Ever since Ford Motor’s Lincoln-Mercury Division brought out the inaugural Lincoln Mark I, the car has been something of a trendsetter for highly styled luxury sports coupes.
The 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII continues this tradition and builds upon its heritage with emphasis on mechanical refinement, sports-oriented handling and upgraded, yet still distinctive styling.
The Mark VIII already was a pretty slick set of wheels that resided in the rather rarified air of luxury coupes. So, with Lincoln’s engineers and stylists moving forward, a good thing has been made even better.
The model’s overall theme is preserved, so that the Mark VIII is instantly recognizable. It is offered in standard and LSC (Luxury Sport Coupe) versions, with the LSC having its own styling cues and badging.
The LSC has a monochromatic appearance with body-colored molding on the headlights, taillights and decklid applique. There is a unique body-colored grille, body-colored side molding and special wheels.
The interior features perforated leather seats and “LSC” embroidered floor mats.
While the front and rear styling changes make the new VIII different from its predecessors, the incorporation of new features puts the car in its own specific world.
Up front, there is new styling that features a more prominent hood and a distinctive grille. It sets off the coupe’s low silhouette and sweeping aerodynamic lines.
At the rear end, the theme ought to be “Let there be light,” because there is lots of it.
The new rear styling features a neon-lighted taillight that sweeps across the full width of the car. The system gives Lincoln-Mercury Division a first, as it represents the first production application of neon taillights.
At 60 mph, this can help reduce the stopping distance of following vehicles by as much as 17 feet — as long as the guy behind you is awake.
Designers apparently were on a lighting campaign with the coupe, since they also developed advanced features for the headlights.
Featured in front is the Osram Sylvania Luminarc clear-lens headlight; these HID lamps produce 2.7 times more light than standard halogen bulbs.
The coupe also has been given halogen high-beam lights and new cornering lamps.
The VIII’s engineers have incorporated a couple of innovations that offer safety and convenience.
The exterior, electronically controlled rear-view mirrors have housings that contain supplementary turn signals on their trailing edge to alert following drivers.
In addition, these exterior mirrors turn down and become what Lincoln calls “puddle lamps” that illuminate the ground when the doors are unlocked using the remote-control key fob.
The Mark always has been a luxury automobile that is strong on individual touches. The 1997 coupe continues this theme with such personalized items as a power tilt and telescoping steering column with a memory system that returns the wheel and column to a set position upon entry to the driver’s seat.
The wheel also s lides away to provide more room for getting into and out of the car. The rear window has an in-glass antenna. As a deterrent to theft, a passive anti-theft system unit that immobilizes the engine is standard.
The motor is Lincoln’s four overhead-cam, four-valves-per- cylinder 4.6-liter V-8 that powered previous Marks, with 285 foot-pounds of torque for the standard Mark and 10 more foot-pounds for the LSC. Horsepower is 280 for the standard and 290 for the LSC.
To take advantage of the increased power, the new coupe has more precise steering and a retuned suspension to control body motion yet still give a comfortable ride.
A Mark never has been cheap, but Lincoln has kept the cost in line with an manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $37,280.
