Lincoln is doing wonderfully now, according to Ford; so wonderfully, it survived almost being killed once before in the recent past. As with any brand of dubious relevance, most of its roadmap to renewed success relies upon electrification; Lincoln is eyeing three EVs before 2025 and another in 2026. The Model L100 concept, unveiled Thursday at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, may offer a glimpse at their inspiration.
The L100 isn’t intended for production, Automotive News tells us. That’s pretty evident from the jump, considering the rear-hinged canopy and doors, aggressively flat teardrop shape and massive, LED-festooned, circular spats. Oh — and the fact it has no steering wheel, because you’re not supposed to drive it.
Rather, a “jewel-inspired chess piece controller” sits to the right of where the steering wheel would normally be, ahead of what looks like an upward-facing display. It’s sort of difficult to see due to the extreme perspective in these rendered interior shots; the image looking back toward the second-row passenger bench (with the first-row backrests deleted) captures it the best.
Supposedly that mega-wide front seat can be “flipped forward” so those passengers can face the rear ones, though I’m not exactly sure how. In these pictures, it simply looks like half of the bench is disappearing.
Outside, the exterior is clean and elegant, if not particularly distinctive from most other concepts designed around an autonomous motif. It may be new to Lincoln, but the eroded pebble thing has certainly been done before. The elongated kamm tail is my favourite part, and reminds me of the Hyundai Prophecy concept before it was, shall we say ruined into the Ioniq 6.
The name “Model L100″ harkens back to Lincoln’s 1922 Model L concept — the brand’s first built after Ford acquired it. That means this L100 commemorates a century under the Blue Oval’s guiding wing. If you want an idea of where Lincoln is most likely to go as it begins its next century, the Star SUV probably makes for a better predictor. Though nothing about the L100 is as wild as the Star’s overengineered frunk situation.
