When I saw the Lincoln MKR at last years NAIAS I had new hope of American styling being the leader once again. The MKR was a beautiful car with great form and “bold” graphics/details. To me it encompassed all the arrogance Detroit has to offer, but in a good way, a way that would bring consumers back to the domestics. This was a concept though and I knew it wouldn’t make it to production the same way it was shown. I hoped Ford would realize that they couldn’t afford to water it down and would push to make it production feasible. Well, I guess all you could do is hope…..

The new Jaguar XF comes out and it looks pretty good, way to go. Then the new Lincoln identity is revealed in the form of the Lincoln MKS. What a let down from their inspiration. Nicely done compared to Ford has out now, but it lost all of the energy and excitement of the old school American style it captured at last years show.

Besides all of this ranting I started this post because I noticed how much design and packaging was shared with the new Jag. And the Jag won in the end.

The Jag has some nice flowing lines and dynamic forms while the MKS just looks boring from the side. The two use what looks like the same chrome garnish around the DLO, but the Lincolns’ DLO looks a little taller and the lines a little lazier. The swoopy beltline doesn’t show any strength either.

Even the interior is really similar. I have enjoyed watching Lincoln develop their own interior design language only to watch them throw that out the window with this design. Can you make the forms any simpler? The designs are supposed to be pushing further ahead not going backward.

When I hear Lincoln I would think, old person car, who cares. But the recent designs and show cars have really gotten me excited to see what was next. From the pic below to what is coming out? Come on Ford,let your designers do their job and break away from the field. I am getting sick of all these sedans looking the same.

Maybe someday MKR, someday.