Lately I've seen a whole slew of interesting cars; I don't know if it's the unusally warm weather for September (and now October) or what, but they've been coming out in droves, I kid you not. Granted this once-prestigious Lincoln was shot about a few weeks ago, but still. It's highly out of the ordinary to have an amazing week in fall of shooting. Enough rambling about the sun, this isn't a weather blog.
Riding down Lake on the way to a friends house, I was passed by this beast, so rather than get it out of my sight, I pressed on, hoping not to lose the big Mark. As luck would have it, he parked. I waited till the owner went inside, and out came my D5K, and the shots commenced.
I realize this example is a little worse for wear, but in all seriousness, how many huge coupes do you still see today? Quite a scant few, especially up here in the rust belt. All Lincoln Mark coupes are special to me, because..well.. if I have to tell you why they're so cool.. stop reading. Seriously.
What immediately caught my eye is the color combination; all gold. Paint, interior, landau top, and what have you. Now, this baby is no ordinary Mark-- far from it. What you see here, is a much-loved (beat to shit put in nice language) Diamond Jubilee Edition. Made only in 1979, there were only 5199 examples built. To be honest, this is the first DJE I've seen, and I'm quite sad that this example represents the local Mark scene.
Honestly, as much of a beater as this is, it's probably one of the better conditioned big cars I've seen. This state hates big old boats; the gangsters love them to death, and don't even get me started on what our lovely winters do to these big-ass antique tanks. Outside, obviously, the paint is in less-than-perfect condition. On the plus side, though, there is no obvious bondo, so at least it hasn't rusted all the way through--yet. The trim is all intact, if not as beat as the rest of the car. Even the vinyl continental kit cover is intact. It's worn, but imagine trying to find new covering for that piece? Hah. Yeah right.
Inside, this poor Mark clearly has seen better days. The passenger seat is likely worn through, hence the shirt covering it; either that, or it's in amazing shape under the cover. I doubt it though. While the interior was in better shape than the car, I fear for the wood trim. It's faded to hell, and the Lincoln scripts are missing. At least all the important trim is in one piece. So, okay-- maybe it's not in as bad as shape as I thought. Still though, if it's left outside (like it was last winter), the whole car will become one with the Earth. If it isn't donked first.
All in all, I'm grateful to see a near 35 year old still rolling, even if it isn't in pristine shape. I hope this example gets collector plates soon, though. It definitely needs-- and deserves-- to be restored to it's former glory. After all, it was a $22,500 car when it was new. At a time when the average American car cost a hair over $5000. Yes. That's like comparing a fully loaded Chevy Suburban to a base Chevy Aveo price-wise. Yikes.
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