Safety-concerns were admittedly not the firsts of thoughts that crossed our minds after seeing Lincoln's rather special Continental Coach Edition, that will own the garages of 80 owners next year.
Back in the 1960s, Lincoln's glory was reflected with its popular coach doors, a feature which was unfortunately discontinued in 1969. Most of the suicide doors back then were put to bed citing safety issues. We don't know if Lincoln was part of that bandwagon. If so, it seems like the company has crushed its fears to resurrect the design.
On Monday, the company confirmed the iconic design's return. However, the changes are not only limited to the doors. Even with the doors closed the Coach Edition looks significantly different from the standard Continental. This is the courtesy of the already large sedan that now receives a 6-inch stretch and the electronic-opening rear door handles that sit next to the front door handles.
Inside the cabin, the Continental Coach Edition gets a four-seater set-up along with a new flow-through centre console in the rear seat. At the back, the car sports more leg-room, stowable tray tables with tablet holders, audio and climate system controls on a small digital screen, and a wireless charging pad.
The car will be built like any other Continental at its Flat Rock assembly line in Michigan, which will then be sent with a package of parts to be installed, including longer rear doors, to coach-builder Cabot in Boston. This Cabot helps add six more inches to the wheelbase, accounting for the subsequent increase in legroom.
All the models will be powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 engine that puts out 400bhp of power and 542Nm of torque, via a six-speed automatic transmission.
History, rewritten for the future. The iconic #Continental with center-opening doors, shown in 1961, and the new 80th Anniversary Lincoln #Continental Coach Door Edition.
(Pre-production model shown) pic.twitter.com/0KKHTFMpog
— Lincoln Motor Company (@LincolnMotorCo) December 17, 2018
Buyers can choose any Continental Black Label exterior colour, but only its Chalet and Thoroughbred interior colour schemes are offered on the Coach Edition.
