Lincoln has a very specific kink, and they love to tease us with it. The kink is the suicide door—specifically, rear suicide doors on a four-door car, in a configuration called “clapdoor” and made famous on the fourth-gen, 1961 to 1969 Lincoln Continental. It’s a great look, and while I would love to see a production Lincoln use these center-opening doors again, I’ve been burned too many times before by past Lincoln concepts.
Here’s the Instagram post that started it all again:
So, based on this, I expect that Lincoln will show some kind of clapdoor concept at the Detroit Auto Show coming up next month. I’d be more excited if it wasn’t for cars like their 2002 Continental concept car:
...or their 2003 Navicross concept:
...or their 2009 C Concept:
I guess what I’m saying here is, look, Lincoln, if I may quote Pope Pious XVII, shit or get off the pot. Build a modern car with damn suicide rear doors, already. We know you want to; just do it!
Look, Honda did it with the Element, Mazda with the RX-8, Hyundai with the Veloster, hell, even Saturn—freaking Saturn—managed to pull off a rear suicide door on the 1999 Saturn SC. If they can do it, you can. Rumors say you will—don’t let us down.
Seriously, Lincoln, if you tease another suicide door car and then chicken out when it comes to production time, then, screw it, I’m done. You can go the way of Mercury if you’re not going to grow a pair of differentials and build the damn thing the way you know you want.
Don’t push me.