With a from-the-ground-up redesign in 1993 and meaningful updates along the way, the Lincoln Mark VIII was a car that had a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it existed in an era when demand and interest in personal luxury coupes was rapidly shrinking.
Between its sleek and striking exterior styling, sumptuous and smartly-designed interior, and robust performance from its state-of-the-art 4.6L DOHC 32-valve Modular InTech V8, the final iteration of Lincoln’s historic Mark Series was a confident, competitive entry in the personal luxury coupe segment.
A rather significant mid-cycle refresh for 1997, which included revised fascias, the first standard HID headlights in an American car, full-width neon brake lights, interior ambient lighting, aluminum hood, and improvements to the engine and transmission. Sales, however, were continuing their decline, and with little interest left in the car, Lincoln pulled the plug towards the end of the 1998 model year.
One might suggest that the convenience of four-door sedans was the reason, and while a contributing factor, it was really the rise of the SUV, especially the luxury SUV that killed the personal luxury coupe. Though the Lincoln LS sport sedan that arrived in 1999 (as a 2000 model) is the most logical successor to the Mark VIII on paper, in reality it was the 1998 Navigator that assumed the role of Lincoln’s ultimate status mobile.
Even at two decades old now, the Mark VIII’s design has held up well, still looking imposing and elegant. Will it ever achieve the same level of desirability among collectors as the iconic Mark V? Probably not. But one thing is for sure in that the Navigator will never hold a candle to what is quite possibly the last great American personal luxury coupe.
Photographed: Hingham, Massachusetts – March 2017
Related Reading:
I really liked these, and admired the restraint used in design. The rear decklid had the perfect hint of the continental bulge that was the signature for these cars, not too big and yet large enough to be unmistakable. As with most things, the last iteration is always the one that was closest to being “right”, only to be cancelled.
Restrained elegance indeed. Much nicer and easier on the eyes than the in-your-face ‘applied elegance’ that marked the disco era. And that decklid bulge – just enough to hint at what had been and show continuity and heritage without looking weird.
Nice find! One of the better colors, and an LSC as well. That package tightened up the suspension and used freer-flowing exhaust to get another 10 HP out of the engine. I still love these cars, and still miss the ’96 I owned for two all too brief years (’04-’06). Dramatic styling, great interior, and one of the best Ford engines of the 90’s–almost 300 HP was a big deal in 1993 and while the all-aluminum construction was a bit exotic at the time, it proved to have similar reliability to its more common iron-block brother (the 2V 4.6).
While I thought they added a bit too much height to the grille/hood, the ’97 refresh updated the original design well, and I was saddened to hear there was to be no successor. They’re proving a bit of a chore to get certain parts for these days as the headlamp assemblies are NLA, but still a car that turns my head any time I see one and still a car that I’d love to own another example of someday.
My son has a 96 in charcoal blue. Before he bought it everything was checked over and the entire air suspension was gone through. He likes it, but bought a Mustang convertible. He wants $2500 for it. Leather interior is perfect, exterior has one parking lot ding otherwise near perfect. I like it but still have 11 cars myself.
A year ago and you might have had my interest. As it stands, 2 out of our 3 cars are 2-door and there’s a baby on the way, so we’re looking to unload one coupe rather than add another. 🙂
Sounds like a good deal for the right person though!
I think that the VII’s design has held up much better.
The 7 looks more current with all the cut lines but screams 1970/80s. The 8 still looks like a TGV at 186mph in the driveway…!
I think the Mark VIII, like a lot of other ovoid ’90s Fords and ’90s cars in general, is still stuck in the phase where it’s no longer modern but not yet retro.
Considering the scaled-up-Transformers styling that passes for modern these days, I’d be more than happy with one of these.
I think the particular trouble is that this phase is prolonged. Not all that much has actually changed in modern design from the rounded 90s, except proportions and packaging for the most part. Flame surfacing and all that crap isn’t all that different than the lines Pontiac molded into their cladding. The 80s aero stuff that ultimately ushered in the modern design era looks more retro now since they were largely rounded off versions of the boxy and sometimes wedgy designs of the late 70s, which the last vestiges of were shaken off the moment round/ovoid became common.
The Mark VII looks dated, yes, but it stands out now as much as it did when it debuted in 1984, when those design themes were uncommon. The Mark VIII still just seems like a late model, a lot of the non car savvy may know they’re old, but not guess they are as old as they actually are, and they then get held up to the scrutiny late models face – practicality, efficiency, maintenance – which isn’t going to be great.
I’d rather try to keep a Mark VII on the road than a Mark VIII. At least the greasy bits of a Mark VII are almost all Mustang and easily sourced.
The VIII’s mechanicals aren’t all that unique. The air suspension system is model-specific, sure, but the VII also used air at all 4 corners, and if you’re really worried there are coil conversions (though the air ride can be maintained relatively cheaply now that Arnott and other make replacement parts for it). The engine wasn’t shared with anything at the time of its debut, but the 4V 4.6 went on to see service in the Marauder, Aviator, and several variants of the Mustang (Cobras of various years, Mach 1). Good aftermarket support exists. The trans is the 4R70W that saw service in a million Crown Vics and practically everything else Ford made in the 90’s with a V8/RWD layout.
The only things that are flat-out hard to find on the VIII are the headlamp assemblies on the 97-98 cars (NLA for quite some time), neon taillight panels (same, but the neon part is essentially decorative and doesn’t contain the actual brake lights) and finding interior trim on some of the more unusual interior colors offered on the early cars.
Also they do surprisingly well on the efficiency scorecard, at least on the highway. The slippery shape allowed 27 MPG highway all day long, and I averaged over 28 on a couple of trips. Not bad for 3700 lbs. of V8 PLC.
To add to Chris’s point, the driveline is pretty solid as well, the 4R70w is somewhat troublesome on the 93-95s(not much moreso than the AOD though) but was hugely improved in 97 and 98. The 4.6 DOHC is every bit as reliable as the venerable workhorse SOHC, but unlike the SOHC you’ll never have to worry about the manifold cracking.
Other greasy bits aren’t bad either, I used to be very apprehensive about keeping my Cougar on the road for the long term but as it turns out some of the IRS bushings made for 99-04 Mustang Cobras fit, and because kit cars often source the suspension knuckles rebuild parts are widely available for them as well for very reasonable cost. Front suspension is totally unique but there’s still a large selection of quality parts, and the steering and brakes are in fact SN95 derived – I have both 03 Cobra brakes all around, AND a 03 Cobra steering rack. – The good news is the geometry and design is so good out the box on these you really don’t need the Mustang’s huge aftermarket to piggyback on if you want to upgrade things. As I said, I love the looks of the VII but I really do wish it was draped over the VIII’s chassis.
I like this design much better too. And it has a “proper” Continental tire hump, not that shadow of a hump on the later car that looks like it was snuck in at 2 mins to midnight by some lone-wolf designer because the rest of the team said “No!”.
A couple of months ago someone was selling a VIII in my city.
It was the woman’s father who owned it from new and in the photos appeared to be in decent shape. The asking price was around $6,000 and everything worked. The VIII was a model not seen in great numbers around here. These days it would turn a few heads.
I have mixed feelings on the VIII. On one hand it was really advanced for the day with lots of unique content, everything we all keep saying Lincoln needs to be a real luxury car contender. On the other hand though, the cars eventually become brittle and difficult to maintain (think certain high-end German cars) and thus have not found much love as older cars.
I think I prefer the VII too.
We had 2 8’s for years, both lo-milers. After a certain amount of years, they became frought with quality woes, air springs mainly. Sunroof problems and I put the rest out of my ind but what a great ride for the times. 28mpg on the road at 70mph. And as stated, still turn heads 20+ years later. Weak headlights and HIDs that went sour. Giev me 1st gen front end and 2nd gen rear and the last Collector’s Edition…and I know a guy in NY with supercharged 8, ‘the blown beast’ and it still looks great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=uYdHFMowFSE
I always thought this car had the coolest dash
I don’t find these attractive. The cougar looked so much nicer and didn’t have the troublesome air suspension.
I love the look of these, but yes, they are fairly fragile. One those cars that are great but simply not worth maintaining-unless you love it that much and don’t care if you are sinking money in it in quantities that would buy it again.
Also, the saddest hoopdie I even saw was one of these in that same pearl white. Mismatched wheels, little dents and scratches here and there and of course the air suspension completely and utterly shot-so bad in fact that it was throwing sparks on the freeway from hitting the ground. Was visibly hard to turn, tires must have been rubbing the fenders. Interior looked pretty rough too. I won’t bother saying anything about the occupant but will say it was the saddest car I’d ever seen.
As an owner of it’s platformmate in the same pearl white color, the final picture unfortunately highlights the problem with that paint – good luck matching it!
Count me in as a bigger fan of the Mark VII design. I like this platform, powertrain and even interior better than the Fox/5.0 but I much prefer the Thunderbird and Cougar on it, which were still in the VII’s 80s clean aero design language. The original 93 design was better than the 97 as well. These were a bit cleaner around the edges but the thin headlights and matching taillights did at least give it a distinctive out of this world aesthetic that was lost on the facelift, which woos at geriatric Continental crowd.
That could very well be factory paint on the bumper, with the flash highlighting the difference how pearlescent paint (any metallic, really) “flops” on plastic versus metal.
I know the fickle nature of the paint well, as I had to install a replacement door handle on my VIII a few months before its untimely end. The part came unpainted, so I figured I’d just get some paint and take care of it myself. And I did, but man that was complicated–it’s a three-stage finish that must be applied *just right* to have even a shadow’s chance of matching. Mine matched well enough to pass on a small part like a door handle, but had it been anything larger, it would have been plain that the paint wasn’t original.
Also makes it hard that there were actually three colors for these that could be considered pearl white–Opal Opalescent (code WK), which was the color of my car and the whitest of the pearl whites. I would have thought this car was WK but that wasn’t available for ’98. Then there was Ivory Pearlescent (code HA), which had more tan and pink tones to it as the base was ivory. Finally there was the 1998-only White Pearlescent (code WF), which replaced WK and is I believe the color of the featured Mark.
Had a ’94 T-Bird in this color (the ex’s car) and always liked these Mark VIII(s). Fortunately, I never had to ‘match this color’ as you say. That Pearl Opalescent (I believe that’s what Ford called this color) sure looked pretty, especially at sunset.
I’m torn as to whether I like the VII or the VIII better. Over the years, I’ve had more than one of each of these car’s stablemates in Ford Thunderbird form.
I think its a shame that there aren’t any big two door American luxury cars left. I grew up loving these and the Mark VII as well. I would have been 14-15 years old when these debuted so I remember how awesome they were. Remember the tv advert where they demonstrated the speed-lowering suspension? Too cool.
Shameless GM guy plug also- I adored the Buick Riviera when they came back in 1995 also. Yes, front wheel drive, ok- but a solid effort in both design and execution. I had the chance to pick up a lovely supercharged one last year, 40k mile cream puff. Unfortunately she met a bitter end on a Sunday drive just before Christmas when a doddering old man pulled out in front of me. I can now sadly attest to why GM was so proud of that first gen FWD G Platform – cause it was built strong. Bad impact, both airbags deployed- Rivi died that day but I hadn’t a scratch. I have attached a photo.
Anyway, Mark VII and VIII were awesome. I tend to agree that the design of the VII was a bit more honest, but I would be thrilled with either today.
Also worth noting is that the Riv, unlike the Mark, made it into 1999, and thus qualifies (for me anyway) as “the last great American personal luxury coupe”. The ’96 is my favorite of this generation. Why? Because it was the first year for the smoother, more powerful Series II supercharged 3800, and the last year you could order one with bench seats (in your choice of cloth or leather) in a nicer shade of burgundy than the greyed-out version used in ’97 and later, with the shifter up on the column where God intended automatic-transmission shifters to be. Some upgrades to the center section of the dash in ’96 as well.
Your Riv met about the same end as my VIII. Someone pulled out into a divided highway to make a left turn, then was unable to turn, leaving them squarely in my path. The only damage I had was an abrasion on the wrist from the air bag deploying, but the car was clearly totaled.
That’s another good thing about these, and their GM competitors of the same time frame–they may be of a bygone era in terms of 2-door personal luxury status, but benefit from all the safety and crashworthiness advances into the 90’s.
I always felt that Lincoln made a mistake by not basing the four-door Continental off of this platform. It would’ve at least stood a better chance of competing with the German luxury sedans of the time. Just my opinion, but the Taurus-based Continental was the answer to a question that nobody asked.
Agreed!
+2.
I am sure I read that at one point you could get this series Mark with a BMW turbodiesel. I know from what I read the Cadillac with the 5.7 diesel was not a good combination.
Anybody know how these were as a diesel??
You’re thinking of this car’s predecessor, the Mark VII. Those were indeed available with a BMW turbodiesel I6 for the first couple years of production, I believe ’84-’86. Not sure how they held up, but I’m sure it was better than the horrid diesel 350.
The bustle back Continental was also available with that engine. Not many were built.
Sales of the Mark VII were not consistently high, but over 9 years were about 190,000, with the last two years very low. Then the Mark VIII started off very well over 30,000 and averaged about 25,000 for the first 3 years, then falling off to an average of 15,000 for the next three years. Note that the Navigator does not exist during this period. Luxury SUV’s may have been where the market went, but I don’t think that they caused the demise of the Personal Luxury Coupe. The PLC was dying probably in large part because the customers were dying off too.
“The PLC was dying probably in large part because the customers were dying off too.”
That, and there was a sort of Teutonic practically that started in the preppy ’80s, which had aspirational buyers preferring staid, utilitarian-looking four-door sedans.
I think that BMW’s concept of the “sport sedan” was more widely known, but the 2 door hardtop was also gone, with the rear windows fixed, which may have led to customers rethinking the coupe. The Cadillac STS was also quite popular, which may have done the Eldorado in. The whole point here is that the market changed, but exactly why is not clear.
In the 50’s and 60’s the hardtop coupes were highly thought of for styling. I think that the pillared coupes with fixed rear windows were something quite different.
But, big selling PLC’s had fixed “Opera” windows, that did not roll down.
2 door intermediate hardtops, with roll down windows, ended in early 70’s, and were being overtaken by PLC’s.
73-87 Cutlass Supreme coupe was no hardtop, for example, and sold like gangbusters. Same with 73-87 Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, and 77-79 T-Bird, etc, etc. Fixed windows didn’t hurt their sales.
The personal luxury coupe market crashed during the 1990’s. The Lincoln Mark IV (1972-1976) sold are a rate of about 55,000 annually averaged. The Lincoln Mark V (1977-1979) did a good 75,000 for the three years. Then the Mark VI (1980-1983) is down to 33,000. The Mark VII averages 21,000 for 9 years (1984-1992). Clearly sales are fading away. The Mark VIII averages 21,000 over the 6 years of production, but the first 3 years are much better than the last 3.
I am not saying that the fixed rear window was THE reason. What I am saying is that the market for the Lincoln Mark series was really best for the Mark V, during the last of the 70’s. Then during the 80’s and 90’s sales are slow. The one thing I am sure of is that the Lincoln Navigator did not slow the Mark VI, or VII sales.
The Eldorado sales are quite slow (under 20,000) by the late 90’s as far as I can get data.
An appropriately elegant end to the Mark series.
As testament to the enduring appeal of the Mark VIII, I met a guy a few months back, an acquaintance, who’d recently bought one of these and was absolutely in love with it. As a budding entrepreneur with a limited budget he was looking for something comfortable, powerful and inexpensive as a highway car to travel regularly to several cities in Florida within about a 200 mile radius. His Hyundai Elantra, while economical, wasn’t cutting it for long drives (He’s about 6’4″ and 200lbs). When I met him he had recently invested in a full detail job and light window tint to protect the interior against the Florida sun, and was planning a respray to contend with some minor clearcoat failure. He was mildly concerned about the potential repair and maintenance costs, but was committed to the car, claiming it was the most comfortable, best handling highway cruiser he’d ever driven. Still looked great, even if a little dated, especially as his happens to be that very 90’s dark green color.
The Mk VII is generally more popular in LCOC than the Mk VIII, simply because of the cost of renewing certain key pieces. As mentioned above, the HID headlights and the neon taillight were biggies, but also the rear window. The rubber trim will develop wrinkles and bumps, and the trim is part of the window, not available separately. The Mk VII is simpler, cheaper and easier to maintain in “like new” condition, which the concourse judging done in some categories requires. Having said that, the VIII is universally admired in the club as a great touring car, with most driven to our national meets over long distances.
I really loved the last couple of years with the neon taillight panel. They looked so futuristic at night. Very nice touch on these.
Lincoln needs this tailight today. Being able to identify a car in the dark by just it’s tail lights is the best free advertising that you can get.
This car seemed to try too hard with monochromatic interiors and exteriors, odd paint colors and half-baked technology. The simpler Thunderbird of this era, on which this car was based, was simply a better car.
The Navigator did indeed shake up the luxury car market, allowing Lincoln to beat Cadillac sales for the first time ever. The 1998 timing of the Navigator was extremely fortuitous for Lincoln as the same year restyle of the Town Car proved the undoing of the popularity of that car.
The Mark 8 was, and still is, a great car. I love the combination of styling, power and luxury, though, I may prefer the Mark 7, just because of the more retro nature of it. There’s many great points from people here, and I agree that the two door PLC market was dying, likely because the demographic that grew up with it as a sign of prestige, were dying as well. If you’d said to someone in the 60’s, that trucks would be a status symbol over the ensuing decades, you’d get laughed out of the place. 🙂
Lincoln Mark VIII’s disappeared from the roads rather quickly. They had good motors and relatively good transmissions, but that was about it. The last time I saw one of these Lincolns was about three years ago, parked in the street with expired tags, and the entire front end slammed to the ground and its tail way high. Cadillac and Lincoln just couldn’t hawk their inferior wares to the masses any longer. BMW and Mercedes knew how to build a beautiful coupe with superior engineering and reliability way back then and they’ve never lost their touch.
BMW perhaps, but Mercedes quality and longevity plummeted in the 90s, I still see W124, W126 and W201s on a daily basis, but never any of their successors.
You do realize you’re talking about two completely different price points, also? In their debut year of ’93, the Mark VIII’s base price was $37K. The 300CE of the same year? $61K. It ought to be a higher quality car given the $24K price spread (in 1993 dollars). The closest BMW compeltitor was the 840ci, which didn’t show up until ’94, sporting a price tag of $68k. That’s getting close to double the price of the Lincoln! The 325is coupe stickered at $32k, but other than both having two doors they were in completely different market segments.
The real competitiors for the VIII at the time were the Eldorado (also $37k base) and the Lexus SC400 ($41k base). If you want to argue that the SC400 was higher quality I won’t debate you on that one, but it had other compromises including a nearly unusable back seat.
These are my favourite Lincolns of all time, by a large margin. Easily earns a spot in my fantasy classic car garage.