Bill Blass Edition Mark V on 2040-cars

This Bill Blass Edition Mark V is finished in Midnight Blue Metallic contrasting with the landau vinyl roof in chamois color and pigskin texture. Chamois was also chosen for the interior of leather and vinyl. The pigskin texture is utilized on the seating surfaces, straps and door panel inserts. The Bill Blass identification is in the opera windows. The Lincoln is powered by a 400-cid, 179-hp V-8 engine connected to a three-speed automatic transmission. This Bill Blass Edition 3 owner car purchased in 1977 from SF Lincoln Mercury on Van Ness Ave. Sold in 1979 to 2^nd Owner in San Jose, CA and then purchased by last owner in 81. Same Owner from 81 to current year, always garaged. Complete Service records since purchase including all registration tags for every year. Including original owner registration/Inspection tag from SF Lincoln Mercury in 1977.  Well documented car with a few minor flaws, only 40,440 Original miles showing on the odometer, original paint, Zenith Wire wheels, this Continental even retains the original space saver spare as well as the aerosol bottle to fill it. Everything works including the Clock!!  A/C, P/S, P/B, P/W, Power sunroof, Heated Drivers side Mirror, Original 8 Track player.

The 1977-79 Lincoln Mark V is decidedly old-school.  Truly the last 1979 passenger car 80 inches wide and 230 inches long with fuel economy barely in the double digits, and with a design putting styling over aerodynamics….the Mark V embodies what traditional “Amercian luxury cars” were known for since the dawn of the automobile.

A handsome car in its day, the V’s elegant and crisp lines have stood the test of time well making it a period piece that still turns heads today.  Produced for only three model years, many collectors consider it as recognizable an icon today as a 1955-57 Ford Thunderbird, a 1964-66 Mustang, a 1968-70 Dodge Charger (Dukes of Hazzard), or even a 1995-97 Ferrari F50…all vehicles with three-year model runs also.

That said, it’s fair to say the Mark V is more an evolutionary design than a revolutionary one.  Improving on its predecessor (the 1972-76 Mark IV), the ’77 used the same 120-inch wheelbase as well as same front/rear tread width.  While 2.2 inches were added to the overall length for styling, engineers diligently brought curb weight down from 5,000 pounds to 4,600 pounds.

Sheetmetal, grille, and bumpers were all new for ’77 and embodied a sharp-edged more angular theme rather than the more rounded and heavier-looking styling of the Mark IV.  Three vent slats along both front fenders were new, and served to improve interior ventilation.  Evolutionary styling carried over the previous Mark IV’s narrow Rolls grille, vertical “blade” style parking/turn signal lights in front fender extensions, simultated spare tire hump in trunk, concealed headlamps, and opera windows in roof c-pillars.

In a 2003 interview, Ford Motor Company designer Don DeLaRossa reflected in Collectible Automobile Magazine back to the Mark Vs development in the 1970s.  “The starting point for the Mark V was an alternate design proposal for the Mark IV that had been championed by Gene Bordinat, corporate styling vice president. Bordinat didn’t like the Mark IV design he approved for production. We extended those lines of the Mark IV, straightened them, and kept them flowing….Gale Halderman (head of Lincoln-Mercury design studio at the time) said taillamp blades that wrapped over into the rear fender tops were considered until they proved unpopular in market research.”.

1977 MODELS INTRODUCED October 1, 1976. Base price: $11,396 (80,321 sold).

To view a commercial from Autumn 1976 introducing the Mark V at the New York Museum of Modern Art, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daN4tYCssSI. Note the vehicle shown in this “modern art” theme has no vinyl roof.  The narrator was actor John Houseman.