1976 was a fun time to visit your Lincoln dealership as four appearance package options were first introduced on the Mark IV during the bicentennial year, each named after a well-known fashion designer and featuring a specific exterior and interior color combination, an option that continued to be available on the redesigned Mark V in 1977. But I think the seller has mistaken his 1976 Mark IV here on Craigslist as a designer series model, even though it is a rare color and is claimed to be a very low mileage example. You’ll need to head over to Independence, Ohio to check this one out and bring $7,000 in cash if you intend to take it home.
We’d like to thank Barn Finds reader Bruce Fornier for finding this one and bringing it to our attention! For customers wanting to purchase a more artsy Mark IV in 1976, the designer choices included creations named after Cartier, Pucci, Givenchy, and Bill Blass, the last one being what the seller believes he has for sale. But the Blass car featured a Dark Blue paint job outside along with a blue interior plus a Cream vinyl top, so that’s not adding up here.
Instead, what I believe we are seeing before us is the uncommon Rose Diamond Fire paint, an exclusive Lincoln color if I remember correctly, and it’s perhaps a Red & Rose luxury group-equipped example. The seller says everything is original so I’m assuming that includes the finish, and while the paint’s not quite perfectly uniform the car still looks reasonably good outside, which I’m sure spending lots of time in a garage over the years as mentioned has certainly helped maintain.
Inside, the seats are sporting a red and rose combination, and from what I can tell they’re still holding up nicely. The owner claims his Lincoln has just 17,000 original miles on the odometer, and with the interior this nicely preserved he may be right. The red carpeting still appears to be in decent shape and the trunk is also covered in the same material.
Only one engine was available in the ’76 Mark IV, but that’s OK when it’s a 460 V8 and if the stated mileage is correct there’s probably plenty of life to still be had out of this one. Another detail here is this car’s been available for a total of 19 weeks now, so if you’re ready to bring the seller a serious offer he might be prepared to listen. What are your thoughts on this 1976 Lincoln Mark IV and its unusual Rose Diamond Fire color?
This could be a special edition? Definitely not a Designer Series. Interior color combo is unique. If accurately described and in as good condition as it appears, it Definitely hits the MARK 😉 for the price. But the color may be the reason for reluctance from potential buyers. It’s a stand out. You won’t see another anytime soon!👍
Is that a spare oil filter attached to the air cleaner?
no…silencer …quiets the WaaAAAAA down when u floor it
Well that’s the first thing to go. Seriously, this car is like twenty minutes away from me. I’m sorely tempted but that color is just a bit much.
I’m close to this car, too. But, you’re right. I can’t do pink. The wife says “paint it,” but then it’s close to $20k. LOL
Fred, actually it is a vacuum modulator. When you would stick your foot in it the increasing intake vacuum created in the intake manifold would open a port at the base of the (looks like) oil filter canister physically making more air volume with in the whole air cleaner housing.
In actually it truly is a empty oil filter container. Another one of Fords “Bright Ideas”. Guess it was just the right size.
My dad had 4 of these cars through out his life time. I got to do a lot of the service work on each one. They were all boats that rode like a cloud. Wonderful long distance highway car.
I would love to be in the position to buy this car.
FRAM pt# PH8 😉
This is a Mary Kay car. The owner of M.K. cosmetics ordered special run cars that she gave to her regional sales managers every year.
Sooo…if you plan on owning one you will have to dye your hair blonde and wear pant suits that are two sizes too small.
Oh man, I’m getting lost down memory lane on this one.
Gotta go.
Leavin on the Midnight train to Georgia? I’d rather drive in this MARK than a Navigator any time! I got to go! I got to go! I got to go! Glad as KNIGHT! 😮 😉 😜
Lincoln and Mary KAY HAVE A LONG history and. It’s probably a sales manager car!
They did? I thought Mary Kay reps drove pink Cadillac Coupe Devilles. Well that’s all I’ve ever seen them drive. This car is more of a dark rose- but it could substitute for pink I guess.
As did I Kevin. I recall this color or facsimile of on cadillacs in the early 1960s . Of course there were all varieties of pastel colors.
This is not a Mary Kay car. It was ordered with the Red Rose Luxury Group.
No…its a luxury group option. Lincoln did the lipstick group which was lipstick red and white, the jade group which was dark and light jade green, a beige and brown and also this burgundy and rose pairing.
In real life this is not pink and a very pleasing match.
This looks like a stock Mark IV color – #2832 Rose Crystal – if you look at the paint chips in this link.
https://www.amazon.com/LINCOLN-Continental-Pantera-Thunderbird-Colors/dp/B003IF3HWC
I’ve developed an appreciation for the big luxury coupes of this era, for all the reasons most people don’t like them: over-the-top styling, lousy space utilization, choked engines, big bumpers, numb steering, et al. But they for sure were a product of their times, and did certain things well (like cruising the interstates). And I like them even more when they are odd colors, which certainly describes this Mark. Its two-tone interior is particularly striking (or maybe, strange). All for a mere $7000.
Right on Bob✌ I dig these BIG old Coupes also! I’m also a fan of the odd/rare colors. My Mamaw had a ’73 Ford Galaxie in this Color or CLOSE to it and she WAS NOT a Mary Kay Rep! It was called Rose Mist, I think? This is the BARGAIN MARK of the last few months imo! We’ve seen some beauties too, but others were priced higher than this UNIQUE old Lincoln. As the sayin goes, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and my eye sees it too! If only it had a MOONROOF 🤔 GLWTS
I remember them as the same color of Pepto Bismol. : )
Oh, Rex, Bee Hive yourself! 😉
These cars are uniquely American, that is what draws Me to them! I remember when WE ( America) set the standard for the auto world! I remember seeing Mercedes from the early 70s with White Sidewalls and Vinal tops! They were copying US! Now ,we copy them ( and not very well) We need to get our MOJO back and set world standards again!!
The trunk looks a little different shade than the rear fenders. Do my eyes deceive me? It’s been Z Barted also which is a good thing.
Frog, this color was extraordinarily heavy in metal flake and it really didn’t like “hot” sunlight. Unless it’s been wrecked and repainted it is probably sun fade. This was a one step polyurethane paint. It was also subject to chalking on the surface. Really pretty good looking paint when new.
I’m seeing a real estate agent with a beehive hairdo named Phyllis.
Rex, funny you say that. I dated a lady that was a regional sales representative for Mary Kay AND also sold real estate in the Seattle area. She drove one of these cars.
Have to say I enjoyed her considerably more than I did the car. Of course I was driving a Porsche.
A PORSCHE? 😔. Well at least it’s not a SAAB 🤮 story! Once heard of a guy who bought two PORCHES. Parked one in front of house and one behind. Bragged and having front and back PORCHES! Sometimes I just can’t help myself!
Oh Rex. Bee Hive yourself! 😉
I dig your sense of humor…reminds me of a good friend I met in the USAF.
Keep it up!
A Mary Kay pink would make sense. I guess Ford designers could not do a whole interior in that shade of pink and made a two-tone red/pink. If you are going to go large, go all the way – with pink paint. With 17k miles I wonder if it is wearing its original tires, which would be a good indicator that it is not 117k. I have seen several of these cars that were well cared for that had rolled over 100k and you could not tell by looking. While a lot of work, the stretch of the timing chain would give you a good sense of the real mileage.
from the mary K archives:Mary Kay’s (Mary Kay Ash) first Cadillacs. In 1967, with her company four years old, she set out to buy Lincoln Continentals for herself and three of her managers. When she went to the Lincoln dealership in Dallas, she was told, “Little lady, go home and get your husband”. Frank Kent Cadillac in Fort Worth was more accommodating. She ordered four 1968 Cadillac Sedan de Villes. They were able to get GM to resurrect the paint color “Mountain Laurel” (pink) that had been discontinued for a decade. Since 1968, thousands of pink Cadillacs have been given away. Ash passed away in 2001 at the age of 83. Her son now runs the company. they do not mention lincolns at all
Yes Brude, that is good information. However during the 70s and early 80s Ms. Mary Kay decided to allow some of her top earners the choice of different vehicles that she offered from different American car manufacturers.
The lady I dated in Seattle chose a Lincoln. They all came with the iconic gold colored rear window stencil that was applied by the delivering dealer. I’ve seen Oldsmobile Cutlass and many other models. The stencil read, “Mary Kay, in bold script, with Cosmetics in smaller script below it. The top gross regional sales gals also had their name and region in gold subscript stencil directly below all of this. It was considered a real honor for these ladies who were honored by this most accomplished lady of facial makeup. At that time.
What Mary Kay did was to show her sales force that you can and will be recognized and rewarded for your hard work and dedication. Something that today’s worker could use a little more of.
The lady I dated was selling something 24/7 and was good at it. We could be out for dinner and she would pleasantly initiate a lady type conversation with a couple who we didn’t know. By the time we would have our dinner and drinks she would have a appointment with her new found friend and future customer to come over to her office and show all her friends what M.K. could offer. Remember, if you have read all of my inputs on this vehicle, my lady friend was also in real estate.
That is how we became pillow talkers.
She could sell ice to a Eskimo.
This car has the Luxury Group, which included distinct trim inside and out. It was available in seven color combos. This one is the Red/Rose version.
Anyone notice the hubcaps?? All of the special edition Marks had deep dish aluminum wheels and moon roofs this car has neither
The unusual color combinations inside and out probably led the seller to think this was a designer edition. The fact that he didn’t know that, plus the lack of documentation supporting the low miles, suggest that the seller isn’t the original owner. I do like the leather seats and the 460 but the paint looks uneven in spots and similar cars with this mileage are selling for much more than $7K. Caveat Emptor.
Beautiful car but the color, not so much
It is NOT a Designer Series, however it does have the Red Rose Luxury Group.
I was a painter when these cars were new. The color was so thin you coukd actually see primer thru it. When the factory repaured minor imperfections before painting tgey woukd use a ciat if primer to sand smooth. This color and most had to be panel painted and from the factory never matched on all paneks. Thise spots
could be seen on almost all the lincolns if you looked hard.
This was never a mary kay car and her managers coukd drive anything they wanted. But they paid for them.she never gave away lincolns . gm did allow some olds to be special ordered in pink for her people but they were not her gift cars.
My 89 Town Car (overall a favorite) developed blotches on front roof, trunk and hood. I was told This was due to improper application of clear coat over the paint.
My father had an 81′ Mark 6 that was dark blue and had to be repainted twice because of those spots in the finish! Ford paid for the first repaint, the second one we paid for because of ACID RAIN Ford claimed!
The quickest way to tell if it’s a bill blass car is to look at the opera windows because they will have blass right on them the salvage yard that I worked for back in 84 had a bill blast Lincoln in the yard and yes it was blue
My mom had a 1975 ,dark brown with the aluminum rims. I took my drivers test in it(1980) and would wash and wax it so I could cruise it on the weekends.😂
Great cruisers!