Times were hard for most people. Fresh off an expensive, drawn-out and disastrous war, in the aftermath of financial collapse, the population as a whole wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about buying big, American luxury sedans. Even though there were some true greats on the drawing board, most had to wait for a nation just entering its richest era to demand more prestigious transportation. Afterward, old ideas and names came back, and makes like Lincoln experienced a renaissance. That was the story in 1938...and again some 75 years later.
Of course, the difference between then and now is that the nation just entering its richest period isn’t the United States, but China. Say what you will about them, but the Chinese (like many current and former communist countries) absolutely love big, American luxury sedans — without a doubt, more than most Americans do. Makes like Buick, Cadillac and Lincoln have found a wonderfully enthusiastic market among people who spent decades quietly watching American presidents cruise those prestigious badges around the capitalist capitol. Or, in at least one sobering example, a certain city in the lower Midwest.
Now, having recently discovered money, they want their own.
And after a 14 year hiatus, Lincoln is ready to give it to them, in the form of a reborn Continental. Oh yes, there’s a load of irony in that...but the good news is that China’s long-rebuffed love of American luxury has triggered kind of a bounce-back on our own shores. For the first time since the dark days of the Smog Era, American luxury makes like Lincoln have become serious contenders to take the halo of quality from Germany. Maybe it’s taken a bit of outside perspective, a look to the present from the past, to remind us of of just how great some of our greatest once were...and could be again.
So continue reading to take a look back at one of them now: the inimitable Lincoln Continental.
Lincoln Continental: A Look Back originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 8 April 2015 18:00 EST.
Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/uC_JHVY3iFw/lincoln-continental-a-look-back-ar168580.html
Alain de Changy Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg
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