One Automotive Traveler reader found a Mustang-powered Hot Rod Lincoln.

Rich, great idea for a blog. Here's my first contribution.

I found a very interesting 133,000-mile Lincoln Mark VII on Craigslist up in the San Francisco Bay Area listed for just $1,500. (The engine and recently-rebuilt transmission is worth at least that much.)

If I lived closer, I'd take a look at the car, but I live outside of San Diego so it's just not practical. If someone up in the Bay Area is looking for a great $2,000 car, this one is certainly worth a look. With a detailing with the money saved, this could be a sharp looking cruiser.

Editorial Director Rich Truesdell adds:

I think Craigslist got its start in San Francisco, and it seems to me that there are more listings there than any other metro area. Using the Craigslist search function, setting a $500 minimum--to filter out all the bogus $1 listings--and a $2,000 maximum for all cars for sale in the greater San Francisco metro area yields a number of good possibilities.

You've found a very interesting candidate here. Although the rules for the Challenge require that you visit the car in person, this one is intriguing enough that we'll include it.

The car is mistakenly listed as a 1991 Lincoln Mark IV LSC when in reality it is a Mark VII based on the provided VIN. The LSC was the top-of-the-line offering in the Mark VII series, and it is equipped with a 5.0-liter High Output V8 lifted from the Mustang GT. It was the first American-built car with four-wheel electronic anti-lock brakes, six months before the Corvette offered the same fitment.

In their time, the 1984 to 2002 Mark VIIs were very highly-regarded cars--in 1986 Car and Driver awarded it a 10 Best award--their main weakness was a problematic air suspension system. It's not uncommon when checking out Mark VIIs to find them sagging.

Not too many people know this outside of Lincoln circles, but for a short time, Ford offered the Mark VII in 1984 and 1985 with a BMW-supplied 2.4-liter turbodiesel with a ZF 4-speed automatic transmission, the same powertrain offered in the BMW 524td. With a waste vegetable oil conversion, this would be a stylish way to go if we see another hike in the price of gasoline. From what I can tell, less than 4,000 turbo diesel Mark VIIs were produced. Ford apparently purchased 3,794 BMW turbodiesels for the Mark VII and Continental 4-door. It's interesting to note that I couldn't find mention of the turbodiesel option in the 1985 brochure. It was noted only in the 1984 Lincoln full-line brochure.