This placed it above the second-tier premium personal luxury cars such as the Ford Thunderbird, Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado and Chrysler New Yorker coupe. The Mark III was intended to compete head-to-head with the top of the domestic personal luxury car market, Cadillac's heavily redesigned front wheel drive Eldorado. On March 24, 1966, the Mark III was given the green light for production. Despite this feedback, both Iacocca and Henry Ford II loved the design and overruled objections. The final design of the Mark III was introduced to a Lincoln-Mercury Focus Group in mid January 1966- receiving an overwhelmingly negative response from the group. With the Thunderbird "dying in the marketplace" Iacocca wanted to put the company's development investment to better use by expanding its platform over several models. The Mark III was based on the fourth generation Lincoln Continental (1961–1969) and the four-door fifth generation Thunderbird introduced for 1967. Iacocca assigned development of the Mark III to the new "Strawberry Studio"- a special development preproduction team led by Bordinat. The 1969 Continental Mark III was created when Lee Iacocca, Ford's vice-president, car and truck group, at the time, directed Design Vice President, Gene Bordinat, to "put a Rolls-Royce grille on a Thunderbird" in September 1965. History 1970 Continental Mark III 1970 Continental Mark III For 1972, in alignment with the redesign of the Thunderbird, the Mark III was superseded by the Continental Mark IV. įord manufactured the Continental Mark III at its Wixom Assembly Plant facility ( Wixom, Michigan) alongside the Thunderbird and the Lincoln Continental. In a first for an American car, the 1970 Mark III was fitted with Michelin "X" Radial Tires as standard equipment. Later models featured genuine walnut interior accents and a Cartier-branded clock. Model-specific design elements, including hidden headlamps (with body-color covers) and the Rolls-Royce-style grille distinguished the Mark III from the Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental - while borrowing the same roof structure and rear windows, retractable into the C pillar, from the two door Thunderbird. To lower development and production costs over its largely hand-built predecessor, the Mark III shared its chassis underpinnings with the four door Ford Thunderbird.
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The Mark III was developed as a direct competitor to the Cadillac Eldorado, creating a three-decade market rivalry between the Continental Mark series and the Eldorado. Offered as a two-door hardtop coupe, the Mark III was noted for its hidden headlights, rear spare-tire trunk bulge recalling the Mark II and its Rolls-Royce styled grille. The namesake successor of the 1956–1957 Continental Mark II, the Mark III again served as the flagship vehicle of Ford Motor Company.
The Continental Mark III is a personal luxury car marketed by Lincoln from 1969–1971 model years.
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