Though it has four doors, Lincoln calls its new MKR concept a coupe. Like the Ford Interceptor concept that also debuted at the Detroit auto show, the MKR has an eye-catching grille; in the case of the Lincoln, it's a flashy twin-port design with large teeth. It works well on this car and isn't garish, like the new Lincoln Navigator's grille. The concept has an all-glass roof with an outline of the Lincoln star logo in it. Fairly streamlined in front, the MKR is more angular in back and has a forward-sloping rear deck that Peter Horbury, Lincoln's executive director of design for the Americas, described as "like the train of an evening gown" during its unveiling. The concept's chrome wheels measure 21 inches in diameter, and power comes from a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 that can run on E85 ethanol. The engine's total output is 415 horsepower and 400 pounds-feet of torque.

The four-seat cabin is finished almost exclusively in cream-colored materials — the kind of color that only makes sense on a concept car that will never see the dirt and mud of the real world. The seats are covered in leather and the cushions are soy foam; another way to use renewable sources. The MKR has mohair carpet and a wool headliner, but the dash — which has Lincoln's characteristic symmetry — and the flow-through center console are finished in recycled black oak. The gauges have blue lighting, and indirect blue lighting is also used in the doors, center console and the overhead Lincoln star.