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Lincoln Contentinal "Coach Doors" aka Sucide doors!


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4 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

One way to do it is make the door closing mechanism motorized? Get into the back seat and hit a button to close the door?

I think this one is more aimed towards limo type fleets then personal usage. 

I doubt it. If it was intended for fleets it wouldn't be limited production 

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2 hours ago, sullynd said:

Looking at that (granted the doors aren’t open entirely) wouldn’t it be a pain for driver and passenger to enter/exit at the same time?

 

Absolutely.  This is no different than my F150 supercab and it’s a pain when you have both doors open and both the driver and rear seat passenger get out at the same time when you’re parked next to something or someone.   There is almost no room to close either door.

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Just now, akirby said:

 

Absolutely.  This is no different than my F150 supercab and it’s a pain when you have both doors open and both the driver and rear seat passenger get out at the same time when you’re parked next to something or someone.   There is almost no room to close either door.

But please, tell me again how suicide doors are better ?

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1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

But please, tell me again how suicide doors are better ?

When you wish to open a door for a client on a conventional four door sedan, they have to step toward the rear of the car to enter the vehicle...problematic especially for valet parking and retrieval whereas with a "coach door" set up, you step to the center of the vehicle to enter. 

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3 hours ago, twintornados said:

The only issue with that is then you'd have to open the front door first to then be able to open the rear doors...Can the B-Max even open the rear sliders without opening the front doors? Both doors, when closed, make up the "B" pillar for side impact protection due to re-enforcement of the rear edge of the front door and front edge of the rear slider and latches in the roof and floor.

The doors on the B-Max can open independently.  Ford also has a patent for a trackless sliding door.  They could use that on any four door vehicle to give it the look of suicide doors when closed and have both the doors "slide" open with no B pillar.  Make the doors powered sliders and that would be really trick.

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I think it's cool in the same kind of way as Gullwing doors. You sacrifice some ease of function. I really hope the last few model years get the 8 speed transmission. That would make an instant improvement. Really all they would have to do is take the transmission engine combo out of the Edge ST but instead of 2.7 it would be the 3.0. 

 

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Its great to finally see a pic of this rumored Continental isnt it?

Originally based on a dealer leak, it sounded like this would be a 250 unit run for an 80th anniversary Continental edition, at $100,000. Then word was it was 80 units. I expected in that case it would be basically a hand built limited model, not affecting the regular production Continental.

But...seeing the leaked pic, I'm thinking it is indeed a regular production model for 2020! Its kind of cool to think Lincoln would make such a significant change to a model after just 3 years. The dealer info leak mentioned a 6" wb stretch and you can see in the pic the rear door and opening is indeed longer, and I think I can see the rear door opening is squarer with no rear wheel cut...this is required to get get solid, secure, full length door hinges top to bottom. So this is not an easy addition by any means, this is pretty extensive with a new quarter panel as well (I suspect the current rear door quarter glass will move to a fixed position in the rear pillar, keeping the same rear window line and look)

Now, will this be a change for all 2020 Continentals? Or is this a new "L" model, to be sold at a premium above the standard length model? If so, will it be called the Continental Town Car?! I suspect whichever it is, this model will offer more rear seat options and features, and I expect a standard power door close will be included.

I'm sure China will eat this one up (maybe all Chinese Continentals will come with this stretch) and with Cadillac dropping the CT6 and XTS here in the US in 2019, this puts Lincoln in a good spot to draw the buyers who want this kind of full size vehicle!

Edited by spudz64
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3 minutes ago, spudz64 said:

Its great to finally see a pic of this rumored Continental isnt it?

Originally based on a dealer leak, it sounded like this would be a 250 unit run for an 80th anniversary Continental edition, at $100,000. Then word was it was 80 units. I expected in that case it would be basically a hand built limited model, not affecting the regular production Continental.

But...seeing the leaked pic, I'm thinking it is indeed a regular production model for 2020! Its kind of cool to think Lincoln would make such a significant change to a model after just 3 years. The dealer info leak mentioned a 6" wb stretch and you can see in the pic the rear door and opening is indeed longer, and I think I can see the rear door opening is squarer with no rear wheel cut...this is required to get get solid, secure, full length door hinges top to bottom. So this is not an easy addition by any means, this is pretty extensive with a new quarter panel as well (I suspect the current rear door quarter glass will move to a fixed position in the rear pillar, keeping the same rear window line and look)

Now, will this be a change for all 2020 Continentals? Or is this a new "L" model, to be sold at a premium above the standard length model? If so, will it be called the Continental Town Car?! I'm sure China will eat this one up (maybe all Chinese Continentals will come with this stretch) and with Cadillac dropping the CT6 and XTS here in the US in 2019, this puts Lincoln in a good spot to draw the buyers who want this kind of full size vehicle!

I have feelers out to a friend on launch team at FRAP. Hopefully they get back to me before the holiday shutdown 

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5 hours ago, akirby said:

 

Absolutely.  This is no different than my F150 supercab and it’s a pain when you have both doors open and both the driver and rear seat passenger get out at the same time when you’re parked next to something or someone.   There is almost no room to close either door.

The difference is the F150 you can’t shut the front door before the back door. These doors are independently operated so the getting pinched isn’t the same I would think. However, you may have to shut one door to get by in a tight spot. But in the f150 you have to open the front door Close the back. Here I see worst case is driver gets out and closes door and then passenger gets out. 

But overall it’s the cool factor. I would buy on in a min. 

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36 minutes ago, fordtech1 said:

The difference is the F150 you can’t shut the front door before the back door. These doors are independently operated so the getting pinched isn’t the same I would think. However, you may have to shut one door to get by in a tight spot. But in the f150 you have to open the front door Close the back. Here I see worst case is driver gets out and closes door and then passenger gets out. 

But overall it’s the cool factor. I would buy on in a min. 

 

That is true.   I was thinking of having both people standing in between the doors and not having much room to close one door.

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6 hours ago, akirby said:

 

They’re umm.....they’re umm.........

 

Cooler!!   That’s it!

Oh, definitely cooler, and a bit practical too.  We were fortunate to have a Continental as a Ford lease car back in 1964.  Being a kid, I was relegated to the back seat.  The '64 Continental had a modest "B" pillar, so entry and egress was very easy.  I recall that adults liked it too.

Maybe someday I'll tell you how I almost tore the rear door off our Continental.  

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I remember riding in my grandma's '67 T-Bird Town Landau with its suicide doors, and thinking how cool that car was. I damn near bought a '64 Continental at a junkyard about 20 years ago for $300 (the body was in incredibly good shape), but I had the thought of restoring Grandma's T-Bird, so I passed on it. 

Turned out that my uncle sold the T-Bird, so I should've bought the Conti...

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This is not reliable but I've heard chatter among the dealers that these were to be custom modified  'on the side' rather than down the assembly line.  I guess it would make some sense instead of creating new assembly processes for a limited run.  

If it's $100K, that's basically Black Label Navigator pricing, that would be way out of step for the car. 

If the doors are 6" Longer, they would definitely need e-closing motors in the hinges, otherwise you need a chauffeur to close them for you.  

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If what @Assimilator says is true this is an absolute waste of resources on a vehicle that is dead in 2 years.  I know some folks will say, “it brings attention to the Lincoln brand”.  Yeah maybe, but the focus should be on producing and selling product that is actually beter than the competition.  Cue the Cadillac comments...

Edited by 02MustangGT
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They have gotten good press on the Navigator and Aviator and justifiably so.  I just don't understand the logic of drawing attention to a model that is apparently dead car walking.

Nothing would please me more than seeing the Continental nameplate continue as a sedan with coach doors on the CD6 platform after the current model is discontinued.   Lincoln could have the only American luxury sedan on the market.   Apparently that is not in the cards.

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12 hours ago, brucelinc said:

 I just don't understand the logic of drawing attention to a model that is apparently dead car walking.

My guess would be that this project was already underway (and funds sunk) before Continental got the ax. It's probably a case of "we've already invested the money, might as well roll out the product".

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When the current Conti was first introduced, I chatted with a Lincoln rep who was training the staff at my dealership.  He told me that suicide doors were considered and there were prototypes.   According to him, they never made it to production for the reasons others have mentioned here.   Instead, they made the back doors on the production model open wider than most to assist with rear entry.

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