The target market for luxury sport coupes ranges broadly between luxury and sport. Lincoln’s regular Mark IV covered buyers with its emphasis on luxury, and the LSC (Luxury Sport Coupe) like this 1990 Lincoln Mark VII LSC, covered buyers who at least wanted to pretend they were sporty. The Albany, Oregon Lincoln shows well inside and out, with typical weathered clear coat on the hood and some checking in the leather driver’s seat being the only obvious distractions from what looks like a generally well-kept 55,000 mile LSC. The listing here on Craigslist asks a mere $4700. Thanks to reader Pat L. for spotting this clean example of a car that brought high technology and style to the early ’90s luxury market.
I drove an LSC like this in the mid-’90s, back when my less-luxurious 1989 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 shared a motor and indeed the Fox platform with the larger Lincoln. Despite looking rather mammoth compared to the era’s Mustang, this 3800 lb Mark VII weighed only about 500 lb more than the popular pony car, and the LSC’s standard 3.27 final drive ratio (available only by special order in a Mustang) made the most of the 225 HP 5.0L (302 cid) V8. Thanks to OldCarBrochures for some details. Indeed this Lincoln weighs less that today’s bloated Mustang GT. That said, most Lincoln buyers of the day were happy to hear a V8 and feel some decent thrust when they floored it once a month to impress their golf buddies. Racing Mustangs or other serious sports cars of the day fell beneath the dignity of a Lincoln owner.
Originally entering the market in model year 1984, the Lincoln “marks” a number of firsts, including America’s first ride since 1939 with vehicle-specific composite headlights, and the first American vehicle with electronic four-channel ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), as reported by Wikipedia. As with this specimen, the LSC left the factory wearing black sidewall tires, compared to the white walls fitted to most non-LSC Mark VIIs. Surprisingly the seller omitted pictures of the trunk’s hint of a continental kit. Indeed the Mark VII was named Continental Mark VII during 1984 and 1985 before becoming the Lincoln Mark VII.
Since pictures of the rear and engine escaped the listing, enjoy this picture of the right side. While time and technology has left this once high-rolling executive transport behind, it would certainly hold its own in modern traffic, and the mostly Ford mechanicals should make it reliable and cheap to keep running. My ’89’s 5.0 just rolled over 245,000 miles with no engine work except a head gasket. I suspect a road trip of six or more hours would pass by in quiet and comfort for driver and passenger of the air-suspended Lincoln. For something completely different, imagine this Mark VII exactly as you see it here, but with a high-powered 347 stroker or Mustang-spec supercharger under the hood. Honestly I’d run this one as-is, but the possibilities are endless. Do you respect this high-tech V8 luxury sport coupe?
I do indeed respect it and it looks high-class today. Modern but with enough styling to avoid jellybean status.
Seem like a good deal for that price. The dealership where I worked used to order these in for stock almost always fully loaded. I never saw one on our lot like this one without the power moonroof.
I used to have one,put magnaflow mufflers and 2 1/2 in. Tailpipes, sounded and ran great, only got rid of because need a 4×4.
My Dad had 2 of these. They were great cars. Ford was really in a groove in the late 1980’s
Thanks Todd. I agree with TimS, this car still looks clean and classy today. Combine this with the luxury touches, it sets apart from its basic Fox roots. Bulletproof drivetrain. Yes it has the dreaded clearcoat problem, but it has low miles and overall looks in good shape. For the advertised price I don’t think it will last long.
I wish it was on the East coast instead of the West coast. Looks like a Great deal! Now if shipping was included…………………..
I think it’s priced way too low, could be a scam, many degenerates selling on Craigslist.
Todd … are you sure the 89 mustangs had a 3.27 gear offered ?
Ours didn’t. 3.08 was lowest and the 3.27 was for automatics. And that was rhe sole choice for the AOD.
Hi Stan. I sat down and talked with the dealer in November of 1988! So maybe I’m not remembering it right. lol The default was 2.73, and there were two optional ratios. I thought they were 3.08 and 3.27 but I could very well be remembering it wrong. Clarifications and corrections are always welcome. Thank you!
Stan that’s the highest gear ratio not lowest.
And what did the guy want for the LSC the other day? 100k. Nice car.
That one was a next-gen Mark VIII, built on the Thunderbird’s MN12 platform with IRS and a DOHC modular V8 related to the Mustang SVT Cobra, much more refined, sophisticated and powerful than this Fox-platform pushrod 5.0L. Not that it justifies the $100k ask, but it’s apples-to-oranges.
Keep up the good work Todd.
Exactly how i recall 2.73 came standard w 3.08 as option for stick shift cars.
3.27 only for Autos.
Of course i could be wrong. 🍻
I recall your numbers to be true. Maybe there was some crazy COPO type Ford arrangement for other things, but I am not aware of any.
Sigh, all the good stuff is always way out west.
I’d five speed swap it and add some power to boot.
Duke, i saw a 5sp conversion in one of the magazines, what a great machine w the stick shift install. Hot Rod Lincoln
I actually did 3 of these in the mid 90s. 5 speed swaps, aluminum
Heads, shorty headers , etc, and centrifugal blowers. They became serious cars and were reliable, FUN. Easy to modify with most mustang aftermarket pieces being compatible. My 88 LSC with a powerdyne supercharger and not much else ran 13.80s @ 106 here at 5500 feet elevation. My employees mark vii had more mods and ran an S trim
Vortech. His was a full second quicker than mine. All on street tires. Wish I still had one. The car in the listing would be a great candidate.
Awesome Tony….did you guys keep the air suspension installed ?
Hi Stan,
Yes. Left the air suspension fully functional on all 3. I moved the ride height sensors on my car to lower it about 1 inch. Never had problems. The last I knew of mine, a maroon 88, it went to
Phoenix AZ. I lost touch with both of the other cars but I heard that the black 86 was sold to a guy who
Pulled the drivetrain out for a street rod. It was a nice car, too. The Mark. I’m not sure what the stuff went into exactly. And I heard the white (and fastest of the 3) finally came to an end after the owner scattered the rear ended and parted the car out. Sad. But they were a lot of fun.
That’s a steal if the mileage is accurate. Bought a really clean one of these last year for almost half that much to use as a donor for the fuel injection swap into my Fox T-Bird, but couldn’t bring myself to tear into it. Only thing that needs sorting are the air springs, which unfortunately can’t be purchased new from Ford, the only alternative now being aftermarket springs. Solenoids don’t seal to the tops of the springs, so now I get to sort through the large cache of nominally bigger o-rings I just ordered to find some that will seal. Worse comes to worst, I’ve got a coil spring conversion just in case, but the air ride is definitely part of the charm of these boats.
Already deleted form CL.
Awesome looking car! I remember when this generation Mark VII was offered. IMHO, this was the best looking Lincoln offered.
Posting deleted, I didn’t get to see the odometer by judging by the cracks in the leather in the drivers seat I think the mileage was higher I bet we see it on bring a trailer or cars and bids for double in a few weeks
I owned a new 88 LSC, beautiful white w burgundy interior, BBS lace wheels only thing not stock, I was 27 and did mortify one of those IROC owners who gave me a hard look on the Whitestone bridge, it was never beneath to make a kid eat his own ————
Lincoln had a winner here styling wise. Great combination of aggressive performance combined with class and elegance. That’s what we are missing today, class and elegance. Modern styling makes everything look like a mad transformers toy.
The late 70s up to this point were the worst performing cars ever, till Ford built the 5.0, this car was a breath of fresh air at the time, I loved how it performed, rode and looked, car was a status symbol at the time, I’d love to own another one, when I had mine, was the only time I didn’t have an old school toy to play with, car covered all the bases