1980 was a turning point for the American auto industry, as the Big Three finally overcame emissions equipment and regulations that had stifled performance for the past decade. For Ford that meant the new Fox-body Mustang that was lighter and more modern. Ford would go on to use the Fox-platform under a number of cars, including for a while the Lincoln Mark VII LSC, a cult favorite of fanboys to this day.
While the Lincoln Mark VII LSC sells itself these days, back in the day Ford paid for a marketing blitz that included famous NASCAR driver Kyle Petty touting the Lincoln’s “excellent” acceleration of 0-50 mph.
Even with Petty behind the wheel (sporting a full-blown 80’s mustache) it still takes the Lincoln LSC a full 8.1 seconds to go from 0-50 mph. No, that’s not a typo; 8.1 seconds to go from 0 to 50 mph. These days that’s…kinda sad (the 2012 Focus does 0-60 in 7.6 seconds), but back in the 80’s, it was a pretty big deal, especially for a full-size luxury coupe like the Lincoln.
But Ford didn’t stop there, bringing out some real innovation for the second half of the commercial…anti-lock brakes, complete with a cool pulsing-brake animation in classic 80’s graphics. We may take ABS for granted these days, but the Lincoln LSC was one of the first cars in the world to offer anti-lock brakes.
My oh my, how times have changed. Hope you enjoyed your retro flashback; we certainly did.