But no matter about Mays, the MKS is all about Horbury, and therefore Mays needed to stand back and allow the amiable Brit to
do his thing. After all, you don't put a head designer of Horbury's credentials in place just to watch over him all the time. Still, while I've been a fan of Horbury's work for some time, especially after he gave new life to Volvo with the introduction of the current S80 and all models of the Swedish brand since, I am not warming up to his latest creation at all, and I've had over a month to consider it.
The feelings resonating within Ford's Dearborn design centre last month were extremely mixed, mind you, with some feeling even stronger in the negative than I, and others who quite liked the swoopy new styling direction. Horbury, of course, was hardly happy that I immediately shared my contempt for his new MKS, probably akin to insulting one's newborn after a long and arduous gestation period and seemingly longer delivery, but he took my criticisms in stride and was quick to mention that the reason the previous design direction was dropped,
yes the one I like so much, is that it appeared too retro and received criticism for such. OK, I can understand why a designer wouldn't want to be pulled into the past when given a clean sheet of paper to sketch on and with it the opportunity to come to market boasting an all-new design language, but I'm still a bit choked.
I suppose, if I liked what I saw I'd be less perturbed. First of all, before I get branded as a grumbling curmudgeon (or at least more of one than usual) there were many aspects of the MKS that I liked on that first day, all of which once again came to light when seeing it yesterday in Detroit, upon its "official" unveiling.
The first achievement is the car's sumptuous interior, every bit as nice as rivals from Europe and Japan, and in some ways even more luxuriously appointed. The plastics are superb, leather wonderfully soft and pliable, switchgear well executed and fit and finished well above any previous Lincoln (except maybe the Zephyr which is extremely well done), and on par with those same European and Japanese brands. The rear seat is limousine-like, which seems fitting if this is indeed to be Lincoln's flagship, and overall ambience exclusively rich.
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| While I've been a fan of Horbury's work for some time, especially after he gave new life to Volvo, I'm not warming up to his latest creation at all. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
The feelings resonating within Ford's Dearborn design centre last month were extremely mixed, mind you, with some feeling even stronger in the negative than I, and others who quite liked the swoopy new styling direction. Horbury, of course, was hardly happy that I immediately shared my contempt for his new MKS, probably akin to insulting one's newborn after a long and arduous gestation period and seemingly longer delivery, but he took my criticisms in stride and was quick to mention that the reason the previous design direction was dropped,
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| The first achievement is the car's sumptuous interior, every bit as nice as rivals from Europe and Japan. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
I suppose, if I liked what I saw I'd be less perturbed. First of all, before I get branded as a grumbling curmudgeon (or at least more of one than usual) there were many aspects of the MKS that I liked on that first day, all of which once again came to light when seeing it yesterday in Detroit, upon its "official" unveiling.
The first achievement is the car's sumptuous interior, every bit as nice as rivals from Europe and Japan, and in some ways even more luxuriously appointed. The plastics are superb, leather wonderfully soft and pliable, switchgear well executed and fit and finished well above any previous Lincoln (except maybe the Zephyr which is extremely well done), and on par with those same European and Japanese brands. The rear seat is limousine-like, which seems fitting if this is indeed to be Lincoln's flagship, and overall ambience exclusively rich.