You probably have without knowing it. Visually, from the front 2/3 of the vehicle, except for the door handles, though the Continental is little longer and wider than the MKZ, the two are almost identical.

Continental:



MKZ:

 

I too have not seen a new Continental, or if I have, I didn't notice. I thought I saw one, but as it came up I realized it was the new refreshed MKXYZ...whatever.

 

I have not seen a new Continental yet, either, but then, I now have a much shorter commute to-and-from work without having to drive on the highway.

While waiting for at the airport for a limo last week, I noticed quite a few ES Hybrid and Cadillac XTS livery vehicles but no Lincolns.

 

I would chose the Continental as a livery vehicle over either of those

 

So you are saying that the Continental's proportions are wrong, without the traditional sedan proportions? Even Volvo knows that luxury cars need that classic long hood, long dash-to-front-wheel ratio look, so they designed their FWD S90 to look more like a RWD sedan rather than a transverse-engined FWD car.

 

And Volvo achieved that by dictating that the platform not use anything except an I4 to maintain the short front overhang, which introduces its own set of compromises.

 

See my reply to bitkahuna above...........you may have, without knowing it.

I don't quite see why Lincoln gave the MKZ and Continental virtually identical front end and styling forward of the C-Pillars. But, then again, Buick did the same thing with all three of its last-genenation American-market sedans.

 

I have seen at least five Contis now on the road. It's a total breath of fresh air compared the German cars and the poor looking front ends of the Lexus models such as the ES, GS or LS. Long term, the Conti is going match up well with the next gen ES. FWD vs FWD. We sat in the car a few weeks ago, it's a fantastic interior with great materials and for the first time, the PRNDL buttons actually work. Too bad the dealer experience was poor as we're never once approached by anyone for the 30 minutes we were in the Ford/Lincoln delear. Compared to Lexus or BMW or MB, they are world's better.

As for the livery vehicles, I see a ton of Lexus ES airport taxis all the time. MKS taxis are everywhere. I highly doubt we are going to see any Contis but you never know.

 

I thought I saw one the other day, could've swore it was a continental until is passed by and I could see from the side profile, door handle design and rear end, that it was the Lincoln "Ford Fusion" equivelant that has been out for years, can't remember the name but definitely not a Continental.

So why is the front end of the Continental IDENTICAL to that cheap Fusion-based Lincoln? I do not understand it. It's 100% exact.

 

Okay seeing MM's post above of the 2 cars, there are some minor differences in the fronts, but holy crap, that is WAY too similar. Someone at Lincoln thought it was smart to make the flagship front end look just like the midsize car? Running out of ideas? Maybe time for a new design team? That is pathetic.

 

It's really no different than what several other brands are doing. They want the Lincoln face to be a familiar one across their brand. And for the record, this car is based off the Fusion's CD4 platform as well.

 

I may have to counteract one of my own posts here, but I will say that IMO they both sure look a lot better than the aero-wings and toothy-grins we've seen from Lincoln in the past. The one on the MKT, for example, was just ridiculous.

 

Continental and new 2017 MKZ front ends similar? Yes....almost identical. Pathetic? No....I can't agree with that. Both of them, IMO, look quite handsome.

 

Pathetic in the sense that they could not design a unique face for their flagship sedan and basically copy pasted the face of the cheap model onto it, changed the angle of the bumper side openings and put different internals into the headlights. Otherwise it's identical.

 

Actually, the timing sequence is reversed from your assumption. The front end appeared on the Continental concept a couple of years ago. The application to the MKZ is more recent and is consistent with the stated Lincoln plan to have the Continental front end become the new "face of Lincoln". Just as Mercedes, BMW, and to some degree Lexus have a common front design for all models, Lincoln wants a unique appearance that says "Lincoln". Look for the MKC and MKX to get a similar front end soon. When the all new Navigator is introduced, it will also have a family face. I haven't heard what will happen to the MKT, but if it survives, look for more of the same.
Steve