Lincoln Versailles.
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I posted an illustration of what a new Lincoln Continental could look like in the modern EV age. Why not go “full 70s” and take a look at what a new smaller Lincoln Versailles could look like today?
The original Lincoln Versailles from the 1970s was Ford’s attempt to compete with the very popular Cadillac Seville. It came out in 1977.
While the Cadillac was very different from other cheaper GM models (Even if it used a related platform), Lincoln chose to save a few bucks and just revised the front and rear ends of their popular Ford Granada to come up with their new smaller sedan. A money-saving strategy didn’t really fool anyone, with sales of only around 15,000 the first year and dropping to under 9000 in 1978.
For 1979, Ford decided to spend a bit more to make the Versaille look more like a Lincoln and it worked with sales jumping to 21,000 units. But dropping to under 5000 for its last year, 1980. While the Cadillac Seville was selling over 53,000 units in 1979.
Ford abandoned the Versailles after just 4 years and there has been no new generation since.
I think such an old-fashioned and cheezy name on a very modern EV sedan would be a lot of fun.
Since Cadillac is indeed working on two new Ultium-based sedans, why not Lincoln?
They have been selling the Zephir sedan in China since 2022. Which is basically a newer generation of the MKZ we had over here. Sales have been pretty bad, with only 13,839 sold last year in China. It seems Lincoln is making zero effort in a country where sedans are still very popular. Cadillac sold over 84,000 units of the CT5 sedan in China last year.
Meanwhile, I am sure a new “modern yet a bit retro” Lincoln sedan could find an audience here as well. Competing with models like the Mercedes EQE, BMW i5, or Audi A6 e-Tron.
