As luxurious as the Lincoln Continental Mark V offerings were in base form, for buyers who wanted an even more special touch came the designer series line-up, which added a distinctive label and cosmetic treatment to the already opulent personal luxury car. These came in the form of affluent fashion names such as Bill Blass, Pucci, Givenchy, and the one featured here, a 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V Cartier Edition. This one’s a solid example with low miles and can be found here on eBay, where 78 bids have taken the price up to $10,600 already with the reserve still not reached. The Lincoln is located in Bloomer, Wisconsin, if you want to go have a look first before getting in on all the competition.
Each of the designer models got you something special, including bragging rights in the form of the designer’s name embedded in the opera window glass and clearly visible on the decklid. For 1979, the Cartier came in a Champagne color with color-coded wheels to match, with the seller informing us that a total of 9,470 of this special edition car were produced during this model year. He’s also very straightforward in letting us know this one’s not a show car or museum piece, but a nice survivor with a few paint imperfections outside and some small cracks in the vinyl top, as can be seen in the video provided.
The video shows some of the interior as well, which also features a Champagne color but with dark red accents added for the special edition. Overall, things inside look nicely preserved, with no obvious leather problems and just a few minor issues such as a small crack in the steering wheel trim and some wear on the laminate covering the dashboard, but nothing that can’t be overlooked for just a driver, or probably fairly simple repairs should the next owner choose to make improvements.
Some really good news is the mileage, which is stated to be only 28,000 so that 400 engine probably has plenty of good miles left and the seller assures us the car is in excellent shape mechanically, plus it’s looking good on the bottom side too with just a small amount of light surface rust present. I liked these cars when they were new and still think they look classy all these years later, and other than a few body scratches the imperfections on this one seem fairly minor. I think somebody’s going to end up with a nice ride here, what are your thoughts?
400 was the only engine in 1979.
400 engine avg mpg 13
Prior years 460 eng was avg 9 mpg
At 45 cents a gallon, people who bought big luxury cars weren’t concerned about gas mileage. And they weren’t quite that bad, you just had to keep your foot outta the firewall
Same year & model my Dad drove as a Co. car back then. It fit in our garage with less than 3/4 of an inch to spare when the door was down!
I LOVE these Lincolns. I had a 77 Coupe Deville for years, I wish I could buy a Mark VII like this one. So big, elegant, comfortable, and powerful. I’d want a year that came with the 460, though.
The 400 makes it a no sale for me. But the car is beautiful.
I had a 76 with a 460, and a 79 with a 400. The real world gas mileage was no different. The two barrel on the 400 basically sucked. I was planning to swap to a spread bore four barrel. A well set up Q-Jet or Thermoquad. Likely would have improved both gas mileage and performance. Never got it done before the car went away. Nowadays, fuel injection and a modern automatic with a few more gears would likely do the trick.
Dreadful driving cars, but the sure don’t lack for character and style.
Had a ’78 Givenchy Series with 460, Hydro-Boost, Anti-Skid Braking, and Quadrophonic Sound … drove it from New Orleans to Los Angeles – only time it got over 10mpg was doing downhill into LA … odo only went to 85 but raced a MB 450SL – owner said he was going 130 … car would “get rubber” shifting into second … was a “boat” but still miss it …