Background
During the mid-1970s, the Lincoln division of Ford sought to expand its model range for multiple reasons. Though sales of large luxury cars would ultimately recover in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis, in the United States, the rise of imported cars also led to transition in the luxury-vehicle segment. While competing with Cadillac, Imperial, and Lincoln in terms of price, the West German BMW 3.0Si and Mercedes-Benz 350SE/450SE and the British Jaguar XJ offered American luxury car customers a far different vehicle than produced by Ford, GM, or Chrysler.[8]
In 1973, the Lincoln Mark I Ghia concept car was developed by Ghia, derived from the Ford Granada Mk I.[9]
For 1976, the Cadillac Seville was introduced in May 1975. Developed by GM (in only 16 months[10]) in response to both the fuel crises and in effort to match European luxury sedans, the Seville sourced its V8 engine from Oldsmobile and its chassis underpinnings from the Chevrolet Nova.[10] The smallest Cadillac in 40 years, the Seville broke a long-running industry precedent, as the near-compact model Cadillac was its most expensive (non-limousine) sedan.[10]
Coinciding with the launch of the Seville, Ford began development of a Lincoln-branded competitor to the model line, tasked with bringing the model line to market for the 1977 model year. Adopting the Lincoln Versailles name, Ford used the body architecture of the Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch compact sedans, introduced for 1975. Sized closely against the GM X-body compacts, the Granada/Monarch were developed to replace the Ford Maverick/Mercury Comet. With little over than a year until its product launch,[10] the Versailles was relegated to become a variant of a production vehicle, sharing a large degree of its body panels with its Mercury counterpart. To further streamline development, the Versailles adopted the design features of the highest-trim Mercury Grand Monarch Ghia (which was discontinued for 1977).
In line with the Seville, the Versailles was the most expensive Lincoln sedan at $11,500 ($0 in dollars ); Lincoln-Mercury priced the model line $2000 under the Seville, keeping the model line below the Continental Mark V in price.[10] The first Lincoln manufactured outside of Wixom Assembly since 1957, the Versailles was produced alongside the Mercury Monarch and Ford Granada.
