17th Oct 2011, 08:35

The Mark VI was a flop for Lincoln because it really was a last minute hurry up and put something out there kind of thing. GM had already done most of their downsizing by 1977 (except for Eldorado), so all they did for 80 was a facelift on their line-up. Ford had done most of theirs, except for Lincoln trying to hold out for that last year to try to get the last of the "real full size" market-share. It worked as far as sales go for 77-79, but by the end of 1979 it left them with a dilemma... "Oh crap the EPA is on our ass, we need a small mark STAT"! They didn't have time to design a car from the ground up, so they used the renowned "Panther" platform and took too many design cues from the Mark V. It wound up looking like a Mark V that was picked before it was ripe. Now mechanically it was a fine car, and did exactly what it was meant to do, lower Fords overall company EPA rating (which was dangerously close to exceeding gov. standards in 79), but as far as sales go, for the next few years Cadillac owned the American luxury car market, while in the late 70's that title went to Lincoln and their Mark's IV and V. The VI was a last minute, hastily thrown together decision that made Ford lose a lot of buyers in the 80's. But it wasn't like the 4-6-8 or diesel Caddy's of that era had Americans any more enthusiastic... At least the VI ran with little known mechanical issues...