Lincoln Gets a Hot Rod
Lincoln Gets a Hot Rod
McLaren picks LSE for its first niche performance player
By BOB GRITZINGER
(Photos by Jerome Magid)
McLaren Performance Technologies? future starts with a hot rod Lincoln.
?With all due respect to Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, when you think ?Hot Rod Lincoln,? we want you to think ?McLaren Engines,?? says McLaren president and CEO Steve Rossi, who hopes to turn a Lincoln LSE into an American-built competitor for BMW?s M5 and Mercedes? AMG E55.
?Our intention is not to put Mustang SVT brute and brawn into a Lincoln; it?s to provide BMW M5 engineering elegance in a Lincoln,? says Rossi. ?At the end of the day, there is no serious American sports sedan. We want to be there.?
LINCOLN LSE MCLAREN PHOTO GALLERY
Rossi knows a little bit about the AMG performance formula. An engineer by trade, Rossi helped launch several AMG models when he served as head of public relations for Mercedes-Benz USA in the mid- to late-1990s. He sees McLaren Performance branching out from its behind-the-scenes role as an engineering supply house to grow a niche vehicle line. The company has a 30-year track record as an engine provider for Can-Am and Indy 500 winners, originating as the separate U.S. engine development company for Bruce McLaren Motor Racing.
The company has also built a number of limited-production performance cars like the McLaren Mustang, Buick GNX and Pontiac GTP Turbo, and developed the Northstar powertrain for Cadillac?s 24-Hour Le Mans entry. It also builds Indy Racing League Chevrolet engines for Blair Racing.
The first vehicle to emerge as a result of Rossi?s vision for McLaren is the Lincoln LSE ?Powered by McLaren Engines? model?a silver sleeper for the New York auto show.
?They?ve done a good job of creating the base vehicle,? says Rossi, referring to the stock rear-wheel-drive car with its 252-hp 3.9-liter V8.
Starting there, McLaren engineers add an Eaton supercharger and a McLaren-built intake and cat-back dual exhaust to boost output to an estimated 350 hp. Torque jumps from 261 lb-ft to an estimated 350 lb-ft. Power runs through a six-speed manual transmission to a taller rear end fitted with a McLaren traction ?Gerodisc? differential. McLaren estimates the drivetrain work will knock more than two seconds off the car?s 0-to-60-mph and quarter-mile times.
The McLaren Lincoln?s suspension gets performance-tuned springs and shocks and rides one inch lower than the stock LSE. Bigger brakes fitted with performance calipers complete the mechanical package.
Understated trim is where the McLaren Lincoln really shines. Like its stated competition, this Lincoln offers few visual cues to its real identity: special 18-inch O-Z wheels with a replaceable rim lip, a perforated black mesh grille that replaces the usual vertical bars, custom taillights, McLaren ?Speedy Kiwi? badging and McLaren?s trademark orange papaya color backing the front-mounted Lincoln cross badge. Inside, McLaren kiwis adorn the headrests and floormats, and titanium replaces woodgrain, but the most obvious difference is the leather-booted manual shift handle protruding from the center console. Only under the hood does the car get a ?Powered by McLaren? inscription on the intake manifold.
Owners of pre-2003 models can get a kit starting this summer that includes intake and exhaust enhancements (good for 25 or 30 extra horses) and performance wheels and tires for $5,000. But the complete package, including the supercharger and manual transmission, won?t come until this fall when production starts for the 2003 model Lincoln LSE. The full package pushes the base LSE?s $38,000 sticker to $56,000?less than competitors like BMW?s M5 and Jaguar?s S-Type R. Buyers can save $6,000 by opting out of the manual transmission.
Rossi estimates production at 300 to 500 cars per year, but ?that?s purely the starting point,? he says. Future Lincolns could get horsepower-enhancing cylinder head modifications, and then there are all those Navigator and Aviator sport/utility vehicles on which to stamp ?Powered by McLaren Engines.? Lincoln isn?t a direct partner in the project, but the Ford division is supportive?and sure likes the McLaren link.
Even further out, Rossi wants to get into the sport compact market, creating more power for cars like Honda Civics?while McLaren Perfor-mance re-creates itself.
Source: AutoWeek
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