There are several reasons I fought the urge to write about this car.
One is that this is Curbside Classic, and this car isn’t curbside. Another is that I just posted a picture of my own Lincoln yesterday. And yet another is that the story of the Versailles is as tired as the car itself, having been told so many times.
But lately I’ve been thinking about badge engineering done well and done poorly, especially in reference to one new car in particular ever since I first read about it:
2012 Buick Verano
Of course it’s obvious the moment you look at a Verano it’s no Versailles, and it sure as hell isn’t a Cimarron. The Verano for all intents and purposes seems to be a very nice small car, as is the Chevy Cruze on which it is based.
Still, if you’re like me, you cringe a bit when you hear about an upper-crust GM nameplate sticking their badges and a nicer interior on and in the 2nd smallest Chevy sold in America. I’m so afraid they’ll screw it all up!
Buick might have done okay with the Verano, but Lincoln sure blew this Versailles. This and the next shot exemplifies badge engineering at its very worst: They didn’t even bother to move the fuel door. It’s what put me over the line and made me go ahead and write this.
I guess I’d just never noticed it until I looked at these photos. The rest of the car is bad enough, but there’s that fuel door in the trunk hump, the crap-flavored icing on the crap-flavored cake. Delicious!
Things are far different today than they were in the mid-to-late ’70s. Cars are light years better today than they were in virtually every measure but nostalgia. Furthermore, it seems like all of the Big Three have learned some valuable lessons (some more than others) and hopefully won’t make those same mistakes too often or too completely again any time soon.
I guess I’m saying maybe the Buick Verano is today’s 1975 Cadillac Seville, and that isn’t so bad. The Seville was a nice car for its day, especially compared to a Versailles. Let’s just hope some lousy new Lincoln MKVersailles doesn’t show up next year as a Verano challenger.
(Tom Klockau brings home the Cohort bacon yet again with these great photos of the ultimate pig. Thanks Tom!
Annoying me especially is the way the chrome trim at the bottom of the c-pillar wraps around to reach the side glass, one of many concessions resulting in their decision not to give it its own sheet metal.
The Lincoln Versailles was and is a beautiful car. It had standard 4wheel disc brakes, optional moonroof and clear coat. I love the lines and being that no one remembers the Grenada these days, the Versailles stands out on its own now. Here’s a beautiful example:
http://mobile.carsforsale.com/photos.aspx?vid=164195257
At least in those days cars had rear bumpers that could prevent the type of damage displayed by the Camry parked next to the Lincoln. However, the springs on those despised gas filler doors broke all the time – at least they did on the Granada, much more commonly seen around LA at the time than the Versailles.
Actually (at least on the Monarch I owned), it was the plastic hinge on the filler door that broke. The metal spring worked fine, and ensured the door stayed attached but was separated from the body of the car by a couple of inches. The first time the hinge broke I actually had the dealer replace it. The second time I just removed the screws that attached the spring to the body. I figured having a bare filler cap exposed was less ugly than having having the filler door hanging semi-attached. I’m sure some financial analyst in Car Product Development got a promotion for pointing out they could save 50 cents per unit by substituting a plastic hinge for a proper metal hinge.
If you did a Versailles version of the new Fusion, they could call it MKV.
If Fusion = Granada than MKZ = Versailles.
This was not a terrible car. When I was 0-5 years old my parents had one of these. ’77 model. 351 Windsor, C4 Trans, 9″ Rear End, 4 wheel disk brakes, forged aluminum wheels. The engine was rebuilt by a race car engine builder at some point early in its life, and the car is still remembered by my family for its power. It was 2 tone charcoal and silver with a light grey leather interior. Exactly as the CC, as a matter of fact. In a world of earth-tone, baroque dinosaurs (the late ’70’s, early-80’s) It was not the most unfortunate car to be driving.
The Versailles was the first American car to come with halogen headlights and a basecoat/clear coat paint job.
My Dad had a 76 Mercury Monarch with the 351. I remember it as quite fast for its time.
I can think of a lot of terrible malaise-mobiles that would benefit from having their engines rebuilt by a “race car engine builder.” That would probably elevate quite a few of them from “terrible” to “not as terrible.”
Just timing the cam straight up instead of a couple of degrees retarded would help.
I spotted these pictures from an issue of Collectible Automobile who showed some clay models of a proposed 1981 Lincoln Versailles
http://www.lincolnversailles.com/ca2002.htm
The project was replaced by the 1982 Fox-body Continental. I guess the Versailles name was too tarnished by being a Granada with some make-up. We could wonder what if the Versailles got a different roofline right from the start instead of waiting the 1979 model year?
You wonder about the design team that thought wasting their time making that Lancelot model was a good idea
The sin with this car is not enough differentiation, which is the same sin of the Cimarron by Cadillac. Having said that I would take a Versailles or any of it’s cousins for their hot rod potential.
When I was in college in the late 70s, I worked at a place where we would park peoples’ cars. Another kid was impressed when he saw the nicest Granada he had ever seen. He complimented the owner on what a beautiful Granada he had. The owner was visibly irritated and spit something back about how much he paid for this “Granada” and that it was really a Lincoln. I am still not sure what’s funnier – the co-worker’s cluelessness or the owner’s realization that he wasn’t impressing anybody with his little Lincoln.
Unbelieveably, Ford is making that exact same mistake with today’s Lincolns. Don’t they learn anything over the years?
Expect bigger changes from Lincoln. While the three oldest Lincolns (MKZ, MKX and Navigator) are still obvious Fords (Fusion, Edge and Expy) the MKS and MKT (arg, why didn’t it look like the show car?) have all unique sheet metal than that of the Taurus and Flex. Even they were tepid steps in the right direction. In the next couple of years expect a very different Lincoln company. The new MKZ prototype looks great, and it should look 95% as is. It’s their bread and butter car, I can’t wait for the “halo” cars.
To be fair- the Granada was definitely styled “in the Lincoln Continental tradition” as was nearly every Ford of the 1970’s. We had a 74 Cougar that although was a tarted up Torino had more than a passing resemblance to a Mark IV. I had a 2003 Lincoln LS- I LOVED that car, stupidly sacrificed a lot to buy it, was my first new car, after having had 64 Connie, 69, Mark III, 87 TC, 96 TC, I had drank deep from the Lincoln kool-aid well. At a family function a relative complimented me on my new Diamante. I know exactly how that Versailles owner felt. (Granted it performed splendidly and although artfully and elegantly styles it did not scream expensive luxury car atleast not to laymen.)
funny. i don’t remember the fuel filler door being in that spot on our granada. i thought it was behind the license plate. why don’t they put it their any more? safety?
Good question. I wish we could get some standardization on fuel door location to speed up the process at the pumps so I don’t have to wittness the back and forth around the gas pumps.
the fog of memory. google reveals that it was actually a round chrome screw off thing exactly where the door is on the lincoln.
and yes, i agree we should standardize which side of the car the fuel door is on or at the very least mandate that the car have a standardized arrow symbol on the dash pointing to the side with the fuel door.
and while we are at it, shouldn’t somebody standardize the plugs/paddles for the new plugins?
The round chrome screw-off fuel filler was on the base-trim Granada/Monarch. If you paid up for the Ghia trim, there was a plastic panel between the tail lights, and in the middle was a plastic door hiding the filler, and it was this door that was connected to the car body by the silly plastic hinge that kept breaking.
To be fair the Verano is more Opel/Vauxhall Astra than Chevrolet Cruze, which in keeping with the old Buick-Opel tradition is kind of a neat accident.
I didn’t even know they had mocked up a 1981 Versailles, it looks like a sedan version of the 1980 Thunderbird with a Lincoln grille.
The interesting thing is that I recall reading that Chrysler almost did an Imperial version of the Diplomat/LeBaron cars when the Seville was hot too. The Versaiiles could have been better for Lincoln, although it was profitable, if they would have made more of an effort like Cadillac did, Cadillac made enough changes to the X-car that is recieved its own letter designation, the K-body, and Cadillac made sure that practically every feature and bit of trim on the Seville was Cadillac trim, the Seville had a narrowed version of the full size Cadillac dash with the same instrument layout as the big Caddies, same upholstery, switches, climate control, etc….
I think hidden headlights would have helped, at the time the Versailles was the only car in the Lincoln line-up that didn’t have them, the Versailles howerver does rate quite high on the Broughamness scale, with silver faced gauges, high ammounts of wood trim aplique, opera lamp and upright Rolls-esque grille.
I like these cars! They have to be comfy and quiet. How do they compare to a Crown Victoria of the same vintage? Does the spare tire bulge actually hold the spare or is it where it would be on a Monarch or Granada?
Second question: Does The Monarch from The Venture Brothers drive a Monarch or does he just hitch rides with Dr. Girlfriend?
I don’t think any continental-tire-bulge trunk lids actually held a tire?
On the 1956 Continental Mark II it did. I suppose it was less fake that way, but it also made getting things in and out of the trunk more difficult, so I imagine the designers of later cars (the mid-sixties Imperial and the later Lincoln Marks) decided it wasn’t worth it.
Thanks Aaron! It should be remembered that tyre technology progressed rapidly, which would affect the number of punctures that might be anticipated. The Lancia Flavia had the spare mounted upright on the rear side of the trunk, which had a flat lid. The theory was you could get the spare out without disturbing your luggage.
I thought they were laughable in their day. Today I’m drawn to them, as an in-yer-face statement…as well as from their scarcity. I passed on a patina’d example last summer, only because finances were even tighter than the car was cheap.
I think the winner here would be to take the Granada 2-door, a mini-baroque barge for the commoners in its own right…and rebuild it with Versailles splendor. Everything should just bolt right in except the electronic geegaws…and with a wiring-harness transplant, even those. A modern computer-controlled four, just to complete the picture, for eco-puritans who not only cannot stand cars that use gasoline, but who rebel at cars that LOOK like they might use gasoline!
Ah, that would be fun! A 28-mpg Baroquemobile Versailles, to give the eco-Nazis a single digit…”half of a PEACE sign”….
The name “Versailles” was certainly apropos for this chrome gilded, over-stuffed, ill-conceived, neo-baroque mini barge. About the only thing of value on these cars are the rear disk brakes, which provide a cheap bolt-on rear disk brake conversion for an early Mustang with a 9″ rear end.
A car named for the location of where the treaty formalizing the end of what is now known as World War Two?
Cool.
“A car named for the location of where the treaty formalizing the end of what is now known as World War Two?”
>> The Treaty of Versailles (1919) end World War I (a.k.a. The World War); NOT World War II
This car is what a Mercury Monarch should have been.
The only thing I remember about the Versailles is the 9″ rear that had disc brakes.
I was one of the few fans of This Seville competitor. I Loved the 1980 More Formal Roof Treatments. I wanted either a Wedgewood Blue one, or a Turquoise Model with Half Moon Roof vinyl halo.
Color Choice still Included something Like Chamois as Well.
I Was also A Fan of The Continental Which When it came out After, My oldest Sister was Driving, a second one she had was a “Valentino Edition”… I was impressed, but agreed the back seatroom was tight for even two.
I Remember that 1 year prior to this model being available, The Mercury Monarch Grand Ghia Was Discontinued Suddenly. Then It kind of,did a reappearing act on The New Versailles Interior a year later.
It Sold No Better on a Lincoln , but the Mark up was several thousand higher than it had been on the Mercury Monarch.
An interesting side note on the Grand Monarch. My Dad got a 76 Monarch. He was downsizing from a 72 Mark IV and wanted it loaded up. The Grand model had a restricted choice of paint and trim choices, as I recall. He was set on a color combo that the dealer told him was not available. He called someone at Ford and was told that the Grand model was farmed out to American Sunroof Corp which did the final trimming and assembly, which was the reason for the limited color and trim selections.
Dad grumbled and then ordered the regular Ghia model but loaded up with everything but the sunroof. Leather, 351 V8, alloy wheels, even the trailer towing package. I think that it was the nicest Granada or Monarch ever built, at least until the Versailles came along.
I recall when I first saw the ads thinking this was one of the silliest-looking cars of the era. It’s only with the benefit of hindsight that I’ve come to realize it was the first full flowering of high-church Iacoccaism. First at Ford in the 70’s, then at Chrysler, Lee made a career of having the designers take an inexpensive platform, slather on the chrome with a trowel, add an inch of padding to the vinyl roof, baroque-up the grille, tack on coach lights or opera windows, doll-up the interior with leather or tufted velour (in this case, not even bothering to design a new instrument panel), give it an upscale name (Lincoln, LeBaron, New Yorker, Imperial), and turn it loose on the world.
Yes, I know the present MKZ is in the same spirit, but at the time the MKZ was designed, Lincoln wasn’t intended to be a luxury brand. That was Jaguar’s job. Lincoln, in the PAG scheme of things, was ending up as a Buick competitor (leaving Mercury as what – Pontiac?).
On the subject of upgrades, an 80’s-90’s Mustang 5 liter with 5-speed manual (probably in a Grand Monarch Ghia to get the 4-wheel discs without the overdone styling of the Versailles) would be pretty sweet and would result in a substantial improvement in fuel economy as well. In my ’75 Monarch around-town gas mileage was around 10, and freeway economy was about 16 (with one tank with a friend driving exactly 55 on a flat straight I-90 in South Dakota at 18). By contrast, all of my Fox Mustang V-8’s had no trouble achieving 25-28 mpg cruising at 70 or so.
One other upgrade that would be a must would be to stiffen the rear suspension. My Monarch would bottom out going over railroad tracks with one person in the rear seat
These Versailles were a great source of Ford 9″ rear ends with disc brakes for Mustang, hot-rod and dragster conversions.