Detroit Show: Lincoln’s Ford Focus Based C-Concept with new 180HP 1.6-Liter Turbo

Trying to appeal to a younger and more modern audience, Ford took the covers off the very European-esque, “Lincoln C” concept at the Detroit Show. The new baby Lincoln does not only look European -too be precise, it looks like a rejected Renault project…- but it is also based on the Euro-market Ford Focus platform using FoMoCo’s new 1.6-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine that delivers 180HP and 180 ft.-lbs. of torque. This is the first time that FoMoCo has publicly showed off this engine that will find its way under the hood of Euro-Fords like the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo in the very near future.

In the Lincoln C, the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine is paired with Ford’s all-new dry, dual-clutch PowerShift six-speed transmission, helping the concept achieve 43 mpg U.S. on the highway.

Open up the concept’s suicide doors and you’re welcomed by a contemporary and minimalistic interior. Among the car’s highlights is the Citroen-inspired, hubless steering wheel that offers the driver an unobstructed view of the instrument panel. According to Lincoln, thanks to the cars width -two inches more than conventional C-class vehicles- it offers the roominess of a 1961 Continental at almost half the length. In modern terms, the vehicle has the overall length of a Ford Focus and the overall width of a Lincoln MKZ.

According to Peter Horbury, FoMoCo’s executive director of Design, younger contemporary consumers in the U.S. have already grown accustomed to the notion of premium quality in a small package. “During the past decade, people have gotten used to the idea that you could pay more money for a smaller version of the real thing,” said Horbury, citing the evolution of music players from tapes to CDs to MP3 players as an example.

“The same philosophy can be applied to the automobile,” he added. “People will be happy to buy a smaller car that is better for the environment and more maneuverable in the city as long as the vehicle has all the attributes they want.”