For the fans of big Lincoln personal-luxury cars from the ’70s, we present to you a ’76 Continental Mk IV Designer Edition, and this mostly-original example is available here on craigslist in Dayton, Ohio. Thank you to Roger for the tip, let’s look closer!
In the wake of the oil crisis, some people still wanted their land-yachts, and the “Big Three” were more than happy to oblige. Lincoln had seen success with its four previous generations of Continental and two generations of Mark series, and what with all the Bicentennial hubbub, they introduced their first “Designer Edition” cars as upper-echelon trim packages for ’76. All of the Designer cars had the carbureted 460 V8 and three-speed C6 automatic, pushing 5000 pounds around town, but only putting out 200 horsepower and returning 11 miles per gallon. Each different Designer car had a different paint-interior scheme, but all had a Cartier clock and other rich-guy goodies available.
We turn our attention now to the Bill Blass edition at hand. The seller goes into quite a bit of detail, and we can see in the pictures an imperfect but well-cared-for piece of American steel. Apparently, everything works but the air conditioning, and they’re only the third owner of it. The interior looks rather nice! Repair and maintenance have been performed, and the car comes with plenty of receipts and a few extras in! Noteworthy items are the Ford “Quadrasonic” quadraphonic 8-track player and CB radio in the trunk, a few small spots of rust, and a split in the steering wheel. To their credit, the seller does make it a point to highlight the flaws as well as the attributes.
I don’t know about you, but I would enjoy having a completely impractical toy such as this. It comes from what feels like a completely different world, and some days, that simpler motoring experience is quite refreshing.
I can dig it, can you? Let us know in the comments!
Beautiful. This, along with the other Designer Series models, needs to be reintroduced on the Lincoln Navigator, ASAP. We need to get over the idea that CUVs and SUVs are sporty vehicles that need blackout rims and low profile tires.
nice car
I see the fuel is on the “F” mark. That sure won’t be there often unless you leave it parked. 8 mpg is about average for these.
It’ll reach the big “E” in a hurry, that’s for sure. Ha, all too true but if a guy or gal wanted fuel economy and had bought this they’d be in for a big surprise.
I had one just like it. 26 and 1/2 gallon gas tank and you had to run hi-test 93 octane or it knocked. Got around 8mpg around town, unless you like kicking in the 4 bbl. But man oh man these cars are comfortable interstate cruisers. Good luck finding parking spots nowadays.
My neighbors had a 77 in green wow I used to take on dates. They were out of town a lot so my job was to keep it washed and check the fluids my perk use any time I wanted to use it I could .
Wow DJS that’s cool. I assume you treated the car with respect. How old were you when you had this job?
Nice car. These big Marks are interesting to me as they represent such a different time in automotive history.
We’re these cars plagued with electrical problems?
No. I worked Lincoln Mercury dealership starting in 1974. Saw nd worked on plenty of all the “designer” series Lincolns.
I am not sure if I like the beige accents on the dark blue vehicle. I don’t hate it, but not my first choice.
Very nice car. I think the asking price is way too high, but maybe they will find the right buyer for it. I thing $4,000 or so is fair for this car in this condition. Very cool ghetto cruiser!
I,m like you Stevig. I don,t care for the butterscotch trim. I also don,t like vinlyn tops. Rust causers and it looks like this one is starting to get bad. The price is high .Because of the vinlyn top. I,d look for a car with chrome around the rear window and do away with the vinly top. I like the rest. They ride really good.. If you want a good ride–you gotta pay.
I had a 75 in same color, but had moon roof. Great driving car if you like smooth highway comfort. I liked the one I had with the exception of fuel economy and I didn’t like the braking system, it was quite expensive to repair. I put Goodyear 235/70R15 tires on mine at 50,000 miles which lasted another 50,000 miles. It had a am/fm radio with 8 track player and built in cb radio. The white leather interior looked sharp and was very comfortable. In retrospect 45 years seems like yesterday. Those were good times for me. My only son was born in December of that year. I owned a nice 2 story house with full basement and unattached garage built in 1924 in Everett, Washington. But alas! Nothing lasts forever, life goes on, new memories were made, some good some horrible. Beautiful Mark IV.
God bless America
My brother had a baby blue model. Kept it a year then sold it. Turned out the guy who bought it was offered it to be a movie car.
Got one sitting at my neighbors’ next door. Been there for at least 5-7 years Non-running and truly going to hell sitting outside in the sun. They can’t give it away for a couple thousand dollars.
Interesting Licence plate.
Speaking of “F’s” and “E’s” , is that an E or an F on the plate?
We had an ’83 Mark VI designer (Emilio Pucci) for a time. It was a big improvement over the diesel Eldorado we’d had. That Cad had to be towed too many times. The Mark was very nice in and out and rode like a dream. Gutless, but that wasn’t the point of the vehicle. I seem to remember a 400 2 bbl. I will say it was sturdy; she drove it 5 miles with very little water in it and it didn’t seem to suffer. The dealer wanted to buy it back after a time; made a bit of profit from that. :-)
Seller has this priced a couple thousand below #3 – Good condition, and can range all the way up to $27,500, believe it or not.
Even with Hagerty’s optimistic pricing, it makes this low mileage example a decent bargain, non-working A/C and all.
I would disagree with that. I have not had much luck selling any full size for product from this era for more than a couple grand. I have owned some real nice ones too. I would pay more for this than I ever sold one for & enjoy it, I would just expect to lose money in the end. Not the first time lol, thank God this isn’t a business for me!
Having grown up in Ohio but not there for many years, I immediately recognized the scarlet and gray plate as the 1970 one commemorating Ohio State’s centennial. At first wondering what a ’70 plate was doing on this car, I now see that it must be a 150th anniversary plate for OSU.
A guy I have known has 3 of these POS cars rotting on his lawn. He says they are all.insured, inspected and run. Yeah and I am marrying Sophia Loren tonight.
George Lucky you..! can I get invited to the wedding. I’ll chauffeur you and Sofia in your new Bill Blass Lincoln.
From the Craig’s ad: … window sticker listing its options which include the following: Anti-lock brakes (ABS).
Ehhh, that’s kind of hard to rpove given that the first production ABS car was a Mercedes in 1978. Just say’n…
You’re incorrect. It was a pulsing system and first appeared in 1969 on the Mark III and TBird as Sure-Track, becoming a standard feature in the 70 Mark III.
These were the last huge Tuna Boat era! My old girl friend had a silver one-I forgot which designer-Bill Blass? I can recalled it was quite comfortable and the A/C turn ice cold very quick in the heat of the summer! I also recalled cruising to Las Vegas in the lap of luxury. “They don’t make these Tuna Boats” anymore….sob..sob…