Rare Rides Icons: The Lincoln Mark Series Cars, Feeling Continental (Part XLVI)

by Corey Lewis

Published: July 7th, 2023

rare rides icons the lincoln mark series cars feeling continental part xlvi

Last week we examined the curvaceous organic exterior styling the new Mark VIII wore for its 1993 debut. As one of the early offerings from the Super Smooth Soap Bar School of Design that arrived in the Nineties (think Chrysler LHS, Lexus SC 400, Toyota Celica), the Mark VIII looked much different from the more conservative Mark VII. And it had an interior design aesthetic to match. Beware: Sweeping swaths of plastic lie ahead!

The Mark VIII attempted to return to a driver-focused interior and emphasize the sports luxury theme the LSC trim of the Mark VII established. After LSC appeared, it was immediately clear that a sporty personality was the only way forward for the personal luxury coupe. And though the Mark VII started out with a more driver-focused interior design, the look was weakened with an interior update in 1990. The arrival of a driver’s side airbag brought with it a more horizontal, softer dash design. It also heralded the return of 1970s-style button tufting for the Bill Blass trim.

Even at the end of its run in 1992, the Mark VII’s interior was firmly planted in the early Eighties. Square everything, an upright center stack, and a generous application of very shiny wood (or black trim in the LSC). The Mark VIII’s interior had as few hard edges as possible, with a forward-looking sweeping dash design. The smooth lines of the dash carried straight into the door panel, where the sculpted shape of the dash continued unabated.

The dash was visually separated into two horizontal sections: The upper portion contained gauges and light switches for the driver as well as a clock and information center display. The lower portion housed vents, information center controls, stereo, climate controls, and other ancillary controls. Visual separation was stark in cars with interiors other than black. The upper dash section was finished in black in all cars, while the lower section was color matched to the seats. Even the steering wheel was fully color-keyed, which no manufacturer offers today.

There were some vague similarities in dash design between Mark VII and VIII, notably how the gauge cluster on Mark VIII was still separated into three distinct square sections. From left to right the gauges included a tachometer, speedometer, and combination temperature and fuel. The division between the gauges was just a gesture on the Mark VIIIl; in the Mark VII each section was deep in its own housing.

Lighting controls were to the left of the gauges, exactly where they were in the Mark VII. The new design used lighted and recessed cut-outs for the switch labeling which looked a bit downmarket. To the right of the driver was the center stack, which used a much taller center console than the Mark VII to add a driver-focused cockpit-like feel.

Driver and passenger were separated by the sweeping console design, which curved upward as it headed between the seats and held an integrated center storage area. This was a stark contrast to the Mark VII with its much lower center console and tall, separate armrest design.

All controls in the center stack were angled toward the driver for ease of use. Viewed from the passenger side, it’s very apparent how driver-focused the cabin’s design was. In front of the passenger was a standard airbag, a sweeping two-tone dash panel, and little else.

Traditionalists would note the Mark VIII’s interior lacked wood trim except the center console. Additionally, the interior was sans chrome! A first for any Mark, all surfaces were black or matched the interior trim. Even interior door pulls were color-keyed to the leather. Credit to the designers at Lincoln, the two-tone look managed to elevate the interior’s appearance without going full-on gauche Cartier Designer Series themed like past Marks.

The Mark VIII’s door panels opted for a swoopy modern look to match the rest of the interior and wrapped around the driver and passenger. The design was more cohesive and much less formal than the Mark VII. Also less formal were the seating arrangements.

The Mark VII offered very traditional PLC button tufted thrones in the Bill Blass or very bolstered sports seats in the LSC when it bowed out in 1992. Mark VIII looked more modern than either of those options with its sole seat design at introduction. Seat bottoms and backs were more rounded than in Mark VII, and landed between the two prior extremes with their padding and contouring.

The only seat design on offer featured no button tufting, a reasonable amount of side bolstering on both cushions and a horizontally ribbed design across both cushions. The ribbed section did feature a minimal amount of ruching, but was less extreme than it could have been (take a look at Mercedes-Benz ruching around this time),

Each of the four main seats was embroidered with a contrasting color Lincoln crosshair logo, and the rear seats matched the front in their overall design. A tall center hump for the transmission tunnel and a raised center cushion meant the Mark VIII was better for four people than five. However, with its increased dimensions and larger side glass, the Mark VIII’s rear was definitely a better place to spend time than its predecessor. Not that any of the Marks really catered to rear passengers, though.

The Mark VIII’s two-tone interior was designed to please both the waning PLC traditionalist and the younger customer of sportier intent. Surprisingly (and despite finding success with the LSC trim), when the Mark VIII debuted there was only one unnamed trim available. Next time we’ll talk about the Mark’s high-tech standard features and trim changes over the model run.

[Images: Dealer, Ford]

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Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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6 of 26 comments

Tassos on Jul 09, 2023

And the band on the deck of the "Titanic" played on, this one their 46th song, as the ship sank....

1 Reply
- See 2 previous
- Corey Lewis on Jul 09, 2023
  
  Let go, Rose.
  
  1
- Jeff S on Jul 09, 2023
  
  The Titanic band is playing as well for the Mercedes cars (cars not suvs or crossovers) and is definitely playing the last tune on diesels especially diesel Mercedes. The ship has been sinking on all cars as trucks, suvs, and crossovers have become the dominant vehicles. The Lincoln Mark VIII and Riviera were the last hurrah for the personal luxury cars.
  
  1
- 28-Cars-Later on Jul 10, 2023
  
  The survivors were heard to chant: Let's Go Captain Smith!
  
  Like
Wolfwagen on Jul 10, 2023

A Riviera Series would be interesting

Like Reply
- Corey Lewis on Jul 10, 2023
  
  Eldorado is next!
  
  1

Recent Comments

FreedMike Not surprisingly, I have some ideas. What Cadillac needs, I think, is a statement. They don’t really have an identity. They’re trying a statement car with the Celestiq, and while that’s the right idea, it has the wrong styling and a really wrong price tag. So, here’s a first step: instead of a sedan, do a huge, fast, capable and ridiculously smooth and quiet electric touring coupe. If you want an example of what I’m thinking of, check out the magnificent Rolls-Royce Spectre. But this Cadillac coupe would be uniquely American, it’d be named “Eldorado,” and it’d be a lot cheaper than the $450,000 Spectre – call it a buck twenty-five, with a range of bespoke options for prospective buyers that would make each one somewhat unique. Make it 220 inches long, on the same platform as the Celestiq, give it retro ‘60s styling (or you could do a ‘50s or ‘70s throwback, I suppose), and at least 700 horsepower, standard. Why electric? It’s the ultimate throwback to ‘60s powertrains: effortlessly fast, smooth, and quiet, but with a ton more horsepower. It’s the perfect drivetrain for a dignified touring coupe. In fact, I’d skip any mention of environmental responsibility in this car’s marketing – sell it on how it drives, period.  How many would they sell? Not many. But the point of the exercise is to do something that will turn heads and show people what this brand can do.  Second step: give the lineup a mix of electric and gas models, and make Cadillac gas engines bespoke to the brand. If they need to use generic GM engine designs, fine – take those engines and massage them thoroughly into something special to Cadillac, with specific tuning and output. No Cadillac should leave the factory with an engine straight out of a Malibu or a four-banger Silverado. Third step: a complete line-wide interior redo. Stop the cheapness that’s all over the current sedans and crossovers. Just stop it. Use the Lyriq as a blueprint – it’s a big improvement over the current crop and a good first step. I’d also say Cadillac has a good blend of screen-controlled and switch-controlled user interfaces; don’t give into the haptic-touch and wall-to-wall screen thing. (On the subject of Caddy interiors – as much as I bag on the Celestiq, check out the interior on that thing. Wow.)Fourth step: Blackwing All The Things – some gas, others electric. And keep the electric/gas mix so buyers have a choice.Fifth step: be patient. That’s not easy, but if they’re doing a brand reset, it’ll take time. 
NJRide So if GM was serious about selling this why no updates for so long? Or make something truly unique instead of something that looked like a downmarket Altima?
Kmars2009 I rented one last fall while visiting Ohio. Not a bad car...but not a great car either. I think it needs a new version. But CUVs are King... unfortunately!
Ajla Remember when Cadillac introduced an entirely new V8 and proceeded to install it in only 800 cars before cancelling everything?
Bouzouki Cadillac (aka GM!!) made so many mistakes over the past 40 years, right up to today, one could make a MBA course of it. Others have alluded to them, there is not enough room for me to recite them in a flowing, cohesive manner.Cadillac today is literally a tarted-up Chevrolet. They are nice cars, and the "aura" of the Cadillac name still works on several (mostly female) consumers who are not car enthusiasts.The CT4 and CT5 offer superlative ride and handling, and even performance--but, it is wrapped in sheet metal that (at least I think) looks awful, with (still) sub-par interiors. They are niche cars. They are the last gasp of the Alpha platform--which I have been told by people close to it, was meant to be a Pontiac "BMW 3-series". The bankruptcy killed Pontiac, but the Alpha had been mostly engineered, so it was "Cadillac-ized" with the new "edgy" CTS styling.Most Cadillacs sold are crossovers. The most profitable "Cadillac" is the Escalade (note that GM never jack up the name on THAT!).The question posed here is rather irrelevant. NO ONE has "a blank check", because GM (any company or corporation) does not have bottomless resources.Better styling, and superlative "performance" (by that, I mean being among the best in noise, harshness, handling, performance, reliablity, quality) would cost a lot of money.Post-bankruptcy GM actually tried. No one here mentioned GM's effort to do just that: the "Omega" platform, aka CT6.The (horribly misnamed) CT6 was actually a credible Mercedes/Lexus competitor. I'm sure it cost GM a fortune to develop (the platform was unique, not shared with any other car. The top-of-the-line ORIGINAL Blackwing V8 was also unique, expensive, and ultimately...very few were sold. All of this is a LOT of money).I used to know the sales numbers, and my sense was the CT6 sold about HALF the units GM projected. More importantly, it sold about half to two thirds the volume of the S-Class (which cost a lot more in 201x)Many of your fixed cost are predicated on volume. One way to improve your business case (if the right people want to get the Green Light) is to inflate your projected volumes. This lowers the unit cost for seats, mufflers, control arms, etc, and makes the vehicle more profitable--on paper.Suppliers tool up to make the number of parts the carmaker projects. However, if the volume is less than expected, the automaker has to make up the difference.So, unfortunately, not only was the CT6 an expensive car to build, but Cadillac's weak "brand equity" limited how much GM could charge (and these were still pricey cars in 2016-18, a "base" car was ).Other than the name, the "Omega" could have marked the starting point for Cadillac to once again be the standard of the world. Other than the awful name (Fleetwood, Elegante, Paramount, even ParAMOUR would be better), and offering the basest car with a FOUR cylinder turbo on the base car (incredibly moronic!), it was very good car and a CREDIBLE Mercedes S-Class/Lexus LS400 alternative. While I cannot know if the novel aluminum body was worth the cost (very expensive and complex to build), the bragging rights were legit--a LARGE car that was lighter, but had good body rigidity. No surprise, the interior was not the best, but the gap with the big boys was as close as GM has done in the luxury sphere.Mary Barra decided that profits today and tomorrow were more important than gambling on profits in 2025 and later. Having sunk a TON of money, and even done a mid-cycle enhancement, complete with the new Blackwing engine (which copied BMW with the twin turbos nestled in the "V"!), in fall 2018 GM announced it was discontinuing the car, and closing the assembly plant it was built in. (And so you know, building different platforms on the same line is very challenging and considerably less efficient in terms of capital and labor costs than the same platform, or better yet, the same model).So now, GM is anticipating that, as the car market "goes electric" (if you can call it that--more like the Federal Government and EU and even China PUSHING electric cars), they can make electric Cadillacs that are "prestige". The Cadillac Celestique is the opening salvo--$340,000. We will see how it works out.