1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV

The 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV was a top of the line luxury car, built by Ford Motor Company’s subsidiary, Lincoln to replace the successful Continental Mark III and built from 1972 to 1976. Corpulent, powerful, luxurious and big, it had a hood described as “like an aircraft carrier landing-deck on final approach.”

Loaded with a long list of luxury features: power windows, antenna, air-conditioning, six-by-six-way power seats, Cartier electric clock, wooden dashboard, and door locks, all standard fare, it also got a fat waistline, weighing two tons that made its Sure Track power brake system work very hard each time it came to a dead stop. For an extra $179, leather lounge seats could be ordered.

Power for these big cars had to be tamed because of Federal restrictions on power. The 460cid V8 could push 224 bhp. The rear bumper followed the rounded Continental wheel cover, a feature that started with the Mark Is. Shuttered headlights and heavyweight chrome bumper, vinyl, leather-look roof was standard on all Mark IVs. For the exterior, another $127 would be tacked on for a metallic hue.

The 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV had enough room for five and was longer and wider than its predecessor Mark III. The tiny “opera” window in the huge rear pillar was a trademark until 1984.

Regardless, the opulent North Americans bought more than 48,000 of these gas-guzzlers. It sported a close-fitting bumpers in front to accommodate a grille that offended Rolls-Royce but the automaker didn’t sue but wished it had as the grille, a copy of Royce’s, went on to become a Lincoln trademark. More than three-fourths of the ’72 Continentals came with optional $70 tilting steering wheel, an evidence of the corpulence of their average owners.