1969 Lincoln Continental Mark Iii - 27k Original Miles, Great History! on 2040-cars
Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Video Link: http://youtu.be/kYu5wk96fP4 The first Mark was a customized version of the Lincoln Zephyr convertible built for the personal use of Edsel Ford. Due to the reaction caused in the Palm Beach "jet set", it became a limited production model in 1940, the Mark I. The Mark II was a 2-year production of 3,000 cars that Ford actually lost $1,000 on each car sold. The Mark name was also used in the late 60's with the word Continental for the large Lincoln as a trim package. Once the Thunderbird went to a four seat model, it outsold the two seat versions and the concept of a "personal luxury" car was born. After his success with the Mustang, Lee Iacocca decided that Lincoln should once again have a personal luxury car. While on a trip to Europe, Iacocca came up with the idea of using a Rolls type grill and using a Continental type bulge on the trunk. The design was confirmed when Henry Ford II saw the clay model and said it liked it so much, he wished he could take it home with him. The Mark III was introduced on April 5, 1968 as a 1969 model with a starting price of $6,585 but most, as optioned, sold around $9,500. It was the first car to be offered with Sure-Track brake system, the first anti-skid breaking system. The car was actually build on the Thunderbird 4-door frame with a longer wheel base than the Thunderbird 2-door, although it shared cowls, windshields, roof panels and door glass. The example offered here for consideration was the very first Mark III in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was bought from Pfeiffer on a handshake by industrialist Leslie Tassel, the owner of Lescoa. At the time, Lescoa manufactured parts for every car built in America. To say that he was flamboyant or interesting personality is an understatement. He had a love of big game hunting and African animals (See the picture of Mr. Tassel with an actual Cheetah in the car flanked by a Roman Chariot pulled by his zebras). He customized this car with a full, real leopard fur interior and personally hand cast the Lion door handles. He also adorned the outside with models of African animals. In the 1990s he gave the car to his daughter and son-in-law. They removed the outside animal decorations and had the car repainted to its original color by Pfeiffer. They replaced the leopard seat covers but left the leopard accents. The car has travelled only 27,000 miles and looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. It is a pleasure to see and drive, and everything functions as it should, including the automatic climate control, which was the first of its kind. You simply will not find another Mark III like this one - such low miles and extraordinary history. |
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Auto blog
MKC Concept is the real fresh start for Lincoln [w/poll]
Mon, 14 Jan 2013We were admittedly bullish about the Lincoln MKC Concept when we introduced it to you yesterday, as we were taken aback by how cohesive the C-platform crossover is in the metal. As it turns out, so were you, dear reader. With hundreds of comments booked on our original Deep Dive story, the overwhelming temperature of the Autoblog Commenteriat is one of surprise and delight - quite an accomplishment for a marque that many had written off for dead. The reception here under the bright lights of the Detroit Auto Show appears to be no less positive, but we thought you might want a second, closer look afforded by these live photos.
Lincoln remains mum on production MKC drivetrain specifics (we're thinking it will start with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder out of its similarly sized Ford Escape relative, or maybe the midlevel 1.6-liter), but we shouldn't have to wait too long. The showcar is expected to closely mirror the production model (due as early as later this year), so much so that Ford global marketing boss Jim Farley explicitly told the press conference masses, "When you see the MKC, do not think concept." That's good news, as the MKC is pivotal to Lincoln's effort to rebuild awareness and consideration on the back of its MKZ sedan, a model just now going on sale. In fact, with the small crossover segment exploding, the MKC could very well turn out to be more important to the brand than the MKZ.
After seeing these new photos, are you more or less enamored with Lincoln's new concept? Leave a comment after voting in our poll below.
2017 Lincoln Continental spied inside and out
Thu, Jul 9 2015Lincoln certainly made us stand up and take notice when it unveiled the Continental concept at the New York Auto Show this past March. Showcars, however, are only worth so much if they never reach production. But as these latest spy shots indicate, Ford's luxury division is hard at work taking the new Conti from show floor to showroom. The team from Dearborn has clearly gone to great lengths to disguise this prototype, wrapping it in a new type of camouflage with trompe l'oeil bulbous-looking shapes to keep us from seeing just how close the production version will keep to (or how far it may stray from) the concept's design. Our spy photographers did, however, manage to snap some shots of the inside through the side glass, and though it's still evidently some ways off from reaching production, some key details give us an idea of what to expect. Look closely and you can make out the buttons for the transmission running down the side of the infotainment screen, just like on other new Lincolns. The chromework appears to have been toned down some from the blinged-out dashboard of the showcar, but it may be too early to say how much shine there will be to the production model. The overall design of the center console looks pretty darn close to the version we saw in New York, though. The Continental is expected to replace the MKS, as Lincoln moves away from alphabetical nomenclature back towards actual nameplates. Assembly is slated to be undertaken in Flat Rock, MI. There are a great many more details yet to be uncovered, but as far as early indications go, it looks like Lincoln is well on its way to making its concept a reality. Related Video:
A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]
Thu, Dec 18 2014Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.