(first posted 6/20/2013) 1968 has gone down in history as a revolutionary year; change was in the air. Lee Iaccoca must have been breathing it in deeply, because his decision to slap a faux Rolls Royce grille on the front of this car really did create a revolution, just not the one many of the would-be revolutionaries of 1968 had in mind.
The clean and graceful 1961 Continental ushered in a brief era of restrained grace and exclusivity. Although it saved Lincoln’s bacon, it really wasn’t a significant commercial success, and Cadillac outsold it by a giant margin. Why? It may have appealed to the Kennedys and the elite, but it wasn’t gaudy enough for the common man to relate to and strive for. As such, it was the last truly original American luxury car of its kind (full story here).
This was the true aspirational vehicle of the huddled masses, and ever more of them were able to afford one. And who better than Lee Iaccoca to figure out how to trump even Cadillac, especially after his spectacular success in trumping GM with his 1965 Mustang?
Even more important than the Mustang, Iaccoca also trumped GM by launching the Great Brougham Epoch with his 1965 Ford LTD. And what car did he have the balls to compare it too in the ads? A foreshadowing of things to come.
But before we give Lido too much credit for launching the whole upright classical-grille era, let’s consider one very obvious source of its inspiration. The 1966 Duesenberg revival was penned by Virgil Exner, as a direct development of his seminal 1963 drawings of the Stutz Revival that launched the whole neo-classic movement.
Henry Ford II saw the Duesenberg Model D at the Exner Studios in 1966, and was reportedly very smitten. So as much as I’d like to give credit to Lee and his designers, let’s also give credit to Virgil Exner as the true father of the Neo-Classic Era of the Great Brougham Epoch.
Of course, inspiration is one thing; deciding to actually build the Mark III with its RR-ish grille and Continental spare tire hump is another. So according to the old saying, Iaccoca gets 99% of the credit for his perspiration.
That’s the ninety second Mark III genesis story. Of course there’s more, primarily the fact that an über-Thunderbird, something to bridge between Mercury and Lincoln, and priced accordingly, had been in the works for a while. With the T-Bird moving to a new body-on-frame construct for 1967, including an extended 117.2″ wb four-door version, it certainly made more sense than ever. The separate frame allowed more flexibility in creating a coupe body on the longer frame, similar to what Pontiac did with the 1969 Grand Prix.
This facilitated the longest hood yet ever, over six feet in length. And according to the orthodox story, it was fairly late in the game that Iaccoca had his “inspiration” to stick the Roller grille and tire hump in back, which hardly enthused Styling Chief Gene Bordinat. But once Henry II got wind of it, he was all over it. And the price was jacked up to well above mere Lincolns. And most importantly, it was dubbed the Mark III, as the the 1958 incarnation of that name was deemed to be a pretender to the legacy of a true Continental Mark.
The Mark III arrived in the spring of 1968, to give battle to Cadillac’s FWD Eldorado coupe, which had arrived to great fanfare in 1967. Ironically, there’s undoubtedly some ’61 Continental influence in the Eldorado’s design; not blatant, but bladed fenders, slab sides, and a hunkered-down stance pays some tribute to the Conti’s lasting legacy. As appealing as it was on many levels, the Eldorado did not point the way forward to the new era of luxury design; only a fake upright grille could do that.
The arrival of the Mk III set up an epic battle of the luxo-coupes; guess who won? Well, technically, the Mark III couldn’t quite best the Eldorado in sales, but the fact that it even came close was a huge victory for Lincoln, Lee and Ford. And whereas the Eldorado didn’t really expand Cadillac sales overall, the Mark III gave the Lincoln brand an enormous boost, selling at some 50% of the level of the Continental sedan and coupe, despite being priced substantially higher. For the first time in decades, Lincoln had a genuine hit, and an extremely profitable one. And the Mark III led to Lincoln’s great successes in the seventies (and sometimes beyond). Just the kind of revolution Lincoln had long needed.
The Mark III’s interior was intended to create a luxury ambiance a notch above lesser Lincolns, although the decision to use plasti-wood on the doors and dash didn’t exactly go the distance. The door panels and dash did receive gen-u-ine strips of wood veneer with the 1969 models, perhaps to justify the Mark III’s price increases, but whether the dash and general interior design managed to evoke an authentic luxury car experience undoubtedly depends on what one’s previous experience was. Coming from an LTD, it probably looked like a slight upgrade. For someone used to a Benz or Jag, it looked just like an LTD. Which pretty much sums up this car in a nutshell: aspirational for LTD and Pinto drivers, but not for those already used to something finer.
And that encapsulates the genius of Lee Iaccoca and his Mark III. Forget about that title of “The Father of the Mustang”. The Mark III is by far his greatest achievement (Mark IV and its daddy shown here), and the one he never stopped trying to replicate until he was dragged out of Chrysler strapped to the sleek hood of a cab-forward LH. He never underestimated Americans’ ability to fall for a bold, vertical grille, a long hood, a formal roof-line with lots of vinyl (preferably with opry windows), fake wood slathered on the inside and outside, and spare tire humps; in some aggregation or another. America’s Super Salesman.
Once again Lee trumped GM, and the Mark III and its illustrious successors became the progenitors of how American luxury cars came to be defined in the seventies.
We don’t need to go down that well-trod path again; the Pimp-mobile Era was one of the more significant ones of the Great Brougham Epoch. And The Mark III was the gateway drug to that splendiferous time some of us had the fortune to live through in living Techni-Color. Thank you Lee, for showing us the way forward! The seventies were all about getting in touch with our true inner selves, and so many did thanks to your prophetic Mark III!
Enough with popular culture. The Mark III has become quite elusive on the streets, and the only one I’ve found was this one being towed behind a somewhat over-loaded looking old Dodge Club Cab, a CC find in its own right.
Since I don’t want to be accused of purposely using the rattiest pictures in my extensive file of pristine curbside Mark IIIs, I’m also drawing on these shots posted at the Cohort by ActuallyMike. This long shot shows it artfully parked between a Mercedes W126 and a New Beetle. Nice composition.
Both of us took shots of the sensor for the automatic headlight dimming system. High tech from the sixties looks mighty crude today.
Under the Mark’s fashion-setting exterior, there were some very legitimate technical creds for the time. The new 460 cubic inch “385” engine was as good as it got, and belted out a healthy 375 (gross) hp. Front disc brakes were standard (unlike the ’67 Eldorado). And perhaps most importantly, no less than 150 lbs of sound deadener was placed strategically. The result was the perfect isolation cocoon, which the seventies of course gave rise to. Who wants to see (or hear) all the ugly shit going down on the streets out there? Or be seen traversing them? Right on!… the Mark.
Of all the Marks from this point on, the III is the best looking. I agree that the tire hump and the RR grille were retro-lux and faddish, but somehow everything comes together on this car. This car paved the way, and the Mark IV sealed the deal, though it was never the beauty that the III had been.
One of these was my father’s first Lincoln. He was incredibly proud of it. Then life started happening. H bonked a stationary object with that big diecast grille and broke some of its lower fins. Thereafter, a slam of the door set off a momentary grille rattle
He scraped it a couple of places which popped the paint off. Trust me, nothing looks worse than surface rust on a yellow car. Then the exhaust manifold cracked so the thing sounded like a super-stock racer until it warmed up. Then there was a problem with either the starter or the flywheel so that the starter would often fail to engage. This spells tow truck. All of this on a car (a very expensive one at that) he had for two years. I guess we have all had a car like this at one time or other, one that we try so much to love but that treats us like shit. His Mark IV was a much better car, but it was not the looker of the III.
There were some luxury touches – I recall the Sure Trak anti-lock brakes. Also, I believe these still used Lincoln’s hydraulic wipers that had a multitude of speeds. Also the bank of warning lights over the rear view mirror. The leather and carpet were extremely nice.
I came close to buying one of these in the late 80s. It was a very nice ivy green one that presented very nicely. I stupidly elected to go with the 61 TBird that turned out to be a rusted piece of crap. Bad decision.
That’s a sad story….
My father would have loved a yellow Mark III. What a great car! What color was the interior? And did it have a vinyl top? The first (and only) luxury car brand my father bought was a Cadillac. But … It was a 1989, and absolutely nowhere near as special as a Mark III. His DeVille sedan also was trouble and didn’t meet his expectations while he owned it. However, he never bought another, whereas I can see why your father moved on to a Mark IV.
Dark green vinyl roof, dark green leather and an apple green pinstripe. It was sharp in 1970. Not so much now.
I’m confused here,how come we have a 58 Mk3 and a 68?
The 1958 Mark III was not considered a true “Continental Mark” by Henry Ford II (it was just a badge-engineered Lincoln), so he re-set the Mark numbering with the 1968 Mark III.
Thanks Paul
Love the Mark III, IV, and V. Although I wouldn’t say it was Iacocca’s most important contribution – I think that would have to be the minivan.
I’d say he had less of a direct role in the minivan. Yes, he greenlighted for production, but it was not really his baby like the Mustang and the Marks and all the Chrysler luxo-mobiles and such.
Insofar as the minivan can be credited to a single person, I’d say that would be product planning exec Hal Sperlich, who came up with the idea at Ford and then went to Chrysler (and played a big role in getting Iacocca to go to Chrysler).
Sperlich certainly had an idea it was talked about during the late 70s in most automotive circles. The biggest issue with it then wasn’t the concept but the chassis to make it work. Since FWD (beyond the GM E cars) was only in the development stage at that time in Detroit, most concepts were based on RWD platforms. Much like how the Astro/Aerostar came out.
When Sperlich went to Chrysler, before Iacocca by a year at least, they worked on the K platform full time. The below link is some drawings from Steve Bollinger collection from 1978, ostensibly after Sperlich arrived at Chrysler but before Iacocca which I can only assume come from the genesis of the minivan project.
http://moparmax.com/features/2007/ii_4-bollinger-7.html
I remember the talk about the minivans back in the day, but as I said above, many considered it a RWD project. GM was so deep in the FWD X car project, then the J and A projects that no further discussion was made on the subject as everyone had their hands full with tasks at hand. A problem that was identified early on with FWD minivan concepts was that current FWD designs were all based on subcompact designs using rather smallish 4 cylinders. The thought of a 4 cylinder van seemed impractical at the time either the van would be too small or too slow to do practical work. In fact that proved somewhat true for Chrysler as while the K vans were very successful, a common complaint was the need for a larger engine. A transverse V6 in the X cars was considered a radical departure from FWD thinking at the time. It turns out that the V6 was ordered at nearly twice the rate as originally thought. There was talk about doing a minivan at GM on the X platform, but the decision was made to launch station wagons on the A chassis. The success of the Chrysler vans really was a surprise to most, even to some Chrysler people I knew. Aside from opening a new market segment, the Chrysler vans changed the mindset of vans in general from large utility vehicles, akin to trucks, to one that could be considered “domesticated.”
It is always great to read your posts and gain a deeper understanding of what was going on in Detroit (especially GM) during this time. I hope you’ll write more CC posts with your insider’s view.
Sperlich’s idea wasn’t just talked about, there were clays and even a steel version built of the Carousel, the Ford minivan concept in 1972/1973. The version you posted was from much later.
+2, GN!
More Craig, please.
GN: +3. I’ve been begging Craig to contribute to CC, and even Shanghai’d his comments once by turning them into a post, but no luck so far….
I just now read about the Carousel, a project that presaged my time in the industry, at least as a full time employee, that I had not known about or forgot. I read the “How Stuff Works” piece quickly which was interesting. It did confirm my thoughts and remembrances at the time of being an essentially baby Econoline. Everybody criticized GM and Ford for adopting what was essentially what was like the Carousel a garageable but otherwise smaller version of a conventional van. I don’t know what was going on at Chrysler during the decision-making for the K based minivan, but I would not be surprised if some of it had to do with the fact that since Chrysler only had the 2.2 and 2.6 to work with on one hand and the 318 V8 on the other (no V6s), that the K based chassis was the only way to go. The venerable 225 Slant was only available in trucks by then and of course wouldn’t go transverse and likely would have compromised any van design of the shape like ultimately came out. So in a way, the way they went was really the only way it could have gone, Chrysler could not have afforded at the time to develop a more conventional van. It does make me wonder if they had the money or existing tooling if they would have brought out something closer to the Astro/Aerostar. At that time, only GM, and Ford on a limited basis, could afford to develop a brand new chassis line, especially for what was initially thought to be a niche product.
As for me posting, I am getting there. Like everyone else, I have less time than I would like so it’s the usual challenge.
Ironically, the mega post that served as my debut article was written quite on the fly as a comment, as of course are most all of my comments. I never sat down and attempted to write anything from a blank canvas, with research and preparation. When one lives, they often don’t think about discussing such things later in life. So i have found it easier at times to recall the information as these stories develop and thoughts get provoked.
Since ostensibly the focus of this website is to comment on older cars we spot randomly as we see them out and about, we comment on them accordingly. If we wanted to expand the topic of the articles away from spotted cars into more technical articles about specific features and concepts I suppose I could write more original articles. My specific career was based around service engineering, basically how to keep the vehicles running in the field.
So I suppose it depends on what you want to talk about. Sometimes I wonder if I should have kept every scrap of paper that ever crossed my desk in the last 40 years. Then published it would have chronicled the everything from 1972-2011. If I had known then what I know now about history I would have done it.
CC is a blog with a very big tent, as you must have noticed by now. We don’t just write about cars we see on the street, but anything automotive that captures our interest, except new car reviews and industry news. But we have done a number of posts on new cars too.
It’s a blog, so our posts can span from very long and well-researched articles, to fiction, humor, personal history, and very short little snippets of history.
So many of your comments would make excellent posts. For instance your comment from the other day that the Lancia Beta was used as mules for the GM FWD X cars. That alone is a fascinating bit of history that doesn’t have to be part of some huge tome. I’m tempted to take that comment of yours, find a picture of a Beta, and plop it up.
That’s what blogging is all about; this isn’t Automotive Quarterly, or such. Any idea, memory or insight that others would likely find interesting is a worthy post. And you’re chock-full of them. I’m tempted to just go through your old comments to mine them for post ideas.
You underestimate how interesting your comments are, hence you have others literally begging you to blog.
Craig, mainly just keep up the good work on the posts!
If you’re open to suggestions, your Century wagon would make an interesting article (speaking as a former owner of its Celebrity cousin.)
Also, the Imperial, Z24, Oldses, & etc. These are cars I’ve never seen “in the metal” or not seen in some time. Several have paralleled cars owned by family & friends.
Minivan concept:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seemonterey/4893127984/in/photostream/
I can only assume this example was done at Ford the 4 bolt axle/wheel look all to familiar. It is likely a one of chassis but seeing as the Fox platform was in development in the mid 70s and those axles look suspicious I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.
I think that was done by Ford of Europe, the Carousel was Granada/Monarch based, or at least it was supposed to be at one time.
The Carousel was based on a cut down Nantucket Econoline.
I hope that what Lee Iacocca and the 1972 Mark IV are in front of was not a Ford plant. It looks like something out of the 1800’s. Or it might explain the quality problems that jpc’s dad’s Mark III had.
I think that’s the famous Ford Rouge River Steel plant, unless I’m mistaken. One of Henry’s more famous contributions to making Ford a vertically-integrated manufacturer.
That is most definitely the Rouge, right at the beginning of it’s “downsizing.” It is still there and still massive, but really peaked during the 60s.
Thank you. That could put parts of it from the 1910s and 1920s which would account for it’s design. I made the comment partially tongue in cheek.
The Rouge steel plant looks rundown to us, in 2013, but that was the condition of America’s steel industry by the 1970s, which was one reason why it collapsed so quickly in the early 1980s.
Looks to me like photos of Lido and his baby were pasted in front of a grainy file-photo of the Rouge. And not very adroitly, either…the background photo seems more grainy than the portrait and image of the new Lincoln.
Now that you mention it, it looks like that. Probably the closest he ever got to that part of the Rouge. 🙂
I wouldn’t be surprised if all three were separate pics. Photoshopping probably occured with the earliest photograph. I known a fellow locally that does a lot of business photographing cars and he green screens a lot.
I don’t know about the photoshop, but Lido’s lapels are HUGE.
The mechanical spec is what sets this up as a success over lidos Mustang I ve seen whats under an early Mustang and it aint Falcon its Compact Fairlane Ive juggled the same parts Lido had to work with but with greater knowledge of durability. We use the good stuff not the cheap stuff.
That Lido cribbed the design from the Exner family does not surprise me his one attribute was knowing what would sell easily and though rare here Ive seen these barges in action in NZ and the Eldorado and sorry Lido that Eldorado has more presence.
The power train could do duty in a medium grade truck its strong enough the rest I dont know the only cars Ive seen are in excellent order so look really nice, but not my plate of meat I like old Fords of the 40s & 50s before the aircraft carrier look arrived.
And where did the Fairlane come from but the Comet which came from the Falcon. The stronger components needed for the Fairlane were then moved back down the ladder to the Falcon and back up to the Mustang to save the need for multiple version of what were essentially the same parts. The first Mustang prototypes were built from cut up Falcons.
The 385 series engines were used extensively in MD trucks, the only “car” engine from the big three that was truly successful in that mission.
the only “car” engine from the big three that was truly successful in that mission.
Like so many of your comments, it’s highly arguable, which of course is undoubtedly why you make them 🙂
I don’t have time to take that on fully, but Ford’s FE was considered pretty effective (and very widely used) in trucks, and Chrysler’s V8s (like the 413) were pretty highly regarded in Dodge trucks and big motorhomes.
The FE didn’t really make it into MD trucks that was the FT which granted was based on the FE but with many changes to make it stand up to the rigors of MD truck usage. For example the crank, heads, intake and exhaust manifolds do not interchange between the FE and FT.
The Industrial 413 wasn’t bad but it had even more extensive changes made to it to withstand the rigors of MD truck use, in addition to the crank, heads, manifolds being different it had a gear drive cam shaft, different front cover and water pump and higher nickel content in the block. Then there is the fact that Chrysler eventually started buying the MV404 and MV446 from International Harvester for MD truck use.
The 385 series engines on the other hand is basically the same whether it was going in a Torino or a F600, other than the 370ci version which was truck only. The MD truck versions do use a dual thermostat intake but they interchange with the car and light truck versions. The MD truck versions even used the same camshaft as passenger cars.
When you think about it, that rather makes sense, considering that the 385 was just about the last of the classic big V8s, designed for an era where heat, smog controls, many power accessories, and increasing customer expectations all demanded a more rugged engine. The older car V8s were designed under rather different circumstances.
You make a good point, but you are slightly off about the FE/FT. Heads are interchangeable, and so are exhaust manifolds. And yes, intake manifold is different, at the coolant passages, because the FT uses a totally different, cast iron one piece timing cover/ water pump assembly (FE uses a separate aluminum timing cover and iron water pump). And, the FT uses steel cranks, only difference being the front snout larger diameter; it can be turned down to fit an FE. At my American Legion Post in Aloha OR, we have a 76 F-600 bucket truck with a 360FT. These engines were designed to be run stationary all day at the 3600rpm industrial standard; something you can’t do with production automobile engines. The FT is mainly cooling system upgrades, the larger crank snout is for the added load from hydraulic pumps, etc.
The FT heads will fit on a FE block and vice versa but they must be used with the corresponding intake and exhaust manifolds, and yes the timing cover/water pump is also different.
FT exhaust manifold with the dedicated crossover port.
FE exhaust manifold where the crossover runs into one of the other exhaust ports on heads so equipped.
I enjoyed your commentary on Iacocca.
With today’s technology it should be possible to integrate LED headlights into the parking lamps, eliminate the covered headlights, and have seamless sheet metal flanking the chrome grille.
Reading the details on the Audi R8’s LED lights, it’s pretty clear that it’s not yet that simple. Even with LED or HID lights, you still need a reflector.
Perhaps make the parking lamps a bit wider.
There is a lot of empty space in many of today’s LED headlights. The headlight cluster is still styled for the conventional headlights (no surprise, since LED is often optional)
The new 2014 Corolla appears to have a minor breakthrough with standard equipment LED headlights. The LED light source looks tiny.
It’s important to understand that with most “LED” headlights, the actual main beams are still halogen or HID and the LEDs are just a mostly decorative daytime running light — that’s a much simpler proposition than actually using LEDs to provide the high and low beams.
The LEDs themselves are tiny, but again it’s not that simple. The Audi R8 system uses 18 LEDs per side (14 for the low beam, four for the high), which requires cooling vents and a cooling fan. On top of that, there at least five lenses per side, and I think three reflectors. Even with all that, Audi said they had a hell of a time getting the system to be bright enough. I’m sure the technology will improve dramatically over the next decade or so, but it’s still really in its infancy and quite expensive.
The new LED/HID lights on the upcoming 2014 CTS were almost $500 A PIECE to manufacture. The CTS light is 16 per side eight on top eight on bottom with the eight on bottom acting as turn signals. They also act as angular DRL which also acts as a cornering lamp.
Like this …
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/cadillac-ciel-concept/#photo-4377652
Expensive yes. But it’s supposed to be a flagship car.
The Mark III certainly was a game changer in so many ways and is a beautiful car.
In our small town, “regular” Cadillacs and Lincolns weren’t a rare sight by the early 1970s. Seeing a Continental Mark III, however, was still special. These were not as numerous as Cadillac Eldorados of the same vintage, but, somehow, with this car, that meant “more exclusive and special” as opposed to “less commercially successful.”
Interestingly, the owner of one of the more successful service/gas stations in town owned a succession of Marks, beginning with a Mark IV and continuing through the Mark VII. He also owned a succession of big Mercedes coupes during the same time period, which always made for an interesting contrast.
Funnily enough, I just watched The French Connection last night (does that count as “the CC Effect”?) for the first time in over 20 years. Always liked Frog One’s “brown Lincoln with the foreign plates”, whose 120-lb. discrepancy between factory weight and declared POE weight provides the cops with the key to cracking the case.
People have always wondered how they were able to get the car put back together so fast, I always liked the part where they take apart the Lincoln looking for the H.
The original car in the true story was a 1960 Buick Invicta hardtop coupe.
My favorite part is after tearing the Lincoln apart without finding the drugs, ‘Irv’ (who was the actual mechanic in the real French Connection case) tells Popeye (Gene Hackman), “Look, we’ve searched everywhere in that car, except the glove compartment”…
Not one French Connection meniton?
That headlight dimmer was crude even for 1968, it looks more like something from 1958, which explains its “War of the Worlds” vide, but I think thats all Ford could use, they are actually Guide units from GM, you can see the script when you look at them up close, I am guessing that GM wouldn’t sell Ford the slicker integrated autronic eye units that it used on Cadillacs.
The closest I ever got to one of these was looking over a very sad triple white one that was for sale at a gas station, but it was to rusty to even consider, it looked good from a distance, it also had the autronic eye.
I leave that to you and others. For some reason, movie and tv appearances are not what come to my mind when I think about cars. But then I don’t watch tv, and am pretty selective about movies, so that might explain it. My apologies, but others around here seem to fill those gaps in very readily.
Wow, that must have happend at the same time……see above my post.
Don’t forget Frank Cannon and his Marks. My favorite was always the Mark III.
Paul,
Actually, all the interior trim in the ’70-’71s was real wood.
My bad. I’ll amend.
As the story goes, Iacocca’s inspiration for the Rolls-Royce like grille was supposedly from a dream during a trip, he called up someone who added it to the car design, then showed it to the Deuce who quickly approved and voila.
I have always wanted a Mark, either a III or V, for some reason I am less enamored with the IV, would complete my trifecta of the ultimate American personal luxury cars. Two out of three direct progeny of Iacocca.
We rarely see any of the cars in for service, once in a while a Mark V, but even at the big AACA show in Charlotte (which is a national points show which usually brings out the big guns), only once in a blue moon do you see these.
Architectural design fenders front and rear were popular in those years, especially on Ford products that styling feature was a favorite of Bordinat.
I will say, and not because I have a GM background, that I prefer the 67-70 Cadillac Eldorado design, simply because of it’s sheer angularity. The clean crisp uncontested look especially from the rear is fascinating. The Mark V was very close to this as well so it is no wonder that is my favorite Mark. Apparently others agreed as it was the best seller of the generations.
The steering wheel of these years are much better than the rather plain 8&4 o’clock design that lasted until 1980.
The version ateupwithmotor wrote was that Lee was on a business trip to Canada and couldn’t sleep, and started brainstorming with himself when the idea popped into his head. Regardless of how it exactly happened, my point is that it wasn’t really all that original, as the similarities to Exner’s Duesenberg and earlier Stutz make that pretty obvious. But then originality probably wasn’t Lee’s greatest asset.
It’s entirely possible that Iacocca saw the Exner article and it stuck in the back of his mind, whether he specifically had it in mind (or even remembered it) or not. That sort of thing happens all the time, not just in the auto industry: In Hollywood, for instance, different people will see some news story or read some magazine article on an airplane and a few months later there are several competing projects about a similar subject or idea.
Something I hadn’t realized when I originally wrote my article (which I’ve subsequently revised) is that the pseudo-Rolls grille was added fairly late in the Mark III’s styling development. The original full-size models, made in probably late summer 1965, did not have the standup grille at all. Henry Ford saw the models around that time and liked the overall design, but felt the front end was weak. Iacocca’s call to Ash was presumably not long after that, because there was a new full-size clay with the upright grille by the beginning of December. (Ford Archives has photos of both versions dated Dec. 1, 1965.)
Lincoln-Mercury management was not fond of the upright grille (nor, according to Ash, was Gene Bordinat), so they did a new round of focus group testing with both models. The marketing groups were actually rather lukewarm about the grille, but Iacocca held out (by which I mean he insisted — as group VP, he outranked the divisional general managers) and HFII loved it.
I have no idea exactly when Henry saw Exner’s Duesenberg design, but he signed off on the revised Mark in late March 1966. If HFII saw the Duesenberg in February or early March, it may well have increased his enthusiasm for the new Mark treatment, although by that point the design was already done. (There were probably minor adjustments when the final design was readied for production, but the December 1965 photos look pretty close to the final product.) If Henry saw the Duesenberg later than March 24, I think it was just that he liked that sort of thing.
We’ll never know exactly, but the Exner renderings were turned into very popular toys, and the awareness of them was quite widespread. I remember the toys very clearly from the time. These were very influential, in my opinion. And the Excalibur came out at about the same time. It’s hard to imagine either Iaccoca or HFII not having been exposed to them.
Interview with Buzz Grisinger, Collectible Automobile Feb 1999
‘CA: The car that is known for the hidden headlamps and the vertical grille is the 1969 Mark III, and the picture of the proposed ’65 Mercury looks surprisingly like the Mark III; the hood, the vertical grille, and the hidden headlight doors.
Grisinger: Yes it does. The vertical grille and hidden headlights of our proposed ’65 Mercury front end carried through for many months that way and we thought it would go into production that way. For some unknown reason and without explanation, we had to cancel the proposal and redesign the car with a more conventional front end. It was a big blow because we felt it was a major step forward in the industry and offered a new appearance and face.
CA: When the Mark III was designed three years later, what did you think when you saw the similarity to your ’65 Mercury original front end?
Grisinger: Certainly to some people it has to be obvious. It just brought to my mind that perhaps the person who killed that on the Mercury, then reinstated it and put something similar on the Mark III, could be Iacocca.
CA: Did he have anything to do with the ’65 Mercury design at that point?
Grisinger: Well, as a wandering styling boss, he would have been definitely aware of it.’
Caption accompanying below pic dates the drawing as Dec 62
Don, thanks for that. I’d long forgotten that, or never read it, but the general similarities are not easily dismissed!
Of course, the differences in the actual grille are not insignificant, as the Merc’s lacks the very decided RR-ish aspect.
Cheers Paul. The Exner Stutz was such a bolt out of the blue. Not to my taste, but back then it would have shaken the styling community up, particularly as they seemed to be moving in the cleaner direction indicated by the 61 Continental. Given how rampant ‘cross-fertilisation’ of design ideas was in Detroit, all it takes is a sketch on a napkin (or even just a mention) between friends and the seed is planted. Having said that, Grisinger’s stuff for the Conty MkII done with Rhys Miller from Chrysler in 1952 bears much similarity to the Stutz aesthetic.
Just another piece of the puzzle.
The steering wheel is better, though I always thought that the gear indicator should have been in the dash like on a Cadillac, instead of on the column like on a Torino.
Always preferred this one over the later versions. My favorite when new was a black on black with no (hooray!) vinyl. The owner added a nice discreet hand painted dark red pinstripe on the sides.
I’m surprised to read the Mark III did not outsell the Eldorado, there seemed to be more of them on the road.
One of the few classic cars that looks as nice with modern wheels as it does with stock. A truly timeless design.
Looks great, though I don’t know if I’d really call those modern wheels since they are inspired by a classic 60’s design.
Looking at total Lincoln versus total Cadillac sales in that era, it’s not really surprising. Buyers liked the looks of the Eldorado and liked the looks of the Mark III, but there were still a lot of people who bought the Eldorado because it was a Cadillac, which was an advantage the Mark didn’t yet have. (Interestingly, a number of people have pointed out that in the ’70s, when the Mark did start beating the Eldorado, owners made a point of referring to their cars as “Marks” rather than as Lincolns.)
I do remember several friends of my parents in the 1970s who talked about their Marks, instead of calling them Lincolns. Perhaps the cache of Marks in the ’70s has morphed into the current Lincoln decision to “MK” everything today, misguided as it is.
That indeed looks good, but only in black. I cannot imagine Torque Thrusts on a Mark III in any of the more often seen colors like brown or yellow.
Absolutely gorgeous car. Love the five-spoke rims — but then, I even like the Cragars on the light-brown one in the article. I’m just a five-spoke kind of guy, I guess.
The only thing the Mark III lacked was a drop-top edition. I’m sure they could’ve sold a bunch, too.
…Especially since there was no competition from a drop-top Eldorado, either.
Love those Cragars on the brown one, too bad about the whitewalls!
Ford apparently liked the RR grille theme for its Lincoln products:
1972 – Mark IV plus “kit trunk lid”
1977 – Mark V plus KTL
1977 – Continental sedan and coupe
1977 – Lincoln Versailles plus KTL
1980 – Town Car and Town Coupe
1980 – Mark VI plus KTL
1982 – Lincoln Continental sedan plus KTL
1984 – Mark VII plus KTL
1990 – Town Car
1993 – Mark VIII – KTL
It just seems funny that, during the seventies and eighties, they couldn’t seem to let go of a theme.
And since Lincoln’s lost that theme they’ve coincidentally lost their identity. Hmm…
I think it’s time for a Lincoln RR grille/ KTL comeback!
Woo, baby! Gonna hafta add about 3 bays to my fantasy garage.
1. Early 60s CDV (with actual Hydramatic.)
2. Mark III.
3. Gen 1 Eldorado. Preferably a ’69.
Pimpmobile? NOT a contender!!!
My favorite Lincoln. I know the Rolls Royce standup grille and tire hump are sore spots to some but I cannot picture this car without them. With a period conventional Lincoln look I can only imagine the front and rear styling would have ended up very similar to the rather watered down 1968 Continental, and in that event I would say HFII was right about them being weak compared to the rest of the package. I feel that way about all subsequent users of those details as well, going all the way to the 98 Mark VIII.
Lincoln took that look and owned it, probably better even than RR did in the long term. Those two appendages fit Lincoln to a tee. Most people would like to think the timelessly elegant 38 or 61 Continentals are the definitive Lincolns, but not me. This, the Mark III, is where it all came together. This was the point where a Lincoln officially looked like a Lincoln. Instantly identifiable, truly representative of the brands mission and positively polarizing, which gave it a solid niche in the marketplace.
This can be credited as the influential force behind superfly pimpmobiles, sure. But then again ANY automotive design cue can lead to hideously overwrought imitators. Look at all the winged “tuners” trying to imitate racecar design. Are we going to criticize the automakers/teams for popularizing those in racing too? And for that matter, how about FACTORY rear spoilers and 18″ alloys on a Camry today? Are those somehow any more justifiable on this family sedan that spends most of it’s time in dense traffic? Is that really any less faddish than the Mark’s(or later Lincoln’s) RR grille/KTL?
Not to mention the gun slit windows and rubber band tires that are the opera lamps and formal grilles of this era, and LED’s…..
Great post man.
Looking at the photos of the full-size clay without the upright grille, the original front end treatment (horizontal, sunken grille) really did look unfinished. I’m not exactly sure what was going on with it, but from a distance it looked like a metal toy with a plastic nose piece that had been pulled out, if that makes any sense.
This will always be my favorite Lincoln. I would take one of these over any Cadillac: these are just so baroque & beautiful.
My first ride in a car was in my mother’s 1971 Mark III. It was “Emerald Moondust” with dark green leather interior and a black vinyl top. My mother took me everywhere in her car and I came to adore the car as I adored her.
It did break down a lot though. I remember as a young child it quit on her somewhere in the Chicago suburbs. She did not want to ride with the tow truck driver so both she & I rode in the “Linky” while it was towed home. I remember how weird it felt laying back in the seat staring up at the sky as we were pulled through traffic, LOL.
We eventually moved to West Chicago somewhere around ’77 or so and the car continued to have issues. I watched the car backfire through the carb while my mother was cranking it at the same time my father was pouring gasoline down the carb one day. It caught his arm on fire & I watched in horror as he lept into the weeds to put it out. It was a nasty burn and took awhile to completely heal.
I’m not sure it ever ran right after that point: possibly it had jumped time or something. I was so sad seeing it sit in the backyard the last couple years of its short life. Eventually some dirty looking men came by and hauled it away… autronic eye and all. How I loved that car.
My favorite Lincoln. I recall “Uncle” Tom McCahill of Mechanix Illustrated testing one. In one photo, he was dressed like a 20’s gangster with long overcoat and fedora. He approved of the car, and said the design would be around for a while.
Hard to believe, around 7 or 8 thousand bought such a wonderful new car.
I’ve seen both IVs and Vs in the metal, never a III, what an amazing car ! ’70s Lincolns all the way for me !
I love my Mark III . . Mine is a ’68 car . . It was sold April 4th, 1968 at a dealership in Ohio (one of the first ones). I drive the car around once a week and get many compliments especially from older people that remember the Mark III new back then. The big 460ci runs great and the C6 trans is tough
The paint and top were redone in the early 90’s . . When I bought the car it had been sitting in a garage for awhile . . All the paint needed was to be buffed/polished and top cleaned . . The 20 year old paint job looks good as new.
Youres looks awesome Brian, really nice pics
I know this is an old post but I was wondering. What size tires are you running on your mark?and wheel width? That is a beautiful car.
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to say I have one of these also. I got it in of all places, Indianapolis. I had worked there at the federal agency called DFAS, on the former US Army Base called Fort Ben Harrison, the former Army Finance Command headquarters. I wasn’t looking to buy a car there, but had accidentally seen this very cool looking car for sale several times when driving in downtown Indy. I didnt even know what it was. I ended up buying a 1969 Lincoln Mk III, and the story was from the owner, he was only the second owner. The original first owner had owned the car for about 40 years, most of its life, and he had done the mods to the car, that have lowered several inches, and kind of ‘hot rodded’. It actually drives very well for how old it is, there is almost no body roll, even going fast on a fairly sharp turn at 40 or 50 mph. It also has original glasspack mufflers, I suspect maybe antiques, maybe really from the early 1970s or even 1960s. It sounds pretty intimidating, especially if one really gets on. I would like to continue on with hot-rodding it as it needs a lot of work, and I dont think its worth trying to take it back to stock originality. There are enough others out there that are stock, but very few I have ever seen that are hot-rodded. I have a spare 460 block from another 1977 Lincoln Cont that I hope to one day build into a 500+c.i. engine, with aluminum heads, and all the hot stuff
Always admired the 68-’71 Mark III as well as the original Eldorado. Something about them said “Not only have I arrived, but I arrived in style”.
Too bad we don’t see this message with the current fleet of Cadillac & Lincoln!!
Does anyone remember the rear lamp monitoring system these cars had? My parents owned a maroon 1969 with the rear lamp monitoring system on the rear deck. What it was was a fiber optic tube that took light from each rear taillight bulb chamber and ran it up to a red lens in a housing on the rear deck that you could observe from the rear view mirror. I have always wondered why more cars didn’t have this feature. I also thought the red jewel cruise control light when the cruise control was on was a nice touch.
Don’t forget that Wm. Mitchell wanted to have a stand-up grill on the Eldorado in ’67. For proof, see his own car (which went at auction several years ago). The headlight covers were smooth and painted body color, leaving the grill as a stand-up. Some commentary that went with the car when it was sold said that GM management demanded the grill texture on the headlight covers to create a low, wide appearance.
So don’t necessarily give full credit to the attempted Duesenberg reboot. Mitchell was already there.
As I pointed out, the neo-classical grille revival didn’t start with the 1966 Duesenberg. It started out with Exner’s 1963 Stutz revival sketches and subsequent toys. And Brooks Stevens’ Excalibur was first shown in 1964. There may be others, but these two were very influential in kicking off wide-spread interest in the neo-classical revival.
And then there was the rapidly-growing success of Mercedes too.
And don’t forget Rolls-Royce that was the ultimate in prestige at the time.
Just as an aside- although the Mark III never outsold the Eldorado, it was always extremely close. Back in those days, it was astounding that either car could sell 20-30K copies a year at those price levels. When the ’72 Mark IV came out, it sailed past the Eldorado in sales and never looked back. Proof that there is absolutely no relationship between disposable income and good taste (grins).
The success of the Mark III has to be one of the most significant events in the demise of American luxury. The Mark II was a real luxury car, as were the coachbuilt Cadillacs it competed with. The Lincoln Continentals of the early ’60s represented a sincere attempt by Ford to make a high quality car that was useful and moved the ball in terms of elegance and design. The Mark III was a crass fake Rolls-Royce with a plethora of phony flourishes. When the market proved to be receptive, American luxury cars would never be considered classy by anyone who formed their own opinions again.
I have nothing against Virgil Exner, and I agree that he influenced what Ford did to Elwood Engel’s knife-edged Continental to create the Mark III, but I don’t think he ever would have simply stolen someone else’s radiator shell, and that act defines this car.
Aside from the R-R grille, the Mark III is absolute Ford/Lincoln style, not lifted from other companies. The bladed fenders are Engel’s Continental. The fender kickup runs from the Mark II through Engel’s Continental (with a stop at Mustang). The tail lights are pure Continental Mark II and also seen on the regular 1969 Lincolns in the same showroom as the Mark III. The coupe roof is very Ford/Lincoln, from Mark II to Thunderbird to Galaxie to Mustang to the regular 1969 Lincoln coupe in the same showroom.
The Mark III uses exactly the same design features as the regular 1969 Lincoln coupe, except for the proportions, face, and tire hump (which is a Continental hallmark, not another manufacturer’s idea).
1969 Lincoln Continental coupe. Except for the face, this is indistinguishable from a Mark III.
The Mark II was a real luxury car…,
Ford lost money on every unit sold. Problem?
George Barris used a Mark III as the basis for the evil Car in the 1977 B-flick “The Car” which starred none other than Mr. Barbara Streisand himself, James Brolin, and veteran whiner Ronny Cox. Terrible movie with bad acting and a flaccid script, but is worth watching just to see the Car in action alone. Just have your FF button handy.
Here’s an image of the wicked “Car.”
As always, I am the odd man out. I ever got these cars. They are huge on the outside and cramped on the inside. They are nothing but a fancy Ford, like Paul states in the article.
My experience is mostly with a Mark V. Driving it in any kind of confined space is a real challenge. The huge overhang makes tight turns extremely difficult. The stock suspension is so soft and sloppy that making the car go down the road straight takes a lot of concentration. I don’t even want to consider parallel parking it.
At the moment it is in a front end shop having the crappy, forty year old suspension upgraded. The steering box is being rebuilt by a famous shop, there are new springs, adjustable shocks, bushings and sway bars. The horrible stock steering wheel is being replaced by a wooden Nardi unit.
Although don’t like the car that much, it is still fun to drive with its 434 stroker kit. It puts 400 lb/ft to the rear wheels, and them’s real torques because I had the car dynoed. It should be better to drive with the suspension upgrade.
– I have to wonder if the Engel Continental’s limited sales vs. Cadillac were more a result of marketing for exclusivity and the one-model policy than aspirational vs “old-money ” appeal. The ’60s Continental sedan came in somewhere between a Sedan de Ville and Fleetwood in price while the four-door convertible cost in the same ballpark as the Fleetwood ragtop. Cadillac’s bread-and-butter was the De Ville series and they sold a fair few Series 62s which Lincoln simply didn’t have an answer to for most of the ’60s. They weren’t competing with Cadillac model-for-model, of course they weren’t selling near as much.
– Wasn’t the standard interior in a Mark III the exact same “panty cloth” as an LTD? That was certainly the case for the regular Lincolns starting in ’71 or so, and even when they went to velour it wasn’t as nice as a Caddy’s. It was discussed elsewhere that Cadillac had much nicer upholstery fabrics while Lincoln had a higher take rate for leather.
At least in the early 1970s, the leather in a Lincoln Continental was much nicer than the leather in a Cadillac De Ville (personal experience at the time, 1972 versus 1972 model; regular leather upholstery, not the Town Car type, in the Lincoln). If there was a large difference in proportion of Continental buyers opting for leather, perceived quality was probably a factor.
Should I ask exactly what “Laundromat and Showers” offered?
Truck stop amenities maybe? Usually they’re not in a separate building like this one but it could be both old and big.
Campers or cottagers will use such services after staying in the woods for any length of time.
I always liked the looks of these, although I usually saw more Mark IVs as a kid in the 70s. About a year ago I had the fortune of being on the highway for many miles next to a solid-looking turquoise unrestored III. It was like a big rolling time capsule with original hubcaps and all. I was surprised to feel that it kind of reminded me of a giant box on top of a skateboard. Not the handsome brown (new) example from The French Connection that I admired. But it was still good to see it cruising from (I forget) whatever state it was from. Wonder if it had drugs in it’s rocker panels…
Those individual slats on the grill would drive me nuts if they weren’t all spaced exactly the same. I’d have to always correct them like window blinds or the vents in the car. I’m a silly man.
Dig the mark iii , but the 1968 4 d bird is my fav