December 20, 2022 Update – After we unsuccessfully tried to auction his 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V, the seller found a buyer local to him. We thank the seller for the opportunity to auction his ride and wish him nothing but the best!

Guys With Rides is pleased to offer Lot 160, this two-owner 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V, with only 79,805 original miles.

Bidding is now open and will run through 5:00 PM eastern Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

This 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V resides with the builder in the Clifton, New Jersey, area, approximately 30 minutes by car from Newark International Airport.

(NOTE: Click on the picture to stop the slide show and expand the pictures. Scroll down to see all photographs)

The Deets

Current Bid: $7,000

The Lincoln Division of Ford Motor Company produced the Continental Mark V as a personal luxury coupe for just three model years from 1977 through 1979.  Lincoln developed the Mark V from its Continental Mark IV predecessor in the fourth generation Mark series, bringing an extensive update to the interior and exterior design. While only sold for three years, the Mark V is the best-selling generation of the Mark series, with 228,262 examples produced.

At 230 inches long, the Mark V is the largest two-door coupe ever sold by Ford Motor Company. The 233-inch long two-door and four-door Lincoln Continental sedans (produced alongside it) are the only longer vehicle ever marketed by Ford. Distinguished by its sharp-edged exterior design, the Mark V design themes would be adapted to Lincoln vehicles throughout the 1980s.

For the final 1979 model year, US government-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards forced Lincoln to discontinue both the 460 cubic inch and dual-exhaust-equipped 400 cubic inch V8 options. Consequently, the only engine available for 1979 was the two-barrel-topped, single exhaust, 159 horsepower 400 cubic inch V8.

A new AM/FM stereo radio with a cassette tape player and Ford’s new top-of-the-line Electronic AM/FM Stereo Search Radio with Quadrasonic 8-track tape player was added as new radio options. The latter received a floor-mounted foot-switch (inboard of the physically identical floor-mounted headlamp dimmer switch), which would allow the driver to left-foot-tap the switch to scan radio stations or advance tracks on the 8-track player without having to take their hands off the steering wheel.

As Mark V and Continental were in their final year of being the largest and the last “traditional-sized luxury” production cars in America (and the world, for that matter), a commemorative “Collector’s Series” package (a few months later, an actual stand-alone listed model) was introduced. The ever-popular Designer Series and optional Luxury Group offerings continued in newly revised color and trim selections.

The 1972-style Luxury Wheel Covers returned for Mark V’s final year as the standard issue (on all but Collector’s Series and Designer Series models) – as would the optional Wire Wheel Covers (now standard on Emilio Pucci Designer Series) and Forged Aluminum Wheels. The also-optional, very popular Turbine Style Aluminum Wheels continued with argent accent paint between the spokes, except on Collector’s Series and the Cartier, Bill Blass, and Givenchy Designer Series – where these models would be treated to color-keyed paint between the spokes, for unique added flair.

The Carriage Roof option (still only available in white canvas-embossed vinyl, but now standard on Bill Blass Designer Series) received new interior rear quarter trim panel inserts (a blanked-off, color-keyed padded vinyl insert filler panel covering the area where the deleted opera windows were – with round (non-switch-operated) reading/courtesy lights in the center of these panels on each side; thus effectively replacing 1978’s rear quarter panel vanity mirrors). These new interior quarter trim panel inserts would also appear on the Collector’s Series (in color-keyed vinyl or cloth – depending on the seat trim color) as the exterior landau roof design also eliminated the opera windows on this model. Here, though, the reading/courtesy lights in these quarter panel inserts had control switches above the rear seat quarter armrests to allow them to operate as customary door-jamb activated interior courtesy lights, as well as rear seat passengers being able to switch them on and off independently as true reading lamps.

1978’s electro-mechanical seat belt warning chimes carried over into 1979…and were now standard on the Collector’s Series and the Designer Series models. From 1980-on, selected (higher-end) trim levels of Ford-Lincoln-Mercury models would adopt a solid state, all-electronic combination (seat belt, ‘key in ignition’ and optional ‘headlamps-on’) warning chime module, with no moving parts, and no more buzzers.  Full and Rear Landau vinyl roof options continued for 1979. The all-metal, body-color painted roof continued as standard equipment – though it would rarely be seen.

Shane, the current caretaker and second owner of this Lincoln, purchased the car from the original owner’s estate approximately four years ago.  A great example of a new generation of young car collectors, Shane would love to keep the car. However, a new baby on the way forces him to reduce his collection.

The first thing you notice about this 1979 Lincoln Continental is how well-preserved the car remains.  It’s clear the car spent virtually all of its life garaged as the interior presents like new with no fading of any material observed.  Shortly after his purchase, Shane completely refurbished the car’s fuel system.  In addition to having a new gas tank installed, the mechanical fuel pump was replaced, and the original two-barrel carburetor benefits from a professional rebuild.

All optional accessories, including the rare AM/FM/CB factory radio, all work like new.  The only system that did not work was the car’s factory A/C system, which likely needs a charge from non-use.  The next caretaker can make the decision whether to convert the system to modern 134a.

Looking around the car and its undercarriage, there is no rust.  The original owner applied liberal amounts of Fluid Fill rust prevention spray that kept the tin worm away from this car.

This car is perfect for the enthusiast looking for a great-riding and great looking Land Yacht that just needs a winter’s worth of Concours-level detailing to have the car ready for the Spring show circuit,

Rudy personally inspected and photographed this 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V on November 3, 2022, just before the start of this car’s auction.  The results of Rudy’s pre-purchase inspection can be reviewed by clicking on the picture below. When finished, please click on your browser’s back button to return to this page:

Lot160_79_MarkV_PPI

To help you make informed bids, we’re providing access to Classic.com, the analytics and search engine for the Classic Car market, that provides an interactive graph of recent comparable sales year-to-date. By clicking on the green dots, you can navigate to each comparable car sold as a way to help you make an educated bid on the car we are featuring for auction here:

Exterior Gallery

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Interior Gallery

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Underhood And Undercarriage Gallery

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Tires And Wheels Gallery

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Windows & Mirrors, and Landau Top Gallery

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Documentation Gallery

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If you have any questions about this 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V, please leave a comment below or feel free to call Rudy directly at 877-468-6497.  Thank you for looking, and happy bidding!