The Lincoln Versailles is a mid-size luxury car that was marketed by Lincoln from the 1977 to 1980 model years. The first Lincoln introduced outside of the full-size segment, the Versailles is a rebranded version of the Ford Granada and Mercury Monarch. Replacing the Mercury Grand Monarch Ghia, the model line was introduced as a competitor to the Cadillac Seville. Deriving its nameplate from the French palace outside Paris, the Lincoln Versailles was offered solely as a four-door sedan; it is the final vehicle developed from the chassis architecture of the American Ford Falcon. From 1977 to 1980, Ford produced the Lincoln Versailles alongside the Granada and Monarch at Wayne Stamping & Assembly (Wayne, Michigan) and Mahwah Assembly (Mahwah, New Jersey). In total, 50,156 examples were produced. Origin of name During the mid-1950s, a Ford Versailles was manufactured by Simca in France, derived from the Ford Vedette. In 1966, during the development of what would become the Continental Mark III, Ford researched the suitability of multiple nameplates for the model line with potential consumers. The Versailles name placed third (after Mark VI and LeMarque) among a large group of nameplates. Though Ford ultimately sought to restart the chronology of the Mark series with Mark III, the company held onto the name, keeping it for the 1977 Lincoln Versailles. 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. In 1973, the Lincoln Mark I Ghia concept car was developed by Ghia, derived from the Ford Granada Mk I. For 1976, the Cadillac Seville was introduced in May 1975. Developed by GM (in only 16 months) 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. The smallest Cadillac in 40 years, the Seville broke a long-running industry precedent, as the near-compact model Cadillac was its most expensive