Junkyard Find: 1989 Lincoln Mark VII LSC
Ford began selling Lincoln Mark Series cars starting in 1956, with the hand-built Continental Mark II, then mass-produced the first go-round of the Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V for the 1958-60 model years. Fast-forward to the 1968 model year, for which Lee Iacocca decreed that a luxury-for-the-well-off-masses Thunderbird-based Mark III would be built, and we get to the period of Lincoln Marks that I’ve covered in this series; we’ve seen discarded examples of the III through the final VIII, but no Mark VII… until today.
The Mark VII was the smallest and most nimble of all the 1968-1998 Marks, based on the same Fox Platform as the Mustang. Built from the 1984 through 1992 model years, the Mark VII dropped all Continental badging for 1986 and became, simply, the Lincoln Mark VII.
These cars are tough to find in junkyards today ( Mark IV s and Mark VI s remain plentiful), but this one got hit in an expensive spot and ended up taking that final tow-truck ride to this place.
For 1989, you could choose one of two flavors of Mark VII: the Bill Blass and the LSC. Each started at $27,218, or about $54,400 in 2020 dollars. That was just a bit less than half the price of a new BMW 635CSi coupe that year.
There was a time, extending well into our current century, when the 5.0 HO engine in this car would have been yanked within hours of appearing in the junkyard, since this is the same 225-horse V8 that went into the hotter Mustangs of the era.
Here’s the air compressor for the adjustable air suspension. You often saw these cars sagging low, sometimes just in the rear and sometimes all the way around, after failures in the air system.
The LSC was supposed to be sportier than other Mark VIIs, so it didn’t get the space-age digital dash. The Electronic Climate Control, with its jarringly contrasting typefaces, came as standard equipment.
The audio system was serious stuff for 1989; an eight-speaker system came standard in all Mark VIIs, and buyers could opt for a JBL 10-speaker rig with an extra 140-watt amplifier.
Remember the “I Like Turtles” meme of 2007? Decals were available, it turns out, and this Lincoln wears one.
To understand the handling of the Mark VII, you had to do three things: 1. Drive it. 2. Drive it. 3. Drive it. In fact, it handled pretty well, like a heavy Mustang.
Move over, Mercedes and BMW!
For links to more than 2,000 additional Junkyard Finds, Treasures, and Gems, visit the Junkyard Home of the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand™.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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These cars are amazing i actually own one rite now 89 lincoln mark 7 lsc in beautiful condition i love driving it
I owned a 1985 LSC, metallic grey, purchased in 1989. Drove it till it created an extra ventilation hole in the block at 190K in 92.
Picked up a 91 LSC in 1994 and had it till 1998 Loved it but the 3rd kid was on the way so needed something more practical.