Lincoln Continental Presidential: a Great Leap Forward in Luxury

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

China’s thirst for American executive sedans knows no bounds, so Lincoln is rubbing its palms together and giving the red-hot luxury market exactly what it wants: piles and piles of prestige.

The Continental nameplate is already soaked in presidential history, but for the Chinese market, the company’s flagship model needed something a little more…obvious. These images from China’s Autohome (via Carscoops) reveals Lincoln’s elegant solution — the addition of a “Presidential” badge to the sedan’s rear.

The Continental will get its Chinese debut at the Beijing Motor Show on April 25, and Lincoln clearly wants to put its best foot forward. While the base model comes with front-wheel drive and a naturally-aspired V6, no one would expect that of a Continental with Presidential written all over it.

When you’re president, there shouldn’t be anyone above you, and this rule is especially true in Communist China — hell, there shouldn’t even be competition! Expect to see Lincoln’s 400 horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 under that hood.

The only other obvious change to the China-bound model is the clear turn signal lenses. Also, expect there to be no new car smell once you hop inside.

The Continental premiered in the U.S. at the North American International Auto Show in January, and will roll onto dealer lots later this year. Base price for a front-wheel drive, 3.7-liter model has been pegged at $45,485, including destination and delivery.



Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Apr 20, 2016

    The booties on the tires are nice - Howard Hughes would like that. Also, how long before those Presidential badges show up for sale on eBay? And before they start showing up on US Continentals, shod with bling wheels from Rent-A-Tire?

  • Hank Hank on Apr 25, 2016

    "no new car smell" The irony that this is the country that sends us the olfactory scud missile known as Harbor Freight...

  • Larry Bring back the Cadillac luxury, the Cadillac "float" ride suspension and beautiful plush interiors that always separated it from the rest, even Lincoln Town Cars did not measure up. I have an xt4. While a beautiful design, there is no LUXURY, the ride is hard with a stiff suspension, there is a no name poor sounding sound system, ugly cheap wheels and more unflattering features. This 2023 doesn't come close to my old 1980 Fleetwood Broughm or even my 1994 Sedan Deville.
  • Arthur Dailey GM could easily have fixed Cadillac while it was still the world's largest automaker. Or when it was a corporation making good profits. Now, not so much. Only large and/or profitable organizations can afford a prestige building, loss leader, 'halo' type of vehicle. With the exception of M-B, Porsche, and now BMW which was not a prestige player until after Cadillac declined, and perhaps Lexus what other prestige marques are profitable? The Escalade is what now defines Cadillac. So it is Escalade vehicles that they should concentrate on. For the market that does not care about MPG, that wants something big, bold, flashy and prefers if their purchases are overpriced because that demonstrates that they have more than enough money.
  • Ajla So I guess this means game over for the journos and YouTubers because they spend so much time in new vehicles.
  • JMII I mentioned this before but my local Nissan dealer has taken over the nearby shopping mall's parking lot. Frontiers are plentiful.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Making payments on a new car is also killing you.
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