Lincoln Continental Mark VI
| Continental Mark VI | |
|---|---|
1980 Continental Mark VI Signature Series 4-door
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Ford Motor Company |
| Model years | 1980–1983 |
| Assembly | United States: Wixom, Michigan (Wixom Assembly) |
| Designer | John Aiken (1976) |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Full-size personal luxury car |
| Body style | 2-door sedan 4-door sedan |
| Layout | FR layout, body-on-frame |
| Platform | Ford Panther platform |
| Related |
Lincoln Continental (1980) Lincoln Town Car (1981–1989) |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 302 cu in (4.9 L) 5.0L V8 351 cu in (5.8 L) Windsor V8 (1980 only) |
| Transmission | 4-speed AOD automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2-door: 114.4 in (2,910 mm) 4-door: 117.4 in (2,980 mm) |
| Length | 2-door: 216.0 in (5,490 mm) 4-door: 219.2 in (5,570 mm) |
| Width | 78.1 in (1,980 mm) |
| Height | 2-door: 55.1 in (1,400 mm) 4-door: 55.8 in (1,420 mm) |
| Curb weight | 3,892–4,219 lb (1,765–1,914 kg) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Lincoln Continental Mark V |
| Successor | Lincoln Continental Mark VII |
The Continental Mark VI is a full-size luxury car that was produced by Ford Motor Company and marketed by its Lincoln division from 1980 to 1983. As a response to federal fuel economy standards, the Mark VI was the first model of the Mark series with smaller exterior dimensions than its predecessor. Sharing powertrain and many body panels with the 1980 Lincoln Continental, it was based on the then-new Ford Panther platform. As the flagship line of the entire Ford Motor Company, the Continental Mark VI offered some features that were not available on the Town Car.
For the first time since 1960, the Lincoln Mark Series was produced in multiple bodystyles. Along with the familiar 2-door sedan, Lincoln reintroduced a 4-door sedan body style. All Continental Mark VIs were produced at Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant in Wixom, Michigan.
The Mark VI was replaced by the Mark VII in 1984, which returned to a coupe-only body style.
During the mid-1970s, the Mark VI successor to the Continental Mark V began life based on what would become the Ford Fox platform, as a companion to the 1980 Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar XR7.However, due to budgetary constraints, Ford product planners chose a different direction for the Mark VI. Based on the success of its predecessors, Ford executives (led by Lee Iaccoca) sought to expand the Mark product line into its own model family, reviving an approach previously used in 1956 with the Continental Division. Developed alongside the traditional Mark coupe was a four-door sedan, a four-door woodgrained station wagon, and a premium 2-seat coupe. Following the firing of Lee Iaccoca in 1978, the expansion of the Mark was limited to the four-door sedan.
The budgetary constraints at Ford at the late 1970s required the new Mark VI to be produced at a minimum cost; to do so, the project was moved from the Fox platform to the Panther platform used by the 1980 Continental/Town Car. While it meant a smaller degree of downsizing than intended (and it would be far larger than the redesigned Cadillac Eldorado and Chrysler Cordoba), it would an intermediate step down from its Mark V predecessor. Additionally, its high degree of parts commonality with the Continental, Town Car, and mass-market vehicles such as the Ford LTD would require fewer vehicles to be sold for the project to be profitable.
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