borne the brunt of some disingenuous criticism. Although his strict interpretation of geometry may result in cars whose style is effortless to absorb, one suspects that the strategy's true impact will be felt years down the road. Mercedes-Benz used to design cars to similarly exacting proportion and form, and their evergreen visual simplicity not only focused the eye on stance (a large part of the gravitas appeal), but was depreciation-proof. Moreover, a Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are no more visually interesting than is a Ford Five Hundred. All three are designed in a manner that is easily understandable from the moment one claps eyes on them. Yet where the Five Hundred resolves itself geometrically in the mind, leaving an impression that is quietly pleasant if not particularly staggering, the Camry and Accord are comparatively frustrating in their random juxtaposition of edges and bulges for no apparent gain.

That said, the Zephyr is a full step upward in price from the Five Hundred, and thus some glitter is expected with the gravitas. Remaining of the quietly pleasant school of thought yet raising the quotients of aggression; elegance, and premium appeal in equal measure. Zephyr’s wedge form and squinting headlamps give it a hint of aggression; its inward-sloping glasshouse lend it elegance, and its chrome touches present an upscale front – yet none of the three aspects is pushed to the forefront, thus rendering the car more deliberately balanced than Lincolns of the past have been.

It seeks a more mainstream appeal.

 

American Differentiation: Interior Ambience

Inside, however, Zephyr has been forced to differentiate itself from its Milan stablemate. Zephyr's dashboard is traditionally American  in its horizontal form and expansively satin-nickel finish. Should the form's unmistakable nationality please you, we must add that the Zephyr's is one of the best cockpits to occupy in this corner of the market. Real trees went into its production, with wood; leather seats, and chrome-tinged details lending still more traditional feel. Director of interior design strategy Marek Reichman notes a blend of classic and modern, citing the dark ebony wood as contributing to the former, and light maple wood and aluminum to the latter. It works, well enough to the point that this is one of the few interiors in recent memory to be more attractive in person than in the controlled lighting of press shots.

The interior - and its THX-II, 10-speaker, dual-subwoofer sound system - is where the bulk of the budget has been spent.

 

Foreign Commonality, Tweaked for American Refinement

Key changes to CD3, shared with the Milan, are largely a 30mm greater width, and a 55mm greater length. Expect a few tweaks with regard to the absorbers, particularly given that CD3 now mounts the steering gear to the front subframe for reduced NVH. This is a more refined approach to the exhuberance we have previously seen from this platform.

We must commend Ford and Mazda for the front suspension. Purists often shun the cost-effectiveness of MacPherson struts, due to the tendency of the roll center to migrate in hard cornering, and CD3 features a double-wishbone, coil-over-damper suspension. Amusingly enough, Earle MacPherson was once Ford's chief engineer!

The effective kingpin axis is placed further outboard, reducing the scrub radius and isolating the steering from undesirable feedback.  Lincoln fits large, low-profile, standard 225/50 17-inch tires (optional on the Fusion and Milan, albeit standard on the Mazda6), which have forced more steering assist at lower speeds (albeit that Lincoln promises linear torque build-up as speeds increase). The large rubber was selected for being the largest the company could fit for improved grip without imposing excessive road noise on the cabin. In this effort, Lincoln also credits exclusive 4.8mm-thick side windows and "advanced" door seals, particularly in the lower rocker area.

Despite the tires, Zephyr's front-to-rear static weight distribution is 61/39, on par with those of larger Acuras, and it is similarly unlikely to provide the last word in roadholding. On a promising note, however, Zephyr weighs 3,406 lbs., little more than a Fusion despite the added equipment. As on the V6 Milan, Zephyr's rear stabilizer has been upgraded from the Fusion's 16mm to a 17mm unit, the better to both manage the extra weight and generate cornering forces at the rear more quickly.

As on the Five Hundred, Ford's Duratec 3.0-liter V6 sits under the hood, using Variable Cam Timing i-VCT to crank out 210hp and 200lb-ft. Despite a new six-speed automatic (derived from a partnership with General Motors in a more two-way affair than the 1949-1953 wholesale installation of GM Hydramatics in Lincolns), the engine is the car's weakest link. Lincoln has tried to at least refine it, providing engine mounts that are both fluid-filled and mounted atop the engine in positions geometrically arranged to more accurately focus on particular vibrations. Even the engine cover is made from sandwiched sheet metal to help absorb noise.

Back in 1936, the Zephyr was the first streamlined vehicle to see commercial success. In 2006, aerodynamics plays a part in the refinement of its namesake. Lincoln claims that the side mirrors (responsible for the majority of wind noise on contemporary cars) are tuned to direct wind away from the glass.

 

Encouraging the Domestic Faithful,
Reaching Out to the Import Buyer

For better or worse, this is a Lincoln that seeks a more mainstream appeal.

They should have launched it well before the Fusion or Milan. They could have waited for an all-wheel-drive CD3 variant, is known to be on its way for use in other vehicles. Yet perhaps the most critical mistake may be the marketing. So obsessed is Lincoln with the mainstream, in its paranoid search for volume, that the company itself suggests that Zephyr offers "a driving experience that can be both luxurious and spirited, according to the driver’s desires." We would decidedly advise against this nature of promotion; a well-defined car – as a product from a storied brand should be - does not  cater to every whim, no matter how quietly pleasant its lines!

Mind you, although the Zephyr comes closest among individual Lincolns to being all things to all people, Lincoln strategy as a whole has long been similarly disparate. As Bonsall notes, chronicling the lack of continuity in Lincoln's line-ups between 1949 and 1965, "unlike Cadillac, which had a successful formula it relentlessly pursued during good times and bad - except, significantly, during the 1980s when it faltered disastrously - Lincoln has not had a well-thought out, consistent mission or theme.

"Instead, the brand has been sent hither and yon in search of the magic formula that would transform it into America's premier luxury car."

Despite strategic missteps, Lincoln still has tremendous brand equity, particularly in Detroit. Even as the Zephyr was relatively ignored by the media at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, one of the officers in Cobo Hall's security department swore up and down to us that this would be his next car.

He barely remembered the Versailles, the last entry-level Lincoln. Indeed, Lincoln PR would just as soon forget it, too, briefly mentioning it only in its pioneering use of halogen headlamps. Versailles, like the Zephyr, was based on Ford underpinnings (Granada/ Mercury Monarch). It failed to differentiate itself both visually and dynamically from its siblings - themselves possessed of all the underachievement one might have expected forced downsizing to produce - and made no impact on the market.

With a much better platform, Lincoln is at it again. The relatively disappointing performance of the LS on the market has forced Ford's premium American division to share pieces with Ford, rather than Jaguar.

Moreover, where the LS was rear-wheel-drive and far more dynamically focused than it has been given credit for being, the Zephyr goes the front-wheel-drive route with a platform simultaneously tuned for an inoffensive combination of good roadholding and pleasant refinement. With Zephyr, Lincoln quietly encourages a dwindling group of Lincoln car enthusiasts while seeking cross-shopping from those who might have been turned off by Lincoln’s brashness in the past.

Can Lincoln enthusiasts be quietly encouraged? Those who remember the 1949 Lincolns, which Iron Age called "conservative - but highly pleasing," might well respond.

Indeed, that era provides an engaging parallel to today's Zephyr. Bonsall tells the story of Lincoln's 1952 Cosmopolitan which, he recalls, sent the sales and marketing people at Lincoln-Mercury into a panic due to how small Earle MacPherson at corporate engineering had demanded it be.

"The only aspect of the physical car over which Lincoln-Mercury had any real authority was the interior, so they set to work with a vengeance to do everything possible to make the new Lincoln a tour de force in interior design.

"Most of the basic interior styling themes... were executed in a newer, fresher, and far more colorful fashion."

Today, fifty-four years on, plus ça change, plus ça reste le même chose.

The irony is that the Zephyr will depend - as Bonsall so eloquently illustrates - on the public's appreciation for American luxury in that this is how it differentiates itself from the increasingly Eurocentric Mercury brand. This may be a quiet Lincoln, but it is still an American design.

However, it must also be mainstream enough to appear palatable to a wider group - a group less likely to be critical that perhaps Zephyr does not go far enough.

Will the peripheral - if obvious - differences between Milan and Zephyr be worth the additional outlay, even as both cars (unlike, for instance, the Honda Accord and Acura TSX mechanical twins) are sold through the same dealership network? Has the Lincoln Zephyr's peripheral approach been structured for profitability? Will the relative lack of focus in this approach lend Zephyr the mainstream appeal that will make it successful enough for Lincoln to get more money out of Bill Ford the next time around?

We shall see – but, at $30,000, the Zephyr certainly has the amenities to dazzle the upwardly-mobile mainstream.