Making use of old automobile names makes a great deal of logical sense. It saves you the time and trouble of going through the lengthy and difficult trademarking process, and it keeps you from being referred to as the Mitsubishi Prostitute.
After all, it should come as no surprise that the Ford Puma evolved from a dinky, lithe coupe to a slightly podgy (though undeniably excellent) crossover after a period of time that was long enough for most people to have missed the transformation.
And now the Ford Zephyr is back in production. To some extent, yes. This is the Lincoln Zephyr, a posh offshoot of FoMoCo that has adapted an old name for the Chinese market, as seen here. We should point out that this is a market where the Ford Escort is still available.
Even the new-generation Zephyr, which is only a pair of blue oval badges short of being an extremely faithful tribute to its Fifties and Sixties namesake (pictured below), should be less contentious than the Puma. After all, it's essentially a premium-ish saloon car, not a sports car.
We've been fed numerous details about the Zephyr over the course of several months. An eight-speed automatic transmission will connect the car's 2.0-litre petrol engine to its interior, which will feature "four relaxing modes" created from digital scents and 128-colour ambient lighting (who knew there were that many colors?). According to Lincoln, while "inherits the brand's Quiet Flight DNA, which is centered on the tenets of Beauty, Gliding, Human and Sanctuary," the exterior "also expresses a strong, contemporary aesthetic, signaling a new face for Lincoln design in the future."
No, we don't think so. And the marketing jargon doesn't stop there. It continues. Another "unique feature" of the Lincoln Zephyr is "The Future Letter," according to the information we've received. Following the creation of customized content for display on the full-width coast-to-coast screen, customers can schedule content to appear on the screen at predetermined times, creating a sense of joy for passengers.
What would make us happy is if, like the original Zephyr, this one is converted into a convertible and a Monte Carlo rally winner is derived from it. We'll keep our fingers crossed, firmly but futilely, for now...