1978 Lincoln Mark V

The other day I saw one of these on a street corner with a “For Sale” sign in the window. Many years of Arizona sunshine had etched the paint and destroyed the vinyl top but the price was dirt cheap. Looking at it, I realize that this could be turned into a custom like I saw epitomized in Southern California long ago when elegance was king. Although this looks “stock” it would require some serious fabrication to make happen. The hood length is actually factory stock! But I despise the nose overhang of the original and kicked the front wheels (and suspension) forward dramatically and added two more side louvers. I also slid the rear wheels and axle forward several inches. Also the tail is bobbed to get rid of the ridiculous amounts of factory overhang. The roof is chopped, rear side window removed and b-posts are re-angled. The upper section of the rear fenders are modified from the rear door cutline back to remove the factory “step”. And those wheels are a CNC’d plus 3-inch larger diameter replicating the factory ones. Of course it would be slammed but still at a drivable height.

The Lincoln is still on the corner and the price is $1300 and it only has 42,000 miles on it. But if you have to ask how much it would take to pay for the parts, labor, chrome and paint to build this reimagined version — that $1300 is a drop in the bucket in actual comparison…