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MONTEREY, Calif.

I ARRIVED VIA Seventeen-Mile Drive, a twisty road that trips along the coastline of the Monterey Peninsula past natural and man-made wonders.

The natural wonders were astounding — the breaking waves of the Pacific Ocean, the choreography of wind-bent cypresses, the jagged outposts of Seal and Bird Rocks.

The man-made wonders were baffling — mansions prefaced by gated lanes, golf links prefaced by gated roads and Seventeen-Mile Drive itself, which is access-restricted by toll gates.

The juxtaposition of nature and humanity in this setting prompted the thought: What God giveth, man taketh away, or does his damnedest to keepeth for himself.

Anyway, I was thinking these things within the comfortable confines of the revised-for-1997 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC. The test model was pearlescent white with a tan, leather-wrapped interior. It had brilliant chrome wheels; a bodacious, open-mouthed grille; and headlamps that seemed to flow from front to tail.

It was an elegantly audacious car; and I mostly loved it, especially its performance aspects — the way it handled the twists and turns of Seventeen-Mile Drive.

And in the upper-sniff atmosphere of the Monterey Peninsula, I liked the social aspects of the new Mark VIII LSC, too. It got me through most gates with minimum hassle.

Background: Things have been going poorly for the Mark VIII, as they have for many luxury cars. Mark VIII sales, for example, are down about 22 percent below 1995 levels, which were down from the previous year.

The problem? Too many luxury cars and too few buyers, some auto industry analysts say.

The U.S. luxcar market — formerly the province of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Corp., Mercedes-Benz and BMW — now includes products from Lexus, Infiniti and Acura. And there are other luxury offerings from Audi, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda and, for 1997, Mitsubishi.

On top of that is the changing reality of “base” and “luxury” in the U.S. auto market. Many “base” cars now include as standard equipment items once available as standard only on luxury models. Those items include air conditioners, automatic transmissions, power windows and locks, anti-lock brakes, multi-link suspensions, dual front air bags and other safety enhancements; and computer-managed, multi-valve engines.

People who could get all of that stuff in lower-priced cars aren’t inclined to spend thousands more to acquire a luxury label, according to some industry analysts and officials.

There’s also the matter of strong sport-utility vehicle sales, which continue to strip buyers from the passenger car market.

In that overall sales environment, a specialty luxcar such as the front-engine, rear-drive, five-passenger Mark VIII LSC coupe becomes a hard sell. As a result, Ford has cut prices, reshaped corners, tweaked the suspension, and added some high-tech lighting systems to strengthen the Mark VIII’s appeal for 1997.

Time will tell if those changes work. But one thing is certain, potential buyers will have no problem distinguishing the top of the line Mark VIII LSC or base Mark VIII from the rest of the luxmobile crowd. All Ford has to do is turn on the cars’ lights.

The new Mark VIII series is outfitted with high-intensity-discharge (HID), low-beam headlamps that produce 2.7 times more light than halogen headlamps while using substantially less power. Ford has also added turn signal lights to the outside rear-view mirrors.

The Mark VIII has a new rear taillight assembly, too — a neon tube brake light mounted beneath the 48-inch-wide, deck-lid. Sort of makes the car stand out on dark, winding roads.

Ford carried over the Mark VIII’s V-8 engine from last year; but it moved the air-induction port to the front of the engine from the rear to reduce engine noise near the passenger cabin. That double overhead-cam V-8 is rated 290 horsepower at 5,750 rpm with torque rated 295 pound-feet at 4,500 rpm.

O her standard equipment in the Mark VIII includes dual front air bags, traction control and anti-lock brakes.

Complaints: The Mark VIII is a big, heavy car (3,768 pounds) with a tight interior. The front passengers sit in pampered comfort. But pity the folks, especially the unlucky fifth passenger, sitting in the space-restricted rear.

Praise: An absolutely beautiful car, a road jewel. Excellent overall craftsmanship.

Head-turning quotient: This is automobile as calling card. Gate guards think twice before questioning your right to enter.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces. Superb handling in curves. A very sure-footed automobile. Braking was excellent, too.

Mileage: Barely 23 miles per gallon of premium unleaded in the test car (18-gallon tank, estimated 390-mile range on usable fuel volume), running mostly highway and driver only. No cargo in trunk, which has 14.4-cubic-feet of available space.

Sound system: Eight-speaker, Ford/JBL system. AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with compact disc. Very nice.

Price: Estimated base price on the tested 1997 Mark VIII LSC is $42,500. Estimated dealer invoice is $37,800. Estimated price as tested $47,000, including $3,830 in options (chrome wheels, power moonroof, CD player, among others) and a $670 destination charge.

Purse-strings note: Compare with the Cadillac Eldorado and Lexus SC300.