Last summer, I had made my first-ever appearance at the annual tailgate party at my former high school. On what is usually the second Saturday of August, the rear parking lot and grounds of Flint Central High School turn into a multi-generational celebration of all the things, people, and happenings that former alumni loved about attending this school. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this event in an earlier post, but to recap, it was really fun to see people both older and younger than me who had attended our high school, which closed in 2009. I believe the senior-most class represented last summer was the class of 1978, which had surprisingly substantial representation underneath their tent. (Seventy-eight also happens to be the year that General Motors had employed the most people in the Flint area, at over 77,000.)
This black Continental Mark V sat in the lot, at first parked away from the other cars. It didn’t take long before it had company next to it in those same spaces where my classmates and I used to park our rides as newly-licensed teenagers back in the early ’90s. The long, low, wide profile of this tuxedo-black Mark V made it stand in stark contrast to all of the vehicles around it, most of which were trucks or SUVs. Its smooth finish reflected the scenes unfolding around it in every direction, as the echoes of thumping music and boisterous conversation would rise and fall as those sounds bounced around. The Lincoln stood there solidly, stoically, and stately in its appearance. It appeared to be slightly dechromed, as I noticed the absence of some of the usual external identification, including the individual letters that would normally line the circumference of its trademark humped trunklid.
It was the complete antithesis of what a modern vehicle should be. At just over 230.3″ long, it still stands as the longest two-door passenger car ever manufactured by Ford Motor Company. A better profile shot with the Chevy Equinox that later parked next to it would have driven home this point. From an aesthetic perspective, this 1977 – ’79 generation is my favorite Mark series. Its creased, linear styling makes it look purposeful and somehow leaner and lighter than its 4,900 pound curb weight. Determining its model year has still proven to be tricky, as external changes between the three model years were minor. These wheel covers, which might have provided some clearer indication, don’t appear to have been offered on the Mark V, but were standard on the regular ’77 Continental. It would have been convenient to have been able to ask the owner, but there was to be no such luck. Therefore, I’m only guessing as to this car’s model year.
Buyers liked the Mark V, purchasing 80,300 for ’77, 72,600 for ’78, and another 76,000 for ’79. Each of these figures was above the highest annual tally for the preceding Mark IV, the high water mark for which came in ’73 with 69,400 units. The Mark V handily outsold Cadillac’s Eldorado during its three-year run, even after the latter’s right-sized ’79 redesign, of which 67,400 were sold. A big 400 cubic inch V8 was standard equipment on these large coupes, with its optional 460 disappearing for ’79.
Note the Luxury Wheel Covers above that were standard on the ’77 Continental Mark V.
A couple of things resonated with me when I looked at this Lincoln with my high school in the background. Both the 1970s concept of the personal luxury coupe and also my high school, which was originally built in 1923, were all about being big, ornate, and ostentatious. The craftsmanship that had gone into my once beautiful school was apparent to me even as a teenager as I would walk through its hallways with its high ceilings and polished granite surfaces. The library and theater were absolutely stunning, full of dark, beautifully finished wood put artfully together into shelves, soffits, and beams – looking like something out of a John Hughes movie. It’s all a gutted, graffitied mess today.
Our featured car is wearing the above wheel covers from the ’77 non-Mark Continental.
Similarly, the architecture of the personal luxury coupe followed an increasingly impractical pattern of longer, lower, wider, heavier, and with limited interior space – or rather, space for just two people. That template was simply not sustainable, much like it couldn’t be justified to keep Flint Central open past 2009 in the face of significantly decreased enrollment and lack of funds. The other thing that stood out to me about this Mark V was its apparent composure amid the joyful cacophony around it. I enjoy revelry and being amid a little bit of wildness from time to time. In fact, I’m on a flight home from Las Vegas probably as you read this. Here’s where this Lincoln serves as inspiration. It seemed to sit there in the Flint Central parking lot maintaining its composure despite not fitting into its surroundings. In fact, the Mark’s sense of presence seemed all the more real because it didn’t conform to what was around it.
Like this car, I can remember being in situations and surroundings where I was the outlier and not like everyone else around me. Over the course of my life thus far, I’ve grown confident in who I am, what I stand for, and what I bring to the table, much like this Mark V can be mistaken for nothing else. A late-’70s Lincoln may be an older luxury car to some, but its identity is unmistakable and people know exactly what it is. This echoes my personal approach, even when I’m out somewhere having fun among other people. No matter what’s going on around me, I always try to remember just who I am and try to keep my head up, even at the risk of standing out. Nobody and no situation is worth compromising oneself only for the sake of trying to fit in. It’s great to cut loose, but if this is your bent, just remember this Lincoln and keep it classy.
Flint, Michigan.
Saturday, August 10, 2024.
Brochure pages were sourced from www.oldcarbrochures.org.
Seeing a Mark V is an excellent way to start what will ultimately be a long, cold snowy day. I hate winter.
While this sentiment could be in the minority, the Mark V is definite high mark in the history of Lincoln. Fifty years later and there is still no mistaking it for anything else. Despite its still hefty weight, it looks so much more lithe and svelte than does the Mark IV or Mark III. If dissecting this Lincoln it may have a few weak points (overhangs) that magically disappear when examining the whole. Well, that’s my take on it.
I can only imagine how nobody will ooh and aah over any contemporary Lincoln in fifty years. Saying that may make me sound grumpy, but so be it.
Joe, I hoped you enjoyed Vegas. We were there not quite two years ago for two layovers; one was about three minutes, the other well over three hours. I won $35 on a slot machine the second time; had I not been a cheapskate by playing only one credit, it would have been over $30k. Such is life and I hope your Vegas event was a good and memorable one.
Good morning Joe. Hopefully you had fun in Vegas and your flight is going smoothly.
Ah, the Lincoln Mark V… when I was a teen (Also, Class of ‘78), I was into all things brougham, having that ‘73 LTD as a first car. To me, this car was the ultimate brougham, and I think most brougham fans would agree.
My doctor at the time had one, the Bill Blass Edition like the one pictured below. This car still has a place of pride in my fantasy garage…
These really good fake convertibles made 13 year old me very disappointed when I realized they were not real drop tops. There is something very Hollywood about the Bll Blass, and it would have been a a breath of fresh air compared with the then recently departed aging and bloated Eldorado convertible.
I’ll admit that I was almost duped by my doctor’s car. It looked like the one above.
But then I saw one like the one below, and knew right away, it could not be a real convertible. The opera window is a dead give away (see below)…
As to it being a fake hardtop as cited below by 8E45E, these WERE real hardtops, even that late in the game. NO B PILLAR. The last hardtop LTD was the ’74, and the last convertible big Ford car was the ’72 LTD Convertible. I REALLY wanted one of those back in the day, and thought very seriously about cutting the top off of my ’73! Of course that would have been a really dumb idea, as pointed out be a good friend of mine who worked in his father’s body shop.
I think 8E45E was mostly disappointed with the fixed rear quarter glass. I’d have to admit, I was too.
Having disassembled the interior of a 1979 Mercury Cougar XR7, I realized its 1972 Torino roots were still evident with mounting points for a rear quarter glass window regulator.
With the Mark V apparently having Torino lineage, I’ve wondered how hard it might be to make the rear quarter glass operable. That would be a cool touch!
I had thought that the rear window glass did go down on the Mark V.
Its roof profile is so similar to my ’73 LTD, and in that case, I know from first hand experience the rear window did go down.
When you look at a Mark IV and my LTD, the roof almost looks the same, right down to the weird L shaped sheet metal that surrounds the rear window of those two cars. I thought that the Mark V was the same.
As to the fixed rear windows on coupes, yeah, I disliked that too, but it’s what I’ve had to deal with that from my ’79 Futura on forward through the T-Bird years to my current Mustang and Civic coupes.
Sadly, the only true hardtop I would ever own was my first car.
The Rear Window of the LTD (and Mark IV… apparently not the Mark V)…
I’m not sure the operating rear quarter glass made it all the way through the Mark IV’s run.
Mid and large Ford products went to mostly fixed rear quarter glass in 1975. Apparently, a few early run Grand Marquis coupes did get operating rear electric windows.
The Mark IV was not well thought out for 1972. Matching a trick from the 1967- 1970 Eldorado, the rear quarter window opened back into the sail panel, instead of down. Then, they decided to offer the optional rear sail panel oval glass, which proved so popular, it was probably standard by 1973. The problem, the rear quarter window travel was limited by the “opera” window. The dopey design only rolled back about an inch when the opera window was ordered.
By 1976, the barely operable operating window would have been ridiculous on several levels.
Note the rear glass is closed on the Mark IV…
A REAL hardtop has all four windows that disappear where one can run their hand along the beltline from A-pillar to C-pillar uninterrupted. Lack of a B-pillar does not make it a hardtop, if it has fixed rear glass. Officially, they are considered a ‘coupe’ if it has fixed glass. The cheapness of making the rear windows solidly in place also spread to GM where the downsized 1979 E/K Eldorado/Riviera/Toronado also had fixed rear quarter glass without a B-pillar. Not until 1982 when a REAL convertible Buick Riviera was offered in the GM E/K line could one buy a U.S. two-door car again with rear glass that could disappear. That doesn’t mean someone could not have still purchased a brand new hardtop at all in 1979; Mercedes Benz had hardtops available all those years, and as for real convertibles, the Rolls-Royce Corniche was also available. As well, the Beetle convertible was on the market until 1979 as well.
I’ll disagree to a degree. The pages of CC have had many debates on the definition of a body style. While you have a point, there are so many variations that some general soft rules of thumb should apply.
The 1971-1973 Cadillac Coupe deVille rear quarter glass did not make it all the way into the body (see picture). Is it not a hardtop?
The 1972-1976 Thunderbird had operating rear windows for 1971-74, and the exact same car eliminated rear regulators for 1975 and 1976. So, it was, and was not, a hardtop?
Typical 1970’s smoke & mirrors needlessly overweight car with fake everything inside and outside; fake spare tire hump, fake wood trim, fake hardtop look (rear windows were fixed in place), fake full leather seats, aside from a small section for one’s butt & backside. fake fender vents, Cheap audio system. Did it really need two feet of dead air space between the fan and the edge of those ugly 5-mph bumpers? No wonder sales of the Mercedes Benz and BMW increased during that decade of malaise, which Lincoln has still not recovered from to this day.
A perfect example of LINCOLN, what a Luxury CAR should be and ONCE was. It’s HUGE! It guzzles gas! It pollutes the air! It scares the birds! Other cars part like the Red Sea to get out of the way! What’s NOT to love? I totally agree that MARK V and TOWN CARS were the epitome of OTT excessively chromed upscale Luxury. My motto, Too Much is NEVER enough. I once owned a 78 Town Coupe. Have had several Grand Marquis and TOWN CARS. Still Thinkin Lincoln with my current low mileage Town Car Signature Limited being the last gasp of Traditional American Luxury sedans. Someone mentioned waste. Today’s so called Luxury vehicles are bloated SUVS at BLOATED prices. They’re so revolting, I’m on to VERSAILLES in my Town Car! I wish I had never let the 78 Town Coupe go!
I was surprised when my father chose a Town Coupe over a Mark V in late 1977. It was probably all about becoming a family of six every third weekend when my sister and I went to his house, but for the first time I was a mite disappointed because the Mark V was a really sharp look then.
I have allowed the Mark V to overtake the Mark III in my personal hierarchy (the Mark IV has never contended for top spot). At least so long as it is powered by the creamy 460.
I always wanted to attend one of those beautiful old schools like the one you describe, but never got the chance.
Today’s Mercedes and BMWs are not luxury cars in the same sense as this gone Lincoln. They are pretenders made for conformists who seek an image.
I abhor conformists.
There’s a fine line between old school traditional, which these cars represented, and conformist.
With an extravagant glitzy Lincoln, the owner may have wanted a return to the 1950’s.
Late seventies Lincolns were a fascination for tween age me. I spotted the standard Lincoln wheel covers immediately. Nice catch on that detail.
Sad to hear that beautiful building is a mess now .
This car truly deserves the moniker “boat” ! .
And at 5,000 pounds it’s a real porker too .
Nevertheless I find it very attractive and can imagine my 1972 5′ Russian girlfriend driving it like she did our ’65 Lincoln , flat out most of the time .
It even has a DAY / DATE CLOCK ! wow .
-Nate
It was good enough for Jock Ewing. It is a jaw dropping head turning in your face PRESENCE extravaganza. I love it and the Mark III and Mark VII. If only someone at Ford actually cared about legacy and these awesome noble beasts … how much would it really cost to make a big coupe and sedan on an F150 frame with a proper grill and Lincoln Star hood ornament? Sigh … what could be.
I always look forward to your Tuesday morning posts Joseph. And the pretty amazing variety of cars your find, and profile. No question, these Lincolns stood out at the time. As the trend swelled in an opposite direction, for wealthy people to drive more discreet luxury cars. Most were driven by people in their senior years, or retirement. Likely with a strong affinity, for the glory days of Lincoln.
I was in grade school, and starting to show interest in design and architecture. I probably would have described the styling on these as Brutalist. Increasingly polarizing. Some would call then ostentatious. Others would call them anti-social. I do like autos that make strong statements. Thank you, Joe!
The 460 with factory air. Drop a decent cam with dual exhaust good to go
Over time the Mark V has overtaken the original Mark III in my affection. People buy a luxury car to make a statement, even if over time the phrasing of that message has changed a bit. It’s still about how expensive and impressive the vehicle is, though Today it might be a Tesla Model S or luxury SUV. As we saw with the recent post about the VW Phaeton, it has to look the part to be successful. Subtlety is not the point.
Great comparison of this type of car to the architecture and design of public buildings like high schools. One of the older high school buildings near me was demolished a few years ago (for a townhouse development), and the craftsmanship that went into that building was incredible. Like your example, the theater in particular was exquisite. Now, high schools (and most public buildings) are bland and dull, with virtually nothing that’s memorable. One could rarely accuse a 1920s school, or any Lincoln, of being bland and dull. Say what you will about things that are big, ornate and ostentatious – but decades later they’re fascinating.
And regarding your last point, even though I’m in my 50s now, I still haven’t mastered the art of looking calm and confident in situations where I’m the outlier. Someday, maybe, I’ll learn to be like this Mark V.
Joseph, you got me curious so I googled Flint Central High School. Here it is–yes, it’s beautiful–“They don’t make ’em like that anymore!” (Like this Mark V).
I’m assuming the building is gone now?
Even more spectacular–the first Flint Central High School from 1875: