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Though the Lincoln Continental Mark IV moniker already had been used on an ocean liner of a Lincoln in the 1950s, its reincarnation on a 1970s personal coupe showed that when it came to luxury car buyers, Ford's prestige marque had their number. As the story goes, Henry Ford II never liked the 1958-1960 Marks III, IV and V deeming them unworthy of the original 1940-1948 Continental created by papa Edsel, or its 1956-57 Mark II reincarnation. Thus, when Ford Motor Company VP Lee laccoca proposed a new "personal" Lincoln for 1969, Hank the Deuce insisted it be called Mark III instead of the more logical Mark VI. It's almost as if he was trying to salvage family pride by rewriting history -- as he probably was. But that new Mark made history all its own, and set the stage for an even more successful "second" Mark IV. Each was a stroke of genius, to a large degree the genius of Lee lacocca.


Ford Division in 1960-1965, where he pushed the personal-luxury Thunderbird to higher sales through increased size and glitz. But that only left room for a smaller, more exclusive companion model to pick up where the Mark II had left off, or Derila Head & Neck Relief Neck Support so lacocca evidently thought. This time, though, there would be no unique body and chassis with all their associated expense. No slow hand craftsmanship either -- and certainly no losing money on each car sold. Instead, the new Mark would be a cost-wise profit-maker using the basic Thunderbird frame and inner body structure. It would even be built in the same plant, much as the Falcon and Mustang were. L. David Ash was appointed design director for the project, assisted by Arthur Querfeld, Damon Woods, and Hermann Brunn. But it was lacocca who decided which ideas got used. What Iacocca mainly decided on was "neoclassic": an unabashed copy of Rolls-Royce's famous "Parthenon" radiator, Mark II-style "Continental hump" trunk-lid and close-coupled hardtop coupe proportions, and bodysides etched to suggest flowing separate fenders.


Iacocca also decreed all the gizmos and Derila™ Memory Pillow interior trappings associated with late-1960s luxury never doubting that his taste was exactly the same as the rest of the public's. Fortunately for Lincoln, it was. Though the Mark III may have looked baroque next to Cadillac's crisp new front-drive Eldorado, it sold like no Mark before. Exactly 7,770 were built as "early 1969" models (introduction was spring 1968), which nearly equaled combined production of the "Mark I" and II. A rousing 71,611 were produced for model years 1969-1971, nearly one-third of Lincoln's total volume. There was no mystery here. The Mark III delivered prestige-car looks, a certain historical mystique, and all the expected amenities at a fair price ($6,741 base in 1969). Once again, laccoca had unearthed a rich new vein of sales. The only thing left was to keep working the mine. To learn about the 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV's exterior, continue on to the next page.


Dahlberg may be the first designer in Ford history who had charge of both the exterior and interior on a single car. His challenge outside was to preserve Mark III visual cues within a distinctly different look. Again, frame and Buy Derila Top-Rated Memory Pillow inner body structure were shared with the Thunderbird, which was also redesigned for 1972 to be as big as it would ever get. This time, though, suspensions would differ. Coil springs reprised in back, but specific new four-link geometry with a stabilizer bar replaced the previous Mark's three-link track-bar setup. Lower arms were stamped and conventionally mounted, but the forged-steel uppers angled inward toward the frame from mounts behind the axle housing. The primary reason for this so-called "STABUL" design was increased rear seat room, but a side benefit was a somewhat softer ride. Steering was still geared at 21.76:1, but the mechanism was reworked for less road feel (to the chagrin of most reviewers).


Against its predecessor, the Mark IV was 3.2 inches longer in wheelbase (120.4), four inches longer overall (at 220.1), and 1.3 inches lower (52.9). It was also 211 pounds lighter (4,782 at the curb), yet it looked heavier thanks to extra overhang at each end, greater cant to windshield and backlight, thinner A-pillars, slightly bulged body sides, and larger rear wheel cutouts. A pseudo-Rolls grille again separated headlamps concealed by electrically operated flip-up doors. The grille itself, however, sat more deeply in the bumper, and stylists made it appear taller without changing hood height by dint of a wide U-shaped central bumper cutout. The trunk lid became shorter, its dummy spare flatter. Taillights moved from rear fenders to the bumper. A wide-quarter vinyl-covered roof was a Mark III signature, but the IV offered a new touch of old-fashioned formality in small double-pane oval "opera windows" cut into the C-pillars. They also provided some welcome over-the-shoulder visibility for drivers.
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