1978 Lincoln Mark V is a land yacht in Wedgewood

Dave Boyle purchased his Wedgewood Blue 1978 Lincoln Mark V in June 2004. Having grown tired of his 1950 Chevrolet he had been shopping for a more modern car.

“I’ve always admired long and low cars,” he says. The 19-foot, 2.3-inch-long Lincoln is only 53 inches tall and it was advertised for sale on eBay. Mr. Boyle telephoned the seller in Purcellville and decided that it sounded like a car in which he would be interested. With the title to his Chevrolet in his pocket, he drove his car to Purcellville to see the Lincoln.

As far as he could determine, the car was as advertised. After a bit of horse trading, Mr. Boyle traded his Chevrolet, along with some cash, and in return became the owner of the Lincoln. The odometer showed the car had been driven about 93,000 miles.

He settled into the blue interior of the 4,567-pound luxury car, fired up the 400-cubic-inch V-8 engine and with 166 horsepower at his command, he drove the car home to Alexandria in air conditioned comfort. The two-barrel Motorcraft carburetor drinking regular gasoline from the 25-gallon tank. During the 1978 model year Ford Motor Co. manufactured 72,602 Mark V Lincolns. Mr. Boyle’s car had a base price of $12,099 in 1978. Riding on the 120.4-inch wheelbase on the trip home, “the front end gets there five minutes before you do,” he says.

The build quality of most American cars in the 1970s was not as good as the cars being produced today. However, after Mr. Boyle carefully examined his Lincoln he was pleasantly surprised to find uniform gaps between the body panels.

Since buying the car Mr. Boyle has replaced the steering box as well as a power steering pump and a radiator. Additionally, a slipping torque converter was replaced with a new one and the car now rolls on a new set of 15-inch white sidewall Firestone tires.

The well-appointed Lincoln is loaded with power assisted equipment including:

* Power seats.

* Power antenna.

* Power steering.

* Power windows.

* Power moonroof.

* Power disc brakes.

Mr. Boyle points out that his very heavy car has disc brakes at all four wheels.

In the blue interior is an AM/FM 8 track sound system. Mr. Boyle has a conversion unit that plugs into his 8 track tape slot in the dashboard enabling him to play cassette tapes. Even though the glass in the moonroof is tinted, a manually operated sliding panel can be used to black the suns rays. This car was built in the era when the manufacturers installed speedometers which could register speeds up to 80 mph.

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