Lincoln bringing back "suicide doors" with limited edition Continental

"Suicide doors" will soon be back on the road. For its 80th anniversary in 2019, Lincoln is bringing back a limited run of its Continental sedan with the iconic doors that are hinged from the rear, rather than the front. 

The "coach doors" — or "suicide doors," so-called because of the danger of opening them while the car is moving — harken back to the famous 1961 model of the car.

Lincoln will put out only 80 of the vintage-style Continentals, which debut Monday at a holiday party in Brooklyn before appearing at auto shows in Detroit and Beijing early next year.

The company said the cars are scheduled to be delivered by June 2019 exclusively in the U.S. and will sell for more than $100,000. Another limited run is set to come out in 2020.

Despite its old-fashioned appearance, the Continental will otherwise have modern luxury features such as driver assist and wireless charging.

Lincoln is bringing back the classic car after speculation it might take the Continental off the road for good due to declining sales. Only about 12,000 Lincoln Continentals were sold in 2017. That's less than a third of the peak Continental sales in the 1960s, when suicide doors were last in vogue.