The arrival of the MKS sedan last year spurred hopes that it might revitalize Ford’s historically uncompetitive luxury brand, helping Lincoln to better compete with Cadillac, Lexus, and other aspirational marques. Most of the hype stemmed from the stunning MKR concept that debuted at the 2007 Detroit auto show; it floated the idea that future Lincolns wouldn’t be dowdy, livery-service specials like the current Town Car.

As it turns out, the MKS is indeed light-years beyond that ancient Panther-platformed barge in both styling and performance. But the production 2009 MKS came to market lacking the MKR’s exaggerated proportions, rear-wheel-drive chassis, and twin-turbocharged V-6—which then carried the aggressive TwinForce moniker. The reality of the MKS’s front-wheel-drive foundation (shared with the Ford Taurus) and naturally aspirated, 3.7-liter V-6 making 275 hp and 276 lb-ft of torque put it at a disadvantage with more powerful luxury sedans. Read more »

To your list of things that will never happen, you can add one more: The hot-blooded pilotes of this staff will never rank this new Lincoln above a BMW, any BMW, in a comparison test. But the Supreme Court is not the only enclave of divided opinions; the contrarians among us think Ford has something going on here.

Consider the driver’s office. BMW and Benz, not to mention Honda and Acura designers—and Jaguar, too, now that we think of it—could learn much from a few hours in this Lincoln. The wide-screen dash display is so bright and legible you could read it with patches on both eyes. And the driver interface—the buttons or knobs or joysticks or what the Ultimate Driving Machine calls iDrive (i for infuriation?)—seems to explain itself at a glance here. The MKS combines a touch screen with just the right number of hard buttons and, even better, knobs. They’re all positioned high where you can see them, on the center stack in a remarkably simple array, angled just right for easy use. Strong, white, sans-serif characters on dark backgrounds encourage info to leap into your mind, whether from the screen or the dials of the cluster. Nothing blanks out when you put on your polarized sunglasses, either. Eat your hearts out, Benz and BMW drivers. Read more »

Ford’s “premium” car lineup is engaged in a deadly game of last brand standing. Now that Jaguar, Range Rover and Aston Martin are casualities of war (i.e. someone else’s problem), it’s down to Volvo and Lincoln. Official denials aside, Volvo’s the next to go. Lincoln must carry that weight (a long time). And so we meet the front wheel-drive-based Lincoln MKS, Ford’s first post-Carmageddon luxury car. Has Lincoln’s sibs’ dismissal finally liberated the brand from badge-engineered mediocrity?

Genetically, no. The MKS is built on the same platform underpinning the Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, several Volvos and the Ford Flex (sort of). So if you want to represent the streets and diss the MKS’ D3ness, you can slight the big Lincoln as a tarted-up Taurus or a cheaped-out Volvo. Luckily for Lincoln, the brand’s current core audience has no idea what I’m talking about.

The MKS’ design is as inoffensive/memorable as its nomenclature. The split grill is meant to become a brand trademark, created to stop the Lincoln logo from getting lost in the chrome (what logo?). Despite the nasal blingery, the car’s British-born designer claims the Lincoln owner views the MKS as a “reward for hard work, not simply an outward symbol of status.” Just as well, really. The MKS scores an F on the all-important Mom test (would your mom recognize it immediately). Still, there are some charming features, such as the too-small taillights cribbed from a Maserati Quattroporte. Read more »