Lincoln Mark Series

Lincoln Mark VIII / LSC
The Lincoln Mark was Lincoln's 2-door personal luxury coupe from 1956 to 1998.

The 1956/57 Mark was produced while Continental was a separate division of Ford Motor Company apart from Lincoln. After 1958 when Continental was merged with Lincoln and the Lincoln Continental became the flagship model, the Mark continued to be sold as the Continental Mark II. The Mark kept the Continental prefix until 1984 upon the introduction of the Mark VII. The Mark VIII (1993-1998)was the last generation of the Mark and Lincoln's last personal luxury coupe.

1968 Continental Mark III
The Lincoln Continental Mark III was manufactured by Lincoln from 1968 to 1971. The Mark III was introduced to compete with Cadillac's front wheel drive Eldorado personal luxury coupe, which at the time had the monopoly in the Personal luxury car market, a dominance it never reliquished. The Mark III was the first Mark produced by Lincoln itself since its predecessor the Continental Mark II was manufactured by Continental which for the two years of its manufacture was a separate Ford division apart from Lincoln. While the vehicle took many of its design cues came from the mainstream Ford Thunderbird, the vehicle's design was uniquely Lincoln. It featured the hallmark Rolls-Royce like grille, covered headlights, as well as the Continental spare tire hump in the trunk lid. The Mark III was one of the first vehicles to have power-controlled features and anti-lock brakes. In 1970 the until then optional vinyl roof was made standard alongside with radial tires and tinted windows in 1971. The interior woodtrim was also upgraded to real wood in 1970.

1972 Continental Mark IV
While the Mark IV used many design components of the Mark III such as the grille and spare-tire hump, it was both longer and wider than the Mark III. The hallmark opera windows were added for 1972. In 1973 the front bumper was replaced by a federally mandated 5 mph (8 km/h) bumper. In 1974 the rear bumper was replaced.

Designer Editions

For the 1976 model year, Lincoln introduced the Designer Series; special edition Mark IVs with color, trim and interior choices by famous fashion designers. All carried the designer's signature on the opera windows, and had a 22 karat (92%) gold plated plaque on the instrument panel which could be engraved with the original owner's name. The concept was successful, and future Lincolns would continue to offer designer editions.

For 1976, four designer editions were offered:

• The Bill Blass Edition was in dark blue with cream accents. The external finish was dark blue metallic paint, with a cream "Normande Grain" landau vinyl roof, cream and gold pinstriping, and cream or dark blue bodyside moldings. Inside, a blue cloth or leather interior used cream accent straps and buttons.
• The Cartier Edition was in dove grey. The external finish was dove grey paint, with a dove grey "Valino Grain" landau vinyl roof, red and white pinstriping, and dove grey bodyside moldings. The interior was in dove grey cloth or leather.
• The Givenchy Edition was in aqua blue. The external finish was aqua blue "Diamond Fire" paint, with a white "Normande Grain" landau vinyl roof, black and white pinstriping, and white or aqua blue bodyside moldings. The interior was in aqua blue cloth or leather, and the instrument panel was in a special, lighter shade of simulated woodgrain.
• The Pucci Edition was in red and silver. The external finish was dark red "Moondust Finish" paint with a silver "Normande Grain" landau vinyl roof, silver and lipstick red pinstriping and red or silver bodyside moldings. The interior was in dark red "Majestic" cloth.

The behemoth Lincoln Continental Mark V was sold for only 3 model years, 1977 to 1979. The last of the true highway cruisers, it replaced the Mark IV's more rounded styling with a more sharp-edged look that was then fashionable. Once again, its size increased both in length and width. It no longer shared its platform with the Ford Thunderbird (which was downsized by shifting its nameplate to the smaller Mercury Cougar/Ford LTD II platform.)

The standard engine was now the Ford 400 in³ (6.6 L) small-block engine instead of the 460 in³ (7.5 L) Ford 385 engine, but the latter was available as an option everywhere but in California in the first two years of production. The 460 made the cars performance aggressive while the 400 gave the car lackluster acceleration, although allowing Ford to meet CAFE requirements for the year. After 1978, the 460 became a special order option until the model year end 1979.

Lincoln, with the Mark V and Continental, held out for the giant American car longer than anyone else, but after 1979 it would not be possible. Ford came dangerously close to violating the Corporate Average Fuel Economy laws that year, and subsequent models would be substantially smaller.

1980 Continental Mark VI
Even though 1980 brought a significant downsizing, the Lincoln Mark VI only featured minor design revisions from the 1977 Mark V. Most noticeable were the new headlight covers and a new steering wheel design. Even though the car was significantly smaller, it kept the hallmark opera windows, Rolls-Royce style grille and rear tire-hump. These hallmarks were not downsized enough to fit the new car's smaller scale. As a result the Mark VI looked somewhat awkward and over done. It should be noted that because of its odd appearance, and a build period that lasted only four model-years, these cars are noted to have particular value in collector circles, especially the Designer editions.

The other significant change for the Mark VI was that for the first and last time the Mark was also available as a sedan.

1984 Continental Mark VII / LSC
The Continental Mark VII, later just called the Mark VII, was introduced in 1984. The Continental Mark VII used the Ford Fox platform, which was originally used by the 1978 Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr. It was manufactured at the Wixom Assembly Plant in Wixom, Michigan through 1992.

The Mark VII had most comfort/convenience/performance options that were available in the 1980s. This included all power accessories, leather seating, keyless entry, an onboard computer/message center, digital instruments (on all except the LSC models after 1986). All Mark VIIs came with full airbag suspension with an electronic ride control system. Mark VIIs also came with a 4-speed automatic transmission, stainless steel tubular headers, dual exhaust, and either SEFI or throttle body fuel injection (dependant on model). Some 1987 models and all 1988 models got a horsepower and torque boost thanks to a larger throttle body and better flowing cylinder heads.

The Mark VII was also the first American vehicle with electronic 4-channel antilock brakes (November 1984, 6 months before the Corvette). It was also the first American vehicle with composite headlights. The vehicle also featured four-wheel air suspension which unfortunately lead to technical difficulties becoming common place.

1993 Mark VIII / LSC
The Mark VIII was Lincoln's last personal luxury coupe, sold between 1993 and 1998. The Mark VIII was assembled at Ford's Wixom, Michigan assembly plant and was based on the FN10 platform. The 1995 LSC model got 10 hp (7.5 kW) more, true dual exhaust, lower (3.27) gearing and other luxury features. The 1995 to 1996 LSC models were the first cars from an American automaker to be equipped with HID headlights, and the 1997 to 1998 models continued the groundbreaking lighting trend with even larger housings for the HID system, and an innovative neon third brakelight across the entire rear decklid.