Last of the Big Ones

Seemingly half a block long, the sleek, big car was as American as the Fourth of July. It captured Americans' expansive post-World War II mood and satisfied dreams of affluence. But demands for fuel efficiency and changing tastes have sent the regal road cruisers the way of the buffalo. General Motors shrunk its Cadillac Eldorado from 5,321 lbs. in 1976 to 3,897 lbs. by 1979. The Coupe De Ville also sweated off 900 lbs.; Chrysler stopped making any cars heavier than 4,000 lbs. last year. But Ford hung tough. Its 1979 Lincoln Mercury Continental Mark V weighed a defiant 4,779 lbs., was more than 19 ft. long and got 12 m.p.g. Now Ford, too, has yielded. The final Mark V, last of Detroit's gas-gulping monarchs, came off the line at the company's Wixom, Mich., plant on June 8. Last week the plant turned out its successor, the Mark VI. It is 14 in. shorter, 800 lbs. lighter, gets 14 m.p.g., and is somewhat boxier in shape. Yet all is not lost for big-car lovers. Beside the mite-size models filling the highways today, even the down-sized Mark VI looks gargantuan.

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