Here is an All Original 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V RECENTLY SERVICED RUNS AND DRIVES EXCELLENT ONE FAMILY OWNED Numbers Matching 5.8 L V8 Engine 3-Speed Automatic Transmission This Mark V is equipped with Power Steering and Power Brakes Front Brakes are Disc Orignal Salmon Metallic Color Beautiful Original Interior Column Shift All gauges are working Heat/ Defrost and Air Conditioning AM/ FM Stereo This is a clean Classic and is ready to roll!
The Continental Mark V is a personal luxury coupe that was marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from the 1977 to 1979 model years in North America. Following the success of the Continental Mark IV, the Mark V was derived from the same chassis architecture (shared with the Ford Thunderbird) with an extensive update to the exterior and interior. The sharply-creased body introduced an exterior design theme used on many Lincoln vehicles throughout the 1980s.
For 1980, the Continental Mark V was replaced by the Continental Mark VI. Based on the Ford Panther platform introduced for the 1979 model year, the downsized Mark VI saw significant reductions in its exterior dimensions in the interest of fuel economy.
All Continental Mark Vs were assembled at the now-closed Wixom Assembly Plant in Wixom, Michigan, alongside the standard Lincoln Continental and Continental Town Car and Town Coupe
During the development of the Continental Mark V, Ford was unable to justify the expense of designing an all-new platform for the vehicle, necessitating an evolutionary design for the vehicle. TO allow better model differentiation between the Mark series and the Thunderbird, the Ford Thunderbird was shifted away from the Mark series. Replacing the Ford Elite, the 1977 Thunderbird was downsized, becoming a counterpart of the Mercury Cougar
In the engine compartment, the now-seemingly gigantic 7.5 L (460 cid) V8 and dual-exhaust 400 V8 are discontinued, all in the name of helping Ford Motor Company meet the US government-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which were enforced beginning in 1978.
A new AM/FM stereo radio with cassette tape player, as well as Ford's new top-of-the-line Electronic AM/FM Stereo Search Radio with Quadrasonic 8-track tape player, were 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 - yet again in newly revised color and trim selections.
The 1972-style Luxury Wheel Covers returned for Mark V's final year as 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 not only standard on Collector's Series, but were also standard on the Designer Series models as well. From 1980-on, selected (higher-end) trim levels of Ford-Lincoln-Mercury models would adopt the use of 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 also continued as standard equipment - though would rarely be seen. This all-metal roof style would not appear on a Mark again until the introduction of the all-new, Fox-based aerodynamic Mark VII for 1984.
