The Continental name was revived in 1955 as a separate Ford brand to produce the Continental Mark II. When Continental was merged with Lincoln in 1958 and the Lincoln Continental became the flagship model, the Mark continued to be sold as the Continental Mark II. The Mark kept the Continental prefix until the introduction of a smaller Continental in 1982, becoming simply the Mark VII in 1984. It is interesting to note that despite Continental's merging into Lincoln, the Marks (until Mark VII) are not marked as Lincolns except with the four-pointed star logo. Nowhere on the cars' marquees, identification plates, or factory paperwork does the name "Lincoln" appear. The rocker panels in the cars, for instance, read "Ford".The behemoth Lincoln Continental Mark V was sold for only three model years: 1977 to 1979. The last of the true highway cruisers, it replaced the Mark IV's more rounded styling with a more sharp-edged look that was then fashionable. Once again, its size increased both in length and width. It no longer shared its platform with the Ford Thunderbird. This particular car is a 51,000 ORIGINAL mile Cartier Edition. The Cartier Edition was highlighted by the dark red accent stripe, custom turbine wheels and several other small, unique features on the car. The cost for the Cartier Edition Mark V added $1,945 to the purchase price! The car is all original, numbers matching and is said to have never seen salt or even mud! This is a no stories, VERY highly optioned car that has been cared for its entire life and not just stored away for many years and never used. It's truly a 31 year old Sunday cruiser.The paint on the car is in excellent condition and appears to be all original. All the glass is in very good condition with no cracks or chips that we have found. Both headlight buckets work with no problems and go up and down with no issues. Both bumpers look good with no damage showing to either. The top still has a rich look and soft to the touch feel. Inside, the car does not disappoint. All the velour looks great and shows almost no wear. There are 2 small tears in the top of the rear seats that are presently covered with 2 nicely hand knitted items from the prior owner (little old lady, I'm guessing). The door panels look good with no cracking and the same goes for the dash. The back seats truly look like they have never been sat in. Carpet and headliner are both in great condition with no wear. The interior lights all work, including the lights over the small opera windows in the rear. All the wood on the dash looks great with no cracking. The driver's side power seat button is missing. There is also some minor wear to the wood veneer on the steering wheel. Under the hood, the 400 Cu In V8 looks as good as it runs. Turn the key and the car fires right up with no hesitation and goes down the road with no problems. The underside of the car is very solid as well as the trunk that includes the original spare and jack and is nicely carpeted. This Lincoln is being sold on a Missouri title and is showing that the prior owner owned it for over 21 years. VIN number is 9Y89S723673 and the current mileage shows 51,750.