Lincoln’s star logo on its new crossover
LOS ANGELES — With its newest, most advanced vehicle, Lincoln Motor Co. is paying tribute to its past.
The Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrid variant, unveiled last week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, will feature Lincoln’s traditional star logo in the center of the crossover’s mesh grille. But it will have a blue background to mark the vehicle as an electrified model.
The design touch is also an understated nod to the brand’s historic blue V-12 engine badge, found on such powerhouse Lincoln vehicles as the Zephyr.
The Aviator badge lettering along the side of the plug-in hybrid models also has a blue tint.
The plug-in hybrid is Lincoln’s most powerful vehicle ever, getting 450 hp and 600 pound-feet of torque. Executives said they chose the Grand Touring name to play up the electrified vehicle’s performance capabilities.
Robert Parker, Lincoln’s marketing manager, said they purposely chose not to clutter the vehicle’s design with a separate plug-in badge.
“We’re not going to splash this all over the car,” Parker told Automotive News. “It’s subtle, and we think there’s value to that.”