canadiancatgreen posted this at the Cohort, and I am still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on with this Mark V. The original side trim/rub strip is still on the door, but where it used to be on the front fender and rear quarter panel, there are now odd bulges. They look too big to be original, as if they were expanded to be flush with that door trim strip. Or am I seeing things?
Like a snow tire in the front and a regular one in the back. And the bottom of the door doesn’t remotely fit flush against the rocker, which I suspect has a substantial Bondo content. And there’s the rust spots where the front fender trim used to be. And…
I don’t think the door trim strip is original–that’s why nothing seems to line up. The Mark V side trim is a uniform, wide textured-vinyl protrusion with narrow chrome above and below. All of the side strips and wheel opening mouldings were removed for repainting, and something foreign was stuck on the door.
The red bumper rub strip is aftermarket too, but it matches the tinted grille. There should be chrome rocker moulding right up to the door opening. I don’t remember those wheels, but I found several more online, so they’re original.
+1! It’s amazing how down-market this car looks without that chrome around the wheel openings and along the sides.
None of the trim is on the car that chrome strip on the door isn’t supposed to be there. A lot is wrong with this car it shows from this picture I own a 79 mark V
I bet there’s 65 lbs of Bondo in front of the door, and another 75 behind it. Slam the door too hard and this one would….do something.
It looks like something that Cheech and Chong would have come up with to smuggle some green bud.
Those Canadians!
Always coming up with some twist on things – I think those bulges are where those people store their poutine to have on their long cold trips across the provinces.
I gather most people here prefer the V to the IV, but the straight lines don’t work well together for me. The VI just made it more obvious.
The flat, squared roof looks ungainly when the landau part is higher and more massive than the slick front. GM would have tapered it (too much on the ’71-8 Eldorado), but Lincoln had had complaints about the IV’s rear headroom. I’ve never liked the gills, but they’re a necessary distraction from the contrast between the heavy passenger section and the delicate front overhang. The IV has subtle curves (and trim) and hangs together better, even with its monster bumpers.
There’s a white V down the road from me that still looks pristine from a distance despite being parked outside for decades.
Agreed. While the sharper creases and straighter lines improved the look of the new ‘basket-handle’ Thunderbird, they didn’t look right grafted onto what was essentially the same Mark IV body to create the ‘new’ Mark V, and this bondo-special shorn of much of the Mark V’s trim really emphasizes that sentiment.
A friend’s father had a ’72 Mercury Cougar convertible that he picked up cheap. It was pretty crusty, to the point that the loose convertible body was extra loosy goosey.
A neighbor did the body work. Random steel bracing was welded in, and 55 gallon drums of bondo were used to fabricate rear quarters and other assorted body patch panels.
Like this Lincoln, it sat low on its suspension.
But, for a few hundred miles each summer, he had a red convertible that looked cool from 30 feet away in the evening dusk. It served what he wanted, no criticism from me!
Is it just me, or does it look better without all the broughamtastic side trim? Just seems tighter, dare I say smaller. The quantities on Bondo on it does remind me of a friend back ibn the day, with a 63 Nova that had the right rear smashed, hard, he pulled it out as best could be done and slathered bondo to present a facsimile of original lines. It was so loaded with Bondo, it actually squatted low on the right rear. Rode like a lumber wagon. He had it for several years. Then we lost contact. He got more and more squirrelly over time, sad to say. Not certain it was drugs. He wasn’t firing on all cylinders to begin with.
Now that’s a sad story.
It also looks like the hood is misaligned as there is a gap visible above the front fender and there is misalignment between the front fender and passenger door.
I would be curious as to what type of buyer that this particular car with all it’s flaws would attract.
It has coach lamps. That was only available on Diamond Jubilee and Collector Series. This red/cream color wasn’t a choice of either.
I’m wondering if patch panels weren’t just lap welded on top of the damaged sheet metal. Butt welding would be the proper method, which would produce a level surface. Of course rivets, or sheet metal screws could also be holding the panels on. Then just blend everything in with bondo! When I was younger I would picture myself as a future body shop owner that could take a car like this and fix it correctly. Cars like this are just starting to appreciate in value, but they’re not worth enough to warrant even a partial restoration.
What I can’t help but notice is what appears to be an All Terrain tire on the front. 235/75-15 AT tires are still readily available for older pickups and SUV’s, while passenger car 205 to 225-15 tires are probably harder to find now, so I see a lot of these AT’s fitted on old domestic cars with 15” rims.