I didn’t hold back on the ‘62 Plymouth video, so I won’t hold back here. Though I’m a Pontiac/Mercury man, this was IMHO your best video yet. You covered so much … and these are two magnificent cars. I love the Lincoln (especially those great dinner plate hubcaps - which I think were near the end of their run), BUT that Mark IV is WITHOUT EQUAL! It’s shear perfection from every angle. I can’t wait for part 2! You both did such a great job! BRAVO
Two beautiful cars. It’s great that Lincoln (and Cadillac) used to offer so much variety in the models they offered. These two cars are so different, yet from the same year and make. Compare that to today, and the only real option for a top of the line American luxury vehicle is an SUV. How I wish Lincoln and Cadillac would once again make a flagship sedan or coupe.
I love Mark’s comment about how cars were “molested” by big bumpers in ‘73! Also, part of the price difference in these two cars was the additional equipment on the Mark IV - dual power Twin Comfort Lounge Seats and Sure Track brakes. Looking forward to more.
When I was young my neighbors and friends of my father had Mark IVs. They were beautiful cars - for one year. But the government passed the 5 mph bumper law causing big honky bumpers on all cars starting in 1973. Almost all cars took a design hit, but the beauty and lines of the Mark IVs were completely destroyed. It took some years for the automakers to get bumper design under control.
I'm one of the very few people who actually think the 5mph bumpers enhanced the look. I think my the front of my '73 Thunderbird looks better than the '72.
Luxury cars were the favorite cars of my childhood, although I didn’t know it at the time. To a 6 year old, I just thought they were pretty cars, but I was always drawn to them since they were, to me, the most beautiful cars on the street. My grandfather, dad, and uncle all worked for Ford. I knew it because all the pencils I used in school were yellow, with “Ford” stamped on them. Whenever my grandfather’s plant had “family day”, I always wondered why when my dad took me, I was hoisted onto a workers shoulders for a personal, birds eye view tour. I had no idea that my grandfather was a plant manager. All I knew was my grandfather always wore a hat, smelled of “Brut” cologne, and drove a Lincoln. He had a new one every year. Other family members drove Lincoln’s or T Birds, but grandpa’s was always the treat to ride in. He let me press every button I found (except the trunk release). The first time I flew on a plane, my grandpa came to pick my folks and I up in his brown Mark III. My poor dad always wanted a Lincoln, but even with his A plan discount, my mother always said no. She said she could never stomach buying a car that cost more than our house. When my dad passed away 7 years ago, I told the funeral director the only thing special I wanted for dad was a Lincoln hearse, if she could find one. The funeral home only had Cadillacs, but the day of his funeral, there was a shiny black Lincoln MKX waiting to take my dad on his last ride. I hope he was happy.
I love the brocade interiors from just about every maker in the 60s and early 70s. Sure beats the velour and crushed velvet interiors that came in by the mid 1970s.
US auto industry flushed itself after the 73 Oil Embargo. They claimed it was gas prices and regulations and that was part of it but quality tanked in mid 70s in every way.
IMHO The Cadillacs and particularly the Lincolns lost so much character when they thought they should be sport cars. Thanks for another insightful video, Adam. Mark’s insight is a true delight of the era. Great team work!
The auto journalists constantly told the readers that we should be racing around and turning corners at high speeds - instead of driving sensibly and not using the public streets for daredevil activities.
@@timothykeith1367 Now those journalists are gone and many of those cars remain. Stylists; one. Bean counters?? Lol Adam I couldn’t resist the dig! Seriously Adam, this is my first go to channel when new videos come out. I thank you for all your work.
In the immortal words of Andrea True: "More, More, MORE!!!" I am in hog heaven. My favorite year for so many Ford products and professional vindication for my opinions! It don't get no betta! Terrific content. Stunning automobiles!
Mark IV is sportier look, Continental more like a limousine. Love your gold color Mark IV. Thank you for showing us these car in the shade where we can see better. Would have enjoyed you guys discuss about the suspension system and of course some dash and interior shots!
A squeeze and squawk steering wheel. I'm very surprised to see a Continental with no cruise nor tilt. None the less your Continental is still hands down my preference of the two. There is something very masculine and powerful about it's appearance. I really like it. It's a handsome machine.
I would like to mention again that your videos featuring Mark are some of my favorites. The man really know his stuff and tells it like a true enthusiast. I don't think it a stretch to say that people like Mark are why cars of this era hold up so well over time from a styling perspective. Taking off that grill guard was exactly the thing to emphasize the subtle curves in the body. Beautiful cars.
Great Video! Hard to believe that Lincoln offered not one but two large coupes in the early 1970's! Marc's comments were spot on and shows how much of an authority he is on this era of styling.
I really appreciate the delivery and presentation with your video on the history of these two cars. That Mark IV ignites fond memories of my 77 Mark V coupe. I wish I would have kept that land yacht. It was the only Furilio Pucci edition I’ve ever seen. I can still see the full white top, opera windows, white leather in my head. Along with its insatiable thirst for more gas when that 4 barrel open up on the 460 V8.
Thanks for your excellent overview of the Lincoln Continental and Mark lll. Both are beautiful cars. I have owned a few of each of these and wish I still did. Nothing says it best than in black. I love these cars!
Another top notch video, Adam! Marc is great- I think it takes someone with Marc's vocabulary to adequately describe the 72 Mark IV; there's just so much going on there stylistically, yet it all comes together in a classy way without looking too "busy" or gaudy (some may disagree with me there, but to each, their own). In my opinion, the 72 Mark IV is one of the most beautiful cars ever built- in fact, it was your video on your personal 72 Mark IV that initially brought me to your channel and why I became a subscriber. I've had the pleasure of owning 2 72 Mark IV's over the years- the second of which I just purchased back in March of this year. Something that really appealed to me when I bought this one was it came with the original window sticker and bill of sale from when it was sold new (locally). I'm also a fan of the Mercury Marquis of this era- and I enjoy your videos on those as well-, so it's interesting to me that on the bill of sale, the original owner actually traded two 1972 Mercuries in for this Mark IV. One was a Monterey, but the other was a Marquis (Brougham if I remember correctly). The original owner purchased the car in late 1972; interestingly, it was actually purchased on the same day the 1973 Mark IV was "officially introduced" according to my research, which was September 22, 1972. I may be reaching here, but the thought has crossed my mind that perhaps the original owner was considering buying a 1973 model (to get the "freshest" year-to-year styling revisions), but was displeased with the large federally-mandated front bumper on the 73 model and decided to buy a new 1972 instead- as I would have if I were in a similar position back then. From the sales paperwork, it doesn't appear that they gave him any discounts for buying a 1972- which would have been my only other guess as to why he would have bought a 1972 the same day the 1973's were introduced. The car was well optioned and close to $10k, but I think he only paid around $2k cash after the trade-in of the two nearly-new Mercuries, if I remember correctly. Having previously owned a 1957 Continental Mark II, I completely agree Ford/Lincoln was trying to keep the "Continental brand" heritage alive, particularly on their Mark Series cars. The 1969 Mark III was a direct callback to the Mark II- "erasing" the memory of the 1958-1960 Mark III, IV, and V, which were "lesser" cars than the Mark II. Even in the ads of the era, the Mark IV is never referred to as a Lincoln. The full-size Continental was referred to as the "Lincoln Continental" in ads of the time, while the Mark IV was referred to as the "Continental Mark IV". I've heard the argument before that the Marks may not have had the Lincoln name anywhere on the car, but they had the "Lincoln emblem", however what we know today as the Lincoln emblem started out as the "Continental Star", which was first used on the 1956-57 Continental Mark II, so one could say the emblem was more closely associated with the Continental brand/model than the Lincoln brand- at least at one time. The only thing I'm not sure about in the video was when Marc said that Ford lost $10k on every 1956-57 Continental Mark II built. My understanding was that the cars sold for $10k at the time and Ford lost around $1k on each car sold. That being said, adjusted for inflation, $1k in 1956-57 would be around $10-11k today, but I was unclear if he meant $10k in 1956 money or 2022 money. I could be wrong, however, on the amount Ford lost per Mark II sold, but $1k is the number I've always heard. That being said, I do know Ford was spending massive amounts in design development for the future of the Continental brand that never made it to production, not the least of which being developing a retractable hardtop convertible for the Mark II. By the time the engineering design was finished, Ford had already decided they were dropping the Mark II, but in an effort to recoup their investment, they implemented the retractable hardtop design on the Ford Fairlane Skyliner
Another great video, you and Marc are a wonderful team. Your car looks so good without the padded top. I have always thought that was the worst adornment ever. Thanks Adam for sharing your and Marc’s knowledge with us.
It amazes me to this day that these companies would build "coupes" for their full size cars, yet not cannibalize their "halo" coupe's sales. All were beautiful and unique. Adam, nice acquisition of the big Conti!😎👍
I always preferred this era 1969-1972 Lincolns to Cadillacs. Something in the design's simplicity that confers the concepts of solidity and permanence (particularly now that I can see the pure design sans embellishments in that beautiful Continental coupe) in a way that I can only characterize as Mercedes-like. I also prefer the even simpler horizontal grill treatment of the Mercury Marquis of that era to it's Continental cousin, but I think the continental coupe's dashboard layout wins hands down. Great job, Adam!
I agree with you on Lincoln over Cadillac styling. Cadillac seems tacky when you compare the styling of both brands of the same vintage. No matter what the stylists were/are trained to deliver, I think that the Mark IV is a classic beauty all the way around (I guess I should give a nod to Iacocca). (Yes, I acknowledge its rarity) but the Lincoln sedan is just plain odd - although I understand Marc's appreciation for its lines my first thought was the black on black starkly plain coupe was for an undertaker on his "day off."
Adam, you and Marc make a great automotive team. I have read that the 1956 and 57 Continentals had stainless steel brake lines? Thanks for your time and work.....
Awesome video guys! I have always been a huge fan of the '72-'76 Mark IV's , although I had never seen one in this color,. I was always a car enthusiast, even as a very young kid, and our pastor at the time, had a next door neighbor who had two brand new'72 Mark IV'S, that he and his wife drove, each in a beautiful popular color scheme. We visited our pastor's house often, and I loved seeing the two vehicles parked next to each other. I'm pretty sure that's when I first fell in love with that design. I have also always loved the big Lincolns as well, and have never seen one like this black coupe! So cool 😎 it does have a really strong presence and character to it! If James Bond drove a Lincoln, that would be it! It does bring to mind for myself , Sean Connery, who drove a beautiful black Lincoln in a Hitchcock film I believe, in called Marnie, in '64 I think.
Really informative. I think the MKV redesign is especially nice in terms of how the RR grille extended below the bumper. While the 5mph bumper goes across the grille, the gap allows the use of a full grille. Really nice element that you have to look for to appreciate.
Adam's coupe is a beauty, it and the sedan being one of the all-time great American designs (perhaps better looking w/out the headlight door appliques). My parents special-ordered a '73 sedan without the vinyl roof. Robins egg blue with dark blue leather interior (with six kids, easier to clean) and Twin Comfort Lounge Seats. What I remember most was the distinct whirring sound when slowly accelerating, the cool looking gauges and hood ornament, and the soft leather and deep carpet. My dream would be Adam's car in dark blue, with my parents' interior.
Both beautiful time capsules from an era when cars were very unique, without having to buy an exotic. My preference is the Continental coupe without the landau roof, seems to have aged better and extenuates the car's lines. Great content 👍🏽
This was very nice. Once again I appreciate you bringing Marc along and him sharing his design knowledge. I liked learning about the details. Who knew Lincoln struggled to establish itself. I would like to know why the Chrysler Imperials started to look like Lincolns in the 1970's.
I think the "road race" Lincolns of the early to mid '50's weren't formal enough to compete directly with Cadillac, although I found them extremely attractive, especially the '56. In '58 they just wanted to out Cadillac Cadillac and were too extreme. The Imperials from '64 onward were influenced by Elwood Engle, who was very involved in the design of the '61 Continental. That's why they started to look like Lincolns.
Fabulous cars. Thanks for sharing. I once owned a 1971 Continental Coupe, which was a basic-spec salesman's model ordered by a California dealer, which came without a vinyl roof and with a pea green interior with cloth seats. Super rare car, it had the factory high-compression 360hp 460-cube V8. I drove that car more than 10,000 miles, culminating with a cross country trip to Florida before I eventually sold it. Believe it or not, that car averaged 16mpg on the freeway and would hit 120mph given enough road..
Excellent - listening to your (and Marc's) descriptions of how these vehicles came to be is a slice of history that a dozen motor trend or car and driver subscriptions could not even touch. Both the good and the bad are presented in equal detail, I remember in the old days how my muscle car (and bike magazines) would deride these vehicles, but their lack of knowledge about all of the stakeholders in the development of these cars was unfair to the builders of the vehicles and their designers (and the cost people who were under pressure to make more money every year). I would even like to see you go over some of the classic muscle cars (which in many have been shielded from examination in the sporting press) and explain how they got built the way they did. Use the same spotlight as you did on the 82-84 transam (and I remember a 60's Nova that was just short of 400 HP stock, the engine was great, the rest of the car was in a continuous self disassembly program)
Eugene Bordinat used to tell the story of how he hated to be summoned to Henry Ford II's office because he knew what was waiting for him, the Oldsmobile Toronado! Henry Ford II loved the 1st Gen Toronado so much that he had several scale models around his office, plus design sketches on the walls. Beyond Lee Iacocca, Henry 2 demanded a Toronado-like design for Ford. Finally, the 1972 Mark IV gave Henry 2 his cherished "Fordonado", and got the old man off Eugene's back! My heart goes out to Eugene Bordinat and everything he endured - RIP.
Wow. Dueling car history personalities, both in the same video. More in-depth review of the history of Lincoln than you ever imagined. And for two shining examples of what are now "antique" cars, they could not be more pristine. The only thing about this video that I didn't understand clearly enough is why there were two models of "Continental".
I love the design element comments. There is an art school in San Francisco that has a classic car collection where the students study the design of Packards, Cords, Deusenbergs, etc. It is a place classic car lovers must see
I remember my middle school science teacher had a mark IV and it definitely was the coolest car in the lot and there were some El dorado's fighting for attention 😉
At between the 5:00-5:45 mark where the shot is from behind the left driver's rear quarter one can get a very nice view of how seamless the roof line melds into the dutchman panel. I am just mesmerized by how smooth and attractive the combination of the C pillar, the rear glass, the roof line, and the dutchman panel as they all lead to the trunk. Perfection to me that a vinyl roof would have destroyed.
Beautiful cars. We used to have 3 different Continentals. A 1969 Lincoln with Graphite gray outside with Black Vinyl Top and Maroon Red Interior, second one like this Continental accept Brown with White Vinyl Top and beige color interior and a 1976 Lincoln Continental was the biggest one of all and was burnt orange and similar beige interior. The 3rd one we didn't keep longer then 6 months as our dad ordered a Mercedes 300d as we went on a trip to Europe summer of 76 and picked it up in Germany and wanted a car to drive around in. The 3rd one we sold to some friends of our, at the time just bought a new Granada/ Monarch at the time and had to sell it to buy ours. Was a huge upgrade for them. The Mercedes was much smaller then the behemoth Lincolns. The 69 was my favorite of them all. I like them without vinyl and all metal. Rust would be a problem with any car and no car today offers such tops. Fun fact, my dads mother never thought much of our huge cars every time we went to her place in Fresno. Saying we should buy small sensible car and small cars were death traps in those days. We did own a 1968 VW Squareback at the time and was a tin can in comparison. We did all our family trips in the Lincolns, not the VW. Later when she saw the Mercedes for the time, she said finally a sensible small car, but what she didn't know is it was twice the price being a Mercedes at around 14k in the dealer vs 7k or so for the Lincoln.
The '72 Continental has a more direct lineage look to the Mark III, in my opinion. I read that dealers thought the '70 Continental front end was a bit too conservative so designers subsequently added the grille details to the headlamp doors on later models. I've also read that engine cooling efficiency was diminished on '73 Mark IV's because the 5 mph front bumper shortened the grille opening. Pontiac experienced that problem with the '69-'70 Grand Prix in stop and go traffic. It was solved by the larger front grille design for '71-'72. I appreciate how masculine and muscular Mark lll's look and how gentlemanly and lithe Mark IV's look. Like Old Spice and Aramis. Great video.
Oh the Mark IV has a beautiful front, very understated and gets away with the blatant RR grill, but the Coupe is stunning in every other way. Wow, lucky find.
Goodday Adam, This episode was gold, learned so much. Love the house & the greenery in the background. Check out 1977 Ford LTD P6. This is the Aussie LTD by Ford here in Australia if you want to see a Rolls Royce grill we gotbthem here in Australia. Wealth of knowledge your mate. Your number 1 Fan in Australia Louis Kats from Melbourne Australia ☺ 👍 ❤
I just looked up that car and it's another wow for this American. Never knew so many U.S. styling features were in Australian cars. It never ceases to amaze me that Australia had its own large cars, albeit more the size of our intermediate models. The front end of that LTD P6 is definitely exotic to my eyes, but the curved side panels and those flush door handles seem so familiar.
The point about the personal luxury Mark IV being markedly more popular than the standard Continental, despite its higher price (and lower practicality), cannot be overstated. The Mark IV was everywhere - seemingly even more so for 1973 - while the standard car faded into the background, overshadowed by the sheer star power of its zeitgeist-defining sibling, and the ubiquity of the de Ville.
I don't recall having seen a 2dr Continental back in the day, but MkIVs were everywhere. Maybe I just didn't notice them, but side by side I sure like the Lincoln Continental 2dr better.
LOVE Marc's designer vocabulary! Maybe I misunderstood, but GM really wants you to announce that you work for GM before doing public interviews like this? I would have thought it would have been just the opposite. In any event, Marc's MarkIV is beautiful, but the Lincoln coupe has got it beat for sure, what a beautiful car, and I can't imagine there are more than a handful of these left, certainly none optioned perfectly like this one.
I think this is the best comparison video you two have done together, since these are cars made by the same company in the same year, yet show some real differences. I never would've noticed that about the slimmer, more vertical badge on the Mark, which better fits the vertical theme. Personally I've always preferred the Mark III to the IV but it's hard to argue that it isn't a stunning vehicle that was really well done, given the design brief. That said, I'm an absolute sucker for the massive formal Lincoln Continental Coupe. I know they were following trends, but the 75 redesign for the full size Lincoln coupes to the squared off, more formal roof was just a huge mistake in my opinion. The early 70s roof added some beautiful curves to an otherwise square and imposing shape. I've always felt the early 70s Lincoln coupes had a sinister presence, like a big angry muscle car on steroids. It's much the same reason I love the 67-68 Cadillacs, which combined formal and pseudo performance touches with powerful big block motors and tough transmissions.
Very nice, once more you and Mark bring us nuggets of information and explain the nuances of the designs. Not so familiar withe the Lincoln but am I right in thinking TV detective Cannon had a MK 4?
Really nice hearing about these cars. I live in England and have a 1972 Ford Thunderbird two door hardtop. Do you know much about this particular model? It would be great to know a bit more about my car.
