What made you choose your Mark VII over other cars?

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Spinall4

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Alright, I'll start off by saying I'm new to the forum, but not new to cars.

I've Owned 2 Turbo AWD Diamond Stars (Eagle Talons), and although they were fun cars they were small. I sold and parted out the 2 I had, and bought a 93 GMC Typhoon last october thinking it would be a nice plush luxury/Performance suv that I could use as my Daily driver. I gave that up soon after getting it as 8 mpg owns, it rides like crap, and parts are expensive for GM's 12 year old turbo awd bastard SUV.

So my daily driver for the past 6-7 months has been a 97 Subaru Legacy. Its got the 2.5l motor in it, so it has a little bit of torque but it's just not enough balls for me to put around in daily. The other day I got smoked by a newer caviler with 4 people in it.

As I'm a car audio enthusiast and work as an installer, I've been wanting to put together a nice competion level SQ system. I want a car that I can add 100 lbs of sound dampeing to, and have that not count against me when I go to sell the car. I've looked at so many damn cars it isn't funny. Evo's, SS Camaro, RX-7, Audi A/S4, Audi A6, Corvettes, Mustangs, you name it I've looked at it. Nothing really has puffed my panties so to speak. The only thing that comes close is the Audi S4, but as a good low miles one of those is still 25-29k, I'm not spending that kind of dough. Don't even get me started on BMW's. I think my problem is I've been looking at sports cars trying to make them more luxury, when I need to be looking at luxury cars that have some balls I can build on. I also thought about a Caddy, but FWD is not what I want.

About a week ago I remembered someone saying the Mark VII was ahead of its time, and had the 32v DOHC v8 in it. I start looking around, and these cars have alot of what I want. Good fwy gas mpg (26 is what I found on carpoint) to compare, my 165 hp legacy is rated for only 1 mpg better. HID lights it seems on 97-98's, doors with frames around the window (no point in adding all that sound dampeing to the car just to hear wind noise), the bad ass DOHC cobra motor, in a rwd luxury coupe. Large gas tank at 18 gallons, and it seems easy to find them with low miles (IE one for sale by me with 40k on the clock for 7900$). I test drove a 98 yesterday with 100k on the clock, and other than alot of the inside being beat it seemed to go and ride well for a 100k car. Infact the only thing I seem to not like is the brown colored insides on some, the A/T trans (nothing against them as my typhoon has a 700r4 a/t in it and goes like a bat out of hell, but all of my previous cars have been a/t and I wanted a stick this time), and the dash hasn't grown on me yet.

My question is what made you guys choose to get the Mark VIII over some of the other competion? was it just the fact that you get almost 40k's worth of car for 8k? How do these cars hold up when taken care of? I'm fanatical about mateince, so I don't mind doing things like timing belts(I guess the 4v has a timing chain doesn't it?) and general required stuff, but I don't want it to rust out from under me. The potential to mod one of these also turns me onto them, as I think a DOHC V8 with some displacment plus a Twin turbo setup with some smaller Turbos could make for a very nice flat power band. Nothing crazy boost wise, but enough to spank the :q:q:q:q out of the local honduh boyz in my comfy pimped out lincoln, while they're driving gutted tin can crap boxes with 3 ft lbs of torque. :W
 
Spinall4 said:
Alright, I'll start off by saying I'm new to the forum, but not new to cars.

I've Owned 2 Turbo AWD Diamond Stars (Eagle Talons), and although they were fun cars they were small. I sold and parted out the 2 I had, and bought a 93 GMC Typhoon last october thinking it would be a nice plush luxury/Performance suv that I could use as my Daily driver. I gave that up soon after getting it as 8 mpg owns, it rides like crap, and parts are expensive for GM's 12 year old turbo awd bastard SUV.

So my daily driver for the past 6-7 months has been a 97 Subaru Legacy. Its got the 2.5l motor in it, so it has a little bit of torque but it's just not enough balls for me to put around in daily. The other day I got smoked by a newer caviler with 4 people in it.

As I'm a car audio enthusiast and work as an installer, I've been wanting to put together a nice competion level SQ system. I want a car that I can add 100 lbs of sound dampeing to, and have that not count against me when I go to sell the car. I've looked at so many damn cars it isn't funny. Evo's, SS Camaro, RX-7, Audi A/S4, Audi A6, Corvettes, Mustangs, you name it I've looked at it. Nothing really has puffed my panties so to speak. The only thing that comes close is the Audi S4, but as a good low miles one of those is still 25-29k, I'm not spending that kind of dough. Don't even get me started on BMW's. I think my problem is I've been looking at sports cars trying to make them more luxury, when I need to be looking at luxury cars that have some balls I can build on. I also thought about a Caddy, but FWD is not what I want.

About a week ago I remembered someone saying the Mark VII was ahead of its time, and had the 32v DOHC v8 in it. I start looking around, and these cars have alot of what I want. Good fwy gas mpg (26 is what I found on carpoint) to compare, my 165 hp legacy is rated for only 1 mpg better. HID lights it seems on 97-98's, doors with frames around the window (no point in adding all that sound dampeing to the car just to hear wind noise), the bad ass DOHC cobra motor, in a rwd luxury coupe. Large gas tank at 18 gallons, and it seems easy to find them with low miles (IE one for sale by me with 40k on the clock for 7900$). I test drove a 98 yesterday with 100k on the clock, and other than alot of the inside being beat it seemed to go and ride well for a 100k car. Infact the only thing I seem to not like is the brown colored insides on some, the A/T trans (nothing against them as my typhoon has a 700r4 a/t in it and goes like a bat out of hell, but all of my previous cars have been a/t and I wanted a stick this time), and the dash hasn't grown on me yet.

My question is what made you guys choose to get the Mark VIII over some of the other competion? was it just the fact that you get almost 40k's worth of car for 8k? How do these cars hold up when taken care of? I'm fanatical about mateince, so I don't mind doing things like timing belts(I guess the 4v has a timing chain doesn't it?) and general required stuff, but I don't want it to rust out from under me. The potential to mod one of these also turns me onto them, as I think a DOHC V8 with some displacment plus a Twin turbo setup with some smaller Turbos could make for a very nice flat power band. Nothing crazy boost wise, but enough to spank the :q:q:q:q out of the local honduh boyz in my comfy pimped out lincoln, while they're driving gutted tin can crap boxes with 3 ft lbs of torque. :W
Click to expand...

I actually had gotten a great deal on a 88 v-6 t-bird for 500 bucks almost perfect shape.. that car held up great for a whole year of me getting on it.. so I was looking for a 96 t-bird when I was ready to get a new car and one night driving home I saw this red mark 8 pass by me on the road.. I member looking at the taillights not so much of the rest of the car and was like thats the car I want... searched around and saw a few and found a great 93 that I bought. thats my story, the mark 8 is a great car for now. untill I can afford an audi.
 
Well I don't own a Mark VIII, but I can't wait to get one. A detuned Mustang Cobra engine (290hp), a cockpit like interior, and every possible luxury feature available in 1998, what else could you want?? An amazing amount of performance parts? Yeah, there's a lot out there. Reasonable price?? yeah.

What a great deal... Keep it to yourself, don't tell anybody... We don't want these cars to be too much in demand.

Oh yeah, when your ready to downgrade to a 4 cylinder audi, let me know cause I'll be looking for a Mark VIII in a little while.
 
Well after buying my 93 what got me to buy my 95 is.....

Style I love the Body Style! She is one Sexy ride!

Next the V-8 with a well proven engine that will go over 200k with no problems. I have 187k on my 93 and I am not afraid to dirve it anywhere. I purchased my 95 with 118K on her and feel that she is a young pup!

Then Comes Gas Mileage. A V-8 that gets over 30 mpgs Hwy! Now that was impressive! As most of my driving is Hwy miles!

Then I fell in love with the performance... I didn't know anything about the Mark VIII when I purchase my 93 last June! All I can say is Wow!!!! So much fun! I look for any excuse to drive my Marks.

And then the sweetest treat you get all of these gifts for around $3,000. I have about $5,500 invested these cars which originally sold for over $40K new. You have to love them.

Once you drive one you are hooked! Oh and did I mention that they are RWD. :Beer
:L 's
 
thamarkman said:
Well I don't own a Mark VIII, but I can't wait to get one. A detuned Mustang Cobra engine (290hp), a cockpit like interior, and every possible luxury feature available in 1998, what else could you want?? An amazing amount of performance parts? Yeah, there's a lot out there. Reasonable price?? yeah.

What a great deal... Keep it to yourself, don't tell anybody... We don't want these cars to be too much in demand.

Oh yeah, when your ready to downgrade to a 4 cylinder audi, let me know cause I'll be looking for a Mark VIII in a little while.
Click to expand...

The S4 is the Twin turbo 2.7l V-6. The thing I don't get is that it has less hp (250 vs 290 for a mark VII) and a smaller motor, yet dose worse on gas (on hwy is only like 23-24 mpg). I know awd is eating up some of that power, but that seems retarded. They have a nice big after market, but pulling the motor just to swap turbos (which happens around 50k as they have a bad oil supply design) just seems dumb. Oh that and all of the kits out there are mostly audi parts, and cost around 8-9k to make 450 hp. Seems like some one has a bit of a mark up in the cost of parts for those cars.

I know some one has done the 5 speed swap out of a mustang, what all is involved? IE the trans shouldn't be an issue but what about the clutch pedal, slave cylinder, and all that stuff?
 
I love mine because it's a 12 second sleeper.
25 + MPG on the hwy with 4:10's.

The look on peoples faces after they get smoked by "the old guy in a Lincoln" is PRICELESS !

:nos:
 
It was a "hand me down" from my parents.

Boy was I a lucky one ! I remember begging them to take it out for the night, now, I own it ! :woowoo2:
 
And "Yes", I'm taking great care of it.

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I saw my first Mark VIII in person in 1993 on a ferry going from Cape Hatteras, N.C. to Ocracoke Island. I thought it was the best looking car on the road at the time and I immediately wanted one, but it took me until last year to finally pick one up. I want another 96 to go with the 94 I have now.
 
After having a Mark VII LSC as my first car I loved every second of it. I've always liked how the Mark VIII's looked but never really knew too much about them. I heard they didn't drive to good so that kinda kept me away. But after owning 4 FWD cars since my Mark VII I wanted to get back into a RWD V8. Price was a factor and I liked the route my dad took with his Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and make a nice sleeper out of it and at the same time have all the luxury and goodies also. So when it was time for me to get rid of my 1990 Cadillac Deville I knew what I wanted from the beginning.....a Mark VIII and I've been happier then a pig in $hit since I've gotten mine!
 
My decision came from a combination of things. The V8/rear wheel drive thing was first, then the laundry list of features, the luxury, the ride, the relatively low production numbers and the power.

Although I didn't research it at all before I bought it (if I had I probably wouldn't have bought it) I have had virtually no problems since I got it almost 3 years ago. I kicked around the idea of replacing it with a Navigator a couple of times, but I really do enjoy my Mark. My only problem with the overall ownership of this car is the outrageous cost for replacement parts when they do fail. And this whole gas price thing can get expensive for a car with a high-test diet.

Buying a Mark VIII is like buying any other used car, its kind of like a roll of the dice. History has shown that they can be a real wallet drainer, but whatever...its still a Mark!
 
97 Ivory Pearl VIII said:
My decision came from a combination of things. The V8/rear wheel drive thing was first, then the laundry list of features, the luxury, the ride, the relatively low production numbers and the power.

Although I didn't research it at all before I bought it (if I had I probably wouldn't have bought it) I have had virtually no problems since I got it almost 3 years ago. I kicked around the idea of replacing it with a Navigator a couple of times, but I really do enjoy my Mark. My only problem with the overall ownership of this car is the outrageous cost for replacement parts when they do fail. And this whole gas price thing can get expensive for a car with a high-test diet.

Buying a Mark VIII is like buying any other used car, its kind of like a roll of the dice. History has shown that they can be a real wallet drainer, but whatever...its still a Mark!
Click to expand...

trust me I know exactally about the wallet drainer.. lol.. I've had 2 mark8's. my first one was a 93 that lasted almost 50 thousand(HARD) miles without any major problems and then it got wrecked so I bought a 96, and in less than 10k miles I already killed a tranny and blew a motor. if someone can explain that to me I'd be greatly appericative. I actually bought the car from someone on other other board, idk if it had problems b4 he sold it or what but this car is such a money pit. I've got so much $ invested in it, it really doesn't pay to get rid of it. lol
 
I drove all kinds of cars in my life...muscle cars, gas hogs, beaters, exotics, collectibles, convertibles, Van's...you name it.

I always like the Mark VIII ever since I sat in one in November of 1992 at the SF International Auto Show.

Years later, it was time for new wheels. I drove Mustang GT's, Twin Turbo RX-7's, WRX STi's, and...a low mile, black on black, 94 Mark VIII, loaded to the hilt.

It came home that day.

Here it is "then", parked next to our 69 Roadrunner:

390787_1_full.jpg


and, almost 2 years later, here it is now:

low94.jpg


It has been repaired/modified/tuned/abused/loved/waxed/driven more than any other car I have ever owned...it had 51,900 when I bought it in July '03, and it now has 102,000 on it.

Man, I LOVE this car...in fact, now we have two!!!
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:L 'S !!!
 
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