1977 Lincoln Mark V Base Coupe 2-door 7.5l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car

Just before Ford downsized the Continental for 1980 and made the Town Car a separate model for 1981, the biggest and plushest new sedan in the Dearborn universe was the mighty Continental Town Car. Here's one from 1978, the second-to-last model year of the two-and-a-half-ton Continental Town Car, found in nice condition in a Denver car graveyard last month. This car rolled out of the Lincoln showroom loaded, with the landau-style "Coach Roof" and just about every additional option. Base price on the 1978 Continental with the Town Car package started at $11,606 (about $48,350 in 2020 dollars), but this car cost much more than that. A new Mercedes-Benz S-Class cost better than twice as much that year (and it was worth it), but you still had to be a heavy-duty high-roller to buy a new '78 Town Car. The base engine in the 1978 Continental was a 400-cubic-inch (6.6-liter) V8 making a grim 166 horsepower, a truly horrific ratio of 25.2 horsepower per liter of displacement (torque came to a respectable 319 lb-ft, though). If the new Navigator got 25.2 horses for each liter in its turbo V6, it would have a mere 88 horsepower to haul its nearly three tons, rather than the 450 horses that 21st-century engine technology gives us. The good news with this car is that it came with the optional 460-cubic-inch (7.5-liter) V8, rated at 210 horsepower and 357 lb-ft. That was sufficient to get this car's 4,660 pounds moving well enough. Still just 28 horses per liter, but a significant upgrade. These cars weren't about performance, however. They were about a silent, cushy ride and poofy seats that swallowed you in velour comfort. When did Detroit stop making these pillow-top seats? And opera lights? And snazzy "coffin-handle" door pulls? Yes, even the wire wheels (a $333 option, or $1,385 today) stayed on this car to the very end. Why get a Rolls-Royce when you could have this, the grille of this behemoth seems to ask us. Though it remained in good condition when it arrived in its final parking space, a Malaise Era Continental sedan just isn't worth much in the enthusiast world. Even a 1978 Mark V in nice shape would be hard-pressed to find a forever home nowadays. At least it had a chance to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts before the end. In what came to look like a very smart move by Ford, in light of certain geopolitical events in 1979, the Panther-based 1980 Continentals weighed nearly a half-ton less than this car.

Lincoln MKC recalled because start button located too close to touchscreen [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker responded to our questions and let us know that the fix for the push-button start on the 2015 MKC has the switch moved to the top of the of the column of gear shift buttons instead of the bottom. Owners should be notified about both campaigns "toward the end of February." After massive campaigns from General Motors and to fix Takata airbag inflators, 2014 will undoubtedly go down as The Year Of The Recall. And with little time to spare, Ford is getting in just under the wire to adding two more to its yearly total. The larger of the campaigns is actually one of the most bizarre campaigns we've heard of all year. Lincoln is recalling 13,574 units of its 2015 MKC compact crossover in North America to move the location of the push-button ignition switch on the dashboard. According to the automaker's announcement: "Due to the switch's close proximity to other controls, occupants are inadvertently shutting off the engine while driving." The button is located near the bottom of the touchscreen, which can apparently make it possible to hit by mistake. Back when Autoblog first drove the new MKC in June, we came away very impressed, but noted: "... we're still not completely sold on the aforementioned pushbutton transmission selector ... it still seems somewhat gimmicky and it can't be operated by feel alone, as you might when shifting a traditional console-mounted lever from Park to Drive." According to Lincoln, there have been no reported accidents or injuries stemming from this button misapplication. Of the affected vehicles, there are 11,144 in the US, 2,033 in Canada and 397 in Mexico. To fix the problem, dealers are moving the button to a different location and reprogramming the powertrain control module. According to Automotive News, models built since September already have a different layout. The change was reportedly done to match the rest of the Lincoln lineup. The second recall covers 12,205 units of the 2014 Ford Escape (2015 model year pictured below) and 2015 Lincoln MKC in North America because of a problem with nickel plating on the fuel pump. The issue can cause the pump to seize, which can cause the crossovers not to start or stall while driving. The automaker is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this fault. Dealers are replacing the fuel deliver module to fix the situation. Of the affected vehicles, there are 9,038 in the US, 3,074 in Canada and 93 in Mexico.

2015 Lincoln Navigator gets lots of updates, still not all-new [w/video]

If there's one brand that could really use some fresh, all-new product, it's Lincoln. The MKC crossover is on the way and looks promising, but the just-revealed 2015 model year update of its fullsize Navigator would appear to stop somewhere short of being "all-new." This, despite replacing a product that's been on the market since 2007. Oh sure, there's a brash new face, complete with the company's love or hate split-wing grille, and the revised rear-end treatment does look better to our eyes (if overly familiar). But in the era of the bold new all-aluminum Ford F-150, the Navigator is still based on the outgoing model's all-steel bones, so it's more of an extensive mid-cycle refresh than a completely new piece.
Unlike the F-150, there's no aluminum suit on this black-tie bruiser
That's a shame, really, because the class the Navigator is playing in features a host of really modern, stylish, luxurious crossovers and sport utilities like the Cadillac Escalade, Land Rover Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and more. Unlike the F-150, there's no aluminum suit on this black-tie bruiser, but that's not to say it isn't bringing some new tech to the table in 2015. Under the hood, for example, is Ford's well-received 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6, putting out "at least" 370 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. That's a solid engine, and should be a whole lot more spunky and efficient than the archaic 5.4-liter Triton V8 currently being employed in the outgoing model.