Dream Car Could Soon Become a Reality : Automotive: The Lincoln 2000 is a concept vehicle that could wind up in showrooms as a luxury convertible aimed at aging baby boomers.
Many of the “concept” cars that manufacturers roll out at auto shows are dream machines--they don’t really run and they couldn’t be built or sold at a profit.
*
But some--the Dodge Viper, for instance--become practical prototypes for vehicles that eventually turn up on the road. Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln-Mercury division is showing a concept next month that could be one of those.
“As the baby boomers age, they’re going to want vehicles that are great handling, fun to drive,” Lincoln-Mercury general manager Keith Magee said last week as he walked around the L2K, as the Lincoln 2000 is nicknamed.
The two-seat, convertible sports car had just been shipped to Ford’s design center here from the California automotive studio that put it together for January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Magee insists that there are no plans to mass-produce the L2K, but acknowledges that a production Lincoln 2000 could be accomplished in “three years, plus or minus.” He said its future will depend to some extent on public reaction to the car at auto shows.
But there are several suggestions that Ford might be serious about this roadster:
* It was created using components that are today’s technology, and it’s drivable. Ford was even willing to take reporters on a test drive until snow cleanup forced cancellation of the plan.
* It was designed for a group of buyers whom rival Mercedes-Benz has already targeted with the SLK, a two-seat, luxury convertible that started on the show circuit more than a year ago and will be on sale in 1997.
* The L2K would fit Ford’s strategy to broaden Lincoln’s appeal to buyers who aren’t men in their 50s, 60s or 70s. It was created to appeal to people a decade or more younger and as a car women could “feel comfortable and secure in,” said Richard Hutting, executive designer at Concept Center California, the consulting firm that built the car for Ford.
* The L2K could be built and sold for $40,000 or less. “That was in our minds when we did the vehicle,” Hutting said.
The L2K weighs about 2,900 pounds and is powered by a 3.4-liter, 32-valve V-8 engine that produces about 250 horsepower. Its styling picks up cues from present-day Lincolns, but also evokes images of some classic European roadsters.
