An embarassment to the Lincoln star? Or was it ahead of its time?
The 1988 Continental creates quite a stir among Lincoln enthusiasts on the forums. Pages upon pages are painted with either harsh criticism or overwhelming praise. It's a love it or hate it car, it seems.
When the new Conti was unveiled in 1987 for the 1988 model year, it was like no Lincoln ever made. Gone were big V8s. Gone was rear wheel drive. And there was little chrome or ornamentation.
The car's chassis was based on a stretched wheelbase version of the Ford Taurus platform. All Continentals were powered by the 3.8L "Essex" V6 engine, driving the front wheels. This engine initially had only 140 hp, but climbed to 160 hp by the end of the production run in 1994. And with this new front drive Conti, Lincoln had its sights on emerging Japanese luxury brands such as Acura and Lexus as well as the American stalwarts Cadillac and Chrysler, by competing on styling, handling,and gadgets.
Technology was what this car was really all about. Self leveling 4 wheel air ride suspension, speed sensitive steering, airbags, and anti lock brakes, were its major selling points. All of these features were pretty advanced for the time. The air ride suspension was computer controlled to constantly adapt to changing road conditions and the amount of weight in the car. It would also provide the soft ride so many Lincoln customers had come to expect, even on rough roads, while also firming up in the corners should the driver want to hoon the big Conti. The speed sensitive steering is pretty self explanatory, it basically provided light and easy steering for easy maneuvering at low speeds and firmer steering for greater confidence at cruising speeds. And while the air ride and speed sensitive steering did deliver the goods back in the day, providing a certain degree of nimbleness, comfortable ride, and sporty feel for a large front wheel drive car, but over the years the systems became temperamental and expensive to repair, and lamented by many owners. I should note that the previous generation "bustle back" Continental did use an air ride suspension, and had a good deal of computerization, but the '88 car took that to a whole new level.
Then there's the head gasket failures with the 3.8L engine, and the many problems with the Taurus transmission, which I've noted in my article on the later V8 powered Continentals. These cars could never be the pillar of reliability that the Town Car was due to these faults, and I'm sure they turned many people away from Lincoln after a few expensive visits to the dealer.
From a styling point of view, the Conti took a Euro approach; sleek, boxy but rounded, and aerodynamic, with a commendable drag coefficient of 0.35. When I was a kid, I always thought this Continental was based on the Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz, Ford's compact offering in the 80s/early 90s. I still see the resemblance today, and it cheapens the car to me. However, knowing now that the car was based on the Taurus, they did a reasonably good job of disguising such humble underpinnings and still keeping some traditional boxy, formal Lincoln styling intact. No body panels were actually shared between the two cars.
The Continental was still a big, roomy sedan, that hadn't changed from the previous Fox body Continental, and with the front wheel drive there was now extra room inside for a 6th passenger (due to loss of the transmission hump), and the trunk was still good for a couple bodies at least. All kidding aside though, the car was practical with nearly full size dimensions (205" in length), and the greatest interior volume of any front wheel drive car in 1988.
The fundamental problem I have always seen with this generation of Continental is that it held promise with all the new technology, but ultimately was against the grain of what a Lincoln should be, due to its backwards drivetrain layout, lack of a V8, and forgettable styling. It just had too much in common with your average plebeian Ford, and I have never been able to forget that. It was a time when the company seemed to say, we can be just "Good enough" to compete, and not exceptional at building the traditional luxury vehicles people have come to expect. It is this car that started Lincoln on a path to become the American Lexus. Look at where they are today, producing a line of amorphous front wheel drive V6 only vehicles. Perhaps the 1988 Continental was indeed ahead of its time, forecasting what Lincoln would become in another 20 years. But is that a good thing? That's a subject for another article. :)
Whadda you think?
The 1988 Continental was certainly ahead of its time That huge V8 engine may have burned gas, but it could drive like a dream on our trips down the Parkway to Atlantic City. That can was like floating in a cloud, it had plenty of leg room to spare and you could outrun just about any car on the road, too.
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