52 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
03 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
28 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
11 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
23 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
38 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
08 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
06 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
40 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
13 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
14 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
04 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
16 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
05 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
20 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
24 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
53 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
27 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
30 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
12 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
18 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
33 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
35 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
36 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
42 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
29 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
46 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
49 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
51 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
99 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
26 – 1972 Lincoln Mark IV in Colorado junkyard – Photo by Murilee Martin
For most of the period from the middle 1950s through the late 1990s, the Lincoln Marks were the most expensive cars Americans could buy from the Ford Motor Company. During the 1970s, the Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V personal luxury coupes were built on the same chassis as the then-massive Thunderbird, with curb weights hovering around 5,000 pounds. Here’s a 1972 Mark IV, from the year when engine power really started its Malaise Era fall off a cliff, photographed in a Denver-area self-service yard.
The list price on this car started at $8,640, which amounts to something like $61,445 in 2022 bucks. That was quite a bit less than the $10,634 Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL 4.5, though the Benz had the more powerful V8 engine.
Power ratings had just gone to net rather than gross numbers, so this massive 460-cubic-inch (7.5-liter) V8 was rated at just 224 horsepower (ever-stricter emission rules knocked actual power down as well). At least the torque was still pretty good, at 342 pound-feet.
Runs on regular gas!
This car clearly spent quite a while, probably at least a couple of decades, sitting outdoors in the harsh Colorado climate. The seat upholstery is deeply irradiated.
The padded vinyl roof didn’t fare well beneath the sun.
Someone has torn apart the dash, but you can still see the classy Cartier clock hiding in the wreckage.
There’s some rust, enough to scare off anyone who might have been interested in performing a restoration.
The Continental Mark IV’s main rival was the Cadillac Eldorado, which was slightly smaller and (marginally) less packed with bling.
The ’72 Imperial LeBaron was cheaper and boasted one more horsepower than the Mark IV, but seemed stodgy next to the devil-may-care Lincoln.
More than 8,000 owners of that luxury car switched to Continental for ’71.
