1998 Lincoln Mark Series

Collector's Edition Vehicle # 1198 Sedan

4.6L 32-valve Intech V-8 with 290HP

Automatic

1LNFM92V0WY735868

Clear

GAS

I won't make long lists of the standard items on the basic LSC. If you have done a search on this car, you know it well. An interesting section below under Historical Facts explains how these numbered cars were unique. I will provide original invoice. I can tell you the options at additional cost that are shown: White pearl tri-coat paint $365 Programmable garage door opener $120 Collector's Edition $900. Owner added: Aftermarket moon roof and 6-disc CD player (trunk mounted) ******************************************************************************************************** Car Fax will be provided. It is simple, and this is car's life journey to this point. Ordered 6/12/98 by Ladin Linc-Merc in Thousand Oaks, CA. Purchased by local couple and remained with them for 12 years. Average auto usage approximately 1,300 miles per year. It is my understanding that this was aging owner wanting smaller, lighter car. In summer of 2010, car was advertised and 2 Bremerton, WA men flew south to do the deal. Buddy 1 had a 97 & 98 Mark and Buddy 2 had none. Buddy 1 helped Buddy 2 find it, went with him to get it, and promised to help him maintain it. Their trip home to Bremerton was nearly all its accrued mileage. After a few weeks back in WA, Buddy 2 was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He gifted to Buddy 1 and died within 4 months. It went to Buddy 1s garage and stayed for 3 years. He did not want to deal with it and wife finally forced him to sell. A year ago my husband was pressuring me to sell my Mark with 106K and get something newer. I looked at craigslist to get idea of value and saw the this Bremerton car . My first one lasted 15 years and I figured one with 16K would last at least that long. I purchased it from Buddy 1 in August 2013 with 15,888 miles on it. We had just torn our house down to build new and the car went under cover at our rental and stayed a year. Wrapping this up in 2000 words or less - my husband announced "If you are going to drive old cars with big V8s, you need to go back to Cadillacs. I know GM products. I just hate Fords." So, my loss and subsequent pain is your gain, and I'm shopping for a fabulous '85 Seville. That's the storybook version of a Car Fax! 1998 Collector's Edition Historical Facts On January 26, 1998, Ford Motor Company announced it would end production of the Lincoln Mark VIII in June 1998, leaving the Cadillac Eldorado as the only traditional American luxury coupe left on the market. Mark VIII sales were doing poorly. Only 16,805 of the newly revamped 1997 models were sold, and sales of the 1998 were even lower. On February 5, 1998, Lincoln announced that it would offer a Mark VIII Collector's Edition, a special commemorative version of the car. In Lincolns published announcement, Jim O'Connor, Ford vice president and general manager of Lincoln Mercury states, "We're celebrating the major role the Mark series has played in Lincoln's history. These are the cars that ushered in the Mark traditions of the Lincoln grille, bold C-pillar, long hood and short trunk, including the famous Continental kit spare tire." Lincoln had offered special editions when it has discontinued a line of cars before. In 1979, a Collector's Series option, was offered on the last of the Mark V's and the last of the big Town Cars. See this link at www.classiclincolns.com for more information on these special cars from 1979. The Collector's Edition was a $900 option on top of the base price of the LSC edition of the Mark VIII on which they were all based. Only two colors were offered: the Cordovan Metallic color, which was exclusive to the Collector's Edition in 1998, and a $365 extra cost White Pearlescent Tri-coat Metallic. Two special interiors were offered, a two tone Graphite interior, and a two tone Prairie tan interior. Interesting, though all other LSC's featured Euro-perforated interior, the Collectors editions hides were solid with no micro holes in the seating area. Possibly, the seating materials were made up early in the decision making process when the Collector's Edition was planned to be a base model. In addition to the above, the Collector's Edition buyer got the following: Unique Badging. Collector's Edition was spelled out in gold on an inset in the unique body side molding and in delicate gold leaf on the wood door insets. The grill emblem was gold plated as was all the lettering on the taillight lens. Wood Trim. The Collector's Edition got a special leather steering wheel with genuine walnut inserts. This steering wheel is reportedly, the same one used in the new Jaguar. Instead of a leather covered shift lever, the shift lever is polished wood. All the wood inserts in the Collector's Edition is of a higher gloss finish than on the standard LSC models.Collector's Gift. After delivery, Collector's Edition owners were sent a black leather case containing an eight silver ingot set commemorating the Mark line from the original Mark I, the 1939 Lincoln Continental, to the present last Mark VIII series. Each set was personalized with the VIN number of the owner's car. Each set was accompanied by a note from Lincoln-Mercury vice-president/general manager Mark W. Hutchinson. Interestingly, there is no acknowledgment of the Mark III, IV and V made in 1958, 1959 and 1960 respectively. Ford has consistently ignored these three years of Marks in all its announcements and literature about the Mark VIII. Apparently when the 1968 Mark III was planned, Ford wanted to wipe clean the history of the Mark after the memorable Mark II of 1956-57.Unique Floor Mats. The floor mats were color keyed to the interior and have "Collector's Edition" script stitched into them, instead of the usual "LSC" or "Mark VIII." Floor mats were only available for the front. Orders for the Collector's Edition were taken starting in April of 1998. All the cars were built in the weeks from June 8 to June 27, 1998. Each car received a metallic gold sticker with a serial number on the driver's door jamb. These serial numbers are not consecutive with production, as they were randomly applied to the cars, after they were all assembled. Serial numbers are known to go up to 1280, with this last car going to the Dearborn museum. Ford's records indicate that 1386 Collector's Editions were built. The additional cars may have been made for Canada and other countries. Collector's Edition Vehicle # 1198 was one of the 89 LSC models built at the Wixom, MI. plant on Wednesday, 06/24/1998. These included VINs ending in 735828 – 735916. The first of these was a Canadian order and unnumbered.