LINCOLN MARK SERIES...THE AMERICAN LUXO-BARGE 1955-1998

The Lincoln Continental Mark was a series of personal luxury cars marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company under various nameplates, including the short-lived Continental Division. The Mark Series sold from 1956 to 1960 and from 1968 to 1998, always serving as the flagship of Ford Motor Company in North America.

Initially existing as the product line of the Continental Division, the Mark became part of Lincoln in 1958; from that point, while sold by Lincoln, the line remained badged as a Continental for many years. To fully eliminate any confusion, the Mark series adopted the Lincoln badge in 1986.

While sharing underpinnings with other Ford Motor Company vehicles, Mark-series cars were distinguished by their own interior and exterior trim along with separate exterior panels.

When discontinued in 1998, Lincoln adopted the legacy of the later Mark series personal cars in its current naming nomenclature. Since 2007, nearly all of its vehicles have adopted an "MK" alphanumeric prefix; MKZ, MKS, MKC, MKX, and MKT

1955 =

Ford Motor Company introduced a new personal luxury car as a successor to the pre-war Lincoln Continental. As it was to be one of the most exclusive and expensive automobiles in the world, Ford chose to create a stand-alone division above Lincoln. The new Continental Mark II adopted a naming convention of "mark number", or "model number"; used in the European automotive industry as demonstrated with the Jaguar Mark 1.

The Mark II was produced by the newly formed Continental Division of the Ford Motor Company for only two model years: 1956 and 1957, and only as a 2-door hardtop coupe. The Mark II featured a Lincoln-style spare tire hump, shared the new 368 V8 and running gear, and was sold and serviced at Lincoln dealerships. 4-door and convertible versions were considered by Ford, but not developed.

Most of the car was hand-built to high standards, including multiple coats of paint hand-sanded down, double-lacquered, and polished. The car's price was $10,000; as much as a Rolls-Royce or two top-of-the-line Cadillacs at that time.

All Mark IIs were equipped with power steering, power brakes, power windows, automatic, radio and motorized antenna, as well as a luxurious interior of imported Scottish leather. The only option was air conditioning. The 1956 models had small "scoops" for air intake located on the upper rear fenders. Cool air from the trunk-mounted evaporator coil entered the passenger compartment from four vents located in the corners of the roof headliner.

1958 =

Continental's were reintegrated back into the Lincoln product lineup, with Lincoln introducing the Mark III, IV, and V to replace the Mark II; they served as the flagships of the Lincoln line.

Following the cancellation of the Continental Mark II coupe at the end of the 1957 model year, Ford Motor Company sought for ways to improve the profitability of its flagship model line. The Continental name was used as Lincoln's top level model, sharing body styles with Lincoln vehicles. For marketing purposes, the new Mark III was not called a Lincoln, and wore "Continental III badges. This was done to position "Continental"-branded vehicles against top-level Cadillacs and Imperials.

In a major move to cut production costs, the Mark III was assembled in the same factory alongside the Capri and Premiere. In order to distinguish the Continental from other Lincoln's, stylists gave the vehicle its own roofline. Featuring a reverse-slanted retractable rear window, called "Breezeway", it was featured in all Continental-branded models including convertibles. Although released in the middle of the 1958 recession, the Mark III would prove far more successful due to a $4000 reduction in price; while still expensive, the number of potential buyers was far higher. Even still, Lincoln lost over $60 million throughout the 1958-1960 production.

While far easier to produce, the Mark III was still advanced for the time. Continentals were still available with air conditioning and dashboard-mounted air vents. For the first time, an AM/FM radio was an option. Another feature was "Auto Lube"; as long as the owner kept the oil reservoir full, the car automatically lubricated itself.

1959 =

Mark III now became the Mark IV in two new body styles. Intended to compete against formal sedans from Cadillac and Imperial, Lincoln introduced a Continental Town Car and Limousine. To increase rear-seat room, the retractable rear window was replaced by a standard-slant window. Limousine models were distinguished by the use of a rear-seat partition. Other features included dual air-conditioning, and a padded vinyl top. Both models were only available in black. The Town Car cost over $9,200 and only 214 sold over both years. The Limousine cost $10,200 and only 83 sold.

1960 =

Renamed yet again to the Mark V & given a minor styling update with a larger grille and new bumpers. In terms of standard production sedans the 1958-1960 Lincolns are some of the largest automobiles ever made. Their 131" wheelbase is the longest of any American production sedan since World War II. The Continental Mark III/IV/V are the longest post-war American sedans ever produced without federally mandated 5-mph bumpers. The 1959 Mark IV and 1960 Mark V Limousines and Town Cars are the heaviest American standard sedans built since World War II.

1961 =
the Mark series took a brief hiatus...

1968 =

Lincoln restarted the Mark series with an all-new Mark III. Based on the Thunderbird, it was strictly a personal-luxury coupe. It shared no common bodywork, but did share much of its underpinnings with the Thunderbird for its entire production run. The lone exception is the 80-83 Mark VI, based on the LTD/Marquis coupe and Town Car; the Mark VI is the only model ever produced as an optional 4-door.

The Continental Mark III was manufactured by Lincoln for model years 1969 through 1971. The Mark III was created when Lee Iacocca, directed Design Vice President, Gene Bordinat, to put a Rolls Royce grille on a Thunderbird in 1965. The Mark III was sold alongside the larger 1966 Lincoln Continental 2-door sedan.

The Mark III competed with the Eldorado and Imperial Crown Coupe, which held the upper rung in the personal luxury car market. Introduced in 1968, as a 1969 model, the Continental Mark III outsold its Cadillac and Imperial rivals each model year and took many of its design cues from the mainstream Thunderbird. Distinguishing features included a prominent grille, hidden headlights, and a Continental spare tire hump on the trunk lid.

1969  =

8 new colors and an optional white leather/vinyl interior, as well as new headrests, steering wheel, instrument panel knobs, and color-keyed vinyl boots on the front seat belt anchors. A Cartier dash clock was introduced in late 1968.

1970 =

Became the first American-made vehicle with radial tires as standard equipment. Also standard was a vinyl roof and Sure-Track anti-lock braking. The interior wood trim was upgraded to genuine walnut wood. The Continental lettering on the trunk lid was bolted on. The seat and door panel trim pattern changed to a simpler design. Also new were a locking steering column, a rim-blow-horn steering wheel, map light off delay, concealed electric windshield wipers with intermittent feature, and three-point restraint for front occupants.

1971 =

Tinted glass, automatic climate control, and High-back Twin Comfort lounge power seats.

1972 =

The Mark IV grew both longer and wider sharing its platform with the Thunderbird. In 1972, Lincoln introduced the small opera windows, at the roof rear quarters.

1973 =

New front bumpers to comply with new US safety regulations. Silver Luxury Group included Silver "Moondust" paint with a matching silver vinyl roof and a silver leather interior or optional Cranberry velour or leather.

1974 =

Redesigned rear bumpers & a 460 V8. New optional Luxury Group packages were the Gold Luxury Group and Saddle & White Luxury Group along with the Silver Luxury Group.

1975 =

Blue Diamond Luxury Group and Lipstick & White Luxury Group joined the same three packages from the previous model year.

1976 =

New Luxury Group packages: Jade/White, Light Jade/Dark Jade, Red/Rose, Gold/Cream, Black Diamond, and Desert Sand.

The names of three famous clothing designers and one jewelry designer, were available with four exclusive color combinations. Interior seat designs were basically carried over from the "luxury group" options but featured unique color combinations. The designer names were: Cartier, the French jewelry and fragrance designer, Bill Blass, the American designer, Givenchy, a French clothing designer, and Emilio Pucci, an Italian clothing and accessories designer. The name of the chosen package was embedded in the opera window of the car and also on the dashboard above or near the glove box. The color combinations changed with each model year. Bill Blass edition remained through 1992 while the others were cancelled as follows; Emilio Pucci in 1983, Givenchy in 1984, and Cartier in 1979.

1977 =

the Mark V was a major revision with a sharper-edged look. Interior design remained similar with variations in the seat patterns and dashboard trim being the primary differences. It utilized its own chassis and was larger and more complex coming just short of measuring 20' long. The electrical and mechanical componentry shared less in common with other Ford products, and was harder to service than the corresponding equipment on the Mark IV. The 400 V8 was standard and the 460 was optional in both the 1977 and 1978 model years. The 460 was dropped for 1979.

1980 =

The change to the Panther platform significantly reduced the size of the vehicle; the new for 1980 Mark VI rode on a wheelbase shorter than before and was lighter. Aside from being the first Mark series available as a 4-door sedan in 20 years, the Mark VI retained most of the 1977 Mark V styling cues such as the hallmark opera windows, Rolls-Royce style grille, and its characteristic vestigial spare-tire hump on the trunk. The Mark VI was available with digital gauge cluster using Vacuum Fluorescent Displays, pushbutton keyless entry, 4-speed automatic, and fuel injection on the 302 cid V8. The new downsized Lincolns received positive reviews by the automotive press, being more efficient and more spacious than the corresponding Cadillacs of the same year that had been downsized for 1977. The new Lincolns used new assembly techniques, and had aluminum pieces in the body and mechanicals to lighten the cars, in addition to the weight loss they received from the redesign. The old 460 cid V8 was replaced by a fuel-injected 302 cid V8 (marketed as a "5.0" model), and a carbureted version of the 351 cid V8.

The basic body was shared with Town Car but the Mark bore more resemblance to the Mark V, with hidden headlamps, the spare tire bulge on the trunk, the vinyl top and opera windows. The Mark VI was dropped after 1983 in favor of a new Mark VII.

1984 =

Mark series was downsized yet again with the introduction of the Continental Mark VII. Based on the newly redesigned Thunderbird and Cougar, the Mark VII shifted from the full-size Panther platform to the mid-size Fox platform, the Mark VII became the shortest-wheelbase and lightest vehicle ever marketed by the Lincoln division at the time. To end the model confusion seen over the past 25 years, the Lincoln-Mercury Division officially rebranded the Continental Mark VII as the Lincoln Mark VII for the 1986 model year. Mark VII began a new role as the technology flagship of Ford Motor Company; the Mark VII came standard with all power accessories, leather, keyless entry, onboard computer message center, and digital gauges. In addition to Designer Editions (Gianni Versace in 1984 and 1985; and Bill Blass from 1984 to 1992), the Mark VII was also sold as the sporty LSC. The LSC model got 10 hp more, dual exhaust, lower gearing and other luxury features. It was the first car from an American automaker to be equipped with HID headlights, and they continued the groundbreaking lighting trend with even larger housings for the HID system, and an innovative neon third brake light across the entire rear decklid.

1993 =

The Mark VIII sold between 1993 and 1998 and was based on the FN10 platform. Slightly larger than the Mark VII, the Mark VIII had more interior space than its predecessor. The move from the Fox platform allowed for the use of fully independent suspension at all four wheels. Aside from its Ford and Mercury counterparts, the only other American rear-wheel drive cars at the time with this feature were the performance cars like the Corvette, Viper, Fleetwood, Roadmaster, and Custom Cruiser.

1997 =

Mark VIII received a minor redesign with a larger grille and lights.