Often referred to as the “forgotten Marks”, the 1958-1960 Mark III-IV-V Lincoln Continentals are a rare sight today. Lincoln-Mercury “forgot” them when they introduced a new Mark III (instead of VI) in 1969, and I know I’ve only seen two that I can remember. This one is located in Forestville, California and is up for sale here on eBay, where the buy-it-now is only $2,400 but bidding started at $500.
We’re told that the seller originally purchased this car for parts, but decided it was too good of a car to just part out. We don’t know exactly how long it’s been off the road, but it has covered 125,000 miles. There are a lot of styling features on these Lincolns (the Continental marque was discontinued for 1958 and these were marketed as Lincolns) that are both distinctive and period, like this reverse-slant rear window. I believe the center portion, retracts for ventilation. The diagonally slanted stacked quad headlights are another design element not found on many other cars. At the time, the car had one of the longest wheelbases of any American car at 131 inches. When I first saw one in person, I was struck by how truly massive these cars are.
All that mass came along with an extremely luxurious interior, which unfortunately has seen better days in this car. Despite the seller telling us the car is rust free, there will still be a lot of effort needed here to make this car a pleasurable place to spend time. Both seats will need refurbishment and the driver’s door glass is cracked.
The seller tells us that they have had the 430 V-8 running a few times but did not try the rest of the driveline. We can’t tell much from the included pictures, but from what I can see it appears original. Many of the mechanical components are shared with contemporary Lincoln sedans and Thunderbirds, and with the all-important body intact it might actually be reasonable to put this car back on the road.
I’m still not sure about the styling, though. Any of you have a view slanted one way or the other?
