1977½ Continental Mark V
Midnight Blue and Dove Grey Luxury Group
(Spring Feature Car)

Distinctive Midnight Blue and Dove Grey colors set the tone

1977 MIDNIGHT BLUE AND DOVE GREY LUXURY GROUP AT A GLANCE:

Years Available: 1977 only
Introduction Date: March 1977
Body Color Code: 31 - Midnight Blue Metallic or 1N - Dove Grey
Paint Stripe Code: 4 - Medium Blue (with Dove Grey paint) or 6 - Light Silver Iridescent (with Midnight Blue paint)
Vinyl Roof Code:
  Standard Valino Grain Full Vinyl Roof: VB - Blue or VE - Dove Grey
  Optional Valino Grain Landau Half Vinyl Roof: YB - Blue or YE - Dove Grey
Interior Trim Code: ES - Dove Grey Leather with Blue Components, Vertical Straps, and Side Facings (Luxury Group Sew Style)
Premium Bodyside Molding: Blue or Dove Grey
Price: $680.00

As it had in the past, Lincoln Division came up with new trim packages and color combinations to attract buyers into showrooms during the slower Spring season. The 1977½ Continental Mark V Spring Feature Car was a distinctive combination of Dark Blue and Dove Grey, unofficially referred to as the Midnight Blue and Dove Grey Luxury Group. Buyers could mix and match their car exterior colors to suit their individual tastes. For instance, Midnight Blue metallic finish for the body, with either a matching Blue vinyl roof or contrasting Dove Grey vinyl roof, both in Valino Grain vinyl. Premium Bodyside Moldings could also be chosen to either match or contrast with the body color. At additional cost, an optional half-vinyl Landau roof could be specified in either of the two colors. Light Silver Iridescent or Medium Blue-colored dual bodyside and decklid paint stripes provided additional contrast and highlighted the Mark V's distinctive lines.

Inside, individually-adjustable split bench front seats offered soft Dove Grey leather seating surfaces in the Luxury Group sew style. Seats provided contrasting blue vertical straps and seat cushion side facings, as well as blue door pull straps, carpeting, instrument panel, seat belts, steering column, and steering wheel. Overhead, a Dove Grey headlining finished off the interior in high style.

This Spring Feature Car is often confused as one of the Luxury Group options, as there isn't a lot of documentation available that's specific to this option. Due to a late introduction mid-year, they are pretty rare, and since these cars are frequently overlooked for what they are, few understand their true nature. The combination of Dove Grey and Blue is quite striking, and is well worth searching out if you want a Mark V that is a cut apart from the rest.

It's interesting to note that the two tone seat upholstery introduced with this option is very similar to the leather upholstery that would be offered the following year on the 1978 Continental Mark V Cartier Edition and Pucci Edition cars [links open in new window]. With the exception of the seat cushion side facings, the sew pattern is identical, and very distinctive.

This feature car demonstrates how easily Lincoln could change and combine colors to come up with unique options that helped to sell more cars. The cost to Lincoln was minimal, and it gave Lincoln's customers the ability to drive away in a car that they truly felt they helped to design.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty are not easy things to establish, but there's little doubt that Lincoln was able to make its customers feel special by designing a Mark of their own.

(Click any of the images below to see a larger version)

Photos: eBay