Start with what the Lincoln C is: a 5-door hatchback with 2.0 L EcoBoost I4, built from 2009, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. What it meant takes a little longer.
Where it came from
The Lincoln C was a concept car manufactured by Lincoln, which was unveiled at the 2009 North American International Auto Show. It included a 1.6 liter EcoBoost engine rated at 180 hp (134 kW) and 180 lb⋅ft (244 N⋅m) of torque, with a dry dual-clutch PowerShift 6-speed transmission. The Ford Sync system featured a female avatar called Eva, which could be customized.
A production version of the Lincoln C concept has never been officially announced or unveiled, but the concept remained on the official Lincoln website as a "future vehicle." With Ford having canceled the Mercury brand and investing heavily in Lincoln, Ford canceled the C concept and its successor was the Lincoln MKC concept unveiled in 2013.
Under the skin
The engine is 2.0 L EcoBoost I4. Drive goes through a 6-speed automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Lincoln line-up the Lincoln C has a clear place: it handed the line to the Lincoln MKC. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Nissan Leaf, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Tesla Roadster. Nearby in the Lincoln catalogue sit the Lincoln First Call and the Lincoln Funeral Car.