(first posted 10/13/2014) Pity the poor Lincoln Versailles. Built to a price by the powers-that-be in Dearborn, the resulting Seville-fighter (not really) was a well-made car, the first car with factory clearcoat, the first car with halogen headlamps. It even had four-wheel disc brakes–a rarity on Detroit cars at that time. It was a fine car. Comfortable. Right-sized. But it was still a Granada, and very overpriced. And there lies the rub.
The Lincoln Versailles owes a debt of gratitude to its arch-rival Cadillac, for introducing the 1982 Cimarron. That made the Versailles look good and become less of a joke, though it had been out of production for a year when the “Cadvalier” appeared. I mean, the Versailles at least looked like a Lincoln. A Granada-based, rather cynical Lincoln perhaps, but still a Lincoln.
Despite all of it, I still like the Versailles. Part of it may have been due to a friend of my dad’s who had a boat on the same dock as ours back in the ’80s. He had a pristine white ’77 Versailles with dark red leather and the polished chrome wheels. I thought it looked great. He still has the car, to this day, though it is a nice day cruiser now. Now, I wouldn’t have bought one new–these things cost more than a Town Car or a Continental Mark V, can you believe it?!–but I bet they would have made a plush daily driver after depreciation had their way with them in, let’s say, 1983 or so?
One thing that helped was the more formal, Lincoln-like roof added for 1979. The original 1977-78 version had the exact same C-pillar as its more plebeian Granada/Monarch siblings, which of course didn’t help. I can imagine local Cadillac dealers pulling up to the local L-M dealer in a brand-new Seville, pointing at the Versailles out front, laughing, and driving off.
But the ’79 changes made the car look better. It probably should have gotten that roof from the beginning. Compare the Wedgewood Blue ’77 above with the Black and Silver two-tone ’80 below–the 1980 clearly looks more luxurious. Especially to folks who would shop Cadillacs and Lincolns.
However you personally feel about these cars, they certainly must have made money for Ford, with the Granada origins and inflated price tag! I haven’t seen one on the road for years, but spotted this one out in back of a little car lot downtown. A rather solid, if somewhat neglected example. I could do without the tacky wire wheels, but the oddest thing was the Mercedes-Benz hood ornament. Was the owner being ironic, or just misguided?
This one also appeared to have aftermarket upholstery. I have never seen this floating-pillow seating in a Versailles, and while the style may be debatable, it appears to have been professionally done. This car has the optional bucket seats, which added a console, but the Select-Shift gear lever remained on the column.
All 1977-80 Versailles sedans had this classic style of vertical pleating, either in Luxury cloth or leather. I find them much more appealing than the thrones installed in our CC!
While looking pretty sound, it did have a common malady for ’70s luxury cars: a receding hairline vinyl roof. I rather like the black and silver two-tone paint, however. Although those taillights are different from those found on Granadas and Monarchs, I always thought they still looked too “Granada-ey.” In the 1977-80 period, all the other Lincolns had vertical taillights. I’ve often wondered how the Versailles would have looked with vertical taillights and a more vertical rear quarter panel. Along with the 1979-80 roof, I think it would have helped hide the Granada origins.
Note the leather-wrapped steering wheel. The instrument panel was also leather-wrapped on these cars. That upholstery material reminds me of couches I sat on back in the ’80s. Probably about the same time this car got the custom interior. And if it’s not immediately apparent in the pictures, there were CURTAINS, in the same material, for the rear windows. Perfect for when you “vant to be alone!”
Yes, the Versailles was not one of Lincoln’s best efforts, but the replacement for it, the 1982 Continental, was a lot more convincing, and with its Fox-based goodness beneath, a pretty nice car. And it didn’t look like its kid brother Fairmont!
Related: 1977 Lincoln Versailles 1986 Lincoln Continental 1978 Cadillac Seville
Wow, I had no idea these cars were so expensive when new….that probably didn’t help sales, either.
I agree, the changes to the rear roof line on the later cars probably should have been part of the original design. But, that still would have been only part of what this car needed to distinguish itself from a Granada. The trunk lid and tail lights would have been the finishing touch.
It could not have been easy marketing a car that was based on a car styled to imitate more expensive European sedans at discount prices.
Whenever I see a “Fox” Continental on CL I give the ad a thorough examination. I would love to find a nice, clean, low mileage example of either the (later) Versailles or a Continental.
Please reconsider before buying one of these things. I had a two day ride in the later version and I could not get over the feeling I was riding in a Fairmont, which for half the money (or less) was in itself not a bad car. There was absolutely nothing about the car to make it worth more than a small increment above the Fairmont.
I like those French cars,so palatial.
For me, these Versailles never evoked “Palace of” as much as “Treaty of”.
Oh, the burn! That just gotta hurt…
I was curious about Versailles pricing versus Seville pricing…same thing at Cadillac: Seville was the most expensive Caddy.
BTW, as pricey as the Versailles was, the Seville was MORE expensive by $2,000….or about 18% per cent.
It was likely to make the cars seem more like “Mercedes competitors” with Mercedes-like pricing. But I agree, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you could get a comparably equipped, an much larger DeVille or Town Car for less $.
I think it’s an interesting irony that none in Detroit had a clue whatsover to what that MB-craze was all about. They must’ve thought, Mercedes is more expensive than our largest cars, though it is smaller than our smallest. Therefore, people will pay more for our cars if we make our most premium car the smallest.
Though what they completely misunderstood was that what the people really wanted in a luxury car was rock solid quality. Which none of the makers could muster. And which all of their vaning customers had discovered to their own disappointment. To think that it was all about small size = large price just goes to show how enormously wrong on the tracks they were.
At the risk of sounding like an apologist for GM, Cadillac could make a better case for the Seville’s pricing than Lincoln could for this car.The Seville, at least, didn’t share any body panels with lesser cars.
The Versailles not only shared a roof with the Grenada and Monarch, it always appeared to me that the door skins were the same (am I wrong?). At the very least, the door openings & inner doors were the same. Everything down to the tail lamp lenses looked like generic FoMoCo parts bin.
The funny thing is, there is something about the Versailles I always liked. The Granada was a pretty humble starting point; I always found its styling unappealing. And since the Granada and Monarch were big sellers, a Versailles would have been swimming in a sea of similar-looking cars. But somehow the added length made the generic-compact-Ford styling work better in my eyes.
I wouldn’t want one in my driveway, but I dislike these less than most other ’70s Dearborn iron.
Right out of high school, I had a job at a funeral home. One of our jobs was parking cars that were to be in the funeral procession. One day, a guy drove into the lot with a new Versailles. One of my co-workers (another kid my age, and kind of an idiot) said to the owner in complete seriousness “that’s the nicest Granada I’ve ever seen.” He meant it as a compliment, as he really thought it was a Granada. But the insulted owner spouted back something to the effect of “it had better be, I paid $13,000 for this Granada.” That day was probably not the first or last time he got that kind of reaction.
I always feel the lincoln zephyr is the best fusion.
In Ferndale Michigan a smart dealer ALWAYS carefully keeps them parked away, with a town car or grand marquis between the older MKZ and fusion.
Indeed it was, so i don’t see what the problem in pricing was for the Lincoln. I like the car and also the first years of the Seville. Then the Seville went horribly wrong— styling and engine. If one can look at the Lincoln and say Monarch, the for sure you can say Nova when looking at the Cadillac just as easily. I think the formal top treatment from day one would have made a difference.
My dad had a1980 Versailles great car not a 302 it had the 255 crapper as most of them had. Most everyone thought is was a 302 not compatible with 302 parts. Many replaced the 255 with a 302.
Another car I never knew about,in 1980 a Mustang was the only American Ford product that interested me.Lose the horrible half vinyl roof and I could like this car.
I can see why they went to the more formal roof, but it seems like it throws the proportions off somehow. The Seville and the Fifth Avenue did it better.
Would this look better as a baby Continental using the 2 door Granada body?
After finding some custom builds on the internet, the answer seems to be no.
I also see that the Fifth Ave has a 3″ longer wheelbase, and the Seville’s is 4″ longer.
Agreed-If the rear axle was pushed back about 3 or 4 inches it would look much better!
Is that an MB hood ornament on it???
The reason so many of these have a console with column shift is that if you got a floor shift, you couldn’t have a tilt wheel.
That looks like a seedy part of town, I’m surprised nobody has either stolen it for the rear end, or snuck in and torched it off right there. Maybe the lot owner has other cars blocking it in for a reason.
The Versailles 9 inch conversion on a First Gen Mustang is way past over. It’s all about the Explorer 8.8’s now
It’s hard to say why, but I’ve always liked the Versailles better than the 1975-1979 Seville. That 3rd pic with the woman in riding gear has always been one of my favorites. There’s something so seductive about her.
Kinda like a young Lauren Baccal.
I’m straight but if I wasn’t she’d be the sort of woman I’d go for
She looks like she’s about to deepthroat the optional 23-Channel Citizen’s Band Radio Microphone.
It didn’t help that the dash was plainly adapted from the Granada as well. Had this car come out first by a year or two, it might have had some credibility. It is very hard to see the Nova in a Seville. Its just as hard to miss the Granada in these.
My father bought an ultra loaded 76 Mercury Monarch. It was probably punching above its weight class, but not comically so as was the Versailles. The Versailles might have been salvagable as sort of s Mercury Fifth Avenue, but by 1981 there were not a bunch of cop cars and taxis to underwrite this platform, as was the case with Chrysler’s M body.
The Mercury Monarch was sold in the UK in the late 70s.Sales were dismal and it was quietly swept under the carpet I only remember seeing a gold one in Fleetwood near Blackpool.I don’t think the Versailles made it over here as the Monarch was a very expensive car compared to a Ford (European) Granada
JP, was it by any chance a Grand Monarch?
These are so rare I’ve never seen one.
It was not, it was a Monarch Ghia instead. He was inclined to get the Grand Monarch, but there was something about the Grand version that he could not have the way he wanted. I think that it was that he couldn’t get it in a color he wanted. He told me that he even called someone in Dearborn to find out why he could not get a Grand Monarch the way he wanted it. He was told that Grand Monarchs were all farmed out to American Sunroof and that because they were finished at the ASC site instead of with all other Granadas/Monarchs, there was a limited number of choices offered. I think the sunroof was the only thing of substance that his Ghia lacked, and he wanted his dark green with tan leather more than he wanted the sunroof or the Grand Monarch badges.
That’s funny, because other than the “Grand” badge , there was nothing different about the exterior of the Grand Monarch compared to the Ghia. And a sunroof was not standard on these. If there is any truth to the ASC thing, about the only thing they might have done was make the full-length armrests, which no other G-M had at the time.
BTW I wonder if any standard equipped versions of these were ever built, with power windows and 4 wheel discs etc but still a six with a 3-on-the-tree.
What were they thinking?, At least make the auto trans standard, if not a V8 as well.
I looked at the brochure which reminds me that the interiors in the Grands came in only dark red or saddle/white two tone, which I think was a dark brown and white. My memory may be faulty on the sunroof. ASC did a big business in low-volume special trim cars like the 1980 LeBaron Fifth Avenue for Chrysler. The interior is quite a bit different from the Ghia, so it would not surprise me that ASC might have done the trimming on the Grand version. Otherwise, why would Ford not offer its top model with the blue/green/tan interiors that it offered in every other trim level? This might also explain the extremely low production of these.
And you are right, I almost laughed out loud when I saw that a three on the tree was standard equipment on the Grand Monarch! I’ll bet not a single one of them was actually built.
The business about leaving the six and manual standard was likely driven by how cars were advertised during the period. I was never sure if it was government mandated, but in the late ’70s and lasting for a long time, every car ad listed EPA fuel mileage prominently. It was probably a nudge and a wink that the Grand trim would never leave the factory with the base drive train, but, by golly, they could list the best possible mileage figures in the ad copy.
I had never heard of the Grand Monarch until now, and I lived through the period and saw the variants everywhere. I appears the Grand was offered in ’75-’76 only, and was almost undoubtedly cancelled due to the Versailles appearing in ’77. It appears the Grand full length armrest went straight into the Versailles. I don’t know how many people were aware of the Grand, but I’m sure any knowledge of it didn’t help the Versailles’ image.
I’ve maintained that the Versailles might have blown the doors off the Seville mystique if they had done the late roof line from the start, put a little more effort into the tail lights as Tom recommends, and priced the car as an ENTRY LEVEL Lincoln. The Seville would have suddenly been exposed for what it was.
End of the mystery. I checked my digital brochure archives and there was also a ’75 Grand Monarch with a special frenched vinyl roof, and interior was offered ONLY in tobacco&white leather. The interior in this early one was very similar to a standard Ghia, lacking the standard power windows and longer armrests of the later one.
In fact, the only standard item of note was the 4-wheel disc brakes with Hydro-Boost.
Maybe this is what the sales guy was thinking of WRT ASC.
The standards on the early model. By comparison, the later one had a lot more stuff.
Roger, you’ve taught me something new. I never knew there was a Grand Monarch. Makes sense as their were both a Marquis and Grand Marquis.
Unlike the Grand Marquis, the Grand Monarch was very short-lived.
It’s funny how just about every “Grand” version of a car seems to outlive the original. Grand Marquis, Grand Cherokee, Grand Wagoneer, Grand Caravan, Gran Fury (no “d”, but close enough) all come to mind.
@Brendan: That’s name debasement for ya’.
never knew about these cars…..I want one
How far downmarket can we take this thing? Grand Bobcat, anyone?
Grand Mirage
Kind of ironic that the Marquis outranks a Monarch!
Wow the buyer adds Grand and Ghia to his Monarch and still gets stuck with the 250 I6 and three on the tree as standard? Not so grand IMHO.
I had no idea that these existed, or I had forgotten about them, until there was a super clean one on ebay, Hooniverse had an article on it.
http://hooniverse.com/2014/09/27/weekend-edition-what-would-you-do-with-this-1976-mercury-grand-monarch-ghia/
I almost can’t believe it went for so little, I know that these are generally unpopular and worthless, but $1700? For a low mileage clean California car? That’s almost a give away, I would have bought it and driven it as a daily driver for that price. You would think that this would at least garner a couple of bags of sand, maybe $2800-$2900 bucks?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1976-Mercury-Grand-Monarch-Ghia-Edition-/151418683060?nma=true&si=WohjKsv10DRNGbfEdF4doPCMez8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Jeez… yeah, that’s nuts. I have basically zero interest in these cars and always thought they royally sucked, but for that stupidly low price even I would be tempted to buy it!! They may have been shit when new, but at this point that car is – at worst – a beautifully preserved piece of ’70s history.
I know, I don’t like these and I always thought they were dull and kinda crappy, but for $1700? I’d take it, if it wasn’t on the opposite side of the country.
Why is it worth nothing? Have any of you driven one of these cars? I spent a lot of time in the Grenada in my youth. What a sorry machine that was. And the whole time you drove the mushy, wallowing beast you could not but think in despair of the silly advertisements that compared the car to the Mercedes and Rolls. I can’t imagine Ford did anything to make the ridiculous Versailles any better as a car.
Now that I know better (and spent 22 years in the midwest) I’m sure that the car was named for a similarly named, boring little Illinois town down from Chicago — more famous for weather forecasts and air-traffic control than for the notions of luxury, taste, or design-interest its name might bring to mind.
omg! those wheels are beautiful!!
Some ’70 Maverick, somewhere, needs the front brakes and rear axle from this otherwise waste of perfectly good steel. And yes, I am a recovering Granada owner, thank you for asking.
Recovering Granada owner…oh, that hurts! My first car was a Granada, and I sort of hated it! My dad helped pick it out in a used car lot. Ironically, what I really wanted was a 1976 Seville I found for sale (this was in the mid-80s) but I couldn’t afford it.
Funny you should mention 1983 in the write up. The summer of 1983 I was selling cars at a Lincoln-Mercury, Mazda, SAAB dealership. I had an uncle looking for a used sedan. He had been looking at some used Buick Skylarks and Oldsmobile Cutlass. He stopped by and sitting in the used car lot was an extremely low mileage 1977 Versailles for all of $5,500. He loved the car, bought it, and used it well into the late 1990’s, putting almost 200,000 miles on the car.
I have always had an attraction to these cars, particularly with the original roof line. I found the 1979-80 roof line to be too heavy for my taste. With most all Granadas and Monarchs gone from the public memory, the Versailles is no longer a Granada clone but a cool old Lincoln. More important, it is one that originally housed a 302 (or a 351), so a modern engine upgrade would be very easy.
I spent considerable time during the summer of 1983 using that Versailles as my dealer provided car and was impressed by the high level of fit and finish to these cars. As noted, it was the first with a factory clearcoat and the difference was astonishing from what we were used to at the time. The thickness of the carpet throughout the entire car, including every square inch of the trunk was unbelievable. The velour upholstery on the seats and door panels was impressive in its thickness. It rode as smooth and quiet as any of the new downsized Lincolns we were selling at the time, but also had a nice trim size on the outside to make it feel so much more nimble than the typical American barge of the era. Although there was no doubt it was, in essence, a Granada with a Continental kit, the level of quality of material used and the build quality was quite impressive.
Of course there were a few oddities in the mix. There were no guages at all, other than a speedometer and a fuel gauge, and the power seat, oddly enough, was a 4 way power seat. Fore, aft, up, down. There were no tilt features on the power seat. But both dirver and passenger seats did have a manual recline.
Someday I would love to have a low mileage 1977 or 1978, and drop in a modern engine and trans for a unique weekend cruiser.
Welcome back to today’s episode of “Syke in Hell.”
Maybe more like Syke in Purgatory. Real Hell looks more like this. . . .
Just curious – how did the Versailles (when new) compare to the top Mopar luxury barges of the time like, say, an M-body LeBaron or New Yorker Brougham (nee Imperial)? Do you think those were cross-shopped with each other?
M-bodies weren’t even remotely in the same price class, with much fewer standards.
They started around $5700 vs the $13000 plus of the Versailles
And build quality, har har!
My parents wanted one because it somewhat resembled a Seville, with same type of sheer look, but what a junker!
Mopar offered nothing remotely comparable. The 77-79 LeBaron was priced down with Cutlass and Regal. The New Yorker was priced with the Electra and 98 Regency. Also, nothing Chrysler offered had the kind of isolation and quiet that was expected in the Lincoln and Cadillac class. These were priced above the regular Lincoln and Tom Klockau says even above the Mark V. Back then, my father was a Lincoln guy and his assessment of Chrysler was that they had suspect quality and very low resale value, in addition to the fact that they did not ride as quietly and smoothly as his Lincolns. The ones I drove sort of confirmed Dad’s opinion, but I liked the more direct feel you got out of the Mopars rather than the pure float and isolation of the Lincoln.
“I mean, the Versailles at least looked like a Lincoln”
Oh, you got me there. I roared in laughter. Thank you.
Two pictures down, you post a Granada with vinyl roof and continental hump.
That line is still making me laugh!
Come now, that nose is straight off a Mark V. And it looked a lot more like a Lincoln than a Cimarron looked like a Caddy. And the ’75 Granada itself had tons of Lincoln cues–albeit on a smaller scale.
+1 for Tom’s comment
Sprinkling Lincoln sauce on a Granada makes it no more a Lincoln than adding béarnaise sauce to a burger patty makes it gourmet cuisine, true that Cadillac should have learned this from the Versailles, but that still doesn’t hide that its a barely disguised Granada.
Granada Helper –> Versailles.
Nope, it isn’t a true Lincoln, but there is a family resemblance.
Monarch Helper?
Monarch Helper Makes a Great Meal!
Or not.
I always liked these cars. I remember when I was 13 in the fall of ’77 walking to junior high school (that’s grade 7 up here in Canada) and the Lincoln-Mercury dealer close to the school had a brand new ’78 Versailles on the lot, along with a new Town Car and Mark V. I would stop by the lot and look closely at the lincolns. The Versailles was in a dark red paint with red vinyl top and gorgeous red velour interior. Compared to the more plebian Monarchs on the lot, it really did have a Lincoln vibe, and was so much nicer.
They did the right thing by changing the Versailles’ roofline for the ’79 model year, it distinguished it from the lesser Monarchs/Granadas much more, and with the 2-tone paint, it really looks nice. Lincoln sold 15k of these in the shortened ’77 intro year, a dismal 8900 in ’78, but with the new roofline sales increased to 21,000 for ’79. Unfortunately, Lincoln actually raised the prices a lot for the ’80 model year and sales crashed to about 4900 units. They should have lowered the price in the final model year and pitched the car as an entry-level Lincoln, because it was now competing against the downsized big models.
Lincoln needs to bring back the Town Car, Mark series and Versailles as distinct models. And yes, they should all have the RR type grille and spare tire hump on the back.
I’m all bout interiors on cars; as this is where you spend your time.
This car, with it’s supple leather interior and added sound deadening, propelled by Ford’s excellent & dependable 302 V8 engine and Ford’s always freezing cold air conditioning, would had been an excellent 4 or 5 year old used car bargain for me.
Except for the rear end I would prefer the plain old Granada. Make mine with stick and straight six but I won’t turn up my nose at it if it has a 302. In my mind that interchanges well with the Nova and Chevelle I drove in the early seventies.
Guess some folks just have to have something fancier than the plebeian masses. No reason that Ford et al shouldn’t make money off that.
As I think about it, I have never seen a three on the tree Granada or Monarch. Falcon and Maverick, yes. But the Granada was pitched as a premium small car, and even the basic models seemed decently equipped. A column 3 speed on a Granada would be kind of cool now.
In 1978 my mother purchased a low mile 1976 Granada two door. It had the 200 cu. in. six and 3 speed, standard column shift.
Solid little car but you couldn’t keep a clutch in it. Went through 5 clutches in 5 years. (My Mom grew-up on standard transmission cars and to this day can operate one properly and with ease.)
Neighbor had a white 75-76 Granada with major rust. Bought it for almost nothing around 1982. It was from salt country and wound up in Southern California. It was a 6 cyl, it had a floor shift 3 speed (I think) complete with wood knob. I rode in it a time or two, seemed to run ok for what it was. My neighbor and I still talk about the time he replaced the clutch in his driveway and when he couldn’t get the transmission back in he asked me to help. Laying on our backs in his driveway, it took hours for us to finally get that bitch transmission back in. We still talk about it today.
That thing doesn’t appear to be on an even keel. Did you look to see if it has an engine?…or maybe Jimmy Hoffa is in the trunk
Does anyone know how much it cost to build these cars?
Versailles vs. Granada/Monarch
Seville vs. Nova
Cimarron vs. Cavalier
etc.
I’m wondering if these were more or less profitable than the traditional barges (bigger yet cheaper) in the showrooms.
I know the Seville had a lot of extra engineering versus the Nova, but perhaps the others were pure profit.
[T]he oddest thing was the Mercedes-Benz hood ornament. Was the owner being ironic, or just misguided?
Ask this guy.
Or these folks.
Not quite the same style B as on a Bentley – just different enough to avoid trademark infringement.
Coming on the heels of the Cougar comparo makes me realize how much the front of the Versailles looked like that of the ’77-’79 Cougar. Same forward thrusting fender blades with turn signals, exposed quad headlights and Continental grille.
The model before they put the retard roof on looks the best what is it with that ancient roof line and cheap n nasty half vinyl roofs are they too cheap to cover the whole thing, coz thats what it looks like.
Why Bryce, can’t you tell that this Tastefully Decorative Styled Accessory Designer’s Glamour Package Roof (Opt. Pkg. 32A) is a formal, distinctive, non-functional interpretation of pre-war coachbuilt Landaulet bodies? The owner of this Versailles (by Lincoln Motor Company) can now turn every scenic drive to the country club or weekend home into a trip down memory lane that evokes the whimsical, chauffeured luxury of motordom’s interwar period.
Add Euro-Style Tri-Spoke Hood Iconography seen here (available at extra cost) for a dash of Papal* elegance.
*Swiss Guard Not Included.
Which one is the $13,000 Versailles (by Lincoln) and which one is the $80,000 Mercedes-Benz?
It’s seventies American aesthetics, Bryce – they didn’t play in our countries. No wonder we don’t get it.
Oh??, what about this?
A, that’s ‘just’ a vinyl roof which was hardly unusual in the 1970s, and B, the roof was only installed to hide the welded in section that altered the shape of the side window from the base Falcon hardtop.
There were a few half-vinyl roof horrors done by dealers though, eg this one-owner, 45k mile car found via google. I’ve never seen one with landau bars before though.
That may take the cake for “worst vinyl roof ever”. Most awkward, definitely. The little tiny landau irons are completely absurd.
Also, a vinyl roof with those boss-esque side stripes? Wow.
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
Wow a Lincoln Versailles that has not been picked apart! Well the silliest looking part of this Lincoln is the trunk lid’s grafted on spare tire bulge with the carriage roof coming in a close second. I do wonder why finally took this Lincoln off the road and why is it not rustier?
There is something endearing about the Versailles, which fooled few people into thinking it was anything but Ford’s fast-tracked effort to throw anything they had at the Seville. But with its puffed-up chest of padded vinyl, baroque styling and faux tire humps, it was like a very short man trying to act like a big shot. Cute and somehow likable.
It also had an extreme excess of front parking/turn signal lamps, and what’s not to enjoy about that?
And the Granada/Monarch was a reworked FALCON.
I’ve been thinking that all day.
Town Falcone! 🙂
I always thought that the Versailles was a good fit for the crooked, shlubby, ill-fated reporter Freddy Lounds in 2002’s Red Dragon, in the 1986 film Lounds drives a Mustang GT convertible.
I was impressed that they actually used a Versailles in the film. It was in the book, but I figured for the movie they’d be too lazy and he’d be in some anonymous late-model car.
I’ve never read Red Dragon, though I have read Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, and they were pretty accurate on the cars in the book vs the ones in the movie.
That copper “Freddy Lounds” Versailles is pretty popular, it appears in a couple of other movies and TV shows.
http://www.lincolnversailles.com/history.htm
There’s a nice one for sale here on Craigslist:
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/4666091607.html
A Ford deadly sin if I ever saw one!
Taking a low scoring compact with a cramped interior, overweight body (nearly 3900 LBS in Versailles trim, anemic low calorie engine, albeit a good one, and slapping a huge price tag on it didn’t fool 99% of the buying public. Anybody that ever saw a Granada new instantly that this was the very same car but with a Lincoln grille and fake tire hump, disk brakes and over stuffed seats. The 1979 roof re-dux did little but reduce vision and add tackiness to the overall look. Ford didn’t even bother changing the doors, width or wheelbase and the troublesome variable venturi carb remained. Note that the far better executed 1976 Seville did alter ever body panal, ride a longer wheelbase, had FI instead of a carb, included one of GM’s best engines the Olds Rocket 350 with 180 horses for 1976 77 and 170 thereafter. Lincoln used the 2 BBL 351 only in 1977 and made due with 140 Hp in 1978 and 130 thereafter for the 302 making this one under powered luxury car!
Consumer Guide summed it up best- The Versailles is a Granada in a tuxedo and both cars even share the same owner’s manual which tells me that even Ford didn’t really care. The clear coat paint was nice when new and the added insulation did made the car quieter but the interior and crowded under hood engine cramming was described as a chamber of horrors with a steering wheel shared with the Mustang II, less back seat room than the already tight Granada and only the speedometer and gas gauge lit up. It’s 75th place ranking out of 80 cars was telling!
Tom, congratulations on finding a Lincoln Vur-sayles. Thinking about adding to your Lincoln fleet?
This car does make me wonder….did Ford consider using the Torino as the basis for an upscale car in the Seville / Versailles thought process?
I can see it now: The 1977 Continental II. My head hurts just thinking about it.
It is a thought to make one’s head throb.
It’s been a question nagging at me all day…sure, Ford tarted up the Torino to new heights of tastelessness, but would a more involved endeavor have created something more Lincoln-esque than the Versailles tragedy?
Plus, it’s not like Ford really learned anything from this experiment. How about the Lincoln Blackwood, the Mark LT, or the entire current Lincoln lineup?
It is not much of a stretch to consider. The LTD II/Cougar/Thunderbird of 1977-79 was a tarted and boxed up Torino. The Thunderbird Diamond Jubilee/Heritage of 1978/79 could have easily been the basis of a Torino derived Lincoln. Given that Lincoln already had a long hood/short deck Mark V in its portfolio, it really did not need another. But if they had wanted to go with a four door “downsized” Town Car, I could have seen an attempt to use the Torino platform. The greatest limitation would have been the absolute joke of a back seat, otherwise, there would have been no stopping them from attempting to put Lincoln lipstick on that platform.
So, which platform was worse? The Granada or the Torino/LTD II? The 77-79 Thunderbird is hailed as one of the better, a four door version of that could easily be made a better looking Lincoln than the Versailles.
Ingvar, that’s a good question.
The Granada was based upon the Maverick which was based upon the original 1960 Ford Falcon. The sheer number of cars based upon the Falcon platform (in the U.S. alone) is amazing – Mustang, Maverick, original Cougar, and more that it’s too early for me to think about.
In turn, the ’77 to ’79 Thunderbird was based upon the Torino.
As to which platform is worse, that’s pretty subjective. Both were pretty adaptable, versatile, and durable – their original targets were simply different as the Falcon was compact and the Torino mid-sized.
I think that the Mark IV and the Thunderbird were already stretched versions of the Torino platform, all having been introduced in 1972. I don’t think they were based on the LTD/Marquis/Continental.
And I believe I read that the inspiration for the Grand Monarch Ghia was actually the wives of Ford executives. The Monarch was a big hit among them, but they wanted to have all of the luxuries of a Lincoln in that size platform. Given how pulled together the Versailles was, I don’t think there was ever an intent to do a Lincoln on the platform but the success of the Seville, and those first CAFE standards (an 18 mpg fleet average seemed pretty steep back then) might have driven them to it.
Just be thankful Ford never did a Gran Pinto.
for those folks who are thinking of restoring one check out this guys webpage that details his restoration on a 1980 Lincoln Versailles- he even replaces the fake plastic wood dash panels with real wood http://www.lincolnversailles.com/restorat.htm
he even made a fake 1980 signature series brochure to go with his car http://www.lincolnversailles.com/brochures/Lincoln%20Versailles%20Signature%20Series.pdf
Two words: Morris Ital.
One word: Urk!
Brace yourselves, because there almost was a 2nd generation Versailles based on the Fox body, before the Continental. Interesting how much this looks like a 1979-1981 New Yorker.
Several in Ford styling went to Chrysler in the late 70s, so the concepts could possibly have originated at Ford.
From the rear.
This 2nd concept has a very Packard/Grand Prix esque nose, though they still weren’t hiding the wipers on the damn things.
Wow. That nose does not belong on a Lincoln, send it back to Pontiac! I do like the hidden lamps–for the top trim level of the Granada-based Cougar.
Grand Edsel?
From the back, it looks like a 1980 Electra with a spare tire hump.
Looks better than the Mark VI or even the 80 Continental, for my money.
This is in no way my kind of car, but whats wrong with those wire wheels? They need to be cleaned up and polished but theyre REAL. I hate those fake wire hubcaps…just reeks of cheap cheesy WalMart crap. Geniune wires bring a little class to a luxury car…they make it look ‘legit’.
I go for the polished chrome wheels, which were available.
Or the factory wires that were available starting in ’82, like this. Not sure if the bolt pattern would match, though.
Someone made a great looking Versailles convertible….
http://www.lincolnversailles.com/custom6.htm
Hope no Versailles buyer purchased the car after looking only at the brochure. The picture of the interior makes the front seat look eight feet wide.
Even in it’s half assed 77-78 iteration it still looks more like a Lincoln than the entire MK lineup
The first-gen MKZ really is the modern-day Versailles, isn’t it? Very little actual differentation from the Fusion body shell. The current-gen, thankfully, has more differentiation to the metal. Though Lincoln doesn’t really have a styling “theme” at the moment other than the winged grille…
Yeah, they should have called the 2005-12 version the MKV! 🙂 Same basic car, but with extra chrome and a much spiffier interior.
But the 2013-up one is much more differentiated from the Ford. All the sheetmetal is different, and so is the interior. Seeing one in black or navy blue with the subtle chrome trim, they do have an elegance to them in traffic.
They tried to make a silk purse from a sow`s ear, and it showed. However, that lady with the tight pants and that riding crop in the ad is hot. I`d buy the car if she came with it. Very sexist, right?
Tom,
Thank you for this story since not much is ever written about the Versailles. And when it is it is usually in a derisive style.
I own two Versailles, a 1977 & a 1979 that is identical to the one you photographed except for the interior. I am a relatively new fan of Lincolns well ever since I bought my 2002 TC Signature. Since then I also had a 1977 Mk V Pucci edition which I regretably had to sell.
If that Versailles in your post was near me I would beat a path to it with cash in hand.
I have always liked the Fords, Lincolns, and Mercurys of that era. I loved the Granada. I think that was a home run for Ford. Just the plain Granada looked way more expensive than it was. They just got the lines right. The Continental Mark V was a work of art. The Europeans and Asians never built anything like it. It was a totally audacious car. Only Americans would build something like it. The Versailles was also IMO a beautiful car. If their hadn’t been a Granada, I think it would have been a real winner. It has class. So did the Seville, but for me the Versailles beat it. The Cimarron was just a bad joke. Not only did it look cheap, but a FWD luxury car?
Does anybody know were I can see pictures of concept proposals like the ones Carmine posted? I have never heard of or seen them before, amazing! Seeing proposals of the 1980 Continentals and Mark VIs would be great. There have been artist renderings of them in a few books and they looked striking.
I have a 1977 Versailles, very low mileage (under 40,000) that I am selling if anyone is interested. Email for pictures.
This will shake things up as would be the case; but this is what I envisioned when I saw the 2nd generation. The “2nd generation” Versailles suggests Chrysler more than it does the Versailles. You would think, given the last R-body New Yorker 5th Avenue model year was 1981, that this would look like Chrysler’s answer to the problem that some body parts were not meant to be aluminum. Of course Chrysler’s exterior wheel kit would have the wire wheel presentation; and if a 300 sedan were still made (Chrysler made the 300 off of an upscale Cordoba until their 2nd generation model was constructed), it wouldn’t have the hidden headlamps or the wheel kit. The Taillights would remain the same and you would probably have the 318 and/or 360 for engine choices. St. Regis and Gran Fury would have some sharp lines too and these would have probably competed with Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis as well as the entire GM line up. What made me think Chrysler was that the door handles reminded me of the late 50s Imperial/Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth/DeSoto offerings.
The ultimate Ford Falcon.
A Fairmont was, IMhO, pretty much a meh “compact”, but the effort to create a EXPEN$IVE, pre$tige, “luxomobile” from it…..aaaww……
The ’75 Seville’s new design language still wears well, but this lipstick on a pig…..not at all! DFO
No animosities but sure this could be the only Lincoln of true interest for foreign markets outside the USA . Besides its linconesque style which is a mark worldwide , the Versailles has something most American mobiles of that era never consider too much : its reasonable size.
A car like this was quite desired and quite drivable at whoever corner of all cities in this world full of such different foreign countries , althought all have in common some prudent measures where the “little Lincoln” can fit very well and welcome .
I have very sturdy doubts about that, deeply rooted in my own experience with a 1980 Lincoln (Continental Town Car).
…in the U.S. market. Halogen headlamps had been a thing in Europe for most of two decades by the time the ’80 Versailles came along. And the American automakers spent that time yukking it up: haw haw haw, stupid yurrpeens messing around with silly halogen headlamps; they should just acknowledge we’re right about everything and adopt superior American sealed beams. I’m mocking, but only a little; the technical papers of the time on the subject drip with barely-contained scorn for other-than-US practice.
I also suspect the Versailles’ name worked against it. French comprises 26 letters, of which 378 are silent; it’s not hard to say “vair-SYE” if you know how that’s how to pronounce it, but if you don’t, there are tons of extra letters in there to trip you up. Vur-SAILS? Ver-SALLIES? (see also: Merkur)
“…..there are tons of extra letters in there to trip you up.”
Like naming you dog Fido, and spelling it Phydeaux. Why? Just Why? 😉
The 9 inch rear end with disc brakes on these used to be in demand with street rodders, but now 8.8 inch Explorer rears are better.
I’ve always thought the original-roof version looked better, or at least less worse. The formal roof looked like a crude lashup, I’m not sure if it was actually sent to ASC for post-stamping modification like the Chrysler Fifth Avenue was but it looks the part especially with the formal landau roof. Of course, the modified rear door frames weren’t cheap especially without a Granada wagon which would’ve been their highest and best use in the line to amortize them.
You could get almost the same car by buying a Granada Ghia and specifying the Luxury Decor Package (LDO) which included most of the Versailles’ goodies – leather bucket seats, thick carpeting, center console, full-length door armrests with woodgrain tops, woodgrain steering wheel with speed control buttons, digital clock, two-color paint, fancy wheels, etc., with the halogen headlights and 4 wheel disk brakes optional. Amongst the few Versailles exclusives were thicker dash top panelling, silver speedometer gauge, and quad headlamps. There was plenty of 1960 Falcon hiding under the Versailles.
Dressing up a Granada and trying to pass it off as a Lincoln is on par with GM dressing up a Chevy Cavalier and trying to pass it off as a Cadillac.
The 1986 Fox based Continental was a more honest approach. It sure didn’t look like any Fairmont, and the quality of execution was much higher. I find these quite distinctive and attractive. I checked one out at a used car lot a few years ago, they seem to have all disappeared.
The 1982 Fox based Continental was a far better effort than the Lincoln Granada IMO. The mistake Ford made with this car was the engine lineup in it’s first year. Two carbureted engines, one a 112 HP 3.8 liter V6 and the other a carbed 302 with 132 HP. They corrected this in 1983 by killing the 3.8 and making the TBI 302 std but with only 130 HP performance was not great. The 1986 version got the SFI 150 HP 302 which ran much better.
IMO Lincoln should have done more with the exterior body panels on the Versailles, stiffened the body structure better and given it something a little more exciting under the hood like a 4BBL 302 or HP 351 especially for the much higher price tag being asked.