New Zephyr Pulls All-American Styling from Asian Underpinnings
Lincoln unveiled a midsize sedan at the New York International Auto Show, reportedly built off of Mazda6 architecture.
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| Lincoln unveiled the upcoming midsize 2006 Zephyr at the New York International Auto Show last week. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
As attractive as the car looks, automotive media attending the debut could be overheard chuckling about whether the luxury marque had secured the rights to the name. Why? As it seems, Ford Motor Co., Lincoln's parent, embarrassingly forgot to get naming rights for the Futura sedan, the Taurus replacement expected to be released late 2005 as a 2006 model. It rides on Mazda6 architecture as well.
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| Oops, Ford Motor Co. apparently forgot to get naming rights for its future Futura sedan. Maybe Falcon is available? (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
While Ford has time enough to find another suitable name, it's not the first time this has happened. The automaker's pivotal halo vehicle, the GT, was to be named the GT40 before the trademark owner put up his price to an unreasonable level, and this was only last year.
The new Lincoln is dubbed Zephyr, paying homage to a model designation that dates back to 1936. Whether the name stands or not the new car drew positive response, borrowing styling cues from recent concepts while introducing a few elements of its own. Prior to the launch a Lincoln spokesman said the "production teaser" would look much the same when it arrives in showrooms in 2005 as a 2006 model year vehicle, less a few interior details.