Lincoln Goes Wings Out in New York With 2016 Navigator Concept

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell 

                               

                                  

With any luck, this will be the vehicle that Ford brings to market as its 2018 Lincoln Navigator SUV, minus the concept-y gullwing doors and cascading stairs, of course. Oh yes, meet the new 2016 Lincoln Navigator Concept. 

 

Debuting on Wednesday at the 2016 New York Auto Show, the conceptual Lincoln Navigator dives headlong into the design language that earned Lincoln’s newly revived 2017 Continental so much buzz. Up front a new maw follows the Continental’s lead, while piercing LED headlights lead into pumped up fenders, a long slab-sided body, and a finely tucked tail.

The words “elegant” and “sleek” come to mind, but Lincoln puts it another way—“quiet luxury.” If you think Ford’s luxury arm hadn’t regained its swagger, think again.

According to Lincoln, the designers of the Navigator concept studied luxury yachts and sailboats for inspiration, and that note becomes ever more apparent with a look inside. Entry is enabled across a set of teak inlaid “concertina” steps, and inside the Navigator features three rows of light blue leather captain’s chairs, which Lincoln calls “Perfect Position Seats.” All six feature 30-way adjustments and each pairing is bridged with a separate center console.

In their headrests, Lincoln mounts a quartet of Apple CarPlay enabled touch screens, while a main infotainment screen finds a home on the dashboard, and complements a Revel audio system.

Pop open the tailgate and you’ll find a wardrobe compartment for clothes, gear, and whatever else jet-setters require. Understandably, that nor the second and third row captain’s chairs are likely to make it to production.

Ford is mum as to whether the next-gen Lincoln Navigator will continue to utilize a body-on-frame chassis, or go the way of the masses with a crossover-based unibody setup. That said, the super-luxe SUV does house a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6, and it’s said to punch out over 400 horsepower. Good recipe.

And as with all the latest luxury vehicles, the Continental Concept packs a full suite of driver safety and autonomous collision assist systems, plus features like auto-parking and lane-keep steering assist.

Like it? Seeing as how the 2017 Continental changed very little from concept to production car, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing this familiar shape (albeit, in production form) at next year’s Detroit Motor Show. Fingers crossed.