We were cruising with the family when we spotted this refrigerator white 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV for sale on the side of the road. We can’t remember the last time we have seen one of these, so it really caught our eye. This car definitely falls under the heading, “looks cool, is slow as molasses.”
The bottom fell out of the Detroit horsepower war at the end of the 1971 model year. The mighty 460ci engine that powered the 1971 Mark III was rated at 365 hp. The optional “high performance” version of the 460 in the 1972 Mark IV was rated at 224 hp. What’s even sadder is that the coupe weighed in at a porcine 4,792 pounds. For the record, that’s 500 pounds more than the new fatty Dodge Challenger.
The Mark IV was a sales hit in 1972 with 48,591 moving out of showrooms, and we’re sure that it was mega-luxo for the era. Optional equipment included stuff like six-way power seats, an automatic headlight dimmer, “Moondust” metallic paint, and the “Sure Track” braking system.
Back to our original thought. How many of the nearly 50,000 of these are still around? We’d venture to say not many because we’re pretty sure this is the first “Mark” of this era we’ve seen in about 20 years.
For the record, we really love the styling of this car and it would be beyond bitchin’ to take the 460 in the car and attack it with parts from the Ford Racing catalog. Aluminum heads, rumpity large cam, headers, rear gears, and stripping loads of weight would make this an awesome sleeper.
