If you base it on nothing but sheer size, at 19 feet long the 1975 Lincoln Continental Mark IV made quite an impression in the daytime just by pulling into your executive parking spot before you even exited the car, or later in the evening when picking your date up for a night on the town. But personal luxury cars were all the rage by this time and we were heading quickly towards the eighties, a decade remembered as an era of excess, and one of Lincoln’s entries that helped push the envelope forward in the extreme extravagance department during the mid-seventies was their Lipstick Edition of the Mark IV, such as this 1975 model here on eBay.
The car is located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, with bidding only up to $3,850 so far plus there’s no reserve, so if competition doesn’t go haywire in the last minutes this Lincoln may end up being a bargain for someone. The car is being offered for sale by Millevoi Brothers Auto Sales and can also be found here on their website at a price of $16,995, should you want to own it today or if auctions aren’t your cup of tea. There are 90 photos on their dealer site so more of the Lincoln is visible than on the eBay listing if you want to take a closer look.
It’s probably becoming apparent by now how the Lipstick Edition earned its name, with that bright hue contrast inside adorning just about everything that’s not either white or faux wood, but believe it or not, this particular car is the more tranquil version, as Lincoln also painted some of their cars on the outside in this color such as the example you can view here. So if you want to stick out like a sore thumb even more, perhaps you should hold out for one with the brighter body!
The Millevoi Brothers tell us this one was in storage for a long time before they acquired it, and was put away when it had just 60,500 miles on the ticker. There has been some paintwork done on the right side, and unfortunately, there is still some rust present in various areas along with some chips on the finish. If you’ve got the skills to make the corrosion repairs yourself, maybe this one would make a good DIY project, but unless the car can be bought at a relatively low price I could envision this one quickly getting into costs that may be prohibitive compared to the car’s value if you hire a professional body shop to make all those repairs. Of course, another viable option is to drive the Mark the way it is now and just enjoy it!
With the car’s weight well in excess of 5k pounds you need something big under the hood to move this thing around, so the only engine that could be had was a 460 which came with an advertised horsepower rating of 223. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a photo from under the hood anywhere, but even after its long hibernation, the seller states an oil change and fresh battery were all it took to get the V8 to fire right up and the seller claims it runs great. More good news is that all of the accessories are said to be functioning properly, with no exceptions listed, so if you’ve been in the market for a good old American gas guzzler with over-the-top styling from the days of yore, this one may be worth considering if you can accept the rust issues. What are your thoughts on this 1975 Lincoln Mark IV and its Lipstick touches?
Beautiful car with the biggest Ford engine available, what’s not to love?
Well, the biggest Ford engine of that decade, for sure. I’m still reminded of a ’73 model a guy I knew in Louisiana used to have. It was a really lovely stock car, no special-trim variant, but quite a hustler. On top of that, he showed me tickets from an emission inspector of WA-state (where he got the car); he said they had to repeat the emission tests because they thought they hooked something up wrong. The car was running too clean for them to accept. They repeated the test after double-checking their machines, and the car still ran as clean as the first time. He said they were astounded by that. We also discovered a little later that the engine’s EGR valve had been isolated, maybe due to a malfunction…and it STILL passed WA emissions!
Unfortunately he later ruined it trying to trick it out, but it was a nice thing to see regularly.
What a coincidence. I know the dealer and the area as it’s my old stomping grounds before I’d moved a little while ago. The dealer/broker sold my fiancée’s 1990 Buick Reatta for her back in early-September 2005. Right as the Hurricane Katrina disaster was still unfolding. It was exciting watching the auction reach its conclusion and the bidding really accelerate. Six years later the guy who’d won the auction contacted my sweetheart to ask her if she wanted to buy it back. He’d done absolutely nothing to improve or maintain the Reatta. We’d both hoped that the car had found a good home.
But did you ever get married?
No, we didn’t. She passed away in 2016. Her divorce took forever to finalize. She became ill in 2011. I still think of her of course. I was a widower when I met the lady.
My condolences 💐.
Thank you very much, Tony.
Few things are as arresting as bright red lipstick. That interior is a knock out. I seem to recall that there was a lipstick red exterior color as well.
My father always wanted and well deserved one of these. Never got one sadly. Closest he got was a new 75 Thunderbird with the 460.
He came close
Basically the same car. I used to drive a ’75 Tbird. Sold it way too cheap.
I love these specialty decor packages Ford used to do particularly well. It is an absolute crime that they don’t offer them on their luxury crossovers and SUVs today.
THAT is an excellent point! Why not? Costs? Lack of interest? The lack of diversity in the vehicle’s interior is ridiculous!
Cars today have lost 90% of what made cars cool in the first place, and all in the worst color combination known to man, silver with black interior. Thirty years from now I doubt anyone will be restoring an old Prius or Camry in their garage…
Geez, I like it if that’s legit mileage, and why wouldn’t it be?? That’s a Lipstick edition which is pretty cool. 16,995, so he probably paid maybe 10? Who knows though anything is possible. I do not know if those wheelcovers were optional they were definitely an uncommon option as most of them had the matte finish turbine wheels. But yeah, pretty car and worth some $$ investment in my opinion.
I still find it amazing how this kind of car, which was supposed to be a smaller-size luxury-sport compared to the full-size luxury, is still as long and nearly as heavy as my full-size clap-door Lincoln.
I would still have to say that engine would need work, preferably sooner than later. The 460s, along with just about every kind of engine by then, had a nylon cam gear. That was done to make engines quieter, and it worked…but nylon breaks down with age, regardless of use. When it does, those bits of nylon will have nowhere to go but in the oil passages and the oil pump, starving off oil circulation and eventually killing the engine. Best to avoid that fate by getting a new set of timing components.
Oh, and one more thing, to whoever winds up with the car: When you do the timing-component swap, do NOT discard the steel plate between the water pump and front cover! That was put there for a reason: Insurance against oil and coolant mixing in the crankcase.
Worked on these cars for decades. Also, replace the crank gear with one from 1971 and back. This advances the valve timing to original to bring back the low end torque. Look it up.
The only issue is the rust at the bottom corner on the right fender panel.
If I had the money and the room I would buy it do a complete body frame off restoration and replace all worn out parts with original 75 continental mark IV parts and paint it back to the original color lipstick paint the way it was originally painted. Its a shame these new cars and suvs can’t or don’t even come close the way the Antique,Classic and Vintage Rides had handled style and profile.
Back then only the elite could step from their Lipstick Edition Lincoln to their Lipship Edition Cigarette boat at the marina..
Good Lawd! That is one beautiful interior! And, it’s in my favorite Lincoln.
I had a 1978 Lincoln Towncar 2 dr big sq
Box type of car. It was beautiful car to own and drive . But it got rusty fast in the rear tail ends and under the vinyl roof. I bought it in “93” it was 15 yrs old with 50k miles one previous Senior owner . I paid $1500.
Those prices are no more available to the average buyer.