Rare Rides Icons: The Lincoln Mark Series Cars, Feeling Continental (Part XXXVIII)

After a review of the Lincoln Continental Mark VII’s completely revamped and modernized styling in our last entry, we’ll spend this today on its interior. As Lincoln attempted to draw a new, more youthful well-heeled customer base to the Mark, the PLC traditionalist of yore faded away. And said youthful customer - usually with an eye on European cars - was less interested in acres of faux wood panel, ruched velour, traditional instruments, and overstuffed button-tufted interiors.

As might be expected, the decrease in all exterior dimensions in the transition from Mark VI to VII was accompanied by a decrease in interior room as well. Most notable was the width: The interior folks at Lincoln had much less to work with on the Mark VII than its predecessors. There was only a slight decrease in the Mark’s width when it moved onto the Panther platform for 1980, as its 78.1 inches was close enough to the 79.7” of the Mark V. But the Fox was no full-size platform, and the modern new Mark VII spanned only 70.9 inches. 

Note: Information below pertains largely to trims other than the sporty LSC, which was devoid of wood decor.

A driver who entered the new Mark VII in 1984 found only remnant details of Marks gone by. Faced with a more modern two-spoke steering wheel, the four-spoke Panther design was binned. The wheel was sleeker and had a better implementation of wood trim on its lower half, a notable difference from the Mark VI’s wood-clad center wheel pad, and thin wood strip on the wheel rim. Worth noting, the Mark VI was the only Mark to use a four-spoke wheel.

The Mark VII’s dash was still a vertical affair but was less of a cliff face than the Mark VI's. With a sharply defined center console, there was a notable separation between driver and passenger in Mark VII. Lincoln’s interior design aimed for the “driver’s car” look with its new iteration, and followed the same driver and passenger separation theme that worked for the Thunderbird for many decades. 

There was a distinct absence of wood trim in front of the passenger, a first for any Mark generation. A tradition that remained was the small Mark VII badge, inlaid in gold into the dash. Other decorations for passenger viewing enjoyment included two rectangular vents. 

Digital gauges retained their basic three-binnacle design from before, with a fuel level indicator, speedometer, and odometer from left to right. Analog gauges were fitted on the sporty LSC model, but not until later in the run in 1986. The gauge binnacles themselves were smaller than before, more recessed, and looked a bit less formal.

Flanking the digital pods were vents, and a central warning light system that was smaller than on the Mark VI, and looked better integrated. New to Mark’s dash design was a second row of buttons and switches that contained things like lighting functions, the antenna control, and the electronic trip computer. Though such a computer was present in Mark VI, it had more functions in the VII and looked more at home.

We take an aside to a flight of Mark VII fancy now, as Lincoln also developed an advanced CRT-based control system for the coupe called COMTECH. According to the Ford press release, the CRT displayed driver information and allowed climate control adjustment. The car also had more advanced radio and graphic equalizer functions. Two new control pods attached to the wheel contained a total of 10 switches and allowed for fingertip control of common functions. Revised and more detailed gauges in the experimental car were LCD. Though COMTECH was announced in November of 1984, the system never saw production. 

In the production car, the area below the trip computer was occupied by the high-tech stereo with the requisite Eighties equalizer and the climate control system. The automatic transmission shifter was on the floor (a first) and leather-wrapped. The Mark traditionalist surely reached for a column shifter that was not there on more than one occasion. Another first was found just south of the shift gate, as the window and mirror switches migrated to the center console. 

Door panel design moved on from the conservative traditional look displayed in prior versions of the Mark: Wood trim shrank from the great slabs of the Mark VI to much more restrained usage. The wood decorated a door panel that featured the seat controls, and its forward edge mimicked the shape of the interior door pull. Said pull was now an integrated handle instead of a luggage strap style. The interior door handle was simplified as well, and made of metal. It had a distinct lack of chrome, wood trim, or lamps around it, and looked similar to an old straight razor.

Seats with an actual shape were a new thing for the Mark VII, as bolsters appeared, cushions became more shapely, and excessive strapping, buttoning, padding, ruching, and bedazzling went by the wayside. Buckets up front made the Mark VII a dedicated five-passenger vehicle for the first time. Likely the Fox platform’s aforementioned cozy interior dimensions were a factor in the permanent switch to bucket seats instead of a bench but said seat style was well on its way out by the Eighties. 

Rear seat passengers sat closer together than any previous Mark, and the middle seat was suitable only for children. Rear seat sculpting mimicked the bucket seats at the front and had similar stitching according to trim. All seats looked more serious and sporty regardless of the trim level selected, though LSC customers received much additional bolstering at the front. Given the standard center console, Lincoln’s engineers provided a new feature for rear seat Mark passengers: Vents!

Lincoln’s marketing material was keen to point out how the Mark VII had moved beyond the traditional, obviously a big change of pace for a model which courted only the traditionalists in past iterations. The copy implied that tradition was no longer enough, and luxury required more. 

Though the Mark VII looked forward in a big way, its profitable Designer Series trims returned for their last outing. Though they were consolidated further than before, the headline of trim of the day was actually the sporty variant called LSC. We’ll pick up there next time. 

[Images: Ford]

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