Lincoln

Lincoln

Lincoln

Lincoln

Lincoln

Lincoln

Lincoln

Lincoln



Lincoln

NEW YORK—For the last couple of years, you couldn't go to an American auto show without tripping over the Lincoln Navigator. But Ford's luxury brand has another new plush SUV in the pipeline, one that revives a classic name from the past. It's the new Aviator, and it's going to be a stylish three-row SUV that it says signals the future of the brand: a combination of utility, electrification, and "effortless services." Lincoln took the wraps off the Aviator—which is due on sale next year—at this year's New York International Auto Show, and it's fair to say the new machine caused quite a buzz.

The choice of another SUV for Lincoln is an obvious one, for the luxury sedan is an endangered species. And Lincoln is embracing both the S and U in that acronym. Sporty—because the Aviator will be built on a rear-wheel-drive platform (with all-wheel drive as an option)—and utility because it has three full rows of seating, able to fit two grown adults in that third row. The company was coy when it came to technical specifications, but we do know the Aviator will be powered by a twin-turbo engine, which we assume will be a V8 given the length of the hood and the market it will compete in. Encouragingly, there will also be a plug-in hybrid version.

While we can't talk much more about the powertrain, we can comment on the styling. According to Design Director David Woodhouse, the vehicle we saw was a production preview. "That's quite different to what we did with Navigator and Continental—those were concept teasers—but this will be quite close to the production car," he told Ars. The big form factor of an SUV can present the stylists quite a challenge. But, in this case, we think they've been quite successful. In fact, it's reminiscent of a scaled-up Range Rover Velar—a model that was just voted World Car Design of the Year (including by yours truly, who served as a juror for 2018).

"When you look at the silhouette and imagine it going down the road... with this vehicle, it's a great achievement for the team that we've got that beautiful fast roofline with a third row that accommodates a six-foot person comfortably. In my mind that silhouette is really important," Woodhouse said.

Exterior looks are important, but when you buy a car you spend most of your time looking at (and touching) the stuff on the inside. And again, the Aviator shows an impressive effort. "It builds upon what we've done with Navigator; that was really the breakthrough interior for us. So if you think about the previous Lincoln sedans, we had a dual cockpit theme. But what does 'cockpit' denote? It's race car, fighter pilot. So it wasn't matching the brand's sensibilities and what we wanted to do for our customers," he told me.

Woodhouse explained the Aviator's cabin was meant to evoke a sense of calm and relaxation. Indeed, some of the artwork that the team chose to show us before the reveal included photographs of modernist beach resorts. "I talk a lot about how the breakup of the volume of the interior can create a sense of balance and equilibrium and calmness. That's really what we've done. I think it's absolutely innate in humans how we react to things; we're pre-wired, so I describe... the first time you get to the beach and see the water line of the ocean, it's innate in all of us that we relax," Woodhouse explained.

In fact, he knew his team was on the right track the first time he got his bosses to sit inside, and they sat back and kicked off their shoes. "At key points in the development of Aviator and Navigator, we've had senior leadership come in; we've put them in our competitor vehicle [and] moved them into our design model. A couple of our key senior leaders, I saw them get in and go 'Aaaaah.' It was just that proof point; the environment they were in transcended their moment in time. It's that innate," he said.

Lincoln was also at pains to stress the techno credentials of the Aviator. There are plenty of power outlets, wireless charging for phones, and the company will roll out a "Phone as Key" app (similar to the Tesla Model 3) that replaces the remote fob. The infotainment system will also send drivers prompts, letting them know if there's a nearby gas station and the vehicle is low on fuel, for example. But it's not just technology for convenience's sake.

The Aviator will get what the company is calling Lincoln Co-Pilot360, a suite of advanced driver assistance systems. These include things we're familiar with like blind spot and cross traffic alerts. But the automatic emergency braking now also works when the car is in reverse, and the suspension even uses the car's forward-looking camera to detect potholes or bumps to smooth the ride when necessary.

Listing image by Lincoln