#Lincoln Continental MkV

[carsgirlsandboystuff]

Lincoln Continental MKV

[prova275]

Mark V... 1960 Continental convertible

[carpr0n]

Starring: Lincoln Continental MK V

By Imagonos

[oldmotors]

Edsel Ford’s original ’39, the 1956 MkII, the Camelot-era ’61, all were design classics - and they are the cars many people think of when we hear “Lincoln Continental.” But the most successful Continental of all time was the 1977-79 #Continental MKV. It built on the neo-classic themes of its predecessors and sold in numbers so large (228,862 in 3 years) that dealers struggled to keep them in stock. Nearly a decade earlier the MkIII, designed under the guidance of Dave Ash (and Gene Bordinat), had been a huge success. Only 79,381 MkIIIs were built, but the car had doubled Lincoln’s relatively modest volume and bested the Cadillac Eldorado in sales. We think of Cadillac and Lincoln being similar competitors but until the 1970s Cadillac handily outpaced Lincoln - the MkIII and the even more popular the MkIV helped #Lincoln catch up, bringing in many thousands of new customers. When it came time for a MkV, Ford was not going to mess with the most successful formula Lincoln had ever had. The MkV reused many of the MkIV’s components - Ford was hurting financially at the time and it didn’t make sense to develop a new platform. The Thunderbird, which had provided the platform for the MkIII and MkIV, would migrate to a re-worked Torino platform for 1977, reducing the Mark’s economies of scale - and there was no appetite to downsize the MkV and risk alienating customers. Instead, a rejected proposal for the MkIV from Ron Perry and Steve Sherer (working under Don DeLaRossa), was dusted off and refined for the MkV, which gave the massive car a sharper-edged look. A 230 inches long (5.8M), the MkV was one of the largest 2-door modern cars ever made, though at 4,700 lbs., it was actually 3-400 lbs. lighter than the MkIV. They were utterly massive vehicles powered by either a 400 or 460-cid V8s, and buyers could expect less than 12mpg. They were very expensive too - $11K in 1977 and more if you ladeled on options or bought one of the “designer” marks, but buyers loved them. Being relatively cheap to produce, they were as profitable as they were large. The glory days of this giant came to an end just as OPEC 2 dawned and the V gave way to the “Panther” VI in late 1979. (at Wexford, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrT99vFbLU/?igshid=uxdb75fpmgc2

[just-me-two]

#diecast #Matchbox Superfast 28C Lincoln Continental MkV new or updated at www.diecastplus.info

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Lincoln Continental MKV 1978

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Lincoln Continental MKV Lowrider

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Lincoln Continental MKV

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Image by Kustom Pix Photography

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[carsgirlsandboystuff]

Lincoln Continental 78 MKV

[oldmotors]

Behold, one of the rarest post-ww2 Lincolns. 1980s Town Cars may not be rare - but Town Coupes certainly are. Ford’s “Panther” platform bowed for 1979 on the Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis, but Lincoln only belatedly introducing its Panther cars for 1980. In time, the basic 1980 Continental sedan design would become a best-seller and the Panther legendarily long-lived, but 1980 and 1981 were terrible years for big cars and for Lincoln, and one casualty of those times was the Town Coupe. - One reason Lincoln was reluctant to let go of the old land yachts was that sales surged in the late 1970s - the circa-1970 design sold 100K units a year from ’77-’79, almost 3x the ’70-’72 volume. And restyling was tricky - lead designer Gail Halderman felt that early concepts, which looked more like Cadillac’s 1975 Seville, were too much of a departure - instead, the 1980 Continental and MkVI (both migrating to the Panther) were informed by the razor-edged MkV. Halderman felt that evolution was key to Cadillac’s success, and would be to Lincoln’s as well. The MkVI looked exactly like a scaled down MkV but sprouted a sedan companion, the Continentals sharper and cleaner than before. - In 1980 Lincolns were grouped into Continental Town Car and Town Coupe; and Continental MkVI but for 1981 the non-marks became just “Town Car” and “Town Coupe” as the division prepared to launch the mid-size Fox-body Continental in 1982. The Town Coupe was probably the cleanest of the set, with its spare horizontal lines and huge c-pillar. OPEC II and a recession annihilated big car sales in 1980-81, so the new cars got a cool reception. Full-size 2-door Lincoln sales had cannibalized by the ��Mark.” In 1980 - the Town Coupe ended up selling in tiny numbers, and in mid-1981, Lincoln decided to eliminate it to drive buyers to the MkVI, itself off the MkV’s pace. - Ford built more than 6 million Panthers, but just 12,112 of them were Town Coupes - 7,177 in 1980 and 4,935 in 1981. Even rarer were cars with the optional 351 V8 - dropped after 1980, leaving only the 302/5.0. As you’d expect, everything mechanical is identical to the Town Car, but the body panels are made of unobtanium. (at San Bernardino, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1RguTfFM1L/?igshid=c2ke16tbrh77

[oldmotors]

Edsel Ford’s original ’39, the 1956 MkII, the Camelot-era ’61, all were design classics - and they are the cars many people think of when we hear “Lincoln Continental.” But the most successful Continental of all time was the 1977-79 #Continental MKV. It built on the neo-classic themes of its predecessors and sold in numbers so large (228,862 in 3 years) that dealers struggled to keep them in stock. - Nearly decade earlier the MkIII, designed under the guidance of Dave Ash (under Gene Bordinat), had been a huge success. Only 79,381 MkIIIs were built, but the car had doubled Lincoln’s relatively modest volume and beaten the Cadillac Eldorado in sales. We think of Cadillac and Lincoln being similar competitors but until the 1970s Cadillac handily outpaced Lincoln in sales - the MkIII and the even more popular the MkIV helped #Lincoln catch up, bringing in many thousands of new customers. When it came time for a MkV, Ford was not going to mess with that success. - The MkV re-used much of the MkIV’s components - Ford was hurting financially in the mid-1970s and it didn’t make sense to develop an entirely new platform. The Thunderbird, which had provided the platform for the MkIII and MkIV would migrate to a re-worked Torino platform for 1977, reducing the Mark’s economies of scale - and there was no appetite to downsize the MkV. Instead, a rejected proposal for the MkIV from Ron Perry and Steve Sherer (working under Don DeLaRossa), was dusted off and refined for the MkV, which gave the massive car a sharper-edged look. - A 230 inches long (5.8M), the MkV was one of the largest 2-door modern cars ever made, though at 4,700 lbs., it was actually 3-400 lbs. lighter than the MkIV. They were utterly massive vehicles powered by either a 400 or 460-cid V8s, and buyers could expect less than 12mpg. They were very expensive too - $11K in 1977 and more if you ladeled on options or bought one of the “designer” marks, but buyers loved them. - Sadly, the big coupe’s glory days were over after the 1979 Opec crisis, and many fell into disrepair by the 90s (they’re not cheap to run, though many mechanical pieces are durable). The MkV gave way to the Panther-based VI for 1980. https://www.instagram.com/oldmotors/p/Buj3fuhlVSJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1gmy3q4ppt40h

[oldmotors]

Aside from the Continental Mark coupes (MkII thru MkV), Lincolns had only come in one size after WW2: #landyacht. When Cadillac launched the “newer, smaller” Seville in 1975, it had to respond. Lincoln’s first effort was the hastily-prepared Versailles, heavily (and obviously) based on the Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch, didn’t do too well, and Lincoln was caught out again in late 1979 by the dramatic “Bustleback” Mk2 Seville. - With it’s stylistic origins Hooper-bodied 1950s Rolls-Royces, the sloping rear of the Seville made for poor cargo room, but got lots of attention (good and bad). Lincoln dropped the slow-selling Versailles in 1980 and set about designing another “small” Lincoln to battle the Seville, but this time with less obvious connections to Ford and Mercury sedans. The result was the 1982 Lincoln #Continental - a confusing choice as the name was concurrently applied to the big Continental MKVI sedan and coupe. - The new “little” #Lincoln rode Ford’s ubiquitous rwd #Fox platform, but aside from the relatively narrow width of the car - the narrowest and smallest Lincoln ever made up to that time - the connection was not cosmetically obvious.  #Ford aped the sloping “bustleback” of the Seville (and the ’81-’83 Chrysler Imperial) directly, but of the three the Lincoln had the most room and was the most practical. - The #Bustleback came a bit too late - #Neoclassic touches were chic in the 70s, but gave way to the “aero look” in the 80s. The little Conti struggled to sell, only hitting 30,000 units a year once, in 1984 when it was given an “aero” front end refresh. The 302 V8 was standard, but Lincoln’s first V6, a rarely-seen 3.8, was offered in 1982 as a no-cost option, and there was a Diesel (a BMW unit shared with the 524TD) option for ’84-’85. - Aside from the troublesome air suspension, the Fox Continentals were durable and comfy, and all the performance parts for Fox Mustangs could be applied, though that only happened later in the car’s lives - Contis tended to sell to an older crowd when new. The Bustle gave way to a lozenge-shaped, Taurus-based fwd version for 1988. - A high number survive, though this poor guy’s been off the road since 2003. (at Salem County, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpcbH88lPd-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a0puyhbfq3rw