Re: Clippers at the Motor Muster.
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2015/6/23 16:22:20
Have been thinking quite a bit about that Packard-Ford thing, was going to start a new thread but since we are on the subject, might as well kick it around here. Your two arguments against using Mk II platform are key.
I think the play they could have run would have satisfied a lot of what turned out to be unsatisfied folks at Ford. We know McNamara wanted a 4-seat T-Bird and McPherson a unibody in new plant, driving the need for an additional model - Lincoln as it turned out - to make the business case work.
And yet, we also know that Harley Copp, Lincoln's Chief Engineer, argued against Lincoln's involvement because of insufficient time to do an all-new Lincoln for '58 especially on an all-new and untested platform, and the added expense of annual styling due to unibody. Add to that the fact that Lincoln planners wanted to carry the '57 Lincoln into '58 then presumably do a new design that was still BoF.
My good friend Steve (not a be confused with you, Steve203... another fine gent!) has finally convinced me that Lincoln should have stayed BoF for all the reasons stated plus fact that unibody lost its weight advantage once vehicle size grew to luxury proportions.
The late 50s/early 60s play for Lincoln seems easy enough to contemplate. When one looks at the C-pillar of the '57 Lincoln and compares to the '59-60 Mercury, they both appear to have come from the same designer's pen. I wonder if the Merc C-pillar was originally intended as a Lincoln before Lincoln was tasked with doing a '58 that was "way out there" i.e. the Square 'Bird. In fact, I wonder if the '60 Mercury Park Lane almost in its entirety was intended to be the '59 Lincoln! In its design one sees the type of Lincoln that Edsel preferred. Clean, delicate lines with minimal ornamentation and subtle curves. A car with dignity.
Consider these images. First is '60 Merc (front not shown) and Square 'Bird. Which looks more like a classic Lincoln? In the second image I clean up the sides. Compare to third image of '57 Lincoln. Certainly the C-pillars are of same theme.
More on the rest of the story soon and do pile on or dismantle as you see fit.
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I think the play they could have run would have satisfied a lot of what turned out to be unsatisfied folks at Ford. We know McNamara wanted a 4-seat T-Bird and McPherson a unibody in new plant, driving the need for an additional model - Lincoln as it turned out - to make the business case work.
And yet, we also know that Harley Copp, Lincoln's Chief Engineer, argued against Lincoln's involvement because of insufficient time to do an all-new Lincoln for '58 especially on an all-new and untested platform, and the added expense of annual styling due to unibody. Add to that the fact that Lincoln planners wanted to carry the '57 Lincoln into '58 then presumably do a new design that was still BoF.
My good friend Steve (not a be confused with you, Steve203... another fine gent!) has finally convinced me that Lincoln should have stayed BoF for all the reasons stated plus fact that unibody lost its weight advantage once vehicle size grew to luxury proportions.
The late 50s/early 60s play for Lincoln seems easy enough to contemplate. When one looks at the C-pillar of the '57 Lincoln and compares to the '59-60 Mercury, they both appear to have come from the same designer's pen. I wonder if the Merc C-pillar was originally intended as a Lincoln before Lincoln was tasked with doing a '58 that was "way out there" i.e. the Square 'Bird. In fact, I wonder if the '60 Mercury Park Lane almost in its entirety was intended to be the '59 Lincoln! In its design one sees the type of Lincoln that Edsel preferred. Clean, delicate lines with minimal ornamentation and subtle curves. A car with dignity.
Consider these images. First is '60 Merc (front not shown) and Square 'Bird. Which looks more like a classic Lincoln? In the second image I clean up the sides. Compare to third image of '57 Lincoln. Certainly the C-pillars are of same theme.
More on the rest of the story soon and do pile on or dismantle as you see fit.
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