45k-Mile 1984 Lincoln Mark VII Turbo Diesel

I love diesels and I make no effort to hide it. In America, we've been deprived of widespread use of diesel engines in passenger cars for quite a long time (save for the excellent offerings from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen of course). In Europe however, diesels are the norm, not the exception.

Since we're facing another fuel and energy crisis (or really just the same one we've always had), diesels are popular again, even though those who know their advantages never stopped loving them over the years. What makes diesels especially interesting despite their own merits of efficiency and reliability is a 21st century twist of converting them to run on biofuel - that's right, vegetable oil and restaurant leftovers.

Biofuel is cheap and inexpensive (though smelly) so interested customers are hunting down old diesel cars like predators. That makes otherwise insignificant cars like this Lincoln Mark VII rather significant again.

Of course, someone like me already finds this car intriguing.

The fuel crisis of 1979 renewed interest in efficient vehicles again, and this time American manufacturers were listening, unlike their woeful incompetence after the first incident in1973. Of course, diesels still didn't take off for one reason or another, but some of the cars they stuck diesels in were amusing to say the least.

Such is the case with this Lincoln. The Mark VII was based on the rear-wheel drive Fox platform. It lasted from 1983-1992. These aren't sports cars, but they are great, comfortable cruisers, and they styling isn't terribly offensive.

Underneath the hood, however, is a real surprise: a BMW inline 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, the same one in the brief 524TD that came and went here. Just how Lincoln struck a deal with BMW is a story still untold, but it's not a bad idea; Ford's diesel experience was limited to trucks, and BMW's diesel was a great engine the fastest of it's day (even with just 115 horsepower). But since the Lincoln is a bigger, heavier car, you really can't expect much power. Still, you can expect overall reliability if you change the oil religiously.

Lincoln only offered the Mark VII diesel from '84-'85, along with a diesel Continental. From that point on, declining gas prices, politics and the general buoyant mood of the times made diesels disappear again.

The seller says this survivor has just 45k miles on the clock, comes from southern California, has no rust, wears the original paint and has never been in an accident. They say they have been a diesel mechanic for 30 years and have given this engine a new injector pump, a/c compressor, timing belt and battery, and have religiously changed the oil using Mobil 1 full synthetic turbo diesel oil.

This is a rare car in good shape that seems to have been very well cared for by a mechanic that just simply understood the quirky appeal of this car.

Available here on craigslist for $6,000.

1985 Lincoln Mark VII Diesel

I love diesels and I make no effort to hide it. In America, we've been deprived of widespread use of diesel engines in passenger cars for quite a long time (save for the excellent offerings from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen of course). In Europe however, diesels are the norm, not the exception.

Since we're facing another fuel and energy crisis (or really just the same one we've always had), diesels are popular again, even though those who know their advantages never stopped loving them over the years. What makes diesels especially interesting despite their own merits of efficiency and reliability is a 21st century twist of converting them to run on biofuel - that's right, vegetable oil and restaurant leftovers.

Biofuel is cheap and inexpensive (though smelly) so interested customers are hunting down old diesel cars like predators. That makes otherwise insignificant cars like this Lincoln Mark VII rather significant again.

Of course, someone like me already finds this car intriguing.

The fuel crisis of 1979 renewed interest in efficient vehicles again, and this time American manufacturers were listening, unlike their woeful incompetence after the first incident in1973. Of course, diesels still didn't take off for one reason or another, but some of the cars they stuck diesels in were amusing to say the least.

Such is the case with this Lincoln. The Mark VII was based on the rear-wheel drive Fox platform. It lasted from 1983-1992. These aren't sports cars, but they are great, comfortable cruisers, and they styling isn't terribly offensive.

Underneath the hood, however, is a real surprise: a BMW inline 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, the same one in the brief 524TD that came and went here. Just how Lincoln struck a deal with BMW is a story still untold, but it's not a bad idea; Ford's diesel experience was limited to trucks, and BMW's diesel was a great engine the fastest of it's day (even with just 115 horsepower). But since the Lincoln is a bigger, heavier car, you really can't expect much power. Still, you can expect overall reliability if you change the oil religiously.

Lincoln only offered the Mark VII diesel from '84-'85, along with a diesel Continental. From that point on, declining gas prices, politics and the general buoyant mood of the times made diesels disappear again.

The seller says they are the third owner, the car was repainted, service up to date and everything works. They state the mileage is 132,048.

I think this is a pretty cool car. It's not an ideal candidate for biofuel, but it could be a "sleeper" if it was...if there can even be a sleeper biofuel car. Either way, it's rare, and this one looks to be well cared for. It could bring some interesting highway miles to come.

Available here on ebay with a Buy-It-Now of $8,700.

What The...1984 Lincoln Continental Turbo Diesel

Last week I posted a Volvo 740 Diesel. I rambled on about my fascination with otherwise sedate cars that were offered with diesel engines, most in the mid-80s, and most very briefly.

Today I have another one to happily add to that growing list.

You're looking at a 1984 Lincoln Diesel.

Wait, it gets better. Underneath the hood was a BMW-sourced 2.4-liter turbocharged diesel engine that was also used in the equally short lived and infamous BMW 524TD. That's right, the same BMW engine powered grandpa's Lincoln. And no, this wasn't a custom engine swap. This was the manufacturer's original configuration. Ford/Lincoln was so desperate to take on Cadillac and European diesels, they just outright bought the BMW engines. Good job, Ford. If you can't beat the competition, just buy 'em out.

But logistically and practically, so many questions arise. How did the relatively small engine handle a much larger and heavier car? How were they serviced? Did Ford technicians have BMW engine knowledge?

Bloated 80s American styling, German engineering. The unholy alliance is mind-boggling.

This seventh generation Continental with the '84-'87 facelift are barely seen on the roads anymore and I had forgotten it existed until I saw this ad. It's this weird combination of American design trends from the 70s and 80s combined, with a pompous front-end complete with counter-intuitive and ugly quad-rectangular sealed-beam headlights, iceberg turn indicators, a high and large greenhouse, really thick and upright c-pillars, and an angular and chopped-feeling rear end, which actually resembles Cadillacs of today more than anything else. Oh, and the idiotic but strangely mesmerizing spare-wheel hump bulging from the trunk.

The seller claims the BMW turbodiesel is the "fastest and quietest production diesel ever built", even better than Mercedes-Benz, they say. I don't have any doubt in BMW engineering, but, really, the fastest and quietest? That's quite a claim, although a very appealing one. The 1984-1985 only 524TD has a cult following, possibly for some of those reasons. Not surprisingly, when the 524TD was dropped from the U.S., Lincoln stopped making the Continental diesel. BMW would rather be damned than let an American company continue to use their engine when they themselves weren't even going to continue offering it, no matter how many engines Lincoln could buy.

This ultra-rare example has 118,000 miles on the clock. The seller states they are writing the listing on behalf of an elderly collector who had 3 Continential Turbo Diesels (!) and this is his last remaining one. They say the transmission and torque converters were both rebuilt, and list of host of new parts added.

Cosmetically, they do mention some flaws, as the vehicle is far from perfect. The photos show the vehicle in snow. The engine compartment is soaked, and the interior looks very grimy, with a lot of wear in the steering wheel and on the carpeting. Worse, there are also some rust spots on it.

Mechanically, they say the owner spent $15,000 over the years maintaining this car. It runs, drives, and stops fine and does not leak, smell, or puff excessively beyond the normal start up smoke.

A quick scan of all U.S. craigslists found no other turbo diesel Lincolns for sale at the moment. They were offered very briefly, few were sold, and probably very few are left, at least in operable order. The concept, however strange, is somewhat weirdly awesome to me. Just get used to the idea of ordering some Ford parts and some BMW parts, and you'll be fine.

Find this puppy here on ebay in Minnesota with 16 brave bidders at $1,000 and six days left.