1996 Lincoln Continental 27,000 Low Mileage *pristine* No Reserve - *must See* on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV

For most of the period from the middle 1950s through the late 1990s, the Lincoln Marks were the most expensive cars Americans could buy from the Ford Motor Company. During the 1970s, the Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V personal luxury coupes were built on the same chassis as the then-massive Thunderbird, with curb weights hovering around 5,000 pounds. Here's a 1972 Mark IV, from the year when engine power really started its Malaise Era fall off a cliff, photographed in a Denver-area self-service yard. The list price on this car started at $8,640, which amounts to something like $61,445 in 2022 bucks. That was quite a bit less than the $10,634 Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL 4.5, though the Benz had the more powerful V8 engine. Power ratings had just gone to net rather than gross numbers, so this massive 460-cubic-inch (7.5-liter) V8 was rated at just 224 horsepower (ever-stricter emission rules knocked actual power down as well). At least the torque was still pretty good, at 342 pound-feet. Runs on regular gas! This car clearly spent quite a while, probably at least a couple of decades, sitting outdoors in the harsh Colorado climate. The seat upholstery is deeply irradiated. The padded vinyl roof didn't fare well beneath the sun. Someone has torn apart the dash, but you can still see the classy Cartier clock hiding in the wreckage. There's some rust, enough to scare off anyone who might have been interested in performing a restoration. The Continental Mark IV's main rival was the Cadillac Eldorado, which was slightly smaller and (marginally) less packed with bling. The '72 Imperial LeBaron was cheaper and boasted one more horsepower than the Mark IV, but seemed stodgy next to the devil-may-care Lincoln. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. More than 8,000 owners of that luxury car switched to Continental for '71.

Lincoln MKC crossover adopts the Continental's grille

The last vestiges of the controversial split Lincoln grille are slowly being removed as the company revamps its lineup. It started with the MKZ and Continental, with the most recent rhinoplasty recipient being the Navigator. Now, based on spy shots, it looks like the MKC crossover will be the fourth to get the new corporate grille. Under the heavy vinyl coverings, we can clearly see the proud Continental-inspired grille. We can also see that it will feature the same chrome mesh with Lincoln badge-shaped openings found on other cars with the grille design. We can also assume that the headlights will receive a substantial refresh, but the lower bumper doesn't look particularly different. The rest of this prototype MKC looks the same as the existing model. The back is covered, which indicates that the taillights may be updated. We wouldn't expect a radically different look, since the MKC already has a full-width taillight treatment. We also noticed that the wheels appear to be inspired by the cool turbine wheels of the Navigator. Whatever the other changes are, we'll probably see them soon. This is clearly just a refresh, and so there's a good chance we'll see the production model revealed by the end of the year, or early next year at the latest. Related Video:

Analysts warn Lincoln shouldn't follow Ford out of the sedan market

Lincoln looks set to mimic Ford's on-going shift away from sedans. The move makes sense on the surface, but analysts warn the luxury brand needs to keep some low-riding models in its portfolio. The company's current lineup includes two sedans, the MKZ and the Continental, plus five SUVs. The sedans aren't long for this world, according to The Detroit Free Press. The publication learned Ford's Hermosillo, Mexico, factory will stop manufacturing the MKZ in late 2020 or early 2021, and it pointed out UAW documents note Continental production will continue "through its product lifecycle." In other words, it's the last model on the Continental branch of the Lincoln family tree. These two nameplates represent 23.3 percent of Lincoln's annual sales so far in 2019, which is a surprising and respectable statistic. One in four cars the company sells is a sedan. The problem is that they accounted for 27.6 percent of the firm's sales in 2018, and that number will continue to fall in 2020 as customers flock towards crossovers and SUVs. And yet, exiting the sedan market isn't the right answer for a company that wants to re-establish its reputation as a luxury automaker. Eric Noble, the president of consulting firm CarLab, told The Detroit Free Press about 40 percent of American buyers in the market for a luxury car choose a sedan. The Chinese market — where Lincoln hopes to gain a secure foothold in the coming years — also has a healthy appetite for sedans. Going SUV-only is a strategy that might work well in the United States, but it doesn't suit Lincoln's ambitions. Germany's big three luxury brands all have a flagship sedan at the top of their range. We can't argue against sales data; the sedan market is shrinking. There are ways to keep buyers in the fold, however. The Continental is a stellar effort from the brand, and a solid foundation on which to build. Noble pointed out Lincoln could use the rear-wheel drive platform found under its Aviator and Ford's latest Explorer to build a four-door model with a fastback-like roof line in the vein of the Audi A7. It's a sleeker, sexier body style that tends to attract more buyers than a more conventional three-box sedan, which is often criticized as old-fashioned. Automakers can normally get away with charging a little bit more for these cars; the A7 is more expensive than the A6, for example. Electrification could be the Lincoln sedan's saving grace.