Hooniverse Asks- What Was the Last Real Lincoln?
Lincoln’s not just a guy with a beard who had a really bad time at the theatre. Neither is he some dude named Mark. In fact, back in the day Lincoln, like cross-town rival, Cadillac once vied for World’s Greatest Car honors. That was then, this is now, and while Caddy has reimagined themselves as some sort of angular domestic BMW, Ford’s premier brand has become a caricature of its former self. When do you think they lost their way?
Lincoln seriously was once one of the finest automobiles on the planet, and the post-war Continental was not only the most expensive car in Ford’s lineup, it was also one of the priciest of any maker. V12 engines, esoteric styling, four-door convertibles, there’s so much that Lincoln gave to the discriminating American connoisseur, and then something happened.
Maybe it was the gas crisis, or perhaps mind-controlling death rays from Mars, but for whatever reason, Lincoln changed from World’s Best contender, to Ford Badge costume-wearer. Where we once had suicide doors we now have glorified Fusions, and while the MK used to make its mark, it’s now just a muck.
So when did it happen, when did Ford screw up Lincoln, making it the plastic fancy Fords of today? Right now, I defy you to point to a Lincoln product that is worthy of ownership because of the gunsight mascot bedecking its flanks. There doesn’t seem to be a single product that Lincoln sells that doesn’t have a cheaper, more attractive counterpart in the Ford stable, and that being the case, it’s hard to make a case for buying the caviar brand. When do you think that started being the case?
Image sources: [ 1liverating.com, carstyling.ru]
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Abraham
More recent than one might think:
<img src="http://www.heatperformanceparts.com/heatshop/images/categories/96_lincoln_mark8.jpg" width="500" />
LSC FTW!
The MKVIII should have been able to build on the MVII LSC's success while bringing the spec sheet in line with the best premium luxury cars. Instead, it was a pretty big flop due to pathetic styling and Ford having moved onto whatever Job 2 was after patting themselves on the back for completing Job 1.
I agree that it could and should have been much better, especially given how completely old-school wicked the LSC was. However, it was plush, had a smattering of tech, and was unlike anything else on the road at the time. The styling was polarizing but I think it has aged quite well. These are marks of…well…a Mark.
Even Jeremy Clarkson liked the MKVIII (as he attested in his Motorworld series back in the day) even if he did wrongly enthuse that it had a seven litre engine….
can someone find video of this? I would very much like to see Clarkson review the Mark VIII.
I think the Navigator does a pretty good job of being a Lincoln….but otherwise….it would have to be Mark VIII for me as well….the LS had too many 'flaws' but by all accounts the Mark VIII was very good.
The Mark VII wasn't the sales success that Lincoln wanted, either. Sales tailed off rapidly after the first couple of years, rallied briefly in '88-'89, then quickly fell to less than 10,000 cars per year.
Surely you jest.
Yes indeed. There was nothing wrong with a Mark VIII LSC for what it was, even if what it was was completely bizarre in modern terms, an American throwback: the boat-sized luxury GT. Of course with a nod to GM's Riviera and ETC, which helped carry the same torch to the great beyond. Also, though some scoff, I like the styling, especially pre-refresh with the battlestar galactica style front end.
Also, I think it should be said that the Mark VII wasn't so bad either. I happened to be browsing eighties C and D volumes yesterday, and came across a luxury coupe comparison in which the Lincoln outran everything except the 635csi. Not too bad for a bulked-up Mustang.
Agreed. This was certainly the last notable car from Lincoln, the LS is close but nah
Mk III
<DIV style="OVERFLOW: auto"><img src="http://blackhorsemotorworks.net/images/71-lincoln-markiii-green/03.jpg" width=500>
Although Tanshanomi probably feels differently.
460 ci, with a plate under hood declaring 400hp and 500 fp tourque 1971 MKIII… my vote. I liked it better for power than my 1969 cobra torino.
Last one was the 80's Town Car.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/1st_Lincoln_Town_Car.jpg"width=500>
My dad had a white one with a CB radio built in. Pretty badass.
Very close second is the Mark III
The Current Town Car meets most of the real Lincoln criteria. It is bigger than the Grand Marquis or Crown Vic, cushy ride, and still had a big portion of the limo market.
<img src="http://lincolnpedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/lincoln-town-car.jpg"width=500>
It's the last Lincoln, all right. The giant crossover with the whale's smile might half-count, but I'm not so sure. Before that, the LS was a half-step in the right direction, and the Mark VIII was worth mentioning. Really, the fall began with the Versailles (which the Fox-body Continental partially redeemed) and tipped even more sharply with the Taurus-based '88 Continental and its drivetrain woes.
The Continental's demise in the early '80s signaled the end of the great Lincolns. No longer are they used as presidential vehicles. No longer can they claim to have sticker prices — and amenities — that rival Rolls Royce. They are a sub-premium brand. Hopefully with the end of the line for Mercury fast approaching, Ford will be able to refocus their efforts on restoring Lincoln to greatness. This won't be easy. Two generations have been born to a world with mediocre Lincolns, and those that remember the great, post-war Contis are losing their memories.
<img width=500 src="http://www.rearviewed.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/1972-lincoln-continental.png">
The Continental's demise? If you mean the name, it carried on until 01 or 02, but the last rear wheel drive one was in 1987.
The name lived on past 1979, but there was never another Continental that could compare with any luxury car in the world. 1980-1981 models were badge engineered Panthers. '82-'87 Continentals were gussied up Fox LTDs. The name died on a Taurus. In 1979, there would have been arguments for buying a Continental over a 450SEL that had nothing to do with price. When the same hypothetical customer shopped for a new car in 1983, they'd have only considered the Continental over the 380SEL if their business hadn't recovered from the recession.
One could argue that the 70s Continentals were just gussied up T-birds.
The 95-02 Continentals were a very different from their Taurus platform mates. You got the 4.6L DOHC for one thing. My parents had a couple of them over the years and they were pretty good overall, for old school American luxury type cars, in other words a Lincoln.
Except for a few brief periods the Continental played second fiddle to the Town Car.
In researching this comment I just realized that the late Continentals shared the Taurus platform. Now I have a strange desire to drop a 4.6L DOHC motor in a Taurus or Sable.
Bugeye-Taurus Station Wagon, that's the way to go.
The Duratec 3.0 was a brilliant motor, though, let down by the rest of the Taurus. I get the feeling the same effect would happen with the Modular.
I mean the ultra-luxury Continental. Sort of the purist's Conti. Even by the late '70s it was becoming a shadow of its former self, and by the end of the Mark III run, it was just a large Ford.
Take me seriously guys!
<img src="http://www.pickuptrucks.com/trucks/IMAGES/2002/lincoln/blackwood/first_drive/frontshot.jpg">
Well played.
Hey, the idea of a portable coffin is fun, but there's not really enough room to stretch out. Besides, the rest of the truck… yeesh, just get a '97-'98 F-250 (the 'light duty' model, basically an F-150 with seven-lug wheels and stronger axles/suspension).
I'm still disappointed that they gave up on the LS.
I agree. I almost bought a new V6 version because it came with a stick! Imagine that.
The reason the LS isn't the answer to this question is that it was carefully brand managed to be inferior to the Jaguar S-type. The best Lincolns were far superior to the best Jaguars ever made, and prices reflected it.
While the Mark VII and Mark VIII were very worthy cars and the Town Car sold very well in the '80s and '90s, the last indisputably grand Lincolns were the 1979 Continental and Mark V – the last pre-downsized boats. I don't love these cars, but there's no denying their presence.
<img src="http://www.silvercrosscars.com/sales/03/01.JPG" width=500>
The demise started when they downsized the Continental down to more a regional size Fox body Versailles replacement. Just flush that name recognition down the toilet there. Mercedes wouldn't try to replace the C-class by renaming it the S-class and then calling the top model something else, like T-class.
The recent cost cutting method of selling off all the vowels from model names didn't help either. If _I_ have a hard time keeping them in order, how's a normal person going to figure out what they are?
<img src="http://hooniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/l_1024_768_40A1D815-EA4E-4EF8-81A1-63D58F7680FD.jpeg" width="500">.
But then, I might be a bit biased.
Except it's secretly a Jaguar.
Hasn't been a real Linc, since the Mod Squad was cancelled.
<img src="http://www.chezgrae.com/modsquad/images/linc.jpg">
He was way cool!
Just like Acura, they lost their way when they replaced great model names with an alphabet soup. MKX, MKZ: which one is which? Without looking at their site, I have no idea what their line up looks like, except for the town car and the navigator.
What's really sad is, I looked at their site before typing this comment and I have already forgotten all the MK* cars.
With PAG gone and Mercury on its way out, Ford really needs to spend some resources on Lincoln… Or kill it.
What's most egregious is that they switched to the MKZ from "Zephyr," the most iconic, most-Lincoln-est name ever.
I still think that title goes to Continental. Zephyr makes me think of the British Ford Zephyr that was my uncle's personal PCH.
Whenever I see an MKZ badge, it makes me think it stands for "Mark of Zorro".
Whenever I see the MKT badge, I think "market". I hate grocery shopping.
If I were running the show, I would work on slotting Lincoln with the big Benzes. Possibly even offering some models that would slot below Rolls, but above the S-klasse/7-series. The "small" Lincoln they are talking about would be more of a 5-series competitor.
Lincoln should not be a volume brand, but an uber-luxury brand.
The Zephyr name unfortunately got cheapened in the late '70s when Mercury used it for their Fairmont clone.
Drive a Lincoln to Lincoln and eat Lincoln Creams and live the meme.
Dammit. I was going to delete this post for being too flippent and daft. Now it's stuck on Hooniverse for ever. Ah well. Your reply makes a good T-Shirt slogan.
Reminds me of this sentence: "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buff…
I have now achieved semantic satiation.
Which reminds me that European police cars are routinely equipped with "Radar detector detector detectors"
<img src="http://www.goingincirclez.com/Kaleid/Albums/BON/Verse/GIC_Angst.jpg">
This has to be one of the greats – if partly for some questionable reasons – but of course I'm biased.
<img src="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/fuck_you.gif">
I think the Mark VIII was a fairly credible effort. It had some flaws (not enough structural rigidity, lackluster interior), but I think it suffered more from the collapse of the big coupe market in the nineties than any intrinsic deficiency.
I considered a '97-'98 Mark VIII LSC as a used car purchase a while back. I liked the looks and they were quite fast and roadable for the size. However, I also heard about the structure being insufficiently rigid. What really scared me off was the parts and service prices. The Sylvania headlight units are almost impossible to find anymore, as is the rear neon light bar. Even converting the headlights to HID or halogen costs a small fortune. And God only knows about that air suspension and how much it costs to repair. Very nice car, but too many potential expensive problems staring me in the face as the car ages.
The computers are timebombs too. Even in a nice example, if the ECU goes (and you can't find a working one in a junkyard) car's totaled.
I've read some real horror stories (like at flatratetech.com) about the air suspension. I like the MK VIII LSC, but I'd have to be independently wealthy to own one.
i own a 79 continental mark V
61k miles
no rust
my favorite car by far….MPG is beyond pathetic though
id say that was the last REAL lincoln, last GOOD one was the mark viii
Before I clicked the link, I was going to be pedantic and point out that you misspelled "marque" (which is a frequently encountered peeve of mine).
But no, it really is the history of the Lincoln "Mark."
Not the Lincoln marque.
They're both not-so-secretly Fords.
NOOOOOOOOOOO!
So, now that you love Fords are you willing to come over to the light side and root for Frosty and Cheeseburger with me?
Suddenly, for no reason whatsoever, I want to go to Wendy's.
No.
Not for any lack of love for Ford specifically — although the way they've bastardised some great names hasn't won them any love from me — but because all the best drivers (and Whincup!) drive for Holden. Tander, Lowndes, Skaife, Bright, one of the Davisons… all the drivers I like are Holden boys. Now, if the rumours pan out, and DEW98 II (the XF platform) gets re-used by Ford Australia, I may have to reconsider.
had one when i was growing up.. dad wraped around a pole on one of his binges
The last real Lincoln was the last one to be truly above its peers. The last one to be world class. From a time when a Lincoln was a Lincoln and a Ford was a Ford. The '69 Continental was the last real Lincoln.
Real Lincolns have V12's
<img src="http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/classic-car-images/v12lincoln.jpg">
Oh you mean the engine that was a flathead V8 with two extra cylinders and no other changes? The one that was so horrid at cooling that they frequently overheated because the two back cylinders didn't get coolant? The one that almost bankrupted Lincoln and ruined them reputationally until the mid-50s?
The big V12s that were used in the 1932 to 1940 Lincoln K were fine, long-lived engines. But you're absolutely right in that the Zephyr V12 (based as you said on the Ford flathead V8) was a real dog of an engine. Not only was there not enough cooling, the oil passages were insufficient. The engines would not tolerate any lugging, and many were wiped out due to bearing damage. Quite a few old Lincolns got OHV V8 engine swaps in the 1950s.
Indeed. Saw big Continental convertible with a swapped in Hemi. Very pleased about that one.
<img src="http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr333/TrueBoolean/Lincoln/IMG_2010.jpg" width="600">
but i'm biased…
To me the last real Lincolns were made before the 70s when Ford along with the country cared about technology and class. Once we hit the Malaise Era, everything changed. In time the technology would come back but the class still has a long way to go. People don't look at a Lincoln as a status symbol anymore. I think Lincoln should be like Mercedes' S-Class; the car with tomorrow's technology. Apologies to all of you fans of the newer cars!
The white walls and bumper treatment make that one bad ass car. I even like the color.
That is a nice colour. Although I can't make up my mind whether it's a really dark brown or a really dark red.
It's sort of a Bloodstain Gloss, isn't it? Either way, it's lovely.
I really, really like that car.
I'll vote the Jaguar S-Class, is that okay?
Specifically, the last real Lincoln is a White Chocolate 2007 Town Car that rolled off the line at 12:55 PM on May 31, 2007. Why? That's the last car built at Wixom (see http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article…. Thw Wixom plant was built specifically as a home for the Lincoln Division. Wixom long outlasted its closest GM equivalent (Cadillac's Clark Avenue plant, closed 1987). In fact, Ford expanded Wixom in 1993 in connection with the launch of the Mark VIII, and again in 1997 for the redesigned '98 Town Car and the new LS. Any hope of any further investment in developing the Town Car died with Wixom. The post-Wixom Town Cars reek of playing out the string, like 1965-66 Studebakers.
Isn't the former Wixom plant now home to some kind of "green energy" company? I seem to remember reading about it awhile back.
Isn't that car some kind of resto-mod? The picture looks very familiar, like something I read about recently. It seems to me the builder spent some serious coin on it.
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