Lincoln V12 Continental Concept Built, Scrapped a Week Later

Lincoln built a V12-powered Continental concept in 2002, displayed it at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and abandoned plans for a production model one week after the debut.

The concept used a 5.9-liter DOHC V12 sourced from Aston Martin, codenamed AML V12 and fundamentally designed by Ford. The engine, also used in the DB7 Vantage and V12 Vanquish, was rated at 414 horsepower (420 PS) and 413 pound-feet (560 Nm) and drove the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic.

The car sat on a stretched rear-wheel-drive Ford Thunderbird architecture and featured aluminum and composite body panels finished in Silver Sea Spray. Design moved away from Lincoln's soft, boat-like shapes toward a muscular, retro-futuristic silhouette.

The concept had pillarless center-opening coach doors with built-in umbrella storage. An integrated pressure system lowered the window by about six inches when the roof was sealed to relieve cabin pressure and make the heavy doors easier to open.

The interior paired white leather seating and door panels with a Midnight Blue dashboard and a minimalist instrument cluster. Rear passengers had a fold-down DVD player and a center console with labeled compartments for snacks, coffee, water and soda, plus a custom five-piece metal luggage set in an articulating trunk.

Ford built two examples: a semi-functional prototype and a static rolling display shell. Ford pulled the plug on the production program one week after the auto show and later removed Lincoln and Mercury from the Premier Automotive Group, returning them to domestic management; without PAG support, the business case for an expensive, bespoke V12 flagship collapsed.

The semi-functional V12 prototype sold at Mecum Chicago on September 20, 2025, for a final hammer price of $110,000 and is now in a private collector estate, appearing occasionally in museum displays. The static display unit was acquired by Texas dealer and collector Sam Pack and later sold through RM Sotheby’s in 2014 to a private buyer for $27,500.

The 2002 concept echoed Lincoln's pre-war V12 heritage. The last Lincoln production V12 was a 292-cubic-inch (4.8-liter) H-Series unit used through 1948, rated at roughly 130 horsepower and 225 pound-feet, before Lincoln replaced it with a flathead V8 in 1949.