Lincoln Continental Mark IV

The Continental Mark IV is a personal luxury car that was marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from the 1972 to 1976 model years. The third generation of the Mark series, the Mark IV grew in size over its Continental Mark III predecessor. As with the previous generation, the Mark IV saw little direct competition in the American marketplace, competing nearly exclusively against the Cadillac Eldorado (redesigned for 1971).

As with the Mark III, the Mark IV shared its chassis with the Ford Thunderbird, with the Mark IV receiving its own bodywork below the windows. Hidden headlights made their return, along with a radiator-style grille, and a Continental spare tire trunklid. For 1976, the Designer Series option package was introduced; in what would become a tradition for the Mark series (and later Lincoln), the option consisted of specially coordinated exterior and interior trims developed between Lincoln and contemporary fashion designers.

Ford assembled the Continental Mark IV at its Wixom Assembly Plant (Wixom, Michigan) facility alongside the Ford Thunderbird and the Lincoln Continental. For 1977, the Mark IV underwent a substantial revision, becoming the Continental Mark V.

Design
With designers again using sharp-edged fenders, hidden headlamps, and a tall radiator-style grille, the Continental Mark IV retained the traditional "long-hood, short deck" coupe proportions of the Mark III along with its faux spare tire trunk lid, marketed as a "Continental" decklid. The spare tire was in fact stored immediately behind the rear seat.

The Mark IV and Ford Thunderbird were closely badge engineered variants of each other, with an increased parts commonality compared to their previous generations. The roofline, doors, and inner body panels were shared, with different outer body panels below the roofline.

In 1973, the Mark IV received revised front bodywork, necessitated by the addition of 5-mph bumpers. For 1974, a 5-mph bumper was added to the rear body work, moving the taillights from the bumper into the rear bodywork.

All Mark IVs were equipped with a vinyl roof. The Mark IV introduced a rear side window, marketed as an opera window, to the Mark series &mdash; a feature that was featured on the Mark through the discontinuation of the Mark VI after 1983. For 1972, the opera window was an almost universally specified option, becoming standard for 1973.

Mechanical specification
All Mark IVs were equipped with the 460 cuin-4V Ford 385 series V8 (with two valves per cylinder, "4V" is in reference to the four-venturi Autolite carburetor). Rated at 365 hp in the Mark III, the 460 was carried over to the Mark IV. For 1972, rated output underwent a numeric decrease to 212 hp SAE net. In order to comply with changing EPA emissions regulations, Ford was required to decrease the compression ratio of the engine. The same year, American auto manufacturers adopted SAE net horsepower as its standard of measuring engine output, to better reflect real-world engine performance (as installed in vehicles). All examples of the Mark IV were equipped with a Ford C6 three-speed automatic transmission.

A feature retained from the Mark III was the "Sure-track" brakes. Both front seats were power adjustable.

Performance was not quite competitive with contemporary premium personal luxury cars. However, no other "personal luxury" models were six-passenger vehicles, except the Cadillac Eldorado.

Designer Series
For 1976, Lincoln-Mercury introduced optional appearance packages, marketed as the "Designer Series." in four variations, in consultation with notable fashion designers (Bill Blass, Cartier, Givenchy, and Pucci). Each package featured an individually coordinated exterior and interior color combination with specific trim and interior fabrics. The opera window was fitted with the signature of the corresponding designer, and the dash was fitted with a 22-karat gold-plated dashboard plaque, which could be engraved with the name of the original owner.

Sales and pricing
A total of 278,599 Mark IV's were produced: