2-door 4-seater hard-top coupé.

No longer common with T-Bird (which had been downsized), Mark V was reskinned version of Mark IV on old chassis with restyled interior but - miracles - lighter by 500lb. With a nod to emissions and fuel economy, big engine was joined by 6.6-litre (also Thunderbird-type), down to 166bhp before end. No 7.5-litre engine for final year. Limited-edition (Givenchy, Cartier, etc) models were even more sumptuous. A magnificent dinosaur, drastically downsized by 700lb lighter Mark VI for 1980. The great Lincoln Continental, 'America's Rolls-Royce', hasn't been the same since 1979.