1978 Continental Mark V Cartier Designer Edition, $9800 RESTORATION!!!

$9800 spent on restoring this car ! That makes this car by far the best Mark V for sale on Ebay now or in recent history. This car has the "big three" that no Mark V should ever be without: 1. The factory power moonroof that virtually turns the car into a convertible because it is so huge. 2. The 460 engine (not the "downsized". compromise 400 engine). 3. The extra-cost. top-of-the-line. Luxury Group seat upholstery style (If a Mark V has simple vertical lines in the padded sections above the door armrests. above the rear armrests. and simple straight lines on the seat upholstery. it is NOT the Luxury Group. Instead it is only the "plain Jane". less costly style. See the photos below of the seats & padded sections above the rear and door armrests for an example of this Luxury Group upholstery style. There are about 90 photos at the bottom of this listing!WHY COLLECT A 1978 CONTINENTAL MARK V? The 1978 Mark V has the best combination of looks. size. smooth ride that only a heavy car can give. whisper-quiet ride. vast number of modern convenience options. and reliability. Legendary Big Lincoln ride that you only get from a car such as this Mark V which weighs almost 5000 pounds. The laws of physics dictate that only weight yields a smooth ride. Nothing else can do it. Not possible. Other cars bounce you around as if you were nothing more than a dribbled basketball. The Looks. Just take one look at the styling. This car stands out in a crowd. It is long and low. In fact. at 19 feet. it is one of the longest cars ever made. even longer than the 1959 Cadillac. Unlike the plain. boring. plastic cars on the road today. which look like they were made by a five and dime store. the Mark V has chromed metal bumpers and grill. When I drive a Mark V. people flash the thumbs up sign and wave. The size. Only a car of this size has such a commanding presence and stature. And what an extreme pleasure to sit in the Continental Mark V and have enough space to be able to stretch out your arms and legs as far as you wish. Space is the biggest luxury there is. You won’t find it in any new cars. Legendary super quiet Lincoln ride. The ride is so quiet that you sometimes have to hit the accelerator pedal just to know if the engine is running. This is the result of a major Ford Motor Company acoustic engineering research program that produced the quietest running car that had ever been produced. It’s just so comfortable to drive. There is nothing like it. Trips that seem to take hours in other cars seem to take minutes in the Continental Mark V. It is a super safe car to drive. It has real metal bumpers. Anything else is not a bumper and won’t protect you in a crash. And the full almost 5000 pound weight of the car is on your side. Reliability: heavy. heavy duty full steel frame! The power train. steering. brakes. suspension are built of industrial quality. heavy duty parts. The engines in many other cars look like they would be suitable to be the starter motor for this car’s 460 cubic inch engine. Of the three years that the Mark V was produced. 1977. 1978. and 1979. the best year by far is 1978. That is because in 1979. the fantastic 460 engine. which is the engine in the car for sale here. was not available and in 1977. many of the best comfort and convenience options were also not yet available. such as the power vent windows. Other collectible cars. such as Rolls Royce. Duesenberg. Packard. Cord. Mercedes. etc. all have fatal problems not shared by the Mark V. Either they are unreliable. lack modern comfort and convenience options. are noisy. or if new models are still being made then they are too small. too cramped. too lightweight. use too much plastic and other cheap components and no longer have very distinctive looks. WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THIS CONTINENTAL MARK V: This is a restored car and restored cars are vastly superior to non-restored cars. including low mileage cars. Restored cars have many new parts whereas low mileage cars still have nothing but old parts and it is age. not mileage. that causes most problems. I am a collector of the 1978 Mark V and I have owned this car continuously since 1986. You are so much better off buying a car from a collector instead of a car dealer who will only fix what is broken at the moment and leave all the other old parts that should be replaced on the car so that when they break due to age. and they will. you will be the one who is stuck paying for the repairs. Unlike a car dealer. I spent $9800 on this car to restore it to its present condition. Of that amount. I spent about $1500 in preventative maintenance to replace parts that were not giving any problems but which I knew from experience in owning Lincolns since 1967 would give problems in the not too distant future. I bought this car in 1986 in Dallas. TX as a spare car to keep in my collection so that if anything happened to the 1978 Mark V I was driving. I would have this car. plus 2 additional spare Mark Vs. to replace it with. I estimated I might need one Mark V for every 15 years for the rest of my life and so I bought enough 1978 Mark Vs to last the rest of my life. I no longer need to keep this car as a spare because another 15 years have gone by and I haven’t lost a single Mark V. So. I am now putting this car up for sale. After I bought this car in 1986. I drove it home to Massachusetts. drove it for a few months in 1986 and then put it into protected indoor storage in a building I built to house my collection of 1978 Mark Vs. This car was a Texas car all its life and then I bought it and since then it has been a car protected inside indoor storage. It has never been driven in snow or road salt and hardly ever in rain. It has no rust and has never had rust. No smokers or pets have been inside this car. This Mark V is in better condition than about 99% of all other Mark Vs. It is the highly desirable and rare Cartier Designer Edition. I only collect the best and so. of course. this car has the top-of-the-line. no compromise 460 engine. I stay away from 1979 Mark Vs because they all have the compromise. downsized 400 engine. $4000 wet-sand paint job in correct. original factory color. Car has fewer than 20 hours of use since this paint was applied. $3500 in upholstery work: all upholstery replaced with original. factory correct material done in original factory correct style. The upholstery looks just like it was done by the Lincoln factory. The paint and upholstery are about 90% of what you see and in this car. they are like brand new. Over $1500 of preventative maintenance work performed during the last three years. even though none of the items replaced were giving problems. I did this to make this Mark V even that much better than any other one now for sale on Ebay: carburetor rebuilt new starter motor new flywheel so the teeth that the starter motor engages would have zero use most engine seals/gaskets replaced new engine timing gear/chain set brand new distributor including its internal ignition magnetic pickup coil new water pump new fuel pump new battery new plugs new plug wires new high current cables for starter. alternator. starter solenoid. and engine ground new heater hoses new radiator hoses new fuel hoses new belts new thermostat new fan clutch new radiator cap. New $800 vinyl roof in correct original material and color. Unlike low mileage cars that usually have at least 600 hours outdoor use. this vinyl roof has been used outdoors less than 20 hours since its restoration and so there is no sun discoloration or other sun or wind damage. Since the Fall of 1986. this Mark V has been stored indoors and only driven back and forth about 5 feet once a month to prevent damage that can happen from letting a car sit unused too long. No crashes Frame never bent Original radio. original wheels. original power antenna Doesn’t burn oil Loaded with original factory options: 460 engine power moon roof power vent windows cruise control tilt wheel dual 6 way power seats driver seat power lumbar adjustment Reclining passenger seat power door locks power trunk lock remote controlled passenger door mirror am/fm/8 track radio interval windshield wipers illuminated entry system rear window electric defroster heated driver door mirror individual map lights space saving original mini spare tire lighted sun visor vanity mirrors All Steel factory original wheels with an upgrade to the wire wheel hubcaps List of just some of the standard Mark V features on this car: Automatic transmission Power steering Air conditioner Power windows 4 wheel disc brakes Power brakes Power antenna Automatic parking brake release that releases parking brake when gear selector is put into any forward or reverse gear Headlights concealed behind automatically opening/closing headlight doors Remote controlled driver door mirror The 1986-1987 inspection sticker is still on the windshield (see the photos). When I bought this Continental Mark V in 1986. it had 75. 00 miles on it. It now has 78. 00 miles on it. The added mileage was from driving this car from TX to MA and driving it locally in MA for a few months. all done in 1986. WHY THIS MARK V IS THE BEST VALUE NOW BEING OFFERED: $9800 in restoration and preventative maintenance work The engine starts up quickly and easily and runs and idles smoothly and evenly. The transmission shifts when it is supposed to and does so quickly and smoothly. The car drives smoothly and quietly and does not wander. The exhaust is quiet and has no leaks. The power windows and power antenna do not stick like they do on many cars. The power brakes effortlessly and quickly stop the car. There are no noises or vibrations that should not be there when you drive the car. The vinyl roof has no rips. cuts. or discolorations. Because I have put about $9800 into this car to bring it to near-new condition for sale and there is so little left that I know of that needs to be done: The air conditioner system needs a new charge. Because some people prefer R-134 coolant but others prefer R-12. I am going to leave re-charging the system up to the next owner. The clock does not work. There are a few dings on some of the exterior moldings. The passenger door power lock does not work. The brake rotors work fine. but slightly chatter when the brakes are applied – they simply need to be turned at a machine shop. These few items are a small price to pay to get the benefit of the $9800 in improvements I have made to this car. My Ebay seller rating is a perfect 100% so you can be sure that you are going to love this car and will not be disappointed. I reserve the right to sell this vehicle locally and cancel any bids. even after the auction has ended (but I won't cancel a bid after I have accepted full payment). Seller's liability limited to a full refund of the winning bid. CHECK OUT THE LARGE NUMBER OF PHOTOS. I WENT OUT OF MY WAY TO TAKE A LOT OF PHOTOS OF ALL THE AREAS THAT ALMOST NEVER LOOK GOOD ON OTHER CARS INCLUDING THE FLOORBOARDS. BOTTOMS OF THE DOORS. DOOR JAMBS. ROCKER PANELS. AND THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TRUNK LID EDGES SO YOU CAN SEE HOW RUST FREE THIS CAR IS. Anything you may see on the bottom of the car that looks like stains or whatever is just dust or a light film of road dirt that comes right off just by wiping your finger over it. If you click on any of the pictures in the top gallery. you will be taken to the photo hosting website where you can see all the photos of the top gallery. You will not see the photos there from the bottom gallery unless you go back onto the Ebay auction page and click on a photo from the lower gallery. Then you will be again taken to the photo hosting website where you will now see all the photos from the lower gallery. but not from the top gallery. You can repeat this procedure to go back and forth between the two galleries. THERE ARE ABOUT 50 PHOTOS IN EACH GALLERY. WHEN YOU ARE ON THE HOSTING WEBSITE. CLICKING ON "PREVIOUS" WILL SHOW YOU THE PHOTO PREVIOUS TO THE ONE YOU ARE VIEWING AND CLICKING ON "NEXT" WILL SHOW YOU THE PHOTO AFTER THE ONE YOU ARE VIEWING. BE SURE TO CLICK ON "PREVIOUS" AND/OR "NEXT" AS MANY TIMES AS YOU HAVE TO IN ORDER TO VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS IN EACH GALLERY. Photo Gallery - click to enlarge Photo Gallery - click to enlarge