Lincoln Mark VIII

Polish. That's all the Lincoln Mark VIII needed. And that's just what it got for 1997.

Among luxury coupes, the new-for-'93 Lincoln Mark traditionally has taken a second rung relative to the best from Asia and Europe. So for 1997, Ford engineering put both its powerful rear-drive coupe and the competition under the design and engineering equivalent of an electron microscope to find the differences and close the refinement gap. After time behind the wheel of the '97, it seems as if the fine focus has paid off in a big way.

The car's dramatic new exterior features all-new high-intensity-discharge headlamps, a bigger chrome grille (body-colored on the sporty LSC), a new resculptured aluminum hood (replacing the plastic one), neon taillamps, chrome ellipsoid exhaust tips, side-view mirrors with ground-illuminating puddle lamps and LED turn signals, and new fenders and resculptured rear quarter panels.

Also important, but less obvious, are an all-new interior, intake manifold tuning for improved engine sound quality, and steering-system and suspension refinements for crisper handling and a sweeter ride.

While flogging the new Lincoln across a tightly twisting road course at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan, proving grounds, it quickly became apparent that the coupe's redesigned steering is much more communicative. Gone are the overboosted numbness and dead on-center feel. The wheel response is now slicker and quicker, with gentle pulses that speak volumes to your finger tips when corner carving. Particularly at speed on slippery roads, we found these rim-to-hand whispers and the occasional wake-up call quite valuable.

It wasn't until we got the '97 Mark out on Detroit's rough concrete roadways that we discovered the big improvement in the car's ride smoothness and the new instrument panel's structural integrity. Yawning expansion joints that loudly would have challenged the previous Mark's body rigidity and had its steering column buzzing like a giant tuning fork were swallowed whole with just a trace of tire thump. Engineers say this transformation was achieved primarily through subtle changes to the shock bushings and the tops of the shock towers.

Overall, the Mark VIII has been improved dramatically. And with the styling and lighting changes, forget mistaking this Lincoln for any other coupe after dark. Between the awesome blue-white blast of the HID headlamps and the blazing red stripe of the neon taillamps at night, the Mark VIII will now stand out when the sun goes down.

Tech Data

The Lincoln Mark VIII's 4.6-liter/290-horsepower DOHC V-8 gets a new manifold to tweak the intake tract's sound quality.

Designers added California burled walnut, a new console, and a power tilt/telescoping steering column.

The new Mark is fitted with a new high-profile aluminum hood, a body-color grille on the LSC, powerful high-intensity-discharge headlamps, and wraparound neon taillamps.