True luxury means a convertible

TO THE EDITOR:

In "Lincoln aims to 'paint a new picture' for shoppers" ("Weekend Drive," autonews.com, Nov. 29), marketing director Michael Sprague says the brand is focused on building beautiful products "that glide along the roads." I just checked a print ad for a new, really stunning Lincoln. One paragraph ends with "a ride as smooth as a glider in flight."

The ad ran 78 years ago. It was for a 1941 Lincoln Continental, a truly distinctive and much-desired luxury coupe — or convertible — as owned by legendary Hollywood stars like Rita Hayworth.

The "Weekend Drive" intro features a convertible — it makes my case! The price of admission in the true luxury segment is a mandatory convertible, but the more the better. Mercedes and BMW have about a dozen between them. And Lexus just woke up with the LC 500. Lincoln is just a line of nice trucks.

Lincoln and Cadillac will languish forever with their generic truck styles, overlooked by true luxury-brand shoppers, whose dealers outsold Lincoln's and Cadillac's car lines by an estimated 14-1 and 28-1, respectively, in October.

BOB MARCKS, Scottsdale, Ariz., The writer is a former Ford and Lincoln stylist and retired Chrysler designer and product planning and marketing manager.