I'm interested in buying a Lincoln Mark IV or V as a Sunday driver. Which model year is the best to collect

l always thought the Mark V styling was better. The designer series came out in 76, so that would be one choice. The diamond jubilee edition was very, very special, so l think that would be the most collectible. That was probably the most expensive car made in the USA in 1978, & they effectively built it again in 79 & called it the ''collector is edition''. The 79 has all the same stuff as a diamond jubliee edition.

The engines were probably a lot better in the Mark IV. You could even get one that had a pre-catalytic converter 460, l think.

one of the designer series Mark IV would be ur best collector car Firebird was right the Mark V did have a couple special editions but the collector editions did not have the 460 & a few of the 1978 did not either. All the Mark IV had 460 & nice designer models to pick from & they started in 1975. 1974 Mark IV only had a silver edition & a gold edition special & the first of the glass moonroof which was color coded to match the car & 1974 did not have the catalytic converters that started in 1975. Good like deciding the most important thing to keep in mind as far as collectible is original & low miles then u can not go wrong its worth spending a few extra bucks on one that has less then 50,000 miles & is all original.

My personal preference is the 1978 Continental Mark V. The Designer Series have the 460 engine except for California Models. In 1979, only the 400 V-8 was available, which still is not a bad engine. The 460 is much smoother though.

l prefer the knife-edge styling of the Mark V, especially with the turbine rims. My favorite of the bunch is the 1978 or 1979 Cartier Designer Series Mark V. With the light tan paint & subtle dark red accents, the Cartier is understated & tasteful.

That being said, the 1976 Mark IV is a very nice alternative. The Black Diamond or Lipstick Luxury editions r nice, & so is the Bill Blass from the same year is sharp too with the blue & cream.

Either one of these grand old cars is an amazing experience to drive. They glide (not float) down the freeway & r as elegant in motion as they r sitting in ur driveway. The view from the driver is seat is, in my humble opinion, unequaled.

One other nice thing about these cars is that they r mechanically pretty simple & they share parts between generations (except sheet metal) & with the early 70 is Thunderbirds so parts when needed r more reasonable.

A Mark iV from 1972 would have the edge in performance, owing to the non-crashworthy bumpers that adorned each end, & fewer smog controls on the engine.

But buyers appear to prefer the crisp look of the Mark V to the more voluptuous Mark IV shape. Ads in Hemmings Motor News show prices for the Mark V consistently trending higher.

So the one you'd want would probably be from 1978 -- the last of the really big brutes, in either a designer edition or the Diamond Jubilee edition to mark Ford is 75th anniversary.

A Mk IV will have a 460, be an antique and they're great cars. The Mk V was and is the most popular Mk of them all. The have great styling, are fairly easy to restore and get slightly better mileage with their 400's. l love them both and the Mk VII l too.