(first posted 5/10/2016) As of the published date of this article, the most expensive regular production car (sans options) one can buy in the U.S. from an American brand is the Tesla Model X P90D (performance all-wheel drive), which stickers for $115,500 USD. Back in 1978, Tesla was likely not even a vision of the then-7 year-old Elon Musk, and the most expensive American car was a Lincoln no less.
Today, the most expensive Lincoln you can buy is the Navigator, which starts at $74,095 for the Reserve 4×4 extended-length “L” model. Thirty-eight years ago, the most expensive Lincoln and the most expensive regular production American car was the Continental Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition, which stickered for $20,099 before options. Adjusted for inflation, that comes out to $73,408, so right about on par with the most expensive Lincoln today.
Considering that the Navigator L’s prime competitor, the Cadillac Escalade ESV begins at $75,970 for a base rear-wheel drive with base prices climbing all the way to $94,950 for a Platinum 4×4 (excluding options), today’s most expensive Lincoln is actually somewhat of a bargain compared to its competitors. But I digress…
Replacing the 1972-1976 Mark IV (pictured above), the Continental Mark V was sold for the 1977-1979 model years. Growing slightly in length and wheelbase over its predecessor, the Mark V rang in at a gargantuan 230.3 inches long, on a 120.5 inch wheelbase, making it the largest vehicle ever part of Mark Series. Despite its larger footprint, the Mark V actually shed several hundred pounds over the Mark IV, though curb weights still fell in the hefty 4,500-5,000 pound range, depending on engine and equipment.
Versus the Mark IV, the Mark V’s design was evolutionary in approach, ensuring that no one would mistake it for anything other than a Continental Mark Series car. With that in mind, sheetmetal was completely new with straight body lines, sharp angles, and blade-like fenders for a sharper, more squared-off appearance.
Although just over two inches longer, and less than an inch lower, the Mark V’s sheetmetal gave it a leaner, longer, and lower look than its heavier predecessor. Defining Mark Series styling elements such as a large neoclassical radiator grille, oval opera windows, hidden headlights, half-vinyl roof, and Continental spare tire bulge were all carried over and integrated nicely into the new design. In your author’s opinion, this was the most beautiful Lincoln ever, and one of the most aesthetically balanced cars of all time.
The massive 460 cubic inch (7.5L) 385/Lima V8 was still available through 1978, making 210 horsepower and 357 pound-feet of torque for this featured car’s model year. The standard engine and only power plant for the final 1979 model year was the still quite large 402 cubic inch (6.6L) 400 Cleveland V8, producing 166 horsepower and 319 pound-feet of torque. Triple fender louvers on either side were not only one of the Mark V’s most distinctive styling elements, but were fully functional.
The only transmission available for both engines on the Mark V was Ford’s C6 3-speed automatic. Four-wheel disc brakes were also standard, with one of the earliest forms of anti-lock brakes in an American automobile a $280 option. Rather expectedly, fuel economy for this two-and-a-half ton personal luxury boat was abysmal, with EPA ratings for the 7.5L at 12 city/17 highway, and real world numbers often lower.
For comparison, thanks to more efficient modern engines and additional fuel saving technologies, the 6,300-pound Navigator L 4×4 achieves 15 city/19 highway. Funny how the most expensive American car in 1978 was among the least fuel efficient, while the most expensive American car in 2016 is a zero emission vehicle.
Despite its hefty weight, zero-to-sixty acceleration times for the Mark V weren’t necessarily embarrassing, with the 7.5L’s 11.2 seconds average for the day. In any event, cars of the Mark Series and both the Lincoln and Continental names always placed an emphasis on a plush ride and numerous comfort amenities over acceleration and handling. In these respects, the Mark V certainly delivered.
Now of course this isn’t just any old Continental Mark V, but the Diamond Jubilee Edition, which cost an $8,000 premium (or about 40% more) over a base Mark V. Introduced to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Ford Motor Company, the Continental Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition was a very special edition, with just 5,159 examples produced. The only other vehicle receiving a Diamond Jubilee Edition was the Ford Thunderbird, though predictably, the Mark V was more luxurious.
Helping justify this price premium, the Diamond Jubilee Edition included normally extra-cost packages such as the appearance protection group, interior light group, headlamp convenience group, power lock convenience group, defroster group, and illuminated entry system. Other standard convinces included dual power mirrors, dual 6-way power front seats with power driver’s lumbar support, power vent windows, automatic climate control, universal garage door opener, cruise control, and an AM/FM stereo with Quadrasonic 8-track system. Among the few extra cost options was this car’s power glass moonroof, a $1,027 extra.
To set it apart from other Mark Vs, the Diamond Jubilee Edition came in the choice of one of two unique color schemes, appropriately “Diamond Blue” or “Jubilee Gold”. Whichever color scheme the buyer opted for, they’d be ensured that their Mark would be color-coordinated to the extreme. Exterior-wise, Diamond Jubilee Editions featured color-keyed vinyl bodyside moldings, padded half-vinyl roof, padded vinyl spare tire bulge, bumper guards and rub strips, and even color-matched grille and turbine-spoke aluminum wheel inserts!
Interiors were also color-keyed to the Diamond Blue or Jubilee Gold color schemes, with matching upholstery, carpet, dashboard, door panels, headliner, and seat belts. Virtually anything that wasn’t metal, wood, or electronic was color-keyed. Seats were upholstered in a unique cloth upholstery with broadlace trim inserts. Setting it apart from other Mark Vs, the Diamond Jubilee Edition boasted front bucket seats and a center console with padded leather armrest and wood trim.
Stitched leather covered the seat backs, center console, center console armrest, door armrests, and dashboard. Door panels featured matching cloth inserts and carpeting was 32-ounce Tiffany cut-pile. Distinctive ebony woodtone trim inserts adorned the dash, steering wheel, upper door panels, center console lid, and even the front seat backs and the keys!
Diamond Jubilee Editions also featured exclusive beveled oval opera windows with integral badging, as well as beveled instrument gauges emulating the cut glass look. Diamond Jubilee owners were each presented with a leather wrapped owners manual, matching umbrella which its own holder in the console, a special tool kit, and were even offered a copy of the Ford Diamond Jubilee Recipe Collection, a cookbook prepared by Nancy Kennedy, the food editor of FordMoCo’s own Ford Times and Continental Magazine.
Although production of the Diamond Jubilee Edition was very limited, as a whole the Lincoln Mark V was an immensely successful model. The Mark V saw sales of over 70,000 units per year, for a total sales output of 228,862 units – quite an impressive number considering it was sold for just three short years and considering its costly price tag (with the base Mark V’s price adjusted to just over $44,000 USD in 2016). Few luxury cars at and above that price point even come close to 70,000 units per year in modern times.
If it weren’t for CAFE, Lincoln probably could’ve sold the Mark V successfully for another decade based purely on its popularity with wealthy clientele. Unfortunately, CAFE fuel economy regulations took effect in 1978, with the standard for that year at 18 miles per gallon. Ford clearly could not continue making cars of this size and weight, powered by engines this big and thirsty. 1979 proved the final year of the truly “big” Lincolns, with the Collector’s Series Lincoln Continental and Continental Mark V (the latter identical to the Diamond Jubilee except for colors) released to commemorate the event. The resulting Mark VI, was a rather sad follow up to such a majestic predecessor, and never achieved any success close to the Mark V.
The new crop of downsized American luxury cars just didn’t resonate with younger, upwardly-mobile buyers, who began flocking to European luxury brands for their status symbols of success. The Mark V was truly the last of its kind in more ways than one, and this 1978 Diamond Jubilee Edition is one of the rarest examples of such a majestic automobile.
Cars with huge overhangs always make me wonder why they have wheels at all.
That looks like the Thundercougarfalconbird from Futurama.
IT DOES
<3
I work in a shop in California an old woman brought her Diamond Jubilee to me for last 20 years I always told her I love that car when she died her husband gave me the car and I still have it it’s exactly the same as that blue and in this picture with only 54,000 miles the car was owned by Sharon Stone and it was in the movie Casino is undoubtedly one of the biggest cars I’ve ever drove and it runs perfect I honestly don’t know what it’s worth
I once drove a Thunderbird equivalent of the Mark IV, a very quiet car but incredibly huge on the outside and almost tiny on the inside.
The comparison NOT made was power versus displacement. 40 years ago over 7 liters of engine…and ONLY 210 horsepower. Today, 210 horsepower from 2 liters of engine.
The maximum power output was low during the 70s and the start of the 80s because of the EPA emission regulations who was very strict in the US compared to Europe, and from 1977 on the CAFE-ragulations to fuel economy.
Today’s 2 liters don’t make 365 foot pounds of torque at 2000 RPM…
VW’s 2 liter TDI makes up to 237 hp and 369 ft. lb of torque at 1750 rpm. And the Passat (Euro version) it came in weighs about a ton less than a Mark V.
Most of the small (2 liter) diesels make 250- 300 ft. lb.
And the new small turbo gas engines aren’t much behind. Volvo’s T6 2 liter four makes 316 hp and 295 lb.ft. @ 2200 rpm. Also weighs much less than the Mark V.
If you like torque at low rpm, these are actually the golden days now.
While the smogged 460 hardly offered the paragon of power curve’s its still wider (the rpm between tq and hp peaks) than a modern diesel (EPA cheater or otherwise). Oh and the 460 was nearly silent and ran on low octane unleaded.
No other 70s car is more desirable IMO save for S class Mercedes and BMW Bavaria/5 series.
No. The 460 made its peak power at 4000 rpm, exactly the same as the VW 2.0 tdi. In any case, modern multi-speed transmissions make a narrow power band irrelevant.
But yes, we’re comparing apples and oranges. One can’t buy a new 560 powered mark V. But the modern boosted small fours do have a very fat torque band.
This is of topic but..
A turbo diesel or pertrol engine with small displacement can’t match a big displacement engine when it comes to flexibility, torque and hp curves and so on. But it can match the old Ford 460, not in smoothness maybe. The only thing a diesel engines does well is low consumption.
The clattering diesel engines belongs in trucks, tractors and other working machines. Not cars. That is a very bad European idea, much supported by the German and French government.
From one barrel of oil you get 12 gallons of diesel and 19 gallons of pertrol. So if the rest of the world had as much diesel cars like us in the Europe the costs of diesel will be sky rocket. Diesel pollutes a lot more, and the pollution varies to a greater range in everyday use than petrol engines. In some big cities in Europe today the diesel cars are restricted. Not only NOx, particles and SOx, but also a lot of specific chemicals who are under the 1% of the pollution, but still very toxic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust
With due deference to the author, this car is a rolling monument to bad taste, w/ every extreme Iacocca cliche plastered on them. How soon did these all become “Pimp Series”.
How far the Engel Continental had fallen. They are antipodes in good vs. bad taste, minimal vs excess.
I guess the best argument you can make in their favor is that they’re so bad in an outrageous sense that they’re good. Iacocca jumped the shark big time w/ this mess.
btw, that’s Tom Selleck in the “Collector” ad.
I do want to appreciate this Lincoln for what it is, and for the era it represents – but it’s a struggle. I am reminded of Dolly Parton’s quote “it costs me a lot of money to look this cheap”. Sorry.
Indeed, this car has Iacocca written all over it. Then, barely a year later, Henry Ford II would cashier Lee, who would then make the famous leap to struggling Chrysler. What’s fascinating is, considering how well this hugely profitable car sold, how Hank the Deuce could let Lee go. But, then, maybe that was the whole problem. Henry might have sensed that Iacocca was becoming as much a part of Ford as he was and, despite the millions that Iacocca had made for Ford (and would likely have continued to make), that just couldn’t stand.
It would be great to know which Ford was the last to have Iacocca’s influence. Could it have been the abysmal, downsized, Fox-chassis, ’80-’82 Mark VI/Thunderbird/Cougar?
Everyone rags on Iacocca, but IMHO this was one car that came our right for its era. By 1978, much of Ford’s lineup had become quite uncompetitive, but the big Lincoln and the Mark V were everything that was good about FoMoCo in the 70s with very little of the bad. I wouldn’t have any desire for an LTD II or a Granada from these years, but this was still a very desirable car, and whoever was behind it had very little to be ashamed of.
Say what you want about Lido, but the man knew how to sell cars. With clever marketing, plus of course a beautiful design, he made these the “must have” cars at the time among celebrities and sports figures. The players parking lot at old Memorial stadium in Baltimore were full of these. The car had a cachet and presence Eldorado couldn’t match. This, in turn, made everyone else want one, especially new money types seeking to impress the neighbors and fellow members of the country club.
The last cars to bear the Iacocca influence were probably the boxy, glitzy, Fox-based 1981-82 Ford Granada and Mercury Cougar.
Ford may have made money during Iacocca’s last years at company, but it was gushing red ink by 1980. That was with a line-up of cars largely developed by Iacocca. Ford needed a new direction for the 1980s (particularly more emphasis on quality – not an Iacocca strong point, either at Ford or at Chrysler). Henry Ford II was astute enough to realize that Iacocca wasn’t the person to lead that effort.
I thought I recognized a good moustache.
I thought that was Tom, pre-Magnum. I`d recognize that mustache anywhere.
Much more comfortable in the Lincoln I’m sure than in that Ferrari with his head sticking out the top.
He probably didn’t fit well in the Lincoln, either. Perhaps they wanted the car to look smaller than it is.
Tom Selleck appeared in several Lincoln promotional items and advertisements in the late 1970s, before he hit it big with Magnum, P.I.
A book about the Detroit-based company that shot many of the photos used in automotive brochures and print ads specifically mentioned this. It noted that Selleck was a favorite of photographers, as he was happy to help clean up the cars, and then he only needed to change his clothes and comb his hair to be ready for the photo shoot!
Love those “Opera” windows?
As a GM guy I am compelled to say if I were cross shopping this and the Eldorado in ’78, The Lincoln wins! The ’71 Eldorado looked like a “modern” updated ’50s car (and thus “worked”) but the updates after ’73 were a mess, The Mark OTOH, refined the ’68 concept (untill ’80 anyway.).
I thought in the early years of the second-generation Eldorado it looked porky and bulbous, while the later years – surprisingly for the decade – cleaned the styling up.
Still, Eldorado vs. Mark V = no contest. The Lincoln all the way. This is an epic design. While it is extremely OTT, it looks menacing and elegant all at once. Gorgeous!
Love the Diamond Jubilee addenda as well.
The “porky and bulbous” styling is where I see 1953 homage, But In my opinion, it worked better with the ’71 bodyshell. The angular lines done later (and this applies to Olds as well) didnt go well especially with the windshield. (like LTD II) The squared up lines on the Mark worked better because FoMoCo took the effort to revise the entire body. I thought all the big GM ’71–’73s looked better than the ’74-’76 reskins, So perhaps it’s just my (admitted) odd taste!
I wouldn’t call your taste odd. I am right there with you regarding the ’71-73 big GMs versus the ’74-76 models. Hands down, those earlier years were much, much, much better-looking cars, at least when you look at the Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Cadillac offerings.
I would add Pontiac. I’ve seen some examples (such as a silver 1971 4-door Bonneville hardtop without vinyl roof) that I thought were quite elegant, if a car that large could be considered elegant. The ’73 Grand Ville convertible had the prettiest tail end (along with the ’73 Eldorado) of any of that generation of GM convertibles.
(Unfortunately I don’t think very highly of any of the 1971-76 interiors – crappy molded-plastic door panels, dashboards that cracked within a few years, and generally unpleasant dashboard and upholstery designs.)
“’73 Grand Ville convertible had the prettiest tail end”
Butterface!
I know I literally just told you this on Facebook, Brendan, but great article!
Every once in a while I am tempted by one of these. These survived in fairly high numbers due to fans who knew that they were the end of an era.
I don’t recall seeing many of the Diamond Jubilee versions, but it’s no wonder, with that price premium.
Oh dear; pass the sick bag please.
This article reminded me that I was the one who edited the Wikipedia article on the Lincoln Mark V to include separate sections acknowledging the “Diamond Jubilee” and “Collector’s Series” editions of this car.
I couldn’t believe the sections didn’t exist before this. They were just additional info within the main article!
I was also the one who added sections for the designer editions (which some handy person converted into a chart), and special editions of GM luxo-boats, as well.
Lastly, a little bit of unnecessary info. The article states that electrically-operated outside mirrors were included on the DJE. Power o/s mirrors were not available on Lincolns until the 1980 redesigns.
It’s a brougham. That should be damming enough.
As a child of the 1970s, when I think of a classic Lincoln, this Mark V is the one that comes to mind. These cars were huge in every way–size, presence and sales. A very nicely styled last gasp for the great American personal luxury coupe. I also admired the wide range of Designer Editions and even the way you could custom tailor colors and interior trims on the “standard” cars, so very few Mark Lincolns of this generation were the same.
These Marks were popular and screamed “money” in the old-school flashy-style way. On the TV show Dallas, Jock Ewing drove a Mark V–perfect car casting, especially since he wouldn’t have been bothered by the price of gas.
GN, a long time ago we chronicled Jock’s experience with buying his Lincoln Mark V. Hours upon hours of diligent research went into this.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/stories/the-cars-of-dallas-jocks-lincoln-mark-v/
Thanks Jason, great read! I agree that Jock Ewing would never have gone for a 1980 Mark VI–love your notion that he took home the three remaining ’79 Mark Vs instead.
In the rarely watched, for good reason, last season, J. R. traded his Allante for a Mark VII. With Jock and Miss Ellie off the show by then, he was now the head of the family.
The Mark VII was smaller still, being Fox rather than Panther based, but it moved the bar on styling into the aero-look, Ford having learned their lesson on how far the baby-Brougham effect could, or couldn’t, be pushed with the VI and the ’80-82 Thunderbird.
It is interesting to me how well these sold in comparison to today’s highline cars. Some will think of this as just a tart up of the big Ford, a car that they feel had lost it’s way in the late seventies. I think that is wrong. The sales numbers prove how well aimed this car was at it’s market, even as the competing Eldorado was more technically interesting with it’s fwd and it’s mines bigger 500 inch engine.
This is what we have lost. Luxury offerings are all aimed at some blanded down worldwide standard. For that reason, they no longer relect the place they came from, with local ideas of luxury. For that we are all the poorer.
The same forces that blanded down Lincoln so it no longer wow or piss off people did the same thing to Mercedes. When was the last time someone complained that an S class had hard manual seats. They haven’t because the seats are now just like everyone else’s.
Some will say, what about the high end pickups and the versions of them with station wagon bodies. Notice how well they sell. Even though at their heart they are just utility vehicles. A conversion. Car companies could do better.
John C. wrote: “When was the last time someone complained that an S class had hard manual seats. They haven’t because the seats are now just like everyone else”
Seats are hard/stiff today because the concept
is for them to hold you in position, not coddle
you like yester-year, in conjunction with suspension
technology inferior to today’s. Not that they
couldn’t be just a little more forgiving.
Was referring to the seats of the W116 S class, which were quite different from this Mark V, or a pug 604, or a Volvo 264, all in different ways. Nowadays the modern equivilants, where they still exist are all the same. So all chance of expressing individuality is gone.
Now THIS is what I call a LINCOLN!! 🙂
In image #10, is that Tom Selleck in
the drivers seat in that print ad?
Finally, the only thing weirder about today’s
Lincolns – than their looks – are those
Matt McConaughey TV commercials! What
the.. ?! Sound like THERAPY sessions.
I had the same question about Selleck.
Those Matthew McConaughey commercials are awful. Too much time is focused on him and not the Lincoln, and where is his woman? He’s always alone or going stag. The Mark V was a looker then and still is today.
So getting back to my original question:
Is that Selleck or not? I was born not
being able to distinguish faces, so I am
often confusing faces of celebrities, or
folks I know in public.. Fortunately it
did not affect my recognition of my own
family! lol
Never mind. I found my answer “ten stories
up, above where I asked the question
initially. smh!
Ditto on this being one of the best looking Lincolns of all time. Every aspect of it is visually perfect. I found a black Mark V a number of years ago that was a delight to behold.
Fuel mileage in these was surprisingly consistent, and close to what the EPA estimated, but I’m also using my 460 powered 1975 Thunderbird as a reference. It never fell below 11.2 to 11.5 mpg; 12 to 13 was typical, although on a long, all interstate trip I made prior to selling it, my Thunderbird did hit 17 mpg. In comparison, my father had a 1973 Ford Torino with a 302; it got 12 mpg regardless of how it was driven.
A Mark V is definitely on my bucket list.
Stellar article, Brendan, on what’s probably my favorite Lincoln, ever. What’s interesting about the comments here is that there seems to be no middle ground. It’s all love or hate. As for me, I’m solidly in the “love” column. The Mark V had flawless style, proportions and presence. That you found a Diamond Jubilee edition is just icing on the cake. Bravo.
Great article. One of the most distinctive (or garish) Mark Vs was the 1977 Givenchy Designers Edition.
I’m prolly one of the few people here who prefer the “downsized” 1981 models of the Mark and Town Car?
Just as luxurious inside, all the “classic” Lincoln styling cues on the outside, with a much more manageable in traffic exterior size.
mark reimer:
Perfectly fine! Those years were still
far closer to the spirit of Lincoln than
the shaving razors on wheels that pass
for Lincolns(and Caddys!) nowadays.
LOL!
I don’t at all dislike the ’80-’89 Panther Lincolns, But IMHO, they’re an example of the four door looking better than the two door. I feel the same about the ’80-’84 Coupe DeVille. (Where the ’77-’79 version is much better.) If the rear windscreen of the ’80 Mark had more “rake” it would look less of a “Town Coupe”, But I guess financial considerations prevented that.
It’s strange, but the Mark VI looks a lot more “normal” to me now. But, when the Mark V was still fresh in everyone’s mind, the Mark VI’s proportions looked very odd. At the time, simply putting the Mark V in the dryer on the hot cycle didn’t work for any buyers. The relative clean sheet designs that GM pursued for this market segment worked a lot better.
That, and Ford being too cheap (or broke) to give the Mark VI frameless door glass completely killed the Mark series.
Of course, frameless door glass also disappeared with the advent of the ’79 Mustang, the ’79 large Fords and Mercurys, the ’80 Thunderbird and Cougar, etc. None of their predecessors used framed door glass. So what happened to the poor Continental Mark VI (and the related Lincoln Town Car) was in line with all of Ford’s then-current designs.
I don’t think Ford offered a car with frameless glass again until the Mustang convertible was reintroduced in the 1980s.
Mark, I would argue your point that the 80 Lincolns were just as luxurious as the prior, bigger versions. My father went from a 78 Town Coupe to an 80. Same model, same colors (white, burgundy interior). Where the 78 felt solid and substantial, the 80 felt thin and cheap. The quiet, massive torque was gone, replaced with that herky-jerky AOD transmission behind a smaller engine that was trying to pull through too-tall gearing. The magic was gone.
This Mark V also sported a great rendition of the signature Lincoln grille, which of course was really a Rolls-Royce styling feature, cleverly cribbed by Iacocca. No matter the source, it made the cars look distinct and expensive.
As Lincoln has struggled to define a memorable styling direction over the last decade, they have tried to adopt “heritage” grilles with very limited success, in large part because they got the era wrong.
First, they tried early ’60s Continental (or mid-50’s Continental Mark II), such as on the first MKX (I think I got the alphanumeric gobbledygook right–I’m referring to the Lincoln clone of the Ford Edge).
Then they went to the 1930s Zephyr and the first Lincoln Continental for the split grille/flying butterfly wing looks of the current MKX. It’s really old design reference that no one today would associate with Lincoln at all–if anything, it looks like the split grille look that Oldsmobiles wore for years and years.
No, to really make a Lincoln look like something that will spark fond memories of the great Lincolns of yesteryear among buyers under 75 years old, channel Lido again and rip-off the Rolls. Today’s Rolls-Royce looks stately and contemporary at the same time–why can’t a Lincoln? Chrysler has certainly done well with the looks of the 300, showing that a bold “classic” front can make a unique styling statement. After all, isn’t that “what a luxury car should be?”
They also went back to the 46-48 grill for the 07-14 Lincoln Navigator. It doesn’t scream retro like the others but the lower grill with parking lights and separate upper grill are definitely throwbacks. At this point the Rolls Royce grill is now a heritage grill. How ’bout it Lincoln?
Totally agree. Bring back the Roll-style grill, and while they’re at it, bring back the spare tire hump on the trunk lid too. Why is Lincoln so afraid of their design heritage?
Dad bought a new Cartier edition in 1978 and as you can see from the window sticker, it was a relative bargain as inflation really took off in subsequent years. Also, this one sat at the dealer for quite a while because folks were concerned about gas mileage and imports and GM downsizing had already hit the market. He paid around $13,500 cash for the car. This car is more representative of the exuberance and optimism of the Reagan era to come than Carter’s age of austerity.
Let’s not forget the CB radio option (“Breaker! Breaker!”) that this car had, along with the Quadrasonic 8-Track system.
Parking was a bear and the very long and heavy doors made it worse. This was an IN car so it had the smooth, reasonably powerful 460 (in CA you could only get the 400). These were Interstate cruising cars, the main use for Dad’s car. He and his lady friend drove it around the country a number of times.
I could never figure out why a huge car company like Ford always had car price/option labels where the lettering was crooked.
Couldn’t they afford a computer that typed out evenly-spaced lettering?? This went on well into the 1980s, too.
Here’s a 1976 Cadillac Sedan de Ville sticker. See how evenly typed it is?
More depressing was FoMoCo put in the same steering wheel in the Mark that they put in a Grenada! Yeesh!
Actually you only got that “luxury” steering wheel on a Granada if you ordered cruise control. Same with most Fords and Mercurys back then. Otherwise you got a very basic steering wheel with no woodrain or on some models and packages the “deluxe” steering wheel which had a little wood trim on it. Still not the same wheel.
This was the horrible base steering wheel – I had this one in my ’77 Mustang II! The majority of Granadas that you saw had this steering wheel.
A lot nicer with a little woodgrain and a gold Ford logo – the deluxe steering wheel upgrade….Cougars and T-birds had this wheel as their standard wheel.
And the granddaddy of them all, the luxury steering wheel. On lesser Fords and Mercurys the only way you could get this wheel is if you ordered cruise control. This is an LTD/Grand Marquis with the cruise option. It does look so much nicer than that horrible base steering wheel!
leather wheels were available on the Versailles, Thunderbird, and certain ford trucks from 1977-1979
That was nothing new for Ford. 1967 and 1968 in particular had very similar one year only steering wheel designs in everything from Falcons to Lincolns.
Awesome catch!
We lived parallel lives. My dad got a 78 Town Coupe, which I believe came from Fort Wayne Lincoln Mercury. He had spent 4 years in a 72 Mark IV before an odd 2 year detour in a really loaded 76 Mercury Monarch. I was surprised that he didn’t get a Mark V, but then when my sister and I were there, there were 6 of us, so he probably wanted the extra room.
I started to say that there were no wrong answers in a Lincoln showroom in 1978, but then I remembered the Versailles. 🙂
The 78 Town Coupe would have been much roomier than the Mark V. The back seat of the Mark V was not all that roomy or comfortable IIRC. And you could not see out! We had a 71 Lincoln sedan and it was much more spacious. Never knew anyone who had a Versailles. However, I did have a friend who had the little Continental from the mid-80’s: not a bad car at all.
What a killer find. Love that color. And with some stealthy mods, you could have a stock appearing sleeper and improve the mileage. And nobody would even notice the aftermarket throttle body fuel injection hiding under that massive stock air cleaner!
It really is a shame that CAFE has essentially made such a car illegal. The modern Ford Coyote powertrain from the F-150 and a few aluminum panels would transform this car in terms of pollution, performance and mileage. A torquey V-8 designed to pull this car in just the right style.
I’ve always been a bit conflicted about this car. These were very popular, and it was the norm to see these on the street when I was in my early teens, but there is something about it that seems to cross a line. Yet the Continental Town Car didn’t? It’s my own thinking, and even I’m confused by it. If the Mark V did cross the line, the contemporary Eldorado was easily just as guilty.
It’s easy today to be reactionary and call it a pimpmobile. But, due to who usually has the money for something like this, the typical owner was likely 30 years older than the models depicted in the ads, and was likely to park it in a church lot early on Sunday morning. I’m sure a few of these were navigated to coke and sex parties, but even Hollywood at the time was just as likely to cast a Mercedes SL as the vehicle of debauchery. It just boils down to the fact that nobody envisions a Ford Maverick being parked in the guest lot of the Playboy Mansion, but the Mark V comes straight from central casting.
If I were to park a “modern” Mark in my garage, I’d pick a Mark III. I like the ’60s vibe that it retains and the details on it seem perfect for this sort of car.
From the Continental Mark III Wiki page……………
Remember, the Mark series was always about the “pinnacle”. About spending more and getting less function/more style. It’s easy to deprecate the ’70’s models now, particularly in light of the declining performance throughout the decade. Throughout the Mark III-IV-V series, the horsepower got lower as the hood got longer! My ’70 Mark III has nearly 400 gross H.P. (dyno.), My ’79 Mark V Collectors has 158 net.
Nevertheless, these cars were the last gasp of the custom Packards, Cadillacs and Lincolns of the 30’s…no one ever accused a Cadillac V16 boat tail roadster of being, uh, practical. It was about style and this was pretty much the end of the line. So, enjoy it for what it represents.
As you probably know, the difference in net power between 1970 and 1979, while pronounced, wasn’t quite THAT big. The 1970 460 had 365 gross horsepower while the 1972 iteration in the first Mark IV was 212 net, probably in the realm of 330–340 hp gross. My guess would be the 1970 was in the realm of 250 net horsepower, give or take. Of course, a decline of 90-odd horsepower and a loss of 60 cubic inches isn’t a minor decrease, but one can’t put too much stock in American gross horsepower figures.
Actually, My 1970 460 was dynoed at 400 after a rebuild. Gross, temp. adjusted. I can tell you the difference between the 70-79 is huge.
Well, its factory rating was 365 gross hp. Which is what it is.
I think you loses about 80-120 hp in these luxury boats when it comes from gross to net power. On other cars with less equipment the loss is a bit less.
Having had both a 1971 LTD with the high-compression 429 (either 10.5:1 or 11:1 depending upon which Ford publication you read), and a 1977 Lincoln Town Car with the low-compression 460, I can also say that there is no comparison between the two. You couldn’t even chirp the tires with the Lincoln and it had overheating issues as well no matter what we did to it (yes, the Lincoln was a bit heavier, but both had 2.75 rear axle ratios and the C6 trans.).
Now I own a 1990 F350 with the fuel-injected 460 and it feels more like the 1971 429 did in terms of power. And it runs on low-grade unleaded too which was a must-have for me, at the rate it consumes fuel.
The low compression ratios of the mid-1970s really killed the performance, and then to add insult to injury, in the late 1970s they went to insanely-tall rear axle ratios (like 2.49 in a 1979 T-Bird). The 1975 Pontiac wagon I had in college with a 400 had a 7.6:1 compression ratio.
I think this is the quintessential American luxury car. No other car made quite an impactful statement — and continues to make that statement today.
Even at nearly 40 years old, this design (and particularly in this color combination) just shouts “Opulence.” Not obnoxious extravagance nor subtle grandeur, but just Opulence. Its owner likes living in the lap of luxury and is proud of that fact.
Other cars from 1978 just simply look like old cars in 2016, but this Lincoln still looks special. Great write-up.
Ah, the Mark V. My favorite all time Lincoln. As someone who grew up in the era when the Germans and the Escalade were considered “desirable”, I’ve been drawn to these massive 60s and 70s yachts like a moth to a flame. The Mark V was always what I thought of when it came to the traditional Land Barge image, I’ve yet to drive one, but it’s always been a dream of mine to own one of these behemoths. I’ve seen but one of these cars, and it was for sale at a car show, and it was a Diamond Jubilee edition. But it was in gold, with even the trunk interior lined up in gold fake fur. To me, these cars stand on their own without the tacky accessories, I always thought them to be Ill-fitting of stuff like velour pillow tufted seats and out there paint jobs. You wanted that, you bought Cadillac. These cars always worked best to me in darker colors, with the traditional leather upholstery that came standard. I want one of these either in triple black, or a really nice dark blue or dark green to compliment the design. Also, I want a 77-78, that 460 needs to be under the hood. I will own one of these things someday, no matter what it takes.
Nice write up, but the car that gets my attention is that beautiful convertible that’s parked next to it, for obvious reasons.
Always loved these cars, true Lincolns in every sense of the word, when the Lincoln nameplate once stood for something special. Nowadays, not so much. Lincoln has totally lost their way.
Does anyone remember the Salvador Dali Edition from the Second City TV show?
The new crop of downsized American luxury cars just didn’t resonate with younger, upwardly-mobile buyers, who began flocking to European luxury brands for their status symbols of success.
I realize this all happened before you were born, but I can assure you that genuine Yuppies (defined as “young well-educated urban professionals”) never considered these as status symbols of success. They were considered symbols of conservative old men (and often not very well educated) who had enough money to afford one, and who wanted the world to know that’s what they were. It connoted status for them.
Yuppies then were the equivalent of young urban Millenniums today, who by definition were up-to-date with the current cultural trends and had sophisticated and educated taste. These big Lincolns were the antithesis of that.
In Los Angeles at the time, if you drove one of these, you were either old and culturally clueless, or not so old and also culturally clueless (as in hustlers/dealers/pimps etc.)
I’m not trying to disparage anyone for loving these as the splendid historical artifacts that they are, but it’s also relevant to place them culturally. It’s possible that in smaller cities and in the “heartland”, somewhat younger professionals still yearned for one of these. But cultural trends have always been created and defined in the big cities on the coasts by the creative young professional class, and they were never attracted to these in the slightest.
The true yuppies of the 70s, who were now coming into good money, drove VWs and such in their college years, and then moved on to other imports, European or Japanese. And by the late 70s, they were driving/aspiring to ever nicer versions of those cars, in particular BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, Peugeots, Saabs, Volvos, etc… But not a Mark V. It would have made you a laughing stock. In LA at the time, driving one of these was the cultural equivalent of now driving a….jacked up Hummer. Or driving a jacked up 4×4 diesel pickup with giant exhaust pipes to work in Silicon Valley.
Frankly, it’s harder nowadays to pin down the cultural differences in car buying choices, as cars have become more homogeneous. Rich culturally-conservative old men drive Mercedes and Porsches and Teslas, even. It’s not as easy to be culturally tagged as it was in the 70s and 80s, when the choice of driving a big flashy American car and an import were such polar opposites. Not anymore. It was a lot easier in the 70s.
I totally get the appeal of these cars now to younger folks like you and others. But cars (along with other things) become very important social symbols in ones 20s and 30s, when climbing the professional ladder (and social acceptance) is very important. Deciding what car to drive/aspire to at that point in life sends an important message. So for those that actually were yuppies at the time, the cars of that time are heavily laden with social/cultural baggage, for better or for worse.
That’s clearly the case for me, and I make no bones about it. So that means my opinion on the subject is either highly relevant, or utterly colored and subjective. But cars always have their greatest power when they mean the most, symbolically, and that is during ones young adult upward striving era.
What car would you least like to be seen in? For me at your age, it was one of these. That’s no reflection on the car itself, but simply its symbolic power at the time. Which was as large as the car itself.
“I realize this all happened before you were born, but I can assure you that genuine Yuppies (defined as “young well-educated urban professionals”) never considered these as status symbols of success. They were considered symbols of conservative old men who had enough money to afford one, and generally not very well educated. And who wanted the world to know that’s what they were.”
I agree with you on the demographics that bought, or didn’t buy these cars. But, I think you are too harsh on the buyers.
I knew two owners.
One, a great aunt that got a new Lincoln every two years from her deceased husband’s construction company. During the ’70s, she got Marks. She and her husband didn’t have fancy educations, but being born around 1905, they didn’t need them to find their way to success. Heck, even Walter Chrysler was essentially self taught as an engineer. My aunt’s husband formed a successful construction company, and they typically traded for new Cadillac’s during the ’50s and ’60s. They were a bit of a family legend.
They were hardly all about flash, my aunt (childless) squirreled away a bunch of money, and became a stock investor to pass her time after husband died around 1966. By the time she passed, she lived in a house that probably wasn’t too different from some of your rentals, but had several million dollars in 1977. The money took care of her siblings in dignity in their elderly years, and went to charitable causes after they passed. Her nephews and nieces each received $20,000 tax paid – a nice gift in 1977.
The other owner I knew was my grandfather’s last boss. My grandfather did food brokerage all his life, and worked very part time in his elder years. His boss, the company owner, came to my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary in 1978 in a Mark V.
The owners I knew worked their butts off for what they had. I won’t deny them the pleasure of buying the sort of cars that they recognized for the prior 50 years as competent and comfortable.
The yuppies, with their fancy educations, got their start because of parents like my aunt and my grandfather’s boss. Some were not particularly grateful for their ability to drive a BMW by the time they were 28.
What’s harsh about that? As you said, they were commonly bought by older folks who had achieved their financial success through hard work. And were proud of that. And indulged themselves in some well-deserved pleasure, with cars like this.
My whole point was simply that these cars were very desirable to folks like that, but not to the well-educated young urban professionals; their kids, quite often, as you said.
How was I harsh? By the fact that I was a yuppie at the time and thought these were unappealing? That’s just a fact of life, but not a judgement on the folks who bought them. But undoubtedly I was judgemental then to one extent or another…who isn’t at age 25? 🙂
Paul, in response to your comments about demographics, I think you are mostly correct. I was 15 in 1979 and thought Lincoln’s lineup that year – full-size Town Car, flashy Mark Series and compact Versailles – was perfection. I was totally not interested in high-priced imports, and didn’t become a yuppie or anything like that as the ’80s progressed. I think I must be an odd duck in liking “old men’s” cars as a teen. Today, at 52, the Lincoln brand holds no appeal for me whatsoever.
I’m with Frank and Paul.
I was 15 in 1979 too. Cars I liked (some a lot) were Porsche 911, Trans Ams, Corvettes, any BMW for sale in the US, V8 Novas and Venturas. I liked the “new” 79 Mustang Turbo
Having spent my childhood in Europe, I thought most American cars were wasteful; at the same time, I wanted to be patriotic.
On the more modest parts of Long Island, BMWs were not yet trendy. I liked BMWs and Porsches because they went fast without using a lot of gas (that was my metric).
Also, in late 70s and even thru the early 1980s, LI, it was NOT uncommon for a 30-something to drive a GM personal luxury car-a colonnade Cutlass or Monte Carlo or even a 78-80 version of these GM cars
Another characteristic of the typical Mark V buyer was that they were of the World War 2 generation and had fought and sacrificed to beat the Germans and the Japanese. Nothing but an American car would do. However into the 80’s, it seems like a lot of them threw in the towel and bought foreign.
Maybe just me but I was starting to drive when these were new. (so too young to have been a “yuppie” and in theory even more in tune with imports) and yet then imports weren’t on my radar. They still invoke no passion in me today. American Iron 40’s to the 80’s for me. My tastes are diverse in that area though, I go ga-ga for a Brougham, A straight six Chevy with a column shifter, Any and all Corvairs, Early Falcons most Camaros, B-Body MoPars, and 59-84 GM B/C/Ds, (I started with a ’59 Olds most recently an ’89 Cadillac Brougham) Perhaps my Pittsburgh roots have a lot to do with it, But when I was a teen I still viewed these as “aspirational” cars. The stereotypical “Hippie” Beetle or the stereotypical “Yuppie” 3 Series just do nothing for me…..runs for cover….. In a Buick……
My Pop was just 18 and was deployed in the Navy to fight in Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped. He was incredibly thankful to come back in one piece, and he was very proud to be an American. He bought American cars for years, because to him they were the biggest and best in the world and represented the special luck of the Americans. He wasn’t biased against the Japanese or Germans, he just thought the American product was superior for his needs–and for decades they were–that is, until he endured GM cars in the 1980s, culminating with his long-term dream of owning a Cadillac. When he got that Caddy in ’89 it was a POS to be charitable, and he was subsequently done with American cars. He switched to a Honda Accord. My mother traded out of a Buick Regal for a Honda Prelude. They just rolled with the tastes of the times to get the best cars for the money, country of origin be damned. It was the American car makers who were out of touch, in my opinion, and horrifying that they even lost the older generations who lived through WWII (never mind Baby Boomers) who had so staunchly built their business.
With a less than careful reading of your paragraph, you might think the buyers were show off middle class rubes drinking the Detroit Kool-Aid.
Undoubtedly, some were. Others probably paid cash or had clever company leases during a high marginal tax era – my aunt would be quite suspect – she didn’t get rich being stupid.
I am familiar with the young and judgmental. A very bright college freshman is home for the summer in my house!
I like to think some of the old Dudes that bought the Mark V were thinking of something like a 1933 Lincoln – special cars to them from different eras……..
I think it’s worth adding to Paul’s remarks the point that current associations of college and class status are really fairly recent inventions.
Before WW2, few Americans went to college. Most of those who did were upper class, so there was that association, but there were vast numbers of successful professionals with little formal education (Henry Kaiser is one noteworthy example). Having even a baccalaureate degree was a mark of distinction, to be sure, but that was because it was relatively uncommon and certainly not mandatory except for certain specialized fields (like medicine or law, for example).
College education became more common after the war because of the G.I. Bill, but it took a long time before it became a middle-class expectation or a social barrier. A lot of people, including a lot of successful people who were able to achieve middle-class or upper-middle-class lifestyles in the ’50s and ’60s, had mostly a public school education and perhaps some vocational training. Calling the meaty part of the demographic for cars like these “uneducated” could be said in a derogatory or condescending tone (as it was by the college-educated Boomer yuppie generation), but it was also a factual statement. It might correlate with a parochial, reactionary attitude or a lack of cultural currency, as Paul notes, but it in no way automatically indicated that someone was either stupid or unsuccessful.
I think there’s a tendency to lose sight of that with time, particularly for those of us who aren’t old enough to have lived through the Boomer generation gap (or much of it, anyway), because today college has become very much a class marker whose absence is an increasingly crippling social stigma.
My grandmother, born in 1913, was the youngest child in her family, and the only one of the four children to finish high school.
Prior to World War II, a fair number of people didn’t graduate from high school, either because they had to work as soon as possible to help support the family, or many jobs didn’t even require a high school degree.
I suppose at the old age of 35 I’ve passed beyond the era of social acceptance, as a nearly 20 year-old Crown Vic wouldn’t do at all. But I agree with your analysis of all this–there are certain cars that just wouldn’t “fit”, depending on your age group, social circle, and geographical area. This car would not have even been on the radar of a 1978 “yuppie” for the reasons you’ve mentioned. Just like anything currently made by Lincoln still isn’t on the radar of anyone under 45, with the MKC *perhaps* the exception. Lincoln/Cadillac may no longer be anathema to the well-educated professional like they once were, but they still have a long way to go to become desirable to younger folks. Cost is of course an issue, but it’s not the only one, or even the primary one. Perception is still a problem.
I realize I’m an oddity in this–I bought a used Mark VIII at age 24. So while I may have been young and college-educated in an Eastern state, I didn’t really care about the prevailing trends. Even so, many of my friends found it an odd choice to say the least. If I had been spending $49K on a new car rather than $9K used, I might have felt more pressure to conform to avoid having to justify my actions.
As to what new car I personally least wanted to be seen in my mid 20’s? For me it was the Prius. If you rewind to 10 years ago, there was still a great deal of social baggage attached to that car, and I just didn’t want any part of it. That situation has changed greatly to where it’s now just another car (to most people, anyway). Today? Kind of a toss-up between the Spark/Mirage (ugly cheap little things) or the Corolla (the car that most loudly screams “I don’t care one whit about cars!”).
20 year old American cars were never not cool; certainly not then, nor now. That’s very different than a new Lincoln (at the time).
I wasn’t trying to make a comparison between my old car (which was never cool during any part of its life, especially not now) and a new at the time Lincoln, just to establish the point that I no longer care at all, if I ever did.
Which kind of negates the rest of my comment, as I don’t suppose I’m qualified to comment on the yuppies of 1978 or the status-conscious millenials of 2016. Oh well, too late now.
Honestly I don’t think it matters anymore period, at least not across the board in all fields like it did in the 80s and prior. Hell living in a mass transit heavy gentrificated urban setting with NO car at all is probably more of a beacon for young upwardly mobile social status today.
For a fairly substantial portion, that is the case.
The latter is a pretty good point. I get really irritable with people who go on rants about car culture who fail (and often refuse) to acknowledge that in many U.S. urban areas, living where you can take the train or bike to work is an enormous luxury that’s unaffordable to many people. On the other hand, poor people who have to rely on the bus or biking because they can’t afford a car are still stigmatized, so…
Hmmmm. I was taught 30 years ago that
Yuppie stood for “(Y), (UP)wardly-mobile
(P)rofessional”…. ie!
Defined as the eldest of the late-60s
Hippies who became disenfranchised
by that decade’s peace & love movement.
Both definitions are correct, as per Wikipedia and other sources. Realistically, a combination of both is most correct.
But I don’t particularly agree with your second definition. Too narrow.
Well Paul, only the two front letters
of HIppie and YUppie separate them. 😉
I think in smaller cities of the midwest, these cars were desired by a wider demographic. I saw these driven by doctors lawyers and businesspeople, though pretty much all 45 or older. My father was probably at the younger end of that demographic. These were the guys who were kids when the richest folks in town drove one of the original Continentals, so Lincolns still had a lot of credibility in their eyes.
I will never forget when my Dad said to me in the late 80s or early 90s that “your brothers tell me that Lincolns aren’t prestigious cars anymore, which really messes with my value system.”
By the early 80s, though, my part of the midwest was getting to what you experienced on the coasts several years earlier, where it was all about Mercedes or BMW.
45 and older ≠ Yuppie.
In CA, it would have been 55 and older. Which makes sense, as the cultural trends took a few years to work their way into the interior and smaller cities. but it confirms my basic premise.
I think the demographic of appreciation for these cars was wider than some think (Iacocca’s genius?). One of the most sophisticated people I’ve ever known, an elderly gentleman who received his Ph.D. in his mid-20’s, a long-time faculty dean at UCLA, and one of the founders of the National Endowment for the Humanities (he is photographed with President Johnson at the signing ceremony), bought a new Bill Blass edition Mark IV. And this was in SoCal. Yes, definitely older. But not a steakhouse, deep-fried onion kind of guy. My Dad was a member of the United Steelworkers of America. Some people bought these cars because they were attractive, comfortable, quiet, and competent at what they were designed to do. Image was not important to everyone. Sometimes a good cigar is just a good cigar. Not my kind of car – I drive an Infiniti G37, the antithesis of this boat – but the right car for a lot of people during its time.
Paul, I think you misunderstood what I was saying in that last paragraph, and forgive me for my ambiguity.
I wasn’t saying that cars like the Mark V appealed to younger buyers and yuppies, and then all of a sudden that 1980 and onward Lincolns did not. The appeal of the big American luxo barges towards younger buyers had been on the decline since the beginning of the decade in many parts of the country, losing ground to the imports.
But the I feel like these last BIG Lincolns were so over the top that they still stood for something, even if they were not to one’s personal liking and aspiration. Their successors, on the other hand, lacked that head-turning quality.
I guess my best modern day comparison of this would be the Cadillac Escalade. As someone who would be defined by many as a Millennial (although I personally don’t like using that world at all and even more so being labled as one, as much like “yuppie” was often used in the 1980s and early 1990s, “millennial” has now become somewhat of a derogatory term) most American cars have very little to no appeal to me.
Personally, the Escalade is the ultimate expression of more money than taste, and I’d never want to own one. Yet at the same time, the car still holds a lot of value in many people’s minds as a “status symbol” car. If I were to drive one around for the day, I can’t deny that there would be some empowering value, even if it’s a car I’d never aspire to own.
I see what you’re saying…now. I was just responding to what you wrote…then. 🙂
In NOLA in the late 1970s these were definitely “old people’s” cars, but still considered nice. I agree that no young professional would have wanted one at all, but many probably would have seen them as “someday” cars–i.e. when I get older and wealthy, I’ll want a nice car like a Lincoln. As a kid at the time, I assumed that one day I’d be successful and would want to get a Cadillac or Lincoln too.
The tragedy of the American luxury brands is that they completely fell out of style by hanging onto the past rather than defining the future. In the late 1970s they could still get away with that, as their core buyers liked the “classic” aspirational feel cars like the Mark V projected. But by the 1980s it was very clear that the Brougham-style was really on the way “out” and yet the makers weren’t consistent in how to define a new approach to American luxury. The Mark VII LSC was a step in the right direction, but where was a sedan counterpart? Neither the over-styled Fox Continental nor the underpowered FWD Taurus Continental hit the mark. Cadillacs were dreadful FWD dwarfs and ancient RWD dinosaurs. And the stuff Lido was churning out at Chrysler was borderline atrocious.
Little wonder younger and older buyers alike began to shift. Lexus of course went for the jugular and built the LS400 to synthesize German and American sensibilities with Toyota reliability and aggressive value. It turned the luxury market on its head and forced all makers to respond. But, really, they were just properly reading the needs of the luxury market, no matter what the buyer’s age.
Like this Lincoln! A great representation of the times (but not necessarily a great car.)
I could see myself cycling a blue Diamond Jubilee Edition cycling through my lotto garage. If I was going to have a Lincoln Mark as a keeper, it’d probably be a IV, though.
While I wouldn’t go so far as to call it the most beautiful Lincoln ever (that honor would go to either the ’62 Continental or the ’56 Mark II) the Mark V definitely resides in the top 5 for me. The razor-edged design removed much of the visual flab the IV carried around (undoubtedly helped by better-integrated bumpers) and was indeed very well balanced for such a large car. And it ticks all the boxes–hidden lamps, turbine alloys, true hardtop design (the quarter glass may have been fixed but there was no B-pillar). A truly majestic creature and something that would be a welcome resident of my fantasy garage (or perhaps my actual driveway if I’m lucky).
As a splendid historical artifact, mind you. 🙂
I like this Lincolns. I owned a 1976 Mark IV, and that car has one of the smoothest and quietest ride I ever have driven. Not even todays BMW 7-series or the S-class MB can match in quietness (maybe on par) and smoothness. The handling didn’t impress anyone though, my 67 Riviera is very much better in that department.
If I recall, the weight difference between the Mark V and IV was more to do with the standard engine being downgraded from the 460 to the 400, more than any actual attempts at weight saving.
Some of it, yes. Bigger thing was pre-1977 Lincolns used asphalt in the doors and elsewhere for sound deadening, while the ’77-’79 cars made due with foam glued to the door cards et cetera. Between a friend’s ’76 Continental Town Coupe and my ’78, I can literally hear and feel the difference in closing the door.
Granted the downsized Mark VI had some jarring compromises but I don’t know if keeping the V around through the 80s would have fared much better, that styling was the embodiment of the 70s, and any and all buyers who actually wanted that were buying Panther Town cars and Pre FWD devilles or fleetwoods, having anexpanded lineup with the V as an alternative it likely would have just cannibalized those sales, since those too were essentially stubborn holdovers of that previous decade.
I didn’t realize the tesla X cost so much. Those ridiculous rear gullwings make Lincoln’s fake spare tire hump seem tasteful by comparison
Wiki says the ’78 had a “Miles to Empty” LED display, supposedly the 1st use of auto digital instrumentation. Probably a good thing to have on a guzzler like this!
The functional[!] fender louvers were supposed to improve cooling. It would’ve been even more neat if they were thermostat-controlled. I had grown so used to phony trim of this kind, I would not have believed it if someone told me. Even Corvettes have had well-disguised fake fender brake vents.
Very well-written paean to the controversial Continental Mark V, Brendan. Then, as now, their styling and features were polarizing, either loved or despised, no middle ground.
What is revealing about the high annual Mark V sales in spite of high prices is the prosperity of the WWII generation who had finally achieved the American Dream to such a degree as to allowing the indulgence of a grandiose automotive purchase. For them, taste notwithstanding, these four wheeled palaces displayed to their contemporaries they had finally and truly made it. That was their main function.
I had a chance encounter with a Mark V over the weekend. I was waiting for a light to change to cross the street when I saw this black-over-black Continental Mark V pull up in the right lane. It was pristine, absolutely gorgeous, gleaming in the late afternoon sun. The interior looked to be red leather and the driver appeared to be in his late 20’s. The light changed and it sped off. I barely got to see the spare tire hump. What an unforgettable moment!
I’m not a fan of the styling of the Mark V, but the Diamond Blue interior is a really nice color scheme. It’s a good color and the color coordination is tastefully done. I don’t particularly like the Diamond Blue exterior (I find the pinstriping curiously objectionable in this color), but I find myself thinking the interior colors would look nice with a silver exterior.
I like this one off my favorite lincolns. And i like the radio with 8 track player and its digital display. Lincoln what a luxury car should be.
I test drove a 77 Mark V Cream/Gold Luxury group recently. The cloth seats were surprisingly firm for a 70s car and for me they were one of the most comfortable I’ve sat in. The V was easy to drive on city and suburban roads, the steering was very light but surprisingly accurate and I could make some fairly quick left hand turns and place to the car exactly where it needed to go. The ride of course was incredibly smooth and isolated from road defects (where my 04 Deville transmitted every bump and pothole with the Mark V I felt absolutely nothing). The thing I didn’t like about it was how claustrophobic the interfior felt. The forward view was good but the narrow side windows, large c pillar and small back window made for a very small greenhouse, much like today’s cars.
I think it is all relative – I have never felt that the interior was cramped in the Lincolns of that era, save for the Versailles. I think it has something to do with the thickness of the seats myself.
Today, have things really changed all that much? Look at the Taurus – my dad had a late-model SHO for a few years, and I couldn’t believe how cramped it felt inside – that center console takes up a huge amount of space for no good reason.
And they keep cramming center consoles into cars that have no room/need for them!
Let me clarify. I don’t mean that the Mark V is cramped inside, The seats are large and very comfortable and shoulder room is fantastic. It’s the lack of height of the side and rear windows that make me feel claustrophobic but I know that’s part of the style and that personal luxury coupes were meant to isolate you from the outside world in a cocoon.
I’d love one in Jubilee Blue, or the Blass version. And I bet the cookbook recipes are delicious. Probably horribly unhealthy, but delicious.
Definitely the last gasp of what the WWII and the first half of the Silent Generation considered prestige vehicles. The early adopters of the next generation of European luxury were mostly born after 1940.
“Command center” instead of dashboard – LOL!
I like these cars- we got very few cars here in this vein. Probably the closest was the P6 Ford LTD, and Holden’s Statesman.
These seem exotic and outrageous, something like the ’50s Cadillac Eldorado Brougham.
I’m late to this thread, but I’ll put my 2 cents in. I understand people who don’t like this car, it’s the ultimate brougham. Myself, I consider it one of the most successful (aesthetically and in sales) facelifts ever. The 72 is nice looking, but otherwise the Mk V is by far the best looking version of this platform. Arguably the best looking Mark ever, at least before the Mk VII or VIII.
You’re not late as arguing about this type of car is seemingly timeless. You’re right on the idea of it being a successful reskin. (rare IMHO)! And yeah, It’s an ultimate Brougham, Then again it’s supposed to be. I love Broughams, but only when they SHOULD be, This car is doing it’s job, a Chevy Monza with a “brougham” package… not so much. Some things stand as “classics” for being a “textbook” exemplar, This Mark hits the mark!
A Continental Mark V DJE with 127.6″ wheelbase and “V8 worthy” fender vents.
Overall length is unchanged.
Late to this party (nothing new there), but a few additional thoughts. Actually, two stories, one takes place in Southern California, the other in Portland.
One day my folks took my then current squeeze and myself to lunch at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Nigel. As I passed off the car to the valet, I asked if I needed a call ticket. He laughed and said something on the order of “A White Cadillac- no, I’ll know where it is. It’ll be the only one here.” I remember looking around the parking lot, and there was a sea of high-end European cars. No BMW’s or Audi’s (they weren’t really high end yet), and Lexus was a decade away. Otherwise, name the brand, it was there. Now a Cadillac, in the retirement community my folks lived in, was a fairly common sight. Ditto a Lincoln Mark (fill in the blank). So I buy Paul’s premise that in affluent coastal Orange County, the younger peeps didn’t drive domestics.
In Portland, on the other hand, I remember dating a slightly older lady that drove a Silver Edition Mark IV. She was mid-30’s, very attractive, back in college, and fresh out of a divorce. The car was fairly new then. Everyone on campus drooled over that car- visually, it made a statement. After college, I remember a few of my friends buying either T-Birds (the big 77-79 version), Coupe deVille’s, or Rivieras. I was actually the outlier with a Jeep CJ5 (had two of them), but I typically drove a Caprice as a company car. We were all pre-30’s guys with good paying jobs, and that’s still how that got expressed in the late 70’s. Come to think of it, I had a Toronado and a Mark III (bought used) during that time frame as well. It wasn’t until the mid-late 80’s that the European brands really caught on with the affluent younger set up north.
To this day, when you travel east of Portland, past the suburbs and into the ex-urbs (where the money’s parked), you’ll typically see a Ford SD pickup and an Escalade (or Denali) in the driveway of a largish home on acreage. And those aren’t retirees- mostly successful business people (or owners) raising families. The retirees are driving Subaru’s in inner South East or the West Hills.
The older this car gets, the better it looks. My kids simply couldn’t comprehend such an elaborate land yacht as this.
And that’s good.
I prefer the ’72 Mark IV, before bumpers and fat side molding, but I do like that light blue metallic, a color that has fallen from favor further than PLCs.
Four years ago, I did a project on my buddy’s 1979 Mk V, with the 400 motor. The entire rotating assembly was replaced by a TMeyer 434 stroker kit.
I got 270 RWHP out of it, and 380 ft/lbs. The 400 can’t realistically handle more. My buddy tried and got 380 RWHP and 400 fl/lb torque. Problem was it blew up after a year because a fifty year old motor isn’t designed to make this kind power. My buddy loves the engine builder videos on YouTube, where he saw said 400 being built. It then went on the dyno and produced big numbers. Not mentioned how long it took to explode.
I truly detest that car. I also take care of a 1978 Sedan DeVille which is an infinitely better car. It starts right up after a year and it drives much like a modern car, except for the pathetic brakes. The Lincoln is just awful to drive in cramped cities like we have here on Canada’s Wet Coast. The humungous front overhang makes manoeuvring in tight spaces very difficult. It drives like a 1960s truck and I hate it.
Yes, it makes all the required rumbly noises and scares children. The torque comes on “wham!” and makes the car feel faster than it is. The truth is my Golf is much faster in every metric, mostly because it is 1000 kg lighter.
The problem with the MkV is it’s an old Ford with Old Forditis. As soon as I have one thing fixed, another problem appears. The Cadillac, in contrast, is bulletproof.
Nicely composed photo except for the dumpster. 🙂
1973-1975, drove a friends 1972 Mark IV weekly. Twice monthly trips from Richmond VA to DC, comfortable cruising @ 90-95 mph on I-95. Friend traded the Mark IV for a new 1975 Imperial 2-door. Drove that car Richmond to Miami many times. Again, could drive hours @ 90-95 mph in complete comfort. Think the Imperial was the most comfortable long distance driving auto I experienced in the 1970s. 1976, I bought a new special order Eldorado convertible. Not exactly as comfortable as the Imperial, better handling at speed then the Mark IV, but loved that Eldo conv. for ten top-down years. Some younger people might not know that back in the day, parking spaces were longer and wider. Think parking space dimension’s starting changing sometime in the ’80’s as cars were being downsized.
Echos of the Bee Gees “Staying Alive” (1977) and the Disco era come to mind when viewing that beauty.
These were definitely not the car for Yuppies, but it seems that everyone else aspired to own one. Back in the day they were as ubiquitous as the Tesla is today. There were always rich folks that could easily afford to buy a Lincoln, it was no big deal. But for many it was a lifetime reward car. Yes, these were older folks who remembered the big Lincolns of the pre War period and were finally able to treat themselves to a new Mark.
In 1979 I was 24 years old and would (finally) graduate from college in 1980, after working my way through. I bought myself a three year old Coupe de Ville after owning many 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s American luxury cars. I definitely had a thing for big cars. My older brother graduated from college the same year, he treated himself to the hot new status symbol, a new BMW 320i.
I knew that the Bimmer was the thing for an aspiring young man, but I was always a Cadillac fan, easy to be growing up in Oakland Ca.
Sure these Marks were bigger than they needed to be, wasteful of resources, etc, etc, but the real (older) rich folks didn’t care. They liked them, they could afford them, and they weren’t troubled by what their kids thought. Looking at those ads in the post, it’s no different than folks today showing up in a Navigator or Aviator, or an Escalade. Those rich folks aren’t making excuses they just drive what they want!
I know that there are really rich folk that don’t like to telegraph their wealth, they are living in middle class tract homes, driving old Camrys. I had a co worker who was renting a house in the 80’s, from the founder of Fry’s electronics. He lived down the street in a similar tract house. Being rich means being able to do whatever you want!