Continental Mark III

Continental
	Continental Mark III
Mark III
Production period:	1968-1971
Class :	Upper class
Body versions :	Coupe
Engines:	Otto engine : ; 7.5 liters (272 kW)
Length:	5486 mm
Width:	2020 mm
Height:	1350 mm
Wheelbase :	2977 mm
Empty weight :	2207 kg
Previous model	Continental Mark II
successor	Continental Mark IV

The Continental Mark III was a Personal Luxury Coupé of the American car manufacturer Ford Motor Company , which was produced from 1968 to 1971. It was Ford's answer to the Cadillac Eldorado , which had been successfully launched a year earlier , but was less technically advanced than its GM competitor. Although the Mark III was manufactured by the Lincoln Mercury Division, Ford decided not to include Lincoln as the manufacturer in its name for marketing reasons: the vehicles were only called the Continental Mark III . This naming was intended to continue the tradition of the Continental Mark II luxury coupé , which was manufactured in the 1950s by the Ford subsidiary Continental Division and was one of the most expensive series production vehicles in the USA at the time. The car uses the same designation as a series produced by the Continental Division in 1958; however, there is no relationship to these models.

Model history

Imitation spare wheel bulge in the trunk lid: a feature of all Continental coupés from 1968 onwards.

Front end with a Rolls-Royce-inspired grille

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

The development of the Mark III began in the fall of 1965. The exterior design developed Eugene Bordinat, the interior was designed by Hermann Brunn, the son of the founder of the American body manufacturer Brunn & Co . In accordance with Henry Ford II's specifications , the new car in the style of the Continental Mark II had a long bonnet, a tight passenger cell and a short rear. This styling scheme is often referred to in American literature as the "long nose short deck" design. The hood was more than six feet long; thus the Mark III had the longest bonnet of all vehicles produced in the USA in 1968. While the front section of the Mark II was designed simply and without ornamentation, the Mark III had a striking, angular radiator grille in the style of Rolls-Royce . When deactivated, the front headlights were hidden behind painted flaps . The trunk lid had a semicircular bulge, which should suggest the standing storage of a spare wheel. This design feature was also adopted from the Mark II. In fact, this was just a designer game; the spare wheel was actually lying in the trunk.

From a technical point of view, the Mark III was less elaborately constructed than the Cadillac Eldorado. While the GM Coupé had front-wheel drive , the rear wheels of the Mark III were conventionally driven. The Mark III used a separate frame that was structurally identical to that of the Ford Thunderbird . As with the standard Lincoln models, a 7.5 liter eight-cylinder engine served as the drive. The special features of the Mark III included an anti-lock braking system and a limited-slip differential , both of which were available at an additional cost.

The Continental Mark III was designed for the greatest possible comfort for the passengers. The window lifters and seat adjustment were operated electrically, and there was power assistance for the steering and the brakes. In order to reduce the vehicle noise as much as possible, 75 kilograms of insulation material were used. The seats were upholstered in leather; the dashboard was initially covered with imitation wood in two alternative styles ("English Oak" or "East Indian Rosewood"), from 1970 it was replaced by real walnut wood veneer. From December 1968, a Cartier watch was part of the standard scope of delivery. The cooperation with the fashion brand Cartier was intended to increase the exclusivity of the Lincoln and Continental vehicles in the eyes of potential buyers.

Dissemination and reception

The Continental Mark III was a luxury vehicle. It was the most expensive Lincoln model. Its 1968 price was $ 6,585, about $ 500 above Lincoln's standard models ; it was almost as expensive as a Cadillac Eldorado.

Production of the Continental Mark III began in April 1968, when the 1968 model year was almost over. In this shortened model year, only 7700 Mark III were built. From the 1969 model year, which began in September 1968, the Mark III achieved almost the same sales figures as the Cadillac Eldorado. This is remarkable in that the production of Lincoln's standard models regularly lagged far behind that of Cadillacs. In the last model year of the Mark III, when it had to compete against a new generation of the Eldorado, the sales figures even reached the highest level since its market launch.

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

Model year	Continental Mark III	Cadillac Eldorado
1968	7,770	24,528
1969	23,088	23,333
1970	21,432	28,824
1971	27.091	27,368

The Continental Mark III was perceived early on as a luxury vehicle; In films and other publications, however, it is repeatedly shown or mentioned in a criminal environment:

A Mark III gained widespread popularity as a gangster car in the movie French Connection .

In the song Bad Bad Leroy Brown , singer and songwriter Jim Croce lets his hero, a criminal from Southside Chicago , drive a “Custom Continental”.

Market situation today

Like most other American cars, the Continental Mark III plays an outsider role in the European classic market. The few cars that are in Europe are in steady hands and change hands at comparatively high prices.

literature

Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 .

Web links

Commons : Continental Mark III - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

↑ Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980, p. 415.

↑ Production figures according to Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980, p. 106 ff., P. 438 f.

↑ The production number of the Cadillac Eldorado for the 1971 model year includes the coupé and the newly offered convertible. 20,568 copies of the Eldorado Coupé were produced in 1971.

↑ See model description on the website www.lincolnclub.eu ( Memento of the original dated August 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed September 24, 2011). @1@ 2

[1] Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980, p. 415.

[2] Production figures according to Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980, p. 106 ff., P. 438 f.

[3] The production number of the Cadillac Eldorado for the 1971 model year includes the coupé and the newly offered convertible. 20,568 copies of the Eldorado Coupé were produced in 1971.