Today the hottest segment of the automotive market is the SUV, or Sports/Utility vehicle. In the 1970s cars represented by another 3-letter acronym were the hot sellers: the PLC or Personal Luxury Coupes. By the 1990s the PLC market had shrunk to a shadow of its former self, as the rise of the minivan and SUV stole sales from the PLC. However, two companies firmly ignored both those markets in the early ‘90s and here we'll look at two choices which upmarket Canadian buyers had for PLCs in 1994: The Lincoln Mark VIII and the Jaguar XJS V12.
The Lincoln Mark series had a long history as the flagship line of Ford's Lincoln division, beginning in 1956 and followed by the Mark III, IV and V in the 1970s, all as 2-door coupes with the distinctive spare tire hump on the trunk lid. Most had the 460 CID (7.5L) V8 engine, with the final Mark V's having a 400 CID (6.6L) V8 engine. The 1980s brought radical changes to the Mark VI, as it was offered in either 2-door coupé or 4-door sedan. It shed both weight and bulk by now being built on the "Panther" platform, instead of the Thunderbird platform. The 1980 Mark VI lost 14 inches in length and 800 lbs compared to the Mark V. Engines were much smaller as well, with the 129 hp 302 CID V8 being the only
option, but performance was actually better due to the lower weight.
