How Continental Was the Mark III?

What is a Lincoln Continental?  That can be hard to determine because marketers have applied that name to different kinds of cars since 1940.  Originally, what began as a customized car for Edsel Ford entered production and was named the Lincoln-Zephyr Continental.  Once the large, expensive K-series Lincolns were dropped, the Zephyr name was also eliminated.  Original-style Lincoln Continentals were produced through the 1948 model year, but they too were dropped when postwar redesigns appeared for 1949.  Then, in a modernized form, they were briefly revived 1956-57 as a separate Continental brand, the cars being called Continental Mark II.  After that project folded the term Lincoln Continental returned and was applied to regular Lincolns for many years.  In the late 1960s the original, sporty Continental coupe concept was revived.  But the Continental name was already in use, so the new cars were named Continental Mark III, not quite a separate brand (1958 Lincolns sedans also used that name, but it was re-used here).  Various Mark numerals appeared for years thereafter when redesigns entered production, the last being the 1993-98 Mark VIII.  Recently, a Lincoln Continental sedan has reappeared.

For some Wikipedia background, you might try linking here and here. I wrote about the Continental Mark II here and here.

The present post deals with styling of the Continental Mark III and how it related to previous non-sedan Continentals.

In terms of market position, these were closer to the original Continentals than were the Mark IIs.  The late Paul R. Woudenberg in this book noted that while early Continentals were expensive, they were not the most costly cars.  But the Mark IIs were planned to be the most expensive: They were priced at $10,000, a lot back in 1956.  For example, the most expensive Lincoln Primiere hardtop coupe was listed for about $4,600 and the mid-line Ford Customline four-door sedan was around $2,000.  Mark IIIs in 1969 were priced about $6,800, more than other Lincolns.  A Cadillac Sixty Special sedan sold for the about the same amount.  But if a rich buyer wanted to spend serious money on a car, he'd have the shell out more than $24,000 for a "Große Mercedes" 600 in the late 1960s.  So Mark IIs were indeed in a similar market level to the originals, and they sold well.

Continental Mark IIIs were introduced in the spring of 1968, but essentially were 1969 models: that's how I'm treating them here.  First some side-views, then images of rear quarters.

Gallery

1940 Lincoln-Zephyr Continental Cabriolet, RM Auctions photo
The original Continental of 1939 and most 1940 versions were convertibles whose tops had blanked-out rear quarters.

1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe
This coupe design was added in 1940 and became the better-selling style.  The theme of its passenger greenhouse is retained in later versions, as is an echo of the rear-mounted spare tire.  Therefore, our focus is on these two elements rather than on the front ends.

1957 Continental Mark II, Barrett-jackson photo
The greenhouse theme is revived in cleaner form, but with a conservatively shaped wraparound windshield rather than the Lincoln-Zephyr style flat windscreen of 1939.  Also carried over is the long hood proportion relative to the greenhouse.

1969 Continental Mark III, Mecum auction photo
Proportions exclusive of trunks are retained here, as is the greenhouse theme.  Front overhang is considerable, but necessary given the body platform used (see below).

1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe
Again, the starting point.  Besides the long, comparatively low hood, what characterized original Continentals were the short, squared-off trunk and the external rear-mounted, covered spare tire.

1956 Continental Mark II
This photo is all over the Internet, but I can't locate its origin.  The back window is wider than those of first-generation coupes.  The spare tire is not mounted externally, but does lie inside the trunk bulge denoting it: functional, but annoying when trying to load/unload the trunk.

1969 Continental Mark III, Mecum photo
The top declines towards the rear, so the backlight is shorter than on the Mark II though the width is similar.  The spare tire shape on the trunk lid is largely a false element, as spare tires were normally laid flat on trunk floors.

1969 Continental Mark III, Hyman, Ltd. photo
Frontal Mark III styling.  This image is included to illustrate that these cars were built on the same platform as Ford Thunderbirds.  Compare the cowl area and the windshield design to the car in the photo below.  Mark IIIs had slightly longer wheelbases than did Thunderbirds.

1969 Thunderbird
Besides the windshields, note the front overhang that in part was intended to provide for long hoods.

Unless otherwise noted, images are for cars posted for sale.