LOADED W/LUXURY, 72K MILE, 4.6L DOHC, AUTO, GREAT OPTIONS, LIFELONG SOUTHERN LSC

If you go into a Lincoln store today, you'd be forgiven for not quite knowing where you were. Ford's luxury division seems to have forgotten the cars that made Lincoln great, and there's just no excuse for not having a Mark personal luxury coupe on the showroom floor. The Mark VIII was the last of the breed, and fortunately, this 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC is a fantastic performer with low miles and exemplary maintenance, so you can satisfy your high performance Lincoln craving without having to settle for whatever sedan they're calling a MK these days.

The Mark VIII was a great showcase of Ford's silky smooth 4.6 liter DOHC V8, which gave the LSC the moves of a much lighter car. American through and through, it's big, strong, silent, and capable of eating up vast stretches of highway without breaking a sweat. The LSC (which stands for Luxury Sport Coupe) was ostensibly the sportiest of the bunch, with a firmer suspension, bigger tires, dual exhaust, and a few other niceties to make it feel less pillowy and more aggressive. In truth, they seemed to nail the balance of luxury and sport, creating a car that looks handsome and refined, yet distinctive, and whose performance exceeds expectations. With just under 72,000 original miles, this handsome coupe shows extremely well, with the Toreador Red paint glowing in the sun and showing very few signs of use beyond a repainted front fender. LSCs like this one got upgraded headlights, a color-matched grille (instead of chrome), and a full-width taillight treatment that includes a neon tube that lights the center section, all of which was very high-tech in 1997.

The black leather interior is simply gorgeous, with a wrap-around instrument panel that feels very futuristic. The seats show modest wear and certainly no damage beyond some slight signs of age, and even the carpets remain in excellent shape. There's some wood on the center console and a wide instrument panel that houses big, round analog gauges that you can read at a glance. Obviously, as Lincoln's flagship, everything was standard, from automatic climate control with ice cold A/C, to power windows, locks, seats, and mirrors, to a trip computer that monitors, well, just about everything. Cruise control buttons are on the steering wheel and there's a powerful AM/FM/CD stereo system with CD changer and in the hushed Mark VIII's interior, it sounds amazing. There's also a big trunk that makes road trips a pleasure.

With 280 horsepower on tap, the Mark VIII is alarmingly fast, and that DOHC V8 makes a sound akin to ripping silk as it roars towards redline. In truth, there still aren't many cars that are faster on the roll, and punching this car at highway speeds produces an unending stream of torque that hurls the big coupe forward effortlessly. It's properly maintained and if service in Mustang Cobras has taught us anything, it's that this Modular motor is virtually indestructible. The 4-speed automatic overdrive transmission has a knack for always being in the right gear and it just loafs along at highway speeds thanks to tall gears out back. The all-independent suspension is equipped with airbags at all four corners, which give it an incredible ride that seems to ignore bumps. You can see just how clean this car is with a glance underneath; obviously it has never spent time in the snow and salt. Big disc brakes with ABS haul it down from speed without drama and it's fitted with gorgeous chrome alloy wheels wearing 225/60/16 Michelin radials all around.

The last of Lincoln's personal luxury coupes is still a fantastic car, and at this price, you get incredible performance and luxury for pennies on the dollar. Call today!