The Ford Motor Company had literal and figurative big brake shoes to fill when they introduced their downsized Continental Mark VI for 1980. The "VI", like the 1980 above I found on Facebook Marketplace, replaced, the 1977 to 1979 Mark V, the largest and best-selling Mark of all time.
Contemporary road test reviewers weren't enthralled with the new "little-big-car", which, at 216-inches long, 78-inches wide and weighing more than 4,200-pounds, wasn't "small". They did note improvements in handling, braking and packaging, though. They also noted that the VI had as much cabin and trunk space as the V despite being more than a foot shorter, two-inches narrower and being 800-pounds less heavy. Despite the damning with faint praise accolades, and designers following marching orders making sure the VI had every ersatz and baroque bauble and bit the V had, sales of VI in 1980 were approximately half of that of the 1979 Mark V.
So, why did the Continental VI sales implode? It wasn't because the car wasn't as big as the V; we need only to look at the 1976 Cadillac Seville and 1979 Cadillac Eldorado for proof that size only matters so much to luxury car buyers; if the design has the je ne sais quos well-heeled buyers crave, regardless of the size of the vehicle, build it and they will buy it. The problem with the VI is that it looked like a "wannabee" or facsimile of a Mark V as opposed to being its own unique design.
Say what you will GM hatahs, but the 1979-1985 Cadillac Eldorado looked nothing like the brutes it replaced, and it was the best-selling Eldorado of all time. The relatively diminutive 1976 to 1979 Seville was a watershed of sedan design as well while having little in common with any Cadillac before it. Although you can't argue with their logic, The Ford Motor Company tried to take the "easy way out" and got their trunk hump caught in the trunk lid.
In a vacuum, though, and this is an easier pill to swallow all these years later, the Mark VI isn't a bad looking car; this one for sale outside Detroit with an asking price of $6,000. Seems a grand or two north of what I'd hit up my ATM for, but you do get a pretty clean VI that's got some interesting easter eggs hidden in it.
The aftermarket, speed-o-meter blocking, steering column mounted tachometer and full, Autozone-equse gauges tell us something may be stirring under this car's gigantic hood. Seems I didn't snag the only engine picture in the posting (the car has been sold), but it showed the engine this car came from the factory with, either a Ford throttle-body, fuel-injected 302-cubic inch V-8 or 351-cubic inch engine with a "variable-venturi". 2-barrel carburetor. was tossed for the "low-output" version of Ford's 1986 circa, port-fuel injection "5.0" V-8. Big deal, right?
Poster of the ad claims the engine has Brodix 171cc heads, those are not cheap, Ford Racing lifters, Manley pushrods, JP Performance timing chain and, oh yeah, a 125-horsepower, "cold fusion" wet nitrous kit. Talk about a literal hot-rod Lincoln.
Not sure why someone would do all that, I wouldn't but I bet this car goes like stink in a straight line. I'd have gone the late 1980's, junkyard Ford Mustang GT "5-Point-Oh" route to make this a "Hot Rod Lincoln" but that's just me.
Fun facts, all Marks through 1985 cars were technically not "Lincolns" but rather "Continental's". From 1986 through 1999, the "Continental" nameplate was dropped, the then current Continental Mark VII became the "Lincoln Mark VII". Subsequently, the 1993-1999 Mark VIII was the Lincoln Mark VIII. Yes, there was a Continental Mark VI four-door sedan that rode on a three-inch longer wheelbase and was 219-inches long.
Sales never improved through the VI's truncated production run through 1983. The 1983-1992 Mark VII didn't either for that matter. Same for the 1994-1999 Mark VIII.
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