Vehicle Description
If you go into a Lincoln store today, you'd be forgiven for not
quite knowing where you were. Ford's luxury division seems to have
forgotten the cars that made Lincoln great, and there's just no
excuse for not having a Mark personal luxury coupe on the showroom
floor. The Mark VIII was the last of the breed, and fortunately,
this 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC is a fantastic performer with low
miles and exemplary maintenance, so you can satisfy your high
performance Lincoln craving without having to settle for whatever
sedan they're calling a MK these days.
The Mark VIII was a great showcase of Ford's silky smooth 4.6 liter
DOHC V8, which gave the LSC the moves of a much lighter car.
American through and through, it's big, strong, silent, and capable
of eating up vast stretches of highway without breaking a sweat.
The LSC (which stands for Luxury Sport Coupe) was ostensibly the
sportiest of the bunch, with a firmer suspension, bigger tires,
dual exhaust, and a few other niceties to make it feel less pillowy
and more aggressive. In truth, they seemed to nail the balance of
luxury and sport, creating a car that looks handsome and refined,
yet distinctive, and whose performance exceeds expectations. With
just under 72,000 original miles, this handsome coupe shows
extremely well, with the Toreador Red paint glowing in the sun and
showing very few signs of use beyond a repainted front fender. LSCs
like this one got upgraded headlights, a color-matched grille
(instead of chrome), and a full-width taillight treatment that
includes a neon tube that lights the center section, all of which
was very high-tech in 1997.
The black leather interior is simply gorgeous, with a wrap-around
instrument panel that feels very futuristic. The seats show modest
wear and certainly no damage beyond some slight signs of age, and
even the carpets remain in excellent shape. There's some wood on
the center console and a wide instrument panel that houses big,
round analog gauges that you can read at a glance. Obviously, as
Lincoln's flagship, everything was standard, from automatic climate
control with ice cold A/C, to power windows, locks, seats, and
mirrors, to a trip computer that monitors, well, just about
everything. Cruise control buttons are on the steering wheel and
there's a powerful AM/FM/CD stereo system with CD changer and in
the hushed Mark VIII's interior, it sounds amazing. There's also a
big trunk that makes road trips a pleasure.
With 280 horsepower on tap, the Mark VIII is alarmingly fast, and
that DOHC V8 makes a sound akin to ripping silk as it roars towards
redline. In truth, there still aren't many cars that are faster on
the roll, and punching this car at highway speeds produces an
unending stream of torque that hurls the big coupe forward
effortlessly. It's properly maintained and if service in Mustang
Cobras has taught us anything, it's that this Modular motor is
virtually indestructible. The 4-speed automatic overdrive
transmission has a knack for always being in the right gear and it
just loafs along at highway speeds thanks to tall gears out back.
The all-independent suspension is equipped with airbags at all four
corners, which give it an incredible ride that seems to ignore
bumps. You can see just how clean this car is with a glance
underneath; obviously it has never spent time in the snow and salt.
Big disc brakes with ABS haul it down from speed without drama and
it's fitted with gorgeous chrome alloy wheels wearing 225/60/16
Michelin radials all around.
The last of Lincoln's personal luxury coupes is still a fantastic
car, and at this price, you get incredible performance and luxury
for pennies on the dollar. Call today!
