Mark It Eight: 1997 Lincoln Mk VIII
The Lincoln Mk VII featured earlier this week was a nice low mile example of a luxury sports coupe, but the simple fact remains that you can get a newer Lincoln sport coupe for about the same price. The question is, did Lincoln get better with time, or do they get better with age? Find this 1997 Lincoln Mk VIII offered for $3,400 in Royal Oak, MI via craigslist. Tip from Don.
The Lincoln Mk VIII ditched the Fox-chassis it borrowed from the Mustang for the Mk VII and now rode on a more sophisticated chassis that was meant to help it compete with the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. It now lived on the Ford FN10 chassis and had independent rear suspension, and a radical design from the concept known as Stretch I/II by designer Kyu Kim.
Under the hood is a Lincoln InTech V8…which was some kind of marketing double-speak for the DOHC version of the Ford’s Modular 4.6 V8. Expect the 280 horsepower and 285 ft-lbs of torque to be adequate for a 3700 lb luxury coupe with a slushbox. After all, this isn’t a sports car…or an M3.
See another big luxury car offered for the price of a transmission overhaul? tips@dailyturismo.com
"1997 Lincoln Mk VIII"…"sport coupe"; you're baiting me, right? Har har, so funny but looks aren't everything.
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Are you sure about that faster part? Off the top of my head, I can think of a certain Volvo station wagon that's quicker 0-60.
It still doesn't make it a sport coupe, either.
"After all, this isn't a sports car…or an M3."
Rene, I'm NOT making fun of you or trying to bait you into anything but in hindsight, do you feel like your comment was shark chum? 😉
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It was implied as "let's discuss" and "debate" to keep it interesting. Not shark bait or trolling .
We had a technician that lived in Nogales, Arizona and worked at our Mexico plant. When I went to the plant he would drink a bit much in the evenings and always had me drive his Mark VIII. As I would say it really got with the program.
+1 then, Rene.
Here is a video that shows the high speed suspension lowering.
youtube.com/watch?v=gKxIR4ajgVg
I believe you are correct and that's why I never bought one. Many that I looked at had a failed system or had already been converted at what I thought of as considerable cost and drove what the seller thought was a decent ask too high for me. Another thing that scared me away, if I remember correctly, were headlights made out of unobtanium.
I liked them and still do but they're hard to justify in comparison to too many competitors, in my book.
Last one that I looked at had that collapsed suspension and the guy couldn't give the car away.
I don't know if they have the same problems but I'd probably be more interested in the supercharged Super Coupe. I don't think they have the overly complex suspension….?
CNN debate…. From my information in 1997 the Lincoln Mark VIII did 0~60 in 7.5 seconds and the 1/4 mile in 14.7 seconds. 157 mph unregulated. That made it faster than every Volvo, every VW, every Saab, every Mazda, every Honda, every Lexus, every Infinity, every Mitsubishi, and the list goes on. Also the most aerodynamic.
That is slower than a Saab 9000 Aero, for sure. And I'd never bet on beating a Lexus SC400.
It would be a long, hard pull to get one of these to 157mph even if it could get there, which I'm betting it couldn't because the long one-piece driveshaft would come apart. I thought these were all speed-limited to 130mph.
Since flaming seems to be the chosen option over discussion lately, let me just say; I don't care. If this FN10 is a sport coupe to you, fantastic. So be it. Great.
Stop reading now if you're the typical American adult male.
I would consider our recent two-door M3 to be a sport coupe however, in case you were wondering. Which I know you weren't.
And because you didn't ask, I'll tell you what I think the FN10 is; it's a luxury coupe. It just screams it, from every nook and cranny of its design; just like MN12 cousins the flew the coop T-bird and hot older mama Cougar.
Such fun!
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K2, this is the kind of discussion that keeps me awake at night. Okay. What is the difference between a sport coupe and a luxury coupe? Luxury or sport? Are they direct tradeoffs? No, because with technology you can march the sportiness up while keeping luxury, like the CTS-V Coupe. 556 horsepower and a billionty ft-lbs of torque later you have a car that is faster than an E46 M3 but more luxurious. More sporty…nah. Where am I going with this? Okay, here is where I lay it down. The difference between a sport coupe and a luxury coupe has nothing to do with how the car actually drives or how supple the corithian leather is but more to do with how the original OEM tried to market it. Mk VII = luxury coupe and T-Bird = sport coupe…but blindfolded you couldn't tell which was which…at least until the airbag blows the blindfold off.
Buh-bam! El Jefe lays it down…and yet I'm still confused. Doesn't the copy imply that the featured car is a sport coupe? Okay, I'm confused.
First off, it reads "The Lincoln Mk VII featured earlier this week was a nice low mile example of a luxury sports coupe, but the simple fact remains that you can get a newer Lincoln sport coupe for about the same price." Which leads me to think that you're saying the car is a sport coupe.
You do follow that up with, "Expect the 280 horsepower and 285 ft-lbs of torque to be adequate for a 3700 lb luxury coupe with a slushbox." Okay, now it's a luxury coupe. I'm with you now.
And then the little green man inside my head read, "After all, this isn't a sports car…or an M3." And I'm again witcha', as the homies say.
But it wraps up with "See another big luxury car offered for the price of a transmission overhaul?"
I am so confused at this point. Just don't ask me to write it better; I couldn't, I'm sure.
You get street cred for confusing me to such an extent that I'm now arguing with myself and preemptively trying to avoid a flame war. Where is KBZ with a fun story about Socrates when I need him to distract me? That guy is slacking, I'm telling you.
Here is shark bait with some chum ��
If I recall the Mark VIII had a variable air bag suspension. When you reached higher speeds the car dropped a couple of inches. Now that is serious go-fast Detroit goodness. It also had Indepedent rear suspension and large dics all around.
I believe you have the basis for a very interesting article there, El Jefe. Time and technology advances have certainly blurred the lines. Pick up your quill and ink and get to the writing!
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El Jefe, if deciphering the difference between a luxury versus a sport coupe causes you to look up insomnia on WebMD, does this give you the runs?
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yuck – that MB looks like a BM after constipation – I don't understand Mercedes anymore
I think you might have left a W off that word BM, KBZ. But I knew what you meant!
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Nope, I literally figuratively meant it looks like a Baby Ruth. The striking similarity to that BMW is not a plus neither.
Did you literally figuratively mean it?
verily, i literally figuratively opined said vehicle invokes a veritable doody – also, i don't like it
What a piece of doody is that car!
How lumpy in profile, how clunky in detail!
In form and moving how gloppy and bulgy!
In action how like an Aztek!
in apprehension how like a glob!
The ugly of the world!
The nadir of animals!
And yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
MB delights not me;
no, nor BMW neither;
though by your smiling you seem to say so.
Is that a quote from Socrates?
Shakespeare, Einstein 😉
Did you know Einstein never took drugs but he loved playing music at parties? Yes, he always MC'ed square.
Socrates drove a Scirocco.
One problem with these is that they are significantly more complex cars than the Mk VII, your Fox-wrench won't be very adept at working on it, and Fox parts won't fit either – and like so many limited-production Fords, parts availability on these things is HORRIBLE.
Not a Ford guy but like this model till i drove one, my Mom had a T-bird and it drove the same not bad but not great and yes they share alot under the skin.
The one i drove was a Dog but it was on a used car lot so who know's about history maybe a few gun shots…..lol
youtu.be/Y2PyJrYVl2c