Lincoln of the Week: the 2010 Town Car Continental Edition- say what?

Yes, you read that title right. When I first read about this model of Town Car, I thought I might be suffering from dyslexia. But, no, several websites reaffirmed that there was indeed a Town Car Continental Edition. In this Lincoln of the Week, I'll explain the nomenclature and what sets this car apart from the standard Signature Town Car.

The "Continental Edition" was a trim package offered on the Town Car from 2010 to 2011, which consisted entirely of cosmetic upgrades, such as Continental badging on the C-pillar, Continental lettering stitched into the front seats and floor mats, extra B pillar chrome, and 17" chrome aluminum wheels.

Brochure from 2010 explaining this package: http://www.autoevolution.com/car-brochures/lincoln-town-car-brochure-2010.html

 From the outside, I really can't tell if a Town Car is a Continental Edition or not.  I've seen the same chrome wheels on other Town Cars. I believe they have been available since 2005, so the wheels are certainly nothing new, and the badging is in the same location as the normal "Signature Limited" badge. The badge font looks very close to the script used on old Continentals, so there is a nice retro vibe there, I just wish they had left the word "edition" off of the script. This is a real full size Lincoln, and even if it's just a shadow of past Continentals, it should be able to wear that badge proudly, without apology. Although this is a really nice looking Town Car, with a little extra splash of chrome, but clean and understated, I feel that the folks at Lincoln missed the mark (no pun intended) from a styling point of view.
I don't understand what they were going for. If it was 60s Continental, the car should have had chrome removed rather than added, and badging removed as well except for the Lincoln emblem. If they were going for a more flashy look, a la 50s or 70s Continental, they could have gone further with the chrome, and thrown in a full vinyl roof with opera lights for good measure.
Putting the styling aside, this is a really nice Town Car, well equipped, and has plenty of classic Lincoln elements, from its bench seat, to the wood trim, to the big ol' hood with stand up ornament. And more, as it's a fully loaded Signature Limited model.

But I still can't get over that name. It's a total reverse of the Town Car name as it was in the 70s. Back then, Town Car was an option package you could get on the Continental (from 1970-1980). So you bought a Continental with Town Car option. That was until 1981, at which point the Continental was downsized (and the Town Car name switched to the full size model) then downsized some more in the 90s, until the FWD Taurus-based Conti was discontinued in 2002. The Continental and Town Car were totally different cars by then.

At the end of the day, this car is a source of sadness for me, because it showed me that Lincoln was not planning to restore the Continental nameplate anytime soon, and my hope for a future big Continental died with the Town Car. The "MK" era was here to stay.  It meant absolutely, unequivocally, that there would be no more traditional full size Lincolns ever again. Also, when this trim came out, I knew that the Town Car's days were numbered, because the Continental Edition appeared as retail trim levels had dwindled from 4 to 2, more and more geared to fleets only,  and there was little to no marketing for the car any more. Sure enough, the Town Car was canceled in 2011.

For it's humble connection to Lincolns of old, and for being the best of the last full sized Lincoln, this car is the Lincoln of the Week. Now every time I see a 2005-2011 Town Car I'll be straining my eyes, looking for a little Continental badge on the C pillar :)

As a sidenote, this car reminds me a lot of my mom's 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis "Ultimate Edition." now gone.

The "Ultimate" Edition Grand Marquis. A wonderful piece of badge engineering. The car was an LS, so it was nicer than a GS base model, but no power pedals, passenger power seat, heated seats, sunroof, upgraded sound system, performance pack, etc. to make it truly the Ultimate big Merc. It was in fact a fleet model, so other than leather seats and the aluminum wheels it was as standard as they come. Nice car, but man there were days when I wanted to rip those badges off, so I would be less disappointed in its "sparse" level of equipment when I drove it. Fortunately the black paint gave the car an official gov't look to it (like FBI or secret service) , which caused other motorists to treat the car *almost* like it was a police Crown Vic. I guess that made it sort of Ultimate after all.