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Page 1: Vehicle History
Page 2: Modifications
Page 3: Modifications Continued
Page 4: More Pictures
Page 5: Autocross Pictures
Page 6: Meets, Greets, and Shows

A Brief History of the Lincoln Mark VII LSC

A Lincoln Mark VII LSC is not your typical luxury car. Its very name hints at its true mission. LSC is an acronym which represents Luxury Sport Coupe. The car was designed by Lincoln to compete with the best coupes Germany's carmakers had to offer in the 1980s. While the LSC aimed to compete with the Mercedes-Benz 500/560SEC and BMW 633/635CSi, the base, Versace, and Bill Blass editions catered to more traditional Lincoln buyers.

Mercedes-Benz 500SEC and the later 560SEC

BMW 633CSi

Lincoln engineers incorporated many unique features in an attempt to attract buyers. The Mark VII was the first domestic automobile with anti-lock brakes, beating the Corvette to production by a few months. It was also the first US automobile to offer aerodynamic composite headlights. The most notable feature of the Mark VII line is actually underneath the car. Ford and Goodyear spent millions of dollars and miles designing and perfecting an electronic air suspension for the Mark VII and 1984-1987 Continental. Each corner of the vehicle is supported by a large, rubber air spring. An on-board compressor fills each spring independently to counter passenger or cargo weight. The entire system is controlled by a microprocessor. LSCs received 37% stiffer air springs in addition to larger anti-roll bars and stiffer damper tuning to help them achieve a more European ride and handling balance.

The air suspension seems complex, but is very reliable and can be diagnosed and repaired by any shade tree mechanic in their own driveway using simple hand tools. The cost of repairing the air suspension is relatively small given their reliability over time. I have estimated it to be about $70 a year if every piece of the system was replaced every ten years, whether it needed to be replaced or not. The benefits of air springs has led Mercedes, Jaguar, VW , Audi, and others to adopt its use many years after its mass application was pioneered by Lincoln and Goodyear.

This is my 1986 Lincoln Mark VII LSC in Graphite Clearcoat Metallic (1J) that I purchased in November of 2003. I spent two years looking for a good LSC to call my own before finding this one. The car was originally owned by an older gentleman who did not drive it in the winter and must have stored it in the garage. When the second owner, from whom I purchased the car, acquired it, the vehicle had 55,000 miles on it. He put on about 20,000 highway miles in the year that he owned it commuting back and forth on the highway. He also did not drive the car in the winter. The car is rust free as a result and I will continue to keep the car off the heavily salted New England roads when the snow falls.

The car is equipped with a 5.0L HO V8, which produces 200 horsepower and 285 pound feet of torque in stock form. Beginning with cars made around February 1987, 5.0L HO engines received a power boost to 225 horsepower and 300 pound feet of torque. The power increase was largely a result of less restrictive cylinder heads, a slightly more efficient upper intake, and a slightly larger throttle body and Exhaust Gas Recirulation (EGR) plate.

My overall goals with the car are to produce what could be considered a rival to a 1980s BMW M6 or a Mercedes 560 SEC modified by AMG. When modifications are made, they will be done on spare parts rather than the original parts, which I will save for originality.

My interior is trimmed in Charcoal perforated leather. As an LSC, it was equipped with special sport seats built by Lear-Siegler. You may recognize the Lear name from the company's ventures in outfitting corporate jets. The seats feature the usual 8 way power adjustments, but add power lumbar, power thigh bolsters, and a manually adjustable leg bolster to the list. The large side bolsters offer plenty of lateral support during aggressive driving. Not even Mustangs had seats this good.

The moonroof was an aftermarket addition the original owner had installed when the vehicle's odometer read 5 miles. It is from American Sunroof Corporation, better known as ASC. They offer most of the factory roof systems equipped in production cars today. SVPU custom embroidered floor mats replaced the tired, low quality ones someone put in the car. Sadly, the original Lincoln mats were not included and I am still trying to find original replacements just to have for the future.

The second owner swapped the original 15" wheels for a set of 16" BBS-style wheels from a later 1990-1992 LSC. Some early cars received actual BBS wheels cast by Speedline in 1990. Later cars received immitation BBS wheels made by Ford. True BBS wheels are rare and can be distinguished with BBS lettering cast into the wheel face. The wheels give the car a a bigger footprint while the wheel design adds more class to the muscular lines. I will try and find a matching rim to use for a full size spare. These Ford wheels were based off of the BBS RA wheel design pictured below.

16x8 BBS RA wheels were used on a number of limited production, custom LSCs modified by Cars & Concepts. These cars, called GTCs, received monochromatic paint, a subtle body kit, a revised air suspension with a lowered ride height, stiffer front air springs, Koni Red shocks, larger anti-roll bars, and a panhard bar. An even fewer number of these cars were sent to Jack Roush to receive T5 manual transmissions and a 5.8L V8.

When I purchased the car, there were a few things that needed attention. The very first thing that was put into the car was an Optima Red Top battery. This was done at the time of sale. I knew the 550 cold cranking amps battery in the car at the time was too small and under Ford's recommendations by 100 amps. The new battery offers 720 CCA and has a 90 minute reserve capacity. It also weighs less and provides additional terminals (if the battery is rotated for pre-1988 cars).

The moonroof was also leaking when the car was purchased and the sunshade had been removed. It was included with the car, but it was uncovered. The moonroof itself was in good shape, but the gasket was shot. I ordered a new moonroof gasket from California and installed it fairly easily. I also had the moonroof sunshade recovered and a different handle installed. The original handle was distractingly large and tacky. The recovered sunshade was installed by me when I replaced the moonroof gasket.

I also noticed some of the lugnuts were mismatched. I replaced these with new, Ford lugs. The left rear wheel center cap was from a 1988-1989 Mark VII LSC and did not match the chrome caps from 1990-1992 vehicles. A replacement was procured and installed.

Notice the matte finish on the sides of the cap. Later cars received all chrome caps. Towards the end of the production run, plastic caps with a chrome look were used.

The vehicle received a brake job at the local Lincoln dealership as time restraints prevented me from servicing it myself. It also received a new right front ball joint at this time.

Within a couple weeks of getting the car, I noticed my air suspension would drop to the ground. The second owner had replaced one of the front air springs with a new Ford part, so I suspected it was an installation error rather than a serious problem. I replaced the air spring solenoid O rings with new ones from Ford and greased them with silicone prior to install. The last owner failed to lube them and they rolled when the solenoids were reinserted into the air springs, causing a leak.

After about a month or two, my driver's door lock was difficult to use. I found the problem to be a worn lock actuator rod. I replaced the entire actuator. During the installation process, my lighted keyhole mysteriously burnt out. This will need to be rectified in the future.

The windshield wipers on the car would not stow properly. I accidentally traced the problem down to a bad ground on the windshield wiper motor. I addressed the problem and the wipers have no problem docking now. Photo courtesy of NYC LSC.

When I took the vehicle for the test drive, it was during daylight and I never checked for proper lamp operation. If I did, I would have noticed that the AutoLamp system wouldn't shut off and the overhead console dimmed to the point of being illegible. I replaced the AutoLamp/AutoDim switch and proper system function was restored. The overhead console was rebuilt with parts from another unit.

Check out the modifications to my vehicle on Page 2!

Page 1: Vehicle History
Page 2: Modifications
Page 3: Modifications Continued
Page 4: More Pictures
Page 5: Autocross Pictures
Page 6: Meets, Greets, and Shows