Hemmings Find of the Day – 1988 Lincoln Mark VII LSC

Published by Mike on August 26, 2014

It’s sad, but Lincoln is lost today. Especially compared to Cadillac with its lineup of chiseled sports sedans and coupes that have had the Germans taking notice for over a decade, beginning with the introduction of the 2003-model-year CTS. But Lincoln need only look through its old brochures to find the way forward. The car that could light-up American luxury/performance enthusiasts is right here, in 1988 of all places, the Mk VII. Imagine a modern version of this car wrapped in contemporary sheetmetal with the same powertrain as the current 435hp Mustang GT or a tuned up version with the 662hp supercharged engine from the Shelby GT500. That’s all it would take to get the enthusiast magazines and web sites raving breathlessly about Lincoln and people under 50 snooping around Lincoln dealerships again. The Mk VII made its debut in 1984 but 1988 was the year that the Lincoln Sport Coupe gained the 225hp 5.0-liter V-8, 16-inch wheels and anti-lock brakes. Lincoln built it mostly unchanged until 1992, selling more than 100,000 of the cars with the hot 5.0. They’re plentiful today, though many have been relegated to beater status. Nice examples are still around, maintained by people who imagined they’d be collectible, like this 1988 Lincoln Mark VII LSC for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller’s description:

This Mark VII is a 100-point show-car, with many 1st place concours awards (including the Lincoln and Continental Owners Club). It has 32,000 original miles and appears as much less. In recent years it has been kept in a climate-controlled private museum, and only driven to concours events. It is vertually perfect. The Sandalwood Leather interior was special-ordered as available on the Bill Blass series (not regularly available on the LSC).