Luxury Patina: 1977 Lincoln Versailles
Made for only four short years, the Lincoln Versailles came along as car makers were dealing with rising gas prices and shortages and after Cadillac was grabbing market share with their small luxury car, the Seville. This 1977 Lincoln Versailles, a first-year model, can be found here on craigslist in Prineville, Oregon with an enticing price of $2,495 or offer.
This car has a plethora of perfect patina, although that’s maybe not something that a person normally wants on a luxury car. Speaking of luxury, most of us know that the Lincoln Versailles was based on the Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch and for at least the first two years, 1977 and 1978, they were hard to tell from a Granada at a distance, other than having a distinctive Lincoln grille and faux spare tire trunk lid. This one appears to have two different shades of blue split at the driver’s side doors, so I’m guessing that one half of it has been painted at some point, probably the left front fender and driver’s door?
If we swing around the back, you can see some worn paint – the dreaded, aforementioned patina – on the trunk lid and blue paint that seems to match the left rear passenger door and quarter panel. It’s ironic that the paint is in such rough shape on this car because the Lincoln Versailles was reportedly the first production car to use a factory standard clearcoat paint system. The Versailles was freshened up in 1979 and they went away after the 1980 model year, unlike the Seville.
The interior, though, wow! That is one swathed-in-powder-blue-leather coddling interior. The seller says that everything works on and in this car, including the moonroof, which was an option, and the AM/FM 8-track stereo. Hagerty is at $2,900 for a #4 fair condition car and $4,600 for a #3 good condition car. You could probably never do a Lincoln-quality paint job on this car for a price that would keep the total investment under even their #2 excellent condition value of $7,400 unless a person had the experience to do it him or herself.
The backseat also looks great but I can’t imagine many executives riding around in the back seat of one of these cars. Even with four-wheel disc brakes and a 9-inch rear differential, these weren’t really performance cars, but I would love to give one a try someday. There are no engine photos but this 1977 model has Ford’s 351 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 135 hp. The seller says that it runs and drives great. It’s almost impossible to argue with paying $2,499 for what was at one time a very luxurious car. Have any of you owned or known of anyone who owned a Lincoln Versailles?
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Comments
I’ve always said “ it’s just a Granada” but I saw one of these at a car show last sumner, same color as this one and it looked and felt like a more substantial car. The owner was a real fanatic about it also. Cheap entry price into the hobby, but I’ve heard some of the parts (like the grill) are hard to find and costly when you do.
Always seen a lot of hate for the Granada, Monarch, and Versailles, but I wonder how many have actually driven one. My parents had a Granada Ghia with a V8 and I (an 18 year old budding car nut) thought it was both quiet and rode and handled well- seemed to corner flatter than their previous boats. I would have hated the same car with a six though.
Fred I have had both a 76 Granada 2 door, bucket seats, 302ci, etc. etc. and a 1977 early production Versailles, again with rare bucket seats, even rarer 351C engine, silver with silver leather interior. Don’t listen to people who’ve never had one (or only had the V6 model cos we had one of those when I was a kid and it did suck). The Versailles will never be appreciated for what Ford attempted to do with it, but in my opinion it was a damn nice ride, oh and the front seats folded flat, too!
I’ve read that there is a big difference between the Versailles and its lesser brethren in terms of quality and construction details.
Yes it’s a Granada but for a Granada it’s pretty good. I got to drive one for a “Drive-Away” service around 1979. It drove nicely, was comfortable and had descent power for that era but it was hard to think of it as a real Lincoln due to the small size.
I’ll have Granada with everthing ….. to go please .
My college roommate’s parents drove in from out of town one weekend in 1977 and I recall my roommate excitedly telling me that they were coming in his new Dad’s new Lincoln. The parents arrived and I recall looking out the window and commenting “I thought you said your Dad had a Lincoln – that’s a Ford Granada.”
The interior would tip the scale for me. The styling ques from the big Lincoln don’t seem to “flow”. I like the exterior of the Gen 1 Seville take off of the Nova.
A deep clean, respray and elbow grease would have the Versailles looking sharp!
Buy it for the 9-inch rear end and disc brakes. Growing up my Mustang driving friends were all looking for one of these in the junkyard.
I bought one. Drove it a while and scrapped it saving the leather seats and the posi 9 inch rear end with the disc brakes. The rear end is in my 66 Mustang to this day. Bolted right in and I only had to change the emergency brake cables. One thing I remember was when it was in drive you couldn’t use the push buttons on the radio as the selector on the column was in the way. Bob.
It’s a great driver. You’ll enjoy it, and yes, it’s a Granada with some style, maybe. Looks like an effort in cost reduction but I had one, and never gave me any trouble. Good luck to the next owner.
Build the 351 to about 400 horse, dress up as an old guy and go shock some people lol.
Is this is where the Wagon Queen Family Truckster got it’s headlights from?
In high school, I knew of a Versailles with a modded Cleveland out of an early ’70’s Mach 1. It had turn-downs in front of the rear axle and had a nice, choppy idle. Ran 8’s in the 1/8th mile. Yeesh…
I saw a foxbody platform Versailles at the Albuquerque U-Pull & Pay almost two years ago. It looked like it was in really nice condition. I have wondered about cars like that at those places – the engine maybe had problems – the family of the relative who passed away had no interest in it – but why not just sell it to someone who might have some good intentions of fixing it rather than take it to the junk yard?
Correction – not a foxbody platform – the Lincoln Versailles was maybe 1980 that I saw at U-Pull & Pay, and it reminded me of the Foxbody Fairmonts, Zephyrs, and T-Birds of 78-82.
was not aware the 77 could be had with a 351 Cleveland , always thought the Windsor 351 was the engine offer. I recall those early year versions also had a fancy analog clock and not just the usual granada/monarch digital clock. these interiors were overflowing with Lincoln luxury and looked great. Were there cigarette lighters in the back seat ash trays? The 4 wheel disc brakes were unique to this model, and yes alot of folks put those set ups in their other builds. there are some nice examples still around, and as I recall that baby blue color was the color most of them were produced in. these are very nice for the right low price.
Dave mine did have the analogue clock, not the digital one….it was Cartier if I remember right (this was about 5 or so years ago that I had the car). One of the other interesting aspects of mine is that the gauges on the dash were behind real glass, not plastic, and had a floor shifter (it was an automatic though).
I’m thinking it was a 351M, no 351 Cleveland after ’74 in the USA from Ford. Similar, but at 135 horses not so much under acceleration.
Hey Troy you are correct. After I got home I went back through my Versailles records, and it was the 351M. It was not a fast car by any means, but that wasn’t the point of the car anyway. I’ve had about 70 cars and trucks, and weirdly this is one of the ones I wish I still had.
Dave,
You are correct. A 351 Cleveland was not available in the Versailles, in fact it would not fit between the shock towers. All ‘77 models had the 351 Windsor, there was no optional engine. My ‘77 had a Cartier analog clock.
It’s a Granada in a Tuxedo, I drove a few back in the day, they were quiet and nicely appointed, couldn’t eject the 8 track while the car was in park, in today’s world u might get a summons for that, but officer, I was ejecting Barry White to put my Lou Rawls tape in
My father bought a 1977 Granada, new. He loved that car! It had a gold exterior, cream vinyl interior, two door. I wonder why they never made a two-door Versaille? Could have made it a “performance coupe'” version, like an early LSC…
Back in the ‘80’s I had a perfect Versailles, it was never in snow/salt as it spent most of the time in the garage or winter storage. Mine was silver with wedge wood blue leather interior, split bench seat column shift. I installed a set of mini-lite wheels and big radials, the car was always a head turner. I sold the car in the early 90’s, another one that I should have kept.
The Versailles was much different than a Monarch or Granada, they shared the same platform but the suspension and drive train were completely different. The ‘77’s had the 351w and a carburetor, the ‘78 had a 302 and throttle body injection.
We refered to these as “Grenades” when they were common on the road. My buddy built a sleeper out of a ’77. He had a 351 Cleveland that was out of a ’72 Torino. That sh&t box ripped!