--- title: "Lincoln Envisions a Future Where Driving Is Literal Child’s Play" date: "2022-08-19" modified: "2022-08-19" authors: - name: "Jerry Perez" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jerry-perez" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/lincoln-envisions-a-future-where-driving-is-literal-childs-play" categories: - "Car Tech" - "Lincoln News" - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Self-Driving Tech" tags: - "concept car" - "Lincoln" --- # Lincoln Envisions a Future Where Driving Is Literal Child’s Play ![]() Lincoln pulled the wraps off its [Model L100 Concept]() last night at Monterey Car Week, where it's celebrating being the featured marque of this year's [Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance](). The gorgeous-looking coupe pays homage to the brand's original luxury car; the [1922 Model L](), while also hinting at its future design language. After the concept's reveal, I caught up with [Kemal Curic](), Global Design Director for Lincoln Motor Company, and asked him about the inspiration behind the car's steering device. I say "device" because it isn't a steering wheel, but a jewel-inspired chess piece controller. "When talking with our designers about how we re-imagined the future of driving—how we could re-envision driving when you no longer need a steering wheel—one of them mentioned seeing his children play with toy cars," said Curic. "He was observing them playing with cars and it all seemed so very natural, seeing them grab the cars with their hands and steering them left and right." ![]() *Jerry Perez* ![]() *Lincoln* Curic is referring to something that pretty much everyone's done at some point in their young or adult lives. Y'know, grab a Hot Wheels and push it down a surface, pretending like it's a town, a racetrack, an obstacle course, whatever. We've all done it. Maybe some of you even had those cool rugs depicting a whole city, complete with intersections, roundabouts, stop lights, the local bank, stores, etc. It wasn't long ago that I was actually playing this along with my youngest daughter on her bedroom rug, so I knew Curic was onto something here. "You see children steering the car left and right and forward and back just moving it with their hands, it's actually something very emotional, very connected," said Curic. "It was this *aha!* moment. When he \[the designer\] sketched it all out, he came up with this beautiful idea of this chess piece, this crystal piece, that you can place on this surface and grab it and move it around and move the actual vehicle. "The surface it sits on is a map, and there's a magnetic field that senses where the chess piece is moving, and that's how you'd drive the car around on the map, around a city," added Curic. ![]() ![]() ![]() *Lincoln* The sketch shown above is how the idea was initially born, which appears to show the glass controller affixed to the surface. However, it evolved into what you can see in the other live photos from the unveiling, where Curic showed me how the piece would actually glide over the surface—*not* remain attached. It goes without saying that the Model L100 Concept is strictly that—a concept. However, as far as far-fetched futuristic features go, I'm really digging this way more than a yoke, joystick, or just not having anything in place of a steering wheel. This chess piece and chessboard really speak to one's natural instinct of movement. As humans, whenever we want to move something we just pick it up and move it; so why should our cars be any different? Like I [said about the Model L100 yesterday](): concept cars don't *have* to make sense. They just need to be a cool representation of our wildest ideas. Got a tip? Email us at *tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Jerry is responsible for upholding The Drive's ethos as an audience-first, enthusiast-driven car blog that serves up industry-leading news, reviews, culture, and motorsport coverage. Overseeing a staff of writers and editors from his home base in Indianapolis, he helps curate the site's daily rundown, as well as its medium- and long-term content strategies. Jerry joined The Drive in 2018 as a writer and worked as news editor and managing editor before becoming the deputy in 2023. As a lifelong car enthusiast and racing fan, Jerry believes that all cars are cool, but the people behind the machines are even cooler. This belief often gives The Drive a slightly different focus from most other car sites, where we explore the humanity behind the machines. When he's not obsessing over the day's biggest stories or hanging out at a race track, Jerry can be found behind the wheel of a car, most likely sharing a laugh with his teenage son or daughter. ### Author social links [Instagram]()