page_title: Lincoln Continental Mark IV
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Lincoln Continental Mark IV / Design
caption_attribution_description: Photographed at the 2010 Autotron Classic car meeting, Rosmalen, The Netherlands. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
context_page_description: The Continental Mark IV is a personal luxury car that was sold and marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from the 1972 to 1976 model years. The third generation of the Mark series, the Mark IV grew in size over its Continental Mark III predecessor and its Cadillac Eldorado rival. Sharing a common chassis with the Ford Thunderbird, the Mark IV was given its own exterior design from the windows down, returning hidden headlights, a radiator-style grille, and a Continental spare tire trunklid.
  In what would later become a long-running tradition for the Lincoln model line, in 1976, the Mark IV introduced Designer Editions as an option series, which consisted of specially coordinated exterior and interior trims developed between Lincoln and contemporary fashion designers.
  All Continental Mark IVs were assembled at the Wixom Assembly Plant in Wixom, Michigan, alongside the standard Lincoln Continental and the Ford Thunderbird. For 1977, the Mark IV underwent a substantial revision, becoming the Continental Mark V.
context_section_description: Following the successful redesign of the Lincoln Continental for the 1970 model year, Ford Motor Company chose an evolutionary design path for the successor of the Continental Mark III.  With designers again using sharp-edged fenders, hidden headlamps, and a tall radiator-style grille, the Continental Mark IV retained the traditional "long-hood, short deck" coupe proportions of the Mark III along with its "Continental spare tire" decklid. The spare tire was actually stored on a ledge in the trunk on top of the gas tank, immediately behind the rear seat. 
  In a cost-cutting move, however, Ford Motor Company forced the Mark IV to increase parts commonality with the Ford Thunderbird; while the roofline, doors, and inner body panels were shared, the Mark IV and Thunderbird still were given different outer body panels below the roofline and different interiors.  In a major break from American luxury car tradition, the rear wheel openings of the Mark IV were designed at the same height as the front wheels (similar to the 1966-1970 Oldsmobile Toronado); its large fender flares precluded the use of fender skirts.
  In 1973, the front bodywork underwent a major redesign, necessitated by the addition of 5 mph bumpers; in various forms, the front body style would be seen on Continentals and Lincolns until 1989.  For 1974, a 5 mph bumper was added to the rear body work, moving the taillights from the bumper into the rear bodywork.
  All Mark IVs were equipped with a vinyl roof.  The Mark IV introduced the opera window to the Mark series, a feature that would be featured in the Mark through the discontinuation of the Mark VI after 1983.  For 1972, it was an almost universally specified option, becoming standard for 1973.
caption: 1972 Continental Mark IV, showing pre-facelift grille and headlight doors open
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