It’s not everyday we see such a daring upholstery match up as the one shown on the Lincoln Aviator Shinola Concept.
Lincoln is a brand that’s pretty much alien to Malaysian carbuyers. In fact, the brand isn’t popular outside the United States. The only markets that have access to Lincoln cars outside North America are China, South Korea and some part of the Middle East. They’re essentially an upmarket version of Ford and the counterpart to the Ford Explorer is the Lincoln Aviator.
The Lincoln Aviator just got a conceptual do-over from the watch brand Shinola. It’s not clear if Lincoln will take this version of the Aviator into limited production, but we really like what they did with the interior.
Throughout the cabin, some whiskey-coloured leather with a smooth, high-gloss finish is employed to upholster the seats, armrests, door cards, steering wheel and dashboard.
This is contrasted against cream-coloured leather, as it’s all topped off with woven textile stripe down the centre of each seat.
The brown leather is matched with a similarly-coloured centre console.
We wonder if the actual vehicle would look as luxurious as it does in these photos. After all, the brown coloured plastic bits in the XC60 T5 Momentum we tested some years ago did not look too good, all things considered.
What do you think? Is this interior doing anything for you, or is it coming across as tacky?
Here’s the press release with more information.
Press Release
The story of the Lincoln Aviator Shinola concept started with a watch, a duffle bag and a bike seat, and it took off from there. Two iconic brands with a shared passion for design, Lincoln and Shinola have teamed up to create an Aviator SUV concept.
After a visit to Shinola’s flagship showroom in Detroit, Lincoln designers set out to explore the brand’s popular lifestyle products on display, then found ways to incorporate some very compelling design elements into a unique theme. The result is an Aviator concept that blends the design principles of Lincoln with the modern aesthetic of Shinola.
The collaboration was an opportunity for Lincoln to test and learn, while exploring the use of different colors and new materials in designing vehicles.
A look and feel of modern luxury
The Lincoln Aviator Shinola concept’s soft white exterior is inspired by Shinola’s iconic mother of pearl stone watch dials, with hints of blue. Copper accents, inspired by the copper-plated structure that attaches to a Shinola Runwell bike seat, give off a rose-gold hue, for an exterior that highlights progressive utility.
The soft touch look and luxurious smell of Shinola whiskey leather appeal to the most refined of senses. The seats feature crème suede that beautifully matches the inserts, brightening up the cabin and giving off a pearl hue that mimics the unique exterior color.
Taking cues from the Shinola brand stripe, a woven textile sewn into the seats in all three rows makes for a unique, textural look. Liam Butler, Lincoln color and material designer, says he took each stitch of the original stripe then scaled to proportion, adding a blue tone that acknowledges Lincoln’s many signature blues.
The instrument panel highlights the importance of texture. Woven metal mesh, which also appears on the second-row console, imparts industrial luxury with the same copper accents as the exterior – a direct representation of a Shinola watch band. Every surface is wrapped with soft materials that make the cabin warm and inviting.
Lincoln will display the Aviator concept at the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
