Lincoln Continental Mark III

Continental Mark III

The Continental Mark III was a personal luxury coupe of the American automaker Ford Motor Company, which was produced from 1968 to 1971. It was the response from Ford to a year earlier successfully launched Cadillac Eldorado, but was technically less advanced than its GM competitor. Although the Mark III was produced by the Lincoln - Mercury Division, Ford waived for marketing reasons on Lincoln to lead as a manufacturer on behalf: The vehicles were called only Continental Mark III. With this naming tradition of luxury coupe Continental Mark II should be continued, which had been in the 1950s manufactured by the Ford subsidiary Continental Division and at the time was one of the most expensive production cars in the USA. The car uses the same name as a 1958 series produced by Continental division; consists of these models, however, no relationship.

Model history

While the Mark II was influenced by 1956 much of William Clay Ford Sr., Henry Ford II shaped the development of the Mark III.

The development of the Mark III began in the fall of 1965. Eugene Bordinat The exterior design developed, the interior was designed by Hermann Brunn, the son of the founder of the American body manufacturer Brunn & Co. Following the guidelines of Henry Ford II had the new car in the style of the Continental Mark II has a long bonnet, a terse passenger compartment and a short tail. This styling scheme is often referred to as " Long Nose Short Deck " design in American literature. The hood was more than 1.8 meters long; so that the Mark III had the longest hood of all 1968 vehicles produced in the United States. While the front end of the cord was designed simply and without embellishment II, the Mark III was wearing a flashy square grille in the style of Rolls- Royce. The front headlights were hidden in a disabled state behind lacquered doors. The trunk lid had a semi-circular recess, which should suggest the stationary housing a spare wheel. Also, this design feature was acquired by the Mark II. Indeed, it was only a game designer; the spare tire was in fact lying in the trunk.

Technically, the Mark III was less complicated construction than the Cadillac Eldorado. While the GM coupe had front-wheel drive, the rear wheels were conventionally powered with the Mark III. The Mark III used a separate frame, which was identical with that of the Ford Thunderbird in structural terms. Served as a drive - as in the standard models Lincoln - a 7.5- liter eight -cylinder engine. The highlights of the Mark III were an anti -lock braking system and a limited slip differential, which were each available at an additional cost.

The Continental Mark III was designed for maximum comfort for the passengers. The power windows and seat adjustment were to operate electrically, and there were power assistance for the steering and the brakes. In order to insulate the vehicle noise as much as possible, 75 kg insulating material were processed. The seats were upholstered in leather; the dashboard was initially with imitation wood in two alternative styles ( " English Oak " or " East Indian Rosewood " ) disguised, from 1970 it was replaced by real walnut wood veneer. As of December 1968 was a clock by Cartier for standard delivery. The collaboration with the fashion brand Cartier should increase vehicles in the eyes of potential buyers the exclusivity of the Lincoln and Continental.

Dissemination and reception

The Continental Mark III was a vehicle of the upper class. He was the most expensive model of the Lincoln brand. Its price was 1968 $ 6585 about $ 500 on Lincoln's standard models; he was so nearly as expensive as a Cadillac Eldorado.

Production of the Continental Mark III began in April 1968, when the Model 1968 was already nearly expired. In this shortened model year 7700 emerged only Mark III. From model year 1969, which began in September 1968, the Nark III reached approximately the same sales figures as the Cadillac Eldorado. This is remarkable in so far as the production of Lincoln's standard models regularly lagged far behind those Cadillacs. In the last model year of the Mark III, when he had to compete against a new generation of Eldorado, the sales figures even reached the highest level since its launch.

The production of the Mark III was distributed over the model years 1968 to 1971 as follows (for comparison next to the production figures of the Cadillac Eldorado):

The Continental Mark III was perceived early on as luxury car; in movies and in other publications, he is, however, shown or mentioned repeatedly in criminal environment:

  • A Mark III obtained in the movie French Connection - great popularity as a gangster car focus Brooklyn.
  • In the song Bad Bad Leroy Brown the singer and songwriter Jim Croce makes his hero, driving a criminal from the Southside Chicago, a "Custom Continental ".

Market situation today

On the European market, the classic Continental Mark III like most other American cars plays a role as an outsider. The few cars that are located in Europe, are in firm hands and change hands at relatively high prices.

Car classification Luxury vehicle Curb weight Lincoln Continental Mark IV William Clay Ford, Sr. Hidden headlamps Anti-lock braking system Cartier (jeweler) Lincoln Continental The French Connection (film) Lincoln Motor Company Lincoln Custom Lincoln K-series Lincoln L-Series Lincoln-Zephyr Lincoln Aviator Lincoln Blackwood Lincoln Capri Lincoln Continental Mark V Lincoln Continental Mark VI Lincoln Cosmopolitan Lincoln LS Lincoln Premiere Lincoln Town Car Lincoln Versailles Lincoln MKZ Lincoln MKS Lincoln MKT Lincoln MKX Lincoln Mark LT Lincoln Navigator Lincoln Futura
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