How did this not become a big hit? A Mark IV with a 7.7″ wheelbase stretch (between the back of the doors and the rear axle) and a two inch raise roof, resulting in “a spaciousness inside to accommodate a family of 6-footers, and then some!” Just the thing for me!
Wire spoke racing wheels on a car that has the smoothness of the glide of an eagle plus a limousine style roof?
Such mixed messages.
For whatever reason I like these in as-built form but this thing is a two-tone travesty.
My guess is they rusted away underneath that extended padded roof conversion. But why?. If you were lanky just buy a Town Car or a Cady Formal Sedan.
That was my thought, they’ve basically replicated the interior space of a 2-door standard Lincoln (or a Coupe de Ville) at twice the cost. And still not as easy on the rear passengers as a 4-door (either a regular non-Mark Lincoln or a Sedan de Ville) would be.
If they’d enlarged and repositioned the oval opera window higher up and further forward it would’ve looked less fivehead-ish.
The Lincoln wagon they produced is even more “unique”,,,,
https://i.redd.it/2gmf6pv0k1o51.jpg
That Lincoln wagon looks like something Clark Griswold would buy after winning the lottery. 😉
The featured Lincoln looks like a truck cap fell on it.
The seven-inch stretch doesn’t look as weird as one might expect except for the elongated oval window in the C-pillar. I echo Mr. Hobbs though: Why?
When I first saw the raised roof I thought it was just an extremely padded vinyl roof that was seen often enough on some of the “pimp-mobiles” back in the day. Where are the fake side-mount spare tires though?
This isn’t as strange as the 4-door Mark III created by Lehmann-Petersen for the CEO of Martin-Marietta and featured here in Curbside Classic https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/cc-custom-lehmann-peterson-four-door-lincoln-continental-mark-iii/
There were a lot of opportunities in the 1970’s for people with too much money to indulge their poor taste…much like now!
I took a lot of nerve to show a 1930’s Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental sport saloon, a genuine high-quality luxury grand touring, in an advertisement with this atrocity!
I’m amazed that I of all the people here am the one to point out this is not a 1972. I believe it’s a 1974 just like this little car it was based on:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/junkyard/curbside-recycling-1974-lincoln-continental-mark-iv-the-littlest-big-car-in-the-world/
The rear lights didn’t move up above the bumper until ’74.
“I’m amazed that I of all the people here am the one to point out this is not a 1972.”
That’s because we are all gawking at all of the parts of the car that make those awful bumpers look svelte. 🙂
Congratulations! The ad was labeled “1972” and like Jim said, I was too taken by the roof and stretch to pay any real attention to the bumpers. I’ve changed the title now.
Must be like sitting in a panel Van at the back. Or a cave.
Or a coffin, with all that white velvet and screwed on polished wood.
The first thing that came to my mind as a point of comparison was the Father Devine Duesenberg. I saw it once in the 70s and never forgot it. This Mark IV is no Duesenberg, but both started with a well proportioned package that was right for its time and bulked it up to where there was something of the original still there, but also something of a terrible botch.
The width must be appreciated. I am still trying to figure out which is the more skillful botch job.
Wow, I had never heard of the Rev. Divine or this car. Found this article from when it was auctioned 10 years ago:
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19363/lot/420/
It was auctioned at Auburn in the late 70s I think. It is hard to look at a Duesenberg and say “how awful”, but now you understand. 🙂
What is seen cannot be unseen.
Father Divine’s Duesenberg BUS! Custom coachbuilding gone atrociously wrong. Bohman & Schwartz build it, most of their custom work looks almost as bad!
I wonder if any were actually sold? Eagle Coach Co. was around for a bit building limos,
then was acquired by another limo company. This seems like an odd waste of money as a
prototype for a small going concern. Maybe a customer special ordered with cost as no
object and they decided to run it up the flagpole?
Would be interesting to see at a car show if the one in the ad still exists.
They also “enhanced” a pre-74 Mark IV (note bumper).
It came with features like a “spring-mounted hood ornament with Phaeton Sun-God grill emblem reproduced in gold and cloisonne.” They also put a landau bar running through the oval opera window.
https://live.staticflickr.com/549/19342087089_440c9842d3_b.jpg
I think that this was intended for the guy that absolutely had to have a Mark, and also wanted to be chauffeur driven. You couldn’t expect for him to ride alongside the driver! This way the owner could be comfortably seated in the rear, with perhaps a “special” passenger, like the one depicted. These were all individually built, so build one, or build a hundred, the conversion company could probably accommodate the limited demand. Limousine coupes have not been unheard of in the past.
Jett Rink’s 70’s car.
Great call.
I just like the “because we can” optimism (is that the word I’m looking for?) of this entire car. And the fold-down drink tray behind the front seat. DeLuxe!
This ad copy is so breathlessly hyperbolic that the word “unbelievable” doesn’t do it justice!