Do you want us to send the product tooling? That’s what Bentley designer Luc Donckerwolke posted on Lincoln designer David Woodhouse’s Facebook page, a comment that was swiftly deleted but captured by the excellent Car Design News. Let me tell you, Bentley went off on Lincoln.
Donckerwolke also posted on his own Facebook calling out the 2016 Lincoln Continental as a ripoff. “I would have called it a Flying Spur concept and kept the four round lights.” Another designer commented “I thought this was only done in China? Finally a ‘Bentley for the masses’ though...”
Car and Driver caught up with the designers involved and got them to comment, which is a testament to their feelings. These Bentley designers are standing by their statements.
Asked to elaborate, Donckerwolke told us: “This is not respectable. Such a copy is giving a bad name to the car-design world.” And his exterior design chief, Sangyup Lee, who described the Lincoln as “a joke, seriously,” added, “It is very disappointing, especially for an exclusive brand like Lincoln.”
“Exclusive brand like Lincoln.”
“Exclusive brand like Lincoln.”
Damn.
There are a few takeaways from these exchanges.
First is that this is a hilariously public diss from one car designer to another.
Second is that while it’s great Lincoln is getting back into the big luxury sedan market in a serious way, their new Continental isn’t exactly what you would call distinctive.
You, personally, might not think the new Continental looks like a Bentley. But if not, you probably think it looks like a big Jaguar. And if not a Jaguar then that recent Audi concept. And if not that Audi then a top-of-the-line Hyundai.
The point is not what the car the new Lincoln is cribbing from. The point is that the Lincoln’s design isn’t a standout. It sorta kinda looks like any number of other cars in its segment. It looks like 2015 Generic Luxury Car, only with more chrome.
That’s not what you want for a new Lincoln Continental.
Contact the author at raphael@jalopnik.com.