Wednesday, December 8, 2010

2003 Lincoln NaviCross. Opportunity Wasted.

1:18 scale model of the Lincoln NaviCross show car. I wanted a real one so badly!

M Y   C O L L E C T I O N — All four suicide doors open, and its twin glass sunroofs readily visible, this Lincoln NaviCross concept from 2003 was an opportunity missed, in this writer's humble opinion. The car was an all-wheel drive crossover sedan, a luxurious car with utilitarian functionality in a tidy size, and would have been unlike anything else on the market. During the late 1990s and the early 2000s, Lincoln fielded one interesting concept car after another, sedanscoupes and a roadster, and none of them ever went beyond that concept car stage. I'm not sure if Lincoln was really experimenting with various ideas or just trying to keep the brand relevant and in the public eye without the slightest thought towards producing any of them. It was a really frustrating time for Lincoln fans like me.
Doors closed, this view shows the tidy proportions and elegant detailing of this unique Lincoln concept.

Rear hatch lifted vertically, with the lower portion folding out like a tailgate. This scale model includes a couple of nicely detailed aluminum luggage pieces, and the interior is fairly close in color and texture with the real car. For less than $30, I was really happy to see this model on the shelves seven years ago.

B T W :  
I posed my Lincoln model sitting on this needlepoint piece my uncle made for my birthday in 1976. I was just finishing my freshman year at Vassar, and while the piece was made from a crafts kit, he changed the background colors to pink and gray—Vassar's school colors. He also worked in his initials and the year. Hoohoo, his wife, always stressed the importance of signing and dating work, and the importance of it is apparent to me today.

9 comments:

  1. Hello Casey,

    You so right about this. I saw it at the LA Auto Show and thought we were on the verge of a Lincoln Renaissance.Of course,I thought the same thing years earlier about the Sentinel...and the Mark 9...and all the others.

    To be fair, Buick always had great show cars throughout the 90's with very little to show for it.
    There should be a medical/ psychological name for the euphoria show cars create. And another for the crash when those cars don't materialize...


    Well, heres hoping Max Wolff works his magic at Lincoln.


    AP

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  2. you're absolutely right about Buick! I've got my fingers and legs crossed for Max Wolff's LIncoln career!

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  3. I'LL TAKE THE NEEDLEPOINT. JUST A NICE PIECE OF WORK. I LOVE EVERY STITCH AND COLOR. THE CARS ARE NEAT. THERE'S ALOT OF WORK IN THIS PIECE.

    I THOUGHT YOU WERE TAKING TIME OFF.

    GRANNY

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  4. I was going to take a few days off, but my readership is really up lately, so I didn't want to lose any of my new readers by appearing to be lazy, lol. I'm just going nonstop to do those other things too.

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  5. DON'T FORGET TO TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF.
    GRANNY

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  6. I would have sworn I left a comment about how real this model car looks. I think X ate it, hmmm.

    Anyway, I think this model car looks very real. lol

    Today is my daughter's 46th birthday, she is working on her Master's Degree, tonight her term paper was due, Monday night she has her final exam. Wow... Her husband is trying to hold a cake and ice cream celebration when she gets home from school tonight at 10 pm, yikes.... I had to bow out...and just reminisce on what I was doing 46 years ago. lol

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  7. Congratulationss to your daughter for continuing her education! It can't be easy being married and having to do everything we do in our mid life!

    Some of my models look very realistic. It's one reason I used to buy them. It was like treating myself to a new car every weekend, for less than the price of a nice dinner out! I haven't bought any except my tiny ones in a long time though. I have boxes and boxes of them in the attic—I just don't have room to appreciate them. I'd love rooms FULL of shelves someday, floor to ceiling.

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  8. When you get those rooms full of shelves, don't forget to back all the shelves with mirrors so you can see all sides of the cars!

    Paul, NYC

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  9. There's a small, but architecturally interesting, studio apartment directly behind mine in this house. At one point it was actually part of this one. In my attic entry there was a door into the back apartment, and I would love to be successful enough at some point and rent that one too. I'd open it up into mine and use the back space as a studio/gallery and I would absolutely install shelves with mirrors like you said! I'd love to be 40 again also, lol. Did a pig just fly by? : )

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