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David Woodhouse Resigns


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13 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Funny because I didn't really see it as that crazy aside from the grille.  It'll be interesting to see how they go forward design-wise.  I agree with The Handler above in that it'd be nice to see them refine their current design language and move it forward and not ditch it for another styling direction.

We never saw Wolff’s work, he was moved to FAP in 2015

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It's worth noting that Wolff's work - even the grille - wasn't at all controversial when it was designed cohesively.

I don't have any inside info to indicate it will happen, but I'd love to see him at the helm of Lincoln design once again. His concepts may have been a bit too radical for circa-2014 Ford and Lincoln, but today it would be a much better fit. 

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12 hours ago, RadicalX said:

After Lincoln show the Corsair, which would theoretically be the last Lincoln to complete the whole modern lineup, he decides to go away. It looks like he waited to complete all the car changes for the signature grille to make the decision.

Interestingly, Autoline Daily reported yesterday that apparently the "next gen" Corsair is set to debut for 2024 according to I think it was suppliers to the Louisville plant.  Sounds more like a refresh timeline to me.

1 hour ago, PREMiERdrum said:

It's worth noting that Wolff's work - even the grille - wasn't at all controversial when it was designed cohesively.

I don't have any inside info to indicate it will happen, but I'd love to see him at the helm of Lincoln design once again. His concepts may have been a bit too radical for circa-2014 Ford and Lincoln, but today it would be a much better fit. 

They'd have to make it look more "expensive" though - apparently that was a knock on the split wing.

8 hours ago, jpd80 said:

We never saw Wolff’s work, he was moved to FAP in 2015

We saw his grille at any rate.

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3 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Interestingly, Autoline Daily reported yesterday that apparently the "next gen" Corsair is set to debut for 2024 according to I think it was suppliers to the Louisville plant.  Sounds more like a refresh timeline to me.

They'd have to make it look more "expensive" though - apparently that was a knock on the split wing.

We saw his grille at any rate.

That wasn’t his grille, that decision was already part of the continental by the time he got there,

 

the timing on NG Corsair sounds about right

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17 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

That wasn’t his grille, that decision was already part of the continental by the time he got there,

 

the timing on NG Corsair sounds about right

The split wing wasn't Wolffe's grille?

 

2024?  4 years for an all new model?

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47 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Yeah, I know.  I was saying Wolff's split wing grille apparently didn't look premium/classy enough to people, which is why they switched to the Conti's look.

Keep in mind though... he was asked to design the 2013 MKZ with a version of the split-wing grille which had already been introduced with the '09 MKS, '10 MKZ/MKT, and '11 MKX. While his version was decidedly more handsome than the others, and was designed with context and purpose ("meant to evoke an eagle with outstretched wings), it was a theme he was forced to stick with. 

IIRC, it was rather controversial inside the Glass House at the time that he turned the vertical slats within each wing sideways and diagonal, becoming more whisker-like. The 2013 MKZ was the best-looking production Lincoln product in a decade when it was released. The guy has chops. 

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2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Yeah, I know.  I was saying Wolff's split wing grille apparently didn't look premium/classy enough to people, which is why they switched to the Conti's look.

Wolff didn’t do split wing grille either, he came across from Cadillac and worked at Holden before that. The split wing grille also pre dated his arrival

he wanted to use  conti grille on Mkz bu the front was locked in  before he started with Ford. Bottom line was he wanted to change styling that Fields and others wanted on Lincoln, Woodhouse was probably a Mark Fields appointment, I don’t think he and Wolff got along or at least their views on what Lincoln needed differed.

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10 hours ago, PREMiERdrum said:

Keep in mind though... he was asked to design the 2013 MKZ with a version of the split-wing grille which had already been introduced with the '09 MKS, '10 MKZ/MKT, and '11 MKX. While his version was decidedly more handsome than the others, and was designed with context and purpose ("meant to evoke an eagle with outstretched wings), it was a theme he was forced to stick with. 

IIRC, it was rather controversial inside the Glass House at the time that he turned the vertical slats within each wing sideways and diagonal, becoming more whisker-like. The 2013 MKZ was the best-looking production Lincoln product in a decade when it was released. The guy has chops. 

The MKZ was all but finished by the time he arrived, the only thing not locked in was the front but he couldn’t see much point changing the front, asking why the car was styled that way. Me thinks a bit too sedate for his liking

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17 hours ago, PREMiERdrum said:

Keep in mind though... he was asked to design the 2013 MKZ with a version of the split-wing grille which had already been introduced with the '09 MKS, '10 MKZ/MKT, and '11 MKX.

 

I think we first saw the split wing grille on the 1996 Lincoln Sentinel cocept.

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1 hour ago, Trailhiker said:

I think we first saw the split wing grille on the 1996 Lincoln Sentinel cocept.

In broader theme, absolutely.

In the intended context, I believe that 2007's MKR concept gets credit as the first. 

It's interesting that they bounced between design directions in the concepts from the Sentinel, to the MK9, to the Navicross. I still wish more focus had gone into the eggcrate treatment that only saw life in the gen 1 MKX. 

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22 minutes ago, PREMiERdrum said:

In broader theme, absolutely.

In the intended context, I believe that 2007's MKR concept gets credit as the first. 

It's interesting that they bounced between design directions in the concepts from the Sentinel, to the MK9, to the Navicross. I still wish more focus had gone into the eggcrate treatment that only saw life in the gen 1 MKX. 

In a way the star pattern ties into the egg crate a bit.

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6 hours ago, PREMiERdrum said:

In broader theme, absolutely.

In the intended context, I believe that 2007's MKR concept gets credit as the first. 

It's interesting that they bounced between design directions in the concepts from the Sentinel, to the MK9, to the Navicross. I still wish more focus had gone into the eggcrate treatment that only saw life in the gen 1 MKX. 

Gerry McGovern considered using the split-wing for the MK9 Concept, but they feared it would look radical. There's a sketch of it somewhere on the internet.

The egg-crate is classic Lincoln, in my opinion. Polished or chrome egg-crate might look good with the current grille design.

 

 

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17 hours ago, The Handler said:

Gerry McGovern considered using the split-wing for the MK9 Concept, but they feared it would look radical. There's a sketch of it somewhere on the internet.

The egg-crate is classic Lincoln, in my opinion. Polished or chrome egg-crate might look good with the current grille design.

 

 

This?

Image result for lincoln mk9 sketch

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On 6/13/2019 at 2:02 AM, jpd80 said:

The MKZ was all but finished by the time he arrived, the only thing not locked in was the front but he couldn’t see much point changing the front, asking why the car was styled that way. Me thinks a bit too sedate for his liking

He changed the grille on the MKZ when he came to Lincoln. It was a big deal at the time because they actually let him move hard points after they were locked in, delaying the introduction of the MKZ that year.

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4 hours ago, jpd80 said:

what were  they thinking ? 

Lincoln faced a lot of peer pressure to appear youthful and avant-garde, especially after Cadillac's debut of Art & Science. 

Now they've discovered Lincoln's old conservative formula (Quiet Luxury) is still very desirable. 

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7 hours ago, SoonerLS said:

He changed the grille on the MKZ when he came to Lincoln. It was a big deal at the time because they actually let him move hard points after they were locked in, delaying the introduction of the MKZ that year.

Several of the more distinctive details were his work, including the entire front clip, rear lighting, some of the surfacing, and the mirror treatment. I've not seen it, but allegedly it originally was to carry the MKX front and clunky nothingness elsewhere.

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