I’m not looking for these Marks at the Cohort; they just keep appearing there on the front page. And after my little rant over the Mk VI, it’s only appropriate we pay a bit of homage to its pre-hot-washed inspiration. Stare at it long enough, and you’re going to think your eyes are playing tricks on you. Check out that insane front overhang; no other car could ever pull that off except the Mark V. Yes it’s sick, but in a really good way.
The V is the ultimate Iaccoca-mobile (here with a Mk. IV). Everything that Lido loved in cars, or more importantly, was sure Americans loved in cars, is here in its final evolution. There was no way to take the formula any further; when he tried, it invariably blew up in his face (Imperial). Although the earlier Thunderbirds were the preview of coming attractions, the Mark V’s true lineage started with the 1965 Mustang, when Iaccoca proved that Americans were suckers for long hoods, slab sides and cramped coupe bodies with fat, flat C-pillars. By adding a faux-classical grille and putting it on the rack to stretch it, Lee discovered the formula for alchemy, and the gold kept on being spun, until it eventually ran out.
Jim Cavanaugh’s homage to the Mk. V is here
When I was in college in the early 2000s someone on campus had one of those. That car was so long when it was parallel parked it was literally longer that the parking space. Both the front and back bumpers were over the line!
Yes, that front overhang is something to behold.
I meant to bring up this point in the Mark VI thread the other day: The Mark V actually was downsized (to a 112 inch wheelbase, no less), and very successfully. Only it was Chrysler that did it. Had Lincoln followed the Mark V with a Mark VI that looked something like this, can you imagine how differently things might have turned out?
Bingo!
I wonder how many former Ford stylists worked on this car? It’s my understanding that a fair number of Ford designers followed first Hal Sperlich, and then Lee Iacocca, to Chrysler from Ford.
Great point / question. If I’m not mistaken, I think stylist Don De La Rossa worked on both the Mark V and the ’80 Cordoba.
I don’t think the timing works on DeLaRossa, Joe. He retired from Ford in 1979 because he was disheartened by Iacocca’s firing. He says that he moved to Florida, bought into a Cadillac dealership and had started selling real estate when Iacocca called him, so I don’t think he got to Chrysler before 1980.
A little checking online and . . . the best source on the web is Curbside Classic! Back when Craig in NC was a regular contributor, he (the owner of an 80s Imperial) told us in a comment following Brendan Saur’s CC on an 81 Cordoba (https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1981-chrysler-cordoba-ls-a-quick-nip-tuck/): “Chrysler’s chief stylist from 1974-1980 was Richard Macadam, assisted by Steven Bollinger who was the lead designer of these cars. Most of the designs grew out of concept from Bob Marcks who developed the 76 Turbine car that highly influenced the development of the Y variant Imperial.”
Excellent! Thanks for clearing this up, JP.
Including Don DeLaRossa who was the lead stylist on the Mark V. However, he did not leave Ford until 1979, so the 80 Cordoba would have been long finished by then. But there is no doubt that the Mark V was the influence on whoever did that 80 Cordoba.
The second-gen Cordoba is featured in the current issue of “Collectible Automobile” magazine. I was reading about it the other day. The article mentions that Chrysler was successful in downsizing the platform in large part by choosing bigger tires/wheels, the smallest wheel openings possible and the widest track possible along with a properly sized roof line. I liked this design when it first came out and still do.
My uncle had one, white over maroon with maroon vinyl top (can’t remember if it was full or half, just that it left the rear-quarter windows as such) and fake wires. I always thought the crisp-edged design looked better with no vinyl top at all but buyers (or at least whoever ordered them for dealer stock) didn’t agree.
One can always tell when the Mark IV (perhaps the V as well) is heading down the road: the center-grill trim piece has loosened its tenuous grip and is lazily bouncing up and down at the bottom of the grill. It seems inevitable. Otherwise, this car is the quintessential Lee Iaccoca luxury dream-boat with Iaccoca’s characteristic, overkill interior luxury trim, pleated and buttoned leather upholstery and avant-garde color combinations. Yet the car was quiet, handsome and soft-riding. Iaccoca seemed to have a penchant for extreme luxury trappings in his luxury cars, and by the time he got to Chrysler, he had taken it to the extreme.
One summer I chauffeured my boss around the local countryside in his coral-hewed, two-toned, fully loaded Mark V, and the car was indeed impressively smooth and quiet. This car had replaced a 4-Dr hardtop Cadillac Series 60 Fleetwood — also in the same color — and the Continental was an equally good driver. On the highway it was a struggle to stay awake behind the wheel.
My brother in law had one of these in (I swear to god) yellow with a burgundy vinyl roof. At the same time my sister was driving a Ford Gran Torino Elite. There was so much ‘road hugging weight” in their driveway I’m surprised it didn’t cave in under the strain.
The front overhang is exaggerated on these by the very bladed fenders, notice how much further back the grille is than the ends of the fenders, and even further back than that are the headlight doors.
The V is my favorite Mark behind the III and VII, they actually seem gracefully toned down from the IV somehow. Clear example that size matters too, the styling is exactly the same as the VI yet the VI looks like a caricature despite being a more manageable size.
“One summer I chauffeured my boss around the local countryside in his CORAL-Hewed, two-toned, fully loaded Mark V, ”
How many stone sculptors did it take to hew this monster from CORAL?
It must have been a rocky ride.
Reef-er Madness!
“…How many stone sculptors did it take to hew this monster from CORAL? It must have been a rocky ride….”
Ha, ha! Go to the front of the class, 49’r! “A” for effort, but you are correct: it must have taken an army of stone sculptors to hew this baby into the correct coral hue.
They are amazing, every time I see one, either at a show or in the wild, I always get amazed at just the sheer length of these things. You could never make a car like this in any other decade except the 70s.
I think everyone is well aware of my love for the Mark V, so I won’t bother repeating it here. I guess the reason I find these cars so attractive is because of the Mark IV. The Mark IV isn’t a bad looking car, but every time I look at it, I feel like I’m staring at the pudgy brother of the Mark line. It looks fat, but it doesn’t have the length to back up the increase in width. Whereas the Mark V looks like it’s had an exact-o knife taken to it, but that decrease in perceived width and the increase in perceived length makes it seem more coherent and organized.
When I saw the V on Dallas, I was smitten! This car, along with the III, IV, and VII are quintisentually THE top Ford cars of the Iacocca years. Shame he went to Chrysler, but at the time Chrysler needed guidance. I test drove a V in Calgary, and I could count the myriad looks from folks, it was like driving a “Money Man’s” car but down home. This was up there with the Imperial coupe, Supra Turbo, Citroen SM, and Infiniti M 30 convertible, it was SO Good!!! I’m happy I’ve a ’73 IV, If I had an VII LSC and a V, I’d be in Motorcar Nirvana…
I disagree about it being a shame Iacocca went to Chrysler –
* It was best for his career, he wouldn’t have gotten the top job at Ford, at least not until HFII died which was when Lee was almost retirement age.
* It was best for Ford that did very well as the first of the Detroit 3 to move away from the Brougham look which surely wouldn’t have happened if he was still there.
* And it was best for Chrysler. It’s hard to imagine who else had the record and name recognition to pry those loans out of Congress that saved the company, let alone what the ’80s would’ve been like without “if you can find a better car, buy it” and the minivans.
And it’s not like he had a choice about leaving Ford, seeing as how Henry Ford II publicly fired him.
Lido had gunned for the top job at Ford for years and constantly clashed with Henry Ford II. In 1978 while HFII was in China, Iacocca approached several members of the Board of Directors for Ford and tried to convince them HFII was slipping and that they needed to put him out to pasture for the good of the company. Word got around to one of HFII’s closest confidants, Arjay Miller, who of course told HFII about it upon his return.
Henry Ford II, pretty much immediately, shitcanned Iacocca. The press at the time made hay of it, since Ford had been pretty successful under Lido’s leadership. Lido’s autobiography quoted HFII as telling him that “sometimes you just don’t like someone” at the firing. It wasn’t until the early ’90s after some of the Ford board members from the late ’70s wrote their own tell-alls, which is how the other side of the story came to be known. HFII died in 1987, never spoke publicly about the matter, and ordered all of his papers burned upon his death (even the Ford archives has very very little of HFII’s papers, since they were indeed burned upon his death).
No question that the V was the ultimate extension of the III-IV-V line. It lacks the finish quality of the Mark III, but the marketing decisions put the money in all the right places for the time, pure linear sculpture, all mechanicals and interior lightly reskinned/refreshed, zero engineering money, max $ where it showed. The space between the ’79’s 400 cu in. block and the front of the car leaves plenty of space for, well, uh, style! Never mind that under the loooong hood lived 158 net HP. As mentioned, they got max benefit out of every dollar spent on this car.
Those Lincolns were never sold here and with gas prices four times the US price you can maybe understand why, but some have been brought in and there was a tan example at a show I went to recently, I had a real good look at it and came to a similar conclusion as Paul, I still dont want one.
Two words: “Jock Ewing”.
I’m pretty sure, looking at that side view, that the driver’s head will be BEHIND the front-to-rear center point of the car. Kinda like driving other cars from the back seat.
You are so very right. No other car can look that good with that much metal hanging off the front. It shouldn’t look that good. It just shouldn’t!
There was a cruise joint I used to go to in the Chicago burbs back in the early 90s (Dukes). It was across the street from a large Chevy dealer. Their “budget” lot (All cars under $3995!) always had at least two of these. After Dukes closed for the night my friends and I would hike down and drool over them.
Give me a Black 78 with a 460 and the factory CB.
They drive just like a ford ltd. I had a 78 landau Coupe. I love how these look but they just drove same as the ltd so I kept the ltd. It was lincoln like with concealed headlights and wide trim and frender skirts. So I did add some lincoln turbines and Lincoln emblems and had me a mark four and a half.
Long live the Lincoln mark six. !!!!!
This is just the car that pushed the right buttons in the buyer and public’s eyes. The styling and presence say ” Hey, look at me! I’ve got the bucks to blow on this thing!” Obviously this wasn’t something that “Old Money” with refined tastes, would want to drive, but the majority of the viewing public would surely be more than a little envious.
It’s a shame that there is nothing in the current Lincoln line up that can conjure up that kind of response.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’ve owned a MkV since 1994. It’s a fascinating exercise in faux – ostentatious style. The only way to get something more extreme at the time would be buy a Clenet or Excalibur (which, I think, used the Mk chassis and driveline.)
But underneath all the gingerbread was some solid conventional engineering. The drivelines and electronics were ordinary Ford stuff, smooth, proven and very reliable. My Mk V never broke, and never gave me a moments trouble, ever.
The brakes were 4 wheel disc with hydraulic assist, because vacuum assist did not provide enough force. I found the brakes to be smooth, powerful and very communicative, the hydraulic assist worked very well.
I drove my car a lot, and did several long road trips. It sure liked highways, the faster it went the more stable it felt, a quirk, I think, of its soft suspension bushings and alignment. 100 mph felt like 55, smooth, quiet and stable, so long as the road was reasonably straight. High speed cornering produced vast understeer, although better tires would help. I recall the MkV was originally designed for the Michelin TRX tire/wheel package, as seen in later Fords. But cost reasons torpedoed that. Too bad, it would have helped.
Side winds? Buffeting? Rough roads? Nothing diverted my car from its mission of effortless travel… until it came to parking it.
I’ve had some memorable times with my Mark. Its comfort and reliability more than offset its extreme and wasteful styling.
Didn’t Bunkie Knudson have some major input on the Mark IV before he was fired and, thus, had an indirect hand in the Mark V, as well?
Ate up with motor has a good brief on these. it looks like Bunkie was gone before the IV hit the streets in 71-72. Don DeLaRossa, and others, took his place for the work on the V.
All the beautiful colors available on a Mark, and the original owner chose hideous GOLD?!? These look lovely in the right colors – this one looks tacky and nouveau riche.
Lee had a lot of great ideas and to make Lincoln competitive with Cadillac was a huge accomplishment. His basic formula of take an inexpensive car, load it up with lots of cosmetic glitz, and rake in the profits was fundamentally sound and even the last cars to bear this formula, the K Car Fifth Avenue and New Yorkers, were beloved by their target market and undoubtedly hugely profitable for Chrysler.
The American full size car was uniquely adapted to American needs and American road conditions. We drive much longer distances than Europeans do, over largely smooth level highways, with low gas taxes, and have ample parking once we get there. Ample, inexpensive, reliable V8 power is the best solution for American roads. Amply sized vehicles with cushion soft rides are the best for traveling long distances with luggage. Most Americans face lengthy commutes in dense traffic, or long drives to vacation places, so the sybaritic joys of air conditioning, soft seats, and a nice stereo triumph precise handling, fuel efficiency, or overall response and in the days of the 55 mph speed limit, the idea that the car could travel all day at 120 was absurd. The American full size car was inexpensive to build, inexpensive to run, inexpensive to repair and maintain, simple, durable, and far more luxurious than the supremely engineered and assembled Dodge Darts that Mercedes was offering. This car had beautiful knife edge styling which made it look less bulky than it was and gave it plenty of presence. The hidden headlights may have been a gimmick but they were a neat gimmick that put the car above its lesser full size brethren.
Cadillac, and to a lesser degree Lincoln, now produce vehicles that out German the Germans and except for the American-luxury-throwback the Escalade, Cadillac cannot sell anything. I don’t know why Americans disdain the concept of American luxury as exemplified by this car. Technically, it was a great car when you consider the needs of American drivers. Not as technologically advanced as German engineering of course, but then you don’t have to deal with hydropneumatic suspension rebuilds like on a top of the line Mercedes.
Lee had the formula right, give them sizzle and things the consumer can see on top of an old reliable workhorse platform.
This particular gold Mark V has that odd Mark IV opera window plonked onto it.
I wouldn’t want to own one, for a lot of reasons, but I am glad they are out there.
I always think of them as the 1970’s version of the ’30s Packards, the best of the upper-upper mainstream big cars.
Not a fan of Lee, so I took the liberty to modify his Mk V:
Top was Lee’s Mk V,
Center was modified with moving the front axle and A post by 4 inches, less overhand and bigger cabinet.
Bottom was the world’s fist sport’s coupe. Big C post got moved back by 3 inches, front door gotten smaller to accommodate that suicide rear door.
Most people probably couldn’t detect the difference between top and center at first glance. My favorite Lincoln of the era was Continental 4 door, I thought the proportion was perfect and it looked elegant.
http://images.gtcarlot.com/pictures/32406142.jpg
Your adjustments are an improvement over the original. That pinhead greenhouse and overhang needed your abilities.
DweezilAZ
The original Lee Iaccoca Mk V was a very long car, I had no idea how long until I photoshoppped it. I think the one in the center is best proportioned.
I tend to be the odd man out, and I am sure here! The MkV was I suppose a better car than the Eldorado, which really isn’t saying much. The basic Ford engineering in these cars was not bad, and the brakes were the best in Detroit for that era.
These cars were never popular in British Columbia due to their gargantuan size and poor handling, both of which are not exactly assets on the roads here. These cars were $15,000 new which would buy a MB 280E or a used 450SE, or a Volvo GL and loads of cash back. Most high end buyers here chose these cars, as they suited the conditions.
Personally, I always detested these cars. I see them as wasteful.
Canucklehead: another odd man out here. These were vulgar, wasteful and absurd to me when they came out. They still are. A caricature of the Mark II, III and 61-65 Continental.
While I appreciate the context and the history of these, as well as the business case made for them, they held and hold zero appeal in this quarter.
Another great find and excellent commentary as usual, and a learning experience.
Just because the car doesn’t appeal to me, I am always in for the insight and variety on CC in spite of my own personal taste.
…”vulgar, wasteful and absurd”…
I think that’s exactly why these, and other US landyachts from that era, are so popular here now as classic cars / collectibles.
Only crooks bought them when new, in the seventies. A widely used nickname for this breed of cars -certainly in gold metallic and with a white vinly top- was a “hoerensloep”… a whorebarge.
Mk V was the LONGEST by far, probably aided by that super long front overhang. Detroit liked to used overhang to improve ride or mask suspension deficiency. With Mk V and front overhang, you better not lived in some hilly places. Interestingly, Mk III and Mk VI (2 doors) were identical in length, but wheelbase of Mk VI were three inches shorter, but guess what? just more front overhang on Mk VI.
It must have been torturous for Detroit chassis engineers back in the day.
Length:
Mk 3: 216″
Mk 4: 228″
Mk 5: 230″
Mk 6: 216″
Wheelbase:
Mk 3: 117.2″
Mk 4: 120.4″
Mk 5: 120.4″
Mk 6: 114.4″
Curb weight:
Mk 3: 4,866 lbs
Mk 4: 5,264 lbs
Mk 5: 4,960 lbs
Mk 6: 4,219 lbs
Width:
Mk 3 : 79.4″
Mk 4 : 79.8″
Mk 5 : 79.7″
Mk 6 : 78.1″