The Lincoln Continental and Cadillac Eldorado, among the industry's longest-running luxury cars, are headed for the big car lot in the sky, victims of changing consumer tastes and automaker strategies.

Lincoln officials familiar with product plans, who asked not to be identified, said Ford Motor Co. will discontinue the Continental after the 2002 model year. General Motors Corp. is expected to pull the plug on the Eldorado coupe in summer 2002. Sales of the Eldorado peaked at more than 71,000 in 1983, but the moribund model has managed barely 3,000 sales so far this year.

"In a way, it's the end of an era, but in another way it's just a natural evolution, an admission that Cadillac and Lincoln don't own the luxury market anymore," said Jim Hall, vice president of AutoPacific, an automotive consultant in Southfield.

Sales of the Continental, which dates to 1940, reached a high of nearly 63,000 in 1990, though that number was heavily supported by fleet sales. The Continental sold about 26,000 units last year.

Rather than sustain brands for tradition's sake, Cadillac and Lincoln are determined to develop models that can hold court with the new luxury kings from Germany and Japan.

"The Eldorado was the Cadillac of Cadillacs, but people today don't identify with the Eldorado the same way," Cadillac spokesman Kevin Smith said. "We don't want to forsake our heritage, but we need to build a product portfolio that attracts new owners."

Jim Rogers, Lincoln-Mercury marketing manager, would not comment on the Continental's impending demise. Rogers said Lincoln would not abandon traditional sedan customers, but it needs performance-oriented products to compete.

Joe Mooradian, an Allen Park, Ill., car collector whose 40 antique and classic cars include a 1941 V12 Continental cabriolet and a 1963 Continental, said the problem isn't the Continental name but its "old-guy image."

"The word Continental is very rich, and I think it's a mistake to get away from it," said the 70-year-old auto restorer. "The current car has a good ride and quality, but let's face it, aesthetically it needs some style. It needs more of that Mercedes, BMW or Lexus look. You'd get younger people into a Continental, and the older people will follow."

Rogers said even if the Continental name goes away, Lincoln could easily revive it in the future. For now, the Continental remains an important product for Lincoln, especially in northern states where owners appreciate its front-drive layout.

Still, "the long-term trend for Lincoln is evidently to move toward rear- and eventually all-wheel-drive," Rogers said.

Lincoln will begin selling a rear-drive sport sedan in 2005 or 2006 to compete with the BMW 3-Series, analysts said. Soon after, a two-door convertible model would become Lincoln's first open-roofed car since the Continental convertible in 1967.

The Continental name was first used on a now-classic coupe and convertible based on the Lincoln-Zephyr in 1940.

The Continental went away after 1948 and returned for 1956 with the fabulous Mark II at a shocking price of $10,000. Then 1961 brought a watershed redesign with the Lincoln-Continental sedan and convertible and their famous "suicide doors'' that swung open from the center. The Continental became a front-drive sedan in 1988.

Cadillac launched the Eldorado as a 1953 model, a top-of-the-line convertible that celebrated Cadillac's 50th anniversary and sold for a then-astronomical $7,750. President Dwight D. Eisenhower rode to his 1953 inauguration in one of the first production Eldorados.

In 1967, a front-drive Eldorado, based on the previous year's Oldsmobile Toronado, made the Eldo a mass-market car.

Last year, Cadillac signaled the beginning of the end for Eldorado by moving assembly to the Lansing Craft Center, in part to make way for Cadillac DeVille and Buick LeSabre production at its Hamtramck plant.

Lukewarm Eldorado sales don't justify continued investment in the model, Smith said. Cadillac's luxury roadster, based on the Evoq concept car, will essentially replace the Eldorado in 2003, he said.

GM's luxury division also might embrace a strategy of alphanumeric names for new models, partly because it believes names based on letters and numerals may translate better in international markets.

Smith acknowledged that classic Cadillac enthusiasts will shed a tear for the Eldorado, which has sold about 1.3 million units over nearly 50 years.

"If in fact the name goes away forever, there will certainly be some anguish. We're enthusiasts as well, but we have to keep our eyes on the future."