Any lover of American cars has some Lincolns that are on their short, or at least their long, list of favorite automobiles. For some of you, those cars may have been highlighted in my last article on collectible Lincolns I captured on camera during Scottsdale, Arizona’s classic car auction week. I suspect that for many here, some of the following nine cars are more likely to be on their favorites lists. In any event, click through for a broughamy good time.
The ’67 Continental convertible is the last “collectible” Lincoln. Many Lincolns after that are certainly loved and bought by enthusiasts, but they haven’t historically brought big prices or been the subject of full restorations. Most post-’67 Lincolns seen at auctions are well preserved originals, which there seem to be no shortage of.
The first example of one of these is a 1972 Continental Mark IV which sold at Barrett-Jackson for $11,550. It has a great copper color (original paint, of course) that looks sharp with a black vinyl roof and black leather interior.
The big, square, stand up grille dips deep into the bumper for a kind of dramatic effect. Optional, though, was a horizontal front bumper guard giving the bumper a more conventional look which our car here unfortunately has. The grill on the auction car looks a little funky on the edge, but that’s just a reflection.
The Mark IV had a 460cid V8 making 212hp (net). I haven’t included a lot of engine pics or talk in these Lincoln articles because Lincolns are not really about maximum power but more like Rolls Royce’s traditional approach of providing “adequate” power, as smoothly and quietly as possible. Being the ’70’s, naturally it took almost maximum displacement to get barely adequate performance.
Looking at pictures of the Mark IV, it jumped out at me that they really had quite good looking engine compartments for the ’70’s. By this time of increasing emission controls, most large accessory-laden cars’ engines were starting to get buried under hoses and whatnot, but these engines are still pretty visible, and painted in a nice bright blue.
Also at Barrett-Jackson was this 1973 Continental Mark IV. It’s got 13,000 miles on it and sold for $13,200, which works out to just about $1 a mile. That may be the most nonsensical metric ever, but it still somehow seems significant. Any way you cut it, it’s a lot of perfectly preserved brougham luxury for the money. I believe it even has original tires.
With regulations kicking in in 1973, car makers in the U.S. market were losing the flexibility to shape their bumpers purely for styling effect. The Mark IV sprouted protruding, bulky-looking front bumpers that did its looks no favors, but if you were involved in a minor collision, you’d be loving them.
The flowing, underswept rear bumpers stuck around for one last year before 1974, when the rear would match the front for more symmetrical ungainliness.
The Mark IV had unusual proportions. The window sills were high and side windows narrow. In that way it could fit in with many 2018 cars, except for the opera window and lack of a B pillar. The front end kind of mimics modern front wheel drive proportions as well, with the large amount of front overhang and comparatively short front axle to cowl distance. Today, only the Europeans continue to build large two door luxury cars. The tradition of big, ostentatious grilles lives on in modern full size pickup trucks.
It’s a comfy looking interior but here’s ’70’s luxury at its worst: at least two varieties of fake woodgrain here, neither a very plausible imitation. Also the instrument panel has only the bare minimum of gauges and they figure the time is just as important to you as your speed. At least the speedometer still goes to 120, not that anybody would want to drive it that fast. The gas needle on E is probably a common sight on these cars, even when running.
Silver turned out to be the Land Of Lincolns, as we’ll continue to see in this article (though it sadly means no auction results were available for many of these cars). They also had a 1973 Mark IV which looked just as nice as Barrett-Jackson’s car, but in a very ’70’s green inside and out.
I noticed all the Mark IV’s headlight covers were up. Is this a common malfunction, or do they always stay up if you leave the lights on? Maybe somebody reading knows (Paul’s ’70 Mark III find last Tuesday may have shed some light on this).
With the windows down, I got a good look at the interior and could spot nothing that looks like wear or any flaw. Though these low mile, preserved cars have lead pampered lives, it still is impressive to me that there is no discoloration, fading, cracking, etc. I think you’d have to say Ford engineered these interiors well and used good quality materials based on their durability over time. Anybody have any personal experience with ’70’s Lincolns and how they last when well-used?
I like the 8-track tape player, not sure if it is original.
Representing what I consider to be one of the most successful facelifts restyles ever is a 1977 Continental Mark V. Lincoln cut about 400lbs out of the car, though with the same wheelbase, width and two extra inches of length, I’m not sure how they achieved that. The sharper edged styling really fit this car well, I think, and just about every detail change is for the better. Big among them are the bumpers, which are still large energy absorbing units, but narrower so they don’t protrude out the sides of the car. Small things can make a big difference.
This Bill Blass package car has 11,000 miles and sold for $29,150. Perhaps these cars are starting to get their due with collectors, because in Barrett-Jackson’s past sales there is very little precedent for that level of price. Just two years ago a 1979 Mark V with less miles appearing to be as good condition sold for $15,950. Three years ago, a 1977 Mark V sold for $35,200, though that one took low mileage to a whole other level with only 443 miles.
This photo highlights some of the challenges of photographing cars at auctions. If a car is parked on the last row in a tent and the sun is coming in in the morning or afternoon, you really can’t get a great picture with the car in half shade. It’s not a problem for looking at cars, just photographing them, but a great car will shine through even a poor photo.
So how do you improve a car that already has a Rolls-Royce style grille, a Landau top, opera windows, fender louvers (functional!) and a fake continental spare tire hump? Tailfins! From the rear, it looks like a return to the ’50’s. That’s not to say it looks bad. The rear matches the bladed front fenders and totally fits with the styling of the car.
Surprisingly, any style vinyl top was optional. I can’t recall ever seeing one with a full steel roof. Base engine was now a 179hp 2-barrel 400, with the 208hp 4-barrel 460 optional (does that account for the weight loss?).
Interiors were little changed from the Mark IV. They did improve it by at least having only one style of woodgrain. My pet peeve about ’70’s Ford products is what I call Ford’s Corporate Dashboard. Most every car they came out with had the same basic dashboard styling, be it a Mustang II, Cougar, Granada, or whatever. Same with the steering wheel, which even extended to trucks.
The car appears to have its original tires, which I always love to see. Sure, it would be wildly impractical to drive a car even short distances on 40 year old tires. That doesn’t make it any less cool to see a normally disposable item still in excellent condition all these years later.
The Mark V was a big hit. 1977’s 80k sales was a 44% increase over 1976’s already good numbers and handily besting Cadillac’s Eldorado. ’77 was the all time high water “mark” (sorry), but ’78 and ’79 sales were not far off. After 1979, Mark sales never came close to those numbers again and were dominated by the Eldorado through 1985. Incidently, Ford’s other brilliant move in 1977 was to split the Thunderbird from the Mark. The ’72-’76 T-bird was virtually the same car as the Mark IV and sold in similar numbers. By moving the T-bird down to the midsize platform, they hit the bullseye of the 1970’s coupe-crazy market and increased sales by 600%.
Not everyone bought coupes in ’70’s. This Silver car is either a ’78 or ’79 Continental, I don’t remember and again, Silver’s auction list isn’t available on line. It wasn’t in quite as perfect condition as the Marks above, but still very nice.
Lincoln was on a tear in the late 70’s, as even the Continental sedans enjoyed a healthy sales increase. 1977 sales saw a 54% spike, stayed almost the same for 1978 then went up 14% again for 1979. How much did Cadillac’s downsizing contribute? It’s hard to say, but when Lincoln downsized their big sedans for 1980, sales dropped almost 50%, even counting the Mark VI sedan.
After a one year absence, Lincoln replaced the Versailles with a much more appealing compact sedan for 1982. Silver had this 1983 Continental, the second year for the body style. The Versailles was far too obviously a Granada, whereas the Continental was not nearly as obviously a Fairmont, especially after it got an attractive new front end for ’84-’87.
It might have been wise for Lincoln and Chrysler to have waited to commit to copying the 1980 Seville until they saw how it worked out for Cadillac. In any case, of the three Detroit bustlebacks, I like Lincoln’s version best, especially the ’84-’87.
Lincoln avoided the famous-on-Curbside Classic engine missteps of Cadillac, providing standard in all their 1983 models a reliable, if uninspiring, fuel injected version of the 302cid V8 putting out 130hp. The Continental was only about 300lbs lighter than the Town Car and Mark VI, but everything helps when you only have 130hp available.
Ford was still suffering from a form of corporate dashboard and steering wheel. This interior looks an awful lot like those in other Fox body cars of the time. The Fox Continental used pretty much the formula of the original Seville with a unique body over the chassis of a basic compact Ford sedan, and having the price leapfrog over the full size Lincolns, to a 24% premium. They didn’t nail it like GM did with the first Seville, but at least it was a much better effort than the Versailles.
In January this year there was a lengthy discussion on CC about this creature of the ’70’s and 80’s: the drum style outdoor thermometer. It looks to me like it is reading 90 degrees, which I would say is about 20 degrees off from the temperature that afternoon. Later electronic thermometers were much more reliable and long lasting (my 1996 model’s is still works very well), but these were a good low-tech feature at the time.
One last bit of trivia: 1984 was the last year that an 8-track tape player was available in Lincolns.
This should excite a few of you out there: the car most enthusiasts consider the best Mark ever and probably the ultimate version of the Fox body. Silver had this 1992 Continental Mark VII LSC, in fine original condition.
As most of you know, the Mark VII came out for 1984 with radically modern styling on the existing Fox platform shared with the Thunderbird and Cougar, among others. Exterior styling was not changed in any substantial way during its nine model years, so by 1992, while still a good looking car and beloved by many of us here, it was not looking so fresh to the market’s eyes. Sales plummeted from 1988’s high water mark of 38,000 to 5,700 in 1992.
Since 1988, the Mark VII had a 225hp 5.0 V8, essentially the same engine found in the V8 Mustang. For the last several years of the Mark VII, Lincoln simplified its lineup to two models. However, in 1992 the LSC and Bill Blass were identical mechanically, had the same BBS wheels and differed externally only by the LSC’s foglamps and badging. The only differences were in interior features.
Lincoln hit another home run in its extensive revision of the Panther-platform Town Car for 1990. After the Brougham fest of the ’70’s and ’80’s, Lincoln re-dressed their big sedan in a tasteful and restrained new suit. To my mind, it was not unlike the ’61 coming after the excesses of the ’50’s. I remember when it came out and thinking it looked really modern. Lincoln even won the Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, for the first time ever.
The first two years, Lincoln did not even offer a vinyl roof and it never offered wire wheel covers.
In my opinion, this car is crying out for thin whitewalls. If there are any Town Car experts out there, perhaps you can help me out. I don’t remember what year the seller’s description on this Silver car said it was. I’m thinking 1990, but the wheels are throwing me off.
Interiors were not a radical departure, but were nicely done. Like the exterior, the dashboard was tasteful and attractive, if not as modern. The door panels blend into the dash very well. Pillow top upholstery was banished. I prefer this original design to the 1995 interior redo. Corporate steering wheel still present and accounted for.
Lincoln did very well with its Town Cars in the ’80’s and ’90’s. They appear to have been the main beneficiary from Cadillac’s missteps, with volumes increasing in the mid ’80’s as fuel prices dropped and Cadillac downsized. 1988 for some reason was an incredibly good year for Lincoln. Sales of the Town Car more than doubled and the division as a whole outsold Cadillac for possibly the first time ever. Lincoln never sold that many Town Cars again, but the 1990-97 generation was a strong and consistent seller, keeping Lincoln in the black and close on Cadillac’s heals in an era of increasing foreign competition.
Last up is a 1995 Mark VIII. The Mark VII arguably stuck around for a bit too long. New platform Thunderbirds and Cougars arrived for 1989, but the Mark VIII (no longer a Continental) didn’t come out until mid 1992 as an early ’93 model. It never set the world on fire, saleswise. First year sales of 32k were decent, but never reached that level again. The 18k 1995 models sold underscored the fact that the glory days of the Lincoln Mark series and American luxury coupes were receding into its electrochromatic auto dimming rearview mirror.
During this period when Cadillac and Lincoln were fighting for the scraps of the luxury coupe market, the Mark did at least did manage to outsell, by small margins, the Eldorado in 1988, 1990 and 1993.
Even if the Mark was no longer very popular, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an appealing car. It was the first recipient of Ford’s 32-valve DOHC Modular 4.6L V8, sending 280hp and 285 lb-ft of torque to its now independently suspended rear wheels. Interiors were super swoopy, in Ford’s rounded ’90’s style. This photo is the 1993 brochure spread (thanks oldcarbrochures.org). The 1995 interior was modified a bit with woodgrain accents. Exterior styling was very streamlined and sleek. Not everyone loves it, but it would be hard to argue that it is in any way homely. The trunk spare tire hump was about as subtle as it could be while still being recognizable. It was even available with a pretty impressive selection of 15 exterior and 5 interior colors. That’s five full interior colors, not just seats and door inserts that pass for color choices with many cars today.
Well, that wraps up my encounters with Lincolns in Scottsdale. Going back and reviewing all these cars kind of makes me wish I had a nice one in my garage. If you wanted to drive somewhere in style and comfort, Lincolns were a great choice. Feel free to chime in below with your experiences, thoughts and opinions on these latter day luxury cruisers.
Other articles in my 2018 Scottsdale auction series:
Cadillacs-part 1 restored cars
Cadillacs-part 2 unrestored cars
Wagons, Independents and Freaks
A great Malaise-o-riffic bunch of Lincolns. The only one I would take home is the non-Malaise Mark VII, with the Mark VIII as a contender.
Not just the dashboards but the steering wheels as well. The first Continental has the same steering wheel as my ’74 Maverick.
When you pay more for a car, you ought to see and feel more luxury in your field of vision.
Even Chrysler understood this point better than Ford!
I remember that my father’s Mark IV seemed to be an improvement in some ways but a comedown in others over his Mark III. I felt even then that the dash was cheap and noticed that features like the ammeter and the infinitely variable wipers were gone.
They had no choice on the wipers, the early ones were hydraulic, and ran directly from the PS pump which was mounted to the crank snout. When they dumped this setup the wipers went with it. I always thought they did this exactly because the wipers depended on the PS. A belt failure would leave you without wipers. Also, The hydraulic motor was incompatible with the new-fangled thing, electronic interval wipers, which Ford stole from Robert Kearns, by the way.
There was actually a movie about his story, and I had to laugh
at the part where he uses a Mark III to demo his invention to the Ford brass. Good luck making a hydraulic motor work on intermittent!
Speaking of the PS pump, can anybody tell why, on these and same year T-Birds, that it’s mounted where the AC goes on every other V8 FoMoCo product ever made, and the AC comp is under it. This “reversed” setup has always bugged for years as to why it was that way.
I’m going to guess that it was simply that A/C was standard equipment only on these two cars and it was easier/cheaper to install it on the production line that way. On all other Fords, A/C was optional and P/S more common, so they had to go with the traditional way of mounting.
I’m not sure if it was really the same, but when my wife’s then-boss bought a Jaguar XJ, it did seem as though the steering wheel was a fancified version of what was in her Ford Taurus. Probably Ford adapted it so that the US-spec air bag could be used.
Not as bad as the Ford wheel in the Aston Martin. I think I posted this before, but just in case…
Lincolns of the mid-1970s through the nineties will always have a special meaning for me as I began my affinity for cars in 1975 and my very first car was a 1984 Continental Valentino Edition.
I’m pretty certain the eight-track player pictured is an aftermarket product as a factory unit would’ve been incorporated into the radio.
It was likely added because the car was already equipped with an expensive AM-FM Stereo and the owner didn’t want to switch it out for an integral unit, resulting in a dead financial loss. I can’t see clearly, but I suspect it’s a Muntz unit. A neighbor of mine installed at a Muntz store in the 70s. You can clearly see the “RT1” switch to the left of the unit. This was a switch that allowed the 8-Track to use the factory speakers and was sold at Muntz outlets. They were a little tricky to install, you had had to know what you were doing.
Most people were okay with throwing away an AM, and replacing it completely, but that FM was a $142 option in 1973.
I don’t know how many of my 8-track tapes died when their tape got hung up inside but I hated it every time. It was like a bee’s guts being pulled out after it stings you, Remember driving down the highway and seeing faded 8 track cases by the side of the road? Their internals waving in the wind?
I went cassette as soon as I could afford it.
Yes, the standard operating procedure was to fling your coveted Led Zeppelin tape out of the window in disgust after it was eaten.
In about 1996 or 97 I purchased a 1987 continental. I was 17 at the time and not exactly what kids my age were driving in rule Michigan although I never was one to flow the crowd to closely. The continental was a far cry from my parents 1989 mercury cougar the continental made you want to drive slow and easy and in my round mind like you would a rolls royse. I don’t keep it long due to the insurance and licence tags being expensive also the front air ride was starting to go. I did love that continental.
So many desirable Lincolns. The silver 73 is my first choice. second would be the 79 Town car and the Mark 7. love that interior on the Mark 8, the way the dash curves like its wrapping itself around you. The exterior is super sleek as well. i still cannot stand the term “malaise era” for this period in time as i grew up around these cars (starting in 1973 so these car and that era are very special to me. i don’t feel “ill” when i remember these times………i feel like a 14 year old going to the new car dealers trying to get a glimpse of the new model and score some brochures. i hope people come to appreciate these cars as more than “gas guzzling behemoths” and that that ridiculous term for the era gets abolished.
You make a good point. The mid-late 70’s were a great time in many ways (I was a little kid, so I’m not really speaking from personal experience). Despite some economic challenges, we had some great tunes, crazy styles, baby bloomers coming into their own, etc. There were a lot of great sales years for U.S. car companies and really a last hurrah before imports took an irretrievably huge and painful cut out of Detroit’s sales.
I’m sure you know the term comes from President Carter’s infamous speech and the relatively anemic engine outputs. Many of us use it with affection. Even with the big bumpers and weak engines, many cars of the era had serious charisma and they are usually popular when they show up on CC.
Thanks Jon! As you said those were really great sales years for domestic cars. and with todays all look a like cars, i’ve learned to appreciate these cars more than ever as they all had their own personality (for lack of a better way of saying it) and in those days you could’nt confuse a Honda Accord for a BMW. you knew a Lincoln meant money and was not confused with a lesser Ford.
I’m glad to hear someone else likes the Continental of the 80s, I am also a fan, and I also feel that as a complete package they best the bustle backs of Cadillac and Imperial. If they are letdown anywhere it is in the interior, specifically the dashboard, which too closely resembles every other Fairmont based car. And like the car pictured, I think these look great with a two tone paint job. An “interesting” look, is one of these Continentals with a vinyl roof.
Of the Marks, for me it’s a Mark VII and no other….and VERY preferably an LSC.
I didn’t care for the Mark III but pretty much every Mark after that was preferable to the equivalent Eldorado. The ’71-78 was tacky where the Mark IV was at least handsome and damn near gorgeous in its first year. The Mark V is one of the most beautiful American luxury cars ever made. And although the ’79-85 Eldorado was a much better-looking car than a Mark VI, the Lincoln was probably still the better choice.
Agree about the ’82-87 Conty’s bustleback. I like all 3 bustled domestics but the Continental’s design seems the most resolved.
Overall a great batch of Lincolns I find highly desirable. But the winner, in my eyes, is the Mark VIII. One of my favourite American cars of all time, with a prominent spot on my dream car garage list.
I just got my second Mark VIII a few months ago, my first car was a 94 that was a blast. It was owned by my dad, grandfather and me. Took all kinds of abuse. They’re great cars, my “new” ’93 with jewel green exterior has been a great project car.
That first Mark IV is the spitting image of the one my father got in November of 1971. I disagree with you and find the little crossbar in front of the grille to be a huge improvement in the looks of the 72. In fact we hit multiple cars of Dad’s, including the big late 70s Town Car (his was a coupe) and the Fox Continental.
I also agree about that “corporate dash”. The only choice you got was round gauges (Torino) or square (almost everything else). There was at least a little variety in the pre-1975 steering wheels with the really cheap cars getting that basic two spoke with a round center hub. That 1975-79 wheel was on literally everything.
I would also quibble about calling the Mark V a “facelift”. It was a completely new body. One that I found to be a big improvement.
They both use the same basic dash & cowl structure, and I’m pretty sure the windshields interchange. This disqualifies it from being a completely new body.
I would consider it a very heavy facelift.
My understanding is it was all new body panels over the existing body structure. I agree it’s a VERY heavy facelift, so much so that Lincoln added another Roman numeral to the Mark.
“Restyle” would sound more definitive, than ‘facelift’, which is usually changing front and rear of existing body.
I agree with that! I amended the article.
I also really like the 80’s Continentals. I thought Ford did a great job of modifying it’s Fairmont roots except for one small area. Those exposed black wipers look so cheap compared to the rest of the car. Darker colors hide them better, but if it’s a light-colored car they stick out.
It’s too bad there was no Versailles there, I am a fan of the ’79-’80 models.
Nice! I will be parting with my ’88 LSC shortly that I’ve had for 25 years. Very sad and reluctant to do so, but rust is taking hold.
The Town Car looks to be a ’90 “fleet car” spec. The front bumper was revised for ’91 to look and be less “heavy” (26 pounds lighter ’91 than ’90). There is also no keypad that I see on the door and no passenger side airbag. I had an early production ’90 fleet townie for a while, super stripped down- velveteen fabric, no pass airbag, no keyless entry, no ABS, basic rearview mirror and yes, wire wheel hubcaps I think they were even 15″ wheels instead of 16″- It was the same Titanium as my Mark and was a cheap winter beater for my partner. It could also be a ’91 since there was an airbag shortage so you could receive a rebate if you chose to go without. The bumper and side cladding still makes me think ’90. I’ll try to dig up a pic.
That’s interesting about the fleet special. I’ve never heard of that. The brochure does not list wire wheel covers as an option, nor does my Standard Catalog. They also dont list the turbine wheels it’s wearing as an option in 1990.
I always thought the early 90’s Town Cars looked good with the standard wheel covers. Very clean and kind of old fashioned, just because most luxury cars then had wires or aluminum wheels.
Sorry to hear about your Mark VII. It looks real nice in the picture.
The ’90 model was an odd duck, I read about the trials and tribulations of getting it into production in “Continental Comments” years back. Apparently Lincoln was over budget and out of time so the 1990 was rushed into production for the sake of meeting a Ford deadline and many of the features (and engine) would not be introduced until the ’91 MY. Many suppliers did not ship Ford/ Lincoln enough parts in time for the rollout so many had carry over ’89 parts stuck on where ever they could use them going down the line early on.
For those that don’t remember the rollout hoopla for the 1990 Town Car- it was EVERYWHERE! There were commercials, print ads, lots of giveaways and contests and the rental car market (especially Budget) had a ton of them. I remember my mother taking her car for service and she was offered either a Geo Prism 5 door or a new Lincoln Town Car as a rental at the same price. Everywhere she went with that car people complimented her and asked what it was (or guessed it to be “The Toyota Lexus”), even other older style Town Car owners, of which there were many in her circle, were surprised that it was a new Town Car.
It got even more promoted when it won Motor Trend Car of the Year- everyone in our neighborhood received a flyer about it in the mail (article reprint) and a special offer price of $19,999 from the local dealer. It became the ubiquitous “company car” replacing many Taurus around me (in Texas at the time). By the time she went to buy one in ’91 they seemed to be EVERYWHERE and as common as the 10 year old “gothic Townie” in just a year. I think Ford/Lincoln was dumping a ton of them in the market to get the older client base used to seeing them and more accepting of upgrading to a new car.
Yes, the 90-92 era was an odd era for all of the Panther cars. As I recall the Lincoln got the 4.6 mod motor and the AOD-E transmission a year before the Ford and Mercury cars did. There was an oddball version of the 4.6 block in the 92 Crown Vic and MGM that mated up with the old hydraulically controlled AOD transmission. By 1993 all three were again on the same page.
Not to mention the dash mix & match. Somehow, the 90-91 CV dash ended up being the 90-94 TC & G-M dash, with the 92 CV getting it’s own new one.
It is definitely a 1990 model. The bodyside moldings and bumper chrome are the distinguishing traits.
So many Lincolns, and for the most part, I would be happy to own any of them.
Though I must say, with regards to the 1973 Green Mark IV, I have to say I like the color. I don’t know if it was the same sort of color that Ford had in the 60s that I’ve seen on certain mid-60s Continentals but, it works. I always felt that when it came to dark green colors, Ford was probably the best when it came to offering paint jobs that looked really good, at least in the 60s and the 70s.
“At least the speedometer still goes to 120..”
Well, 1973 model year [Sept ’72-Aug’73] was still good old days of 70 mph and 30 cent gas.
Oct ’73 brought the first Oil Crisis. Feb ’74 started the 55 mph “prohibition” period.
“Being the ’70’s, naturally it took almost maximum displacement to get barely adequate performance.” Perhaps this was true later in the 1970s, but my parents’ 1972 Continental sedan – a dealer demonstrator with the same motor as this ’72 Mark IV (and the same color too, Copper Moondust Metallic) – accelerated just fine the several times I drove it as a teenager, and on regular gas too. The 1972 emissions controls and leaded gas yielded performance much better than “barely adequate”; performance really started to suffer a year or two later, as I recall from our ’74 Luxury LeMans coupe.
A minor clarification to “the Mark VIII (no longer a Continental) didn’t come out until mid 1992 as an early ’93 model”: Actually the name change occurred during the previous generation, when the 1985 Continental Mark VII became the 1986 Lincoln Mark VII.
“performance really started to suffer a year or two later, as I recall from our ’74 Luxury LeMans coupe”
Yes! My mother’s 74 Luxury LeMans sedan was a D-O-G! How something that lethargic used so much gas was a mystery.
Good point. I’ve never driven a ’72 Lincoln. In high school, I did have a ’72 Dodge Coronet with 318 which I thought had good power. 212hp in a 4,800-5000lb car is not too much, but the massive displacement generating over 350lb-ft of torque helped. But barely adequate is still adequate, which is more than you can say about many of the later cars of the 70’s and early 80’s.
I noticed that Lincoln power levels changed both up and down slightly every year in the 70’s and the 460 kept around 200hp through its end in 1978. Compression went from 10:1 in 1971 to 8.5:1 in 1972, then 8.0 through 1978. Lincoln was always ok with the 460, but the 400 in the late 70’s would probably no longer be considered even barely adequate.
I’ll take that ’73 Silver Mark IV. That takes me for quite a trip down Memory Lane.
Really like the green 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV a lot, I think green is a great color for this car, I wish there was a photo of a 1972-73 Lincoln Continental 4 door sedan, I always liked the early 70’s non Mark Continental’s over the Mark models.
My uncle had the bustleback Conti and the muscle-Mark from this era. Even back then as a young man studying for a seminary position at the Church of St Mark of Excellence, I had to admit that these cars, and the then-newish Taurus, which another uncle owned, were really nice vehicles.