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2015 Lincoln MKC

Back in 2012, Lincoln claimed its comeback bid was finally underway with the new-for-2013 MKZ. But don't you believe them - the renaissance won't actually begin in earnest until the shapely compact crossover seen here reaches showrooms in big numbers. That's because while the four-door MKZ was indeed a proper step toward rebirth, the 2015 MKC is the first wholly conceived vehicle under Lincoln as a standalone brand, a move first announced back in 2012.
That's an important distinction, because Lincoln's newfound emancipation from Ford's design and development processes has given the struggling marque both the corporate wherewithal and the will to develop a more fully formed product. The four-wheeled result seen here is a surprisingly cohesive luxury CUV, one with significantly more aesthetic and dynamic separation from its Ford Escape sibling than the MKZ and its Fusion counterpart. Said another way, after flogging Lincoln's latest for hundreds of miles over canyon roads outside of Santa Barbara, we've come to understand that this is far from a re-grilled Dearborn special with luxury tinsel - it's a bona fide standalone product that readily displays the sort of clear differentiation seen in platform cousins like the Audi Q5 and the Volkswagen Tiguan. It's the real deal.

Junkyard Gem: 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII

Except for a pause during the 1960s, the Lincoln Mark Series of personal luxury cars stayed in production from the 1956 through 1998 model years. These were big, swanky machines loaded with the latest in gadgetry and — other than the handful of 1984-1985 Mark VIIs with BMW diesel linline-sixes — they cruised with great opulence on American highways courtesy of powerful V8 engines. The very last generation of the series, the Mark VIII, boasted a spaceship-style interior, slick body lines, and a sophisticated dual-overhead-cam version of Ford's Modular V8 engine. Here's a 1995 in Deep Jewel Green Metallic paint, photographed in a Colorado self-service yard. I've documented examples of the Lincoln Mark II through Mark VI while performing my car-graveyard studies, and the Mark VIII's distinctive wraparound cockpit makes most of its predecessors look cheap and stodgy by comparison.  The four-valves-per-cylinder version of Ford's rugged 4.6-liter Modular V8 made 280 horsepower in the Mark VIII, just two fewer horses than the V8 in BMW's 840Ci coupe that year. The Mercedes-Benz S500 coupe had a 315-hp V8 that year, while the Lexus SC 400's V8 made a mere 250 horsepower. The BMW cost $69,900, the Mercedes-Benz had a $91,900 price tag, and the SC 400 went for $47,500 — the Mark VIII could be purchased for just $38,800 that year. That's about $66,300 in 2019 dollars. Of course, the Cadillac Eldorado coupe was the real competition for the Mark VIII in 1995, and the unfortunately-named ETC (Eldorado Touring Coupe) came with a 300-horse DOHC Northstar V8 (admittedly, driving the front wheels) and a dignified wood-trimmed interior. At $41,535, though, the Cadillac had a higher base price than the Lincoln. I think this one was pretty clean, prior to getting banged up in the junkyard, and 140,905 miles seems low for a flagship Ford of the era. Perhaps it got too many unpaid parking tickets, or maybe that complex DOHC engine developed some expensive problem. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Tempted? Featured Gallery Junked 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII View 17 Photos Auto News Lincoln Automotive History

2004 Lincoln Mark X concept car goes to auction

Twenty years ago, retro design was arguably at its apex (though it's really never gone away, either here or in other markets). And apparently Ford and Lincoln were considering a way to offer even more retro two-door goodness out of the Thunderbird, which was a couple years old in 2004. The result was the Lincoln Mark X concept car, which is pretty much a rebadged Thunderbird with a couple of unique features. It never went into production, but if you really had your heart set on it, this is your chance to make the sole example your own. At a glance, you might not notice the Thunderbird connection, especially with the top down. The Mark X leans heavily on the '60s Continentals with its wide chrome grille and subtle integrated headlights. It also features the distinct chrome trim that runs along each edge of the car from the headlights all the way back to the tailpipes. It also features slender, wide rear taillights, and a dramatically sloping rear fascia with a sharp edge where the tailpipes lurk. The Mark X also has the party piece of the then-trendy power retractable hardtop. It even had glass panels in the roof, kind of like the later VW Eos. But look a little longer, and you can see the similarities. The proportions, and especially the hardpoints around the doors and windshield, are pretty clearly straight off the Thunderbird. And as contemporary reporting showed, everything mechanical in the vehicle was the same as the Thunderbird, from the powertrain to the suspension. It gets the same 280-horsepower 3.9-liter V8 and five-speed automatic as the T-Bird, along with rear-wheel drive. The interior is much more of a departure from the T-Bird, though. It has the retro dual cowl dashboard that would later appear in other Lincoln products including the Zephyr, Navigator, Aviator and MKX. The MKX of course was actually a Ford Edge-derived, front-drive-based SUV, and so hardly related to this Mark X concept, but it did at least have a similar Continental-style grille when it launched. To a certain extent, it's a little bit surprising the Mark X didn't get a green light for production. Since all the mechanical bits were already in production, and not just in the Thunderbird. The platform, called DEW98, was a unique rear-drive platform with fully independent suspension that was used in the Ford Thunderbird, Lincoln LS sedan and Jaguars S-Type and XF. They all were offered with the same 3.9-liter V8, too, with V6 variants of the LS and Jaguars.