This 2004 Lincoln Mark X Concept Is Your Chance To Bid On Great Automotive History

It’s extremely rare for the public to get its hands on a concept car. If it’s not brought into production, they’re usually put in storage or kept in a museum — sometimes they’re even destroyed. But every so often, a rare opportunity comes up when a concept car gets listed for sale or goes up for auction, whether that be from private ownership or the company itself. Another one of those opportunities is right around the corner, as the 2004 Lincoln Mark X concept is going up for auction next month.

My (Mom’s) First Car: W. Kamau Bell and the Giant Thunderbird

First spotted by Ford Authority, Mecum Auctions is listing Lincoln’s convertible concept for sale for its next auction in Glendale, Arizona from March 5-9. The Mark X debuted at the 2004 Detroit Auto Show and served as a preview of Lincoln’s upcoming design language, showing that Lincoln was toying with the idea of offering a convertible in the 21st century.

Image: Mecum Auctions

The brainchild of Marek Reichman, who was then head of Lincoln design, the Mark X was essentially Lincoln’s version of the 11th-generation Ford Thunderbird. While the concept had distinct styling that was all Lincoln, like a waterfall grille that drew inspiration from the 1964 Continental, underneath it was all Thunderbird.

You can really see it in the side profile. While the front and rear fascias of the Mark X are more stunted than the rounded Thunderbird, the profile is clearly there. Even with Lincoln going for a more premium folding metal hardtop with an integrated glass roof instead of the Thunderbird’s soft top, the side profile is unmistakable. The interior is similar to the Thunderbird as well, but Lincoln pulls it off better here. The interior is typical mid-2000s American concept, right down to the color and interior materials.

Image: Mecum Auctions

The Mark X was powered by the same engine as the Thunderbird too, and it seems to be drivable. Under the hood lies a 3.9-liter V8 — an engine borrowed from Jaguar — mated to a 5-speed automatic. Mecum mentions there are other goodies thrown in that make this concept drivable, like a new battery and a flushed fuel system, four-wheel disc brakes, and power door locks and mirrors. But even though it runs, it’s sadly not street-legal.

This isn’t the first time this concept has been listed for sale, either. Back in 2014, RM Sotheby’s listed this the Mark X concept as part of a collection called the Sam Pack Collection; Pack is a well known Ford dealer in Carrollton, Texas. Back then, the Mark X sold for $129,250. We’ll see how Mecum’s price matches up in just a few weeks.