A couple of weeks ago, I was looking at one of the TV movie channels and it was showing 1971’s “The French Connection“. I was actually more mesmerized by NYC’s early ’70s grittiness than I was the famous Pontiac LeMans car chase, but then there’s the matter of the other star car, the mule, which is a 1970 Lincoln Mark III. I especially appreciated the segment in the police garage where the investigators take the entire Lincoln apart looking for hidden smack. When I saw today’s find, a ’71 Lincoln Mark III (OK, it’s a year newer but it looks just like the movie car) l thought this would be one to investigate – you know, see what its rocker panels are made of. This aristocratic-looking Lincoln can be found in San Antonio, Texas, where it’s available, here on eBay for a current bid of $10,100 with the reserve not yet met.
The Mark III was offered for three production years, ’69-’71 with the final year providing the highest production volume – 27K copies. Of the entire Mark series, it’s always been my favorite due to its balanced, refined, and all-business bearing – it carried itself well! The Mark series existed earlier in the form of the Mark II (’56-’57) but those were limited production specialty cars whereas the Mark III was a regular production model all the way and utilized the Ford Thunderbird’s chassis.
Our subject car is, unsurprisingly, brown – a popular ’70s hue. While I’ve never been a fan of brown adorning any automobile, I have to admit that it does this Lincoln justice – it wears it well and the finish shows beautifully; the seller calls it “immaculate“. I’m sorry to say that the listing images are stilted and not very comprehensive. Also, the listing is light on details so the images really have to do the talking. That said, there are no demerits warranted as near as I can tell. My guess is that this Lincoln, over its 52 years of life and 65K miles of use has been well cared for and properly stored.
Motivating this 4,800 lb. coupe is a 365 gross HP, 460 CI “385 series” V8 engine which generates 500 lb. feet of stump-pulling torque. The seller claims, “runs and drives great“. Also mentioned is a new automatic transmission (C6?) that was installed about a year ago. The brakes are supposed to be recent too.
Get a load of those seats! It’s matching leather upholstery and it shows as well as the exterior. This is a real Barco lounger on wheels. You’d probably do a lot of sliding around if you were trying to outrun the Po-Po but assuming that’s not in your needed repertoire, this interior will provide one comfortable, if somnambulant ride. I’m generally not impressed with dashboards and instrument panels circa 1971 but I think Lincoln really nailed it in this case. The seller mentions that ’71 was the only year that the Mark III used genuine wood inserts and the Lincoln sales brochure defines all wood applications as being “genuine walnut veneer“.
I dig this car, brown or not. I’ll say it again, we won’t see the likes of an automobile such as his Lincoln Mark III again. It would make a great cruiser and I’d leave it exactly as is, though I might have to pull up those door sills and see if there’s anything hiding under there…
An absolutely gorgeous car, one that really defines ultimate automotive luxury at the time. Lincoln really nailed it with the design of 1969 and even the following Mk IV was a beauty too. True, you better like brown because this car is awash in it but as Jim noted, it suits this car well. I imagine there’s a good bit more bidding needed to reach the reserve, but this has got to be one of the best Mk IIIs out there.
I had one. The owners manual said it was Pakkawood on all wood trimmed surfaces. Pledge wax made it shine!! And yes, sliding across the seat was common when cornering hard!! But u could s
et the cruise at 80 on the hwy and get 21mpg all day long!!
I agree with Jim’s write-up and FordGuy1972’s comments. The Mark III had clean and stately styling (even with the fake spare tire hump) and was beautifully trimmed. I’m normally not a brown fan either but it looks quite fitting here. A great cruiser and a wonderful representation of its time and of its type of car.
the mark 3 was always my favorite
great cars does anyone remember the show cannon frank cannon drive a mark had a telephone in it
So unrealistic in the movie when the cops completely disassemble the Mark lll, then return it the next day completely re-assembled. How many old cars get disassembled and never get put back together?
Well, chop-shops back in the day could strip a car within a couple hours; this one, maybe a couple hours more. Now, if you’re thinking about only one or two guys, yes, that’s impossible…but if you think about resources a police department may have, especially if they’re co-operating with a bigger agency, it isn’t that far-fetched.
Looks mint but sitting too low?. Could have backed out of garage with that new tranny.
There were Battleships in World War Two that weren’t that big!!!
Wow. This one or the beauty DeVille. 🤔
Can’t lose 🙌😃
San Antonio…?? Wow, that’s where I’m going! It would be nice to see it up close and personal, but I’m sure it will be sold before I can get there.
This was the best-looking of the Marks, I think…although I still have issues with the hood release being on the outside, under the bumper. That makes the car very susceptible to thieves and vandals, both then and now (you know, like stealing batteries or the whole engine, sugaring carburetors, that sort of thing). If I had the desire and resources to collect my favorite vintages, I probably would look into retrofitting an inside hood-release setup from a Mark IV or V, just to give it a little more security. At least the clap-door Lincoln I have already had that added measure of security, mainly because of its backwards-opening hood…which seems to take quite a number of people by surprise.
I had a 70 in H.S. in 1990. Bought it from a duddy’s dad for $500. SAME color combo as this one. Buddy’s girlfriend called it the “Dinosaur” lol! Man wish I still had her…I do have the build sheet though. Have it framed with a picture I took of the ole gal. Windows didn’t work properly, when it rained my girlfriends feet got wet because of a rust hole in the drain cowel had formed..lol but it ran great with that 460. Would race with my buddy and his 84 Z28. We’d usually be neck in neck. Of course I had the bigger engine 😉 but also had the weight to pull. Sold it a couple of years later for a 76 Pontiac Ventura with olds 260 V8 🤮….but it had cold a/c where the Mark didn’t…and the S. Florida summers are a bit on the warmer side. Wish I could find out if she survived all these years. Be neat to have her again….the Mark…I already married the girlfriend….she’s still around. Lol
big difference was the 1967 eldo had front wheel drive
Our local F/L/M dealer had this exact same car. The top salesman took it for a demo and with under 150 miles on it rolled it over at least twice while in a drunken stupor. They bought everything to repair it but never did, It bounced around from owner to owner for years and then disapperaed. I always wondered if it got repaired
My stepfather rented one of these from Hertz in NYC to determine if it was an adequate replacement for our 69 Olds 98 convertible. It was wonderful, but the trunk was too small. After a glorious weekend with it we were returning it to Hertz when a double parked taxi whipped open its door as we were passing by. Damaged EVERYTHING on the passenger side from nose to tail. The car only had like 800 miles on it! A triple black waste!
My fathers beautiful early 69 Black with white interior and factory white pin stripe was a dream to drive to my prom. At 48000 miles he gave it to my step brother who promptly installed Cragers, Glass packs, and Hi-Jacker air shocks. My heart broke as did the car when he wrapped it around a tree in only 6 short months
In my humble opinion I think the Lincoln Mark II and Mark III are 2 of the most beautiful cars ever created.
Add the 67’ Eldorado to that and I’ll give it a thumbs up.
It’s a lovely car, and in time capsule condition. The brown finish does it justice.
Great part of the country to find rust free or minimal rust vehicles.this land yacht has the C6 tranny.To drive this car around nowadays you would almost have to own your own oil refinery…
Beautiful car original wheels no stupid looking big wheels.class all the way!!!
These Mark llls are beautiful and elegant. Another of Lee Iaccoca’s home runs. It follows his favorite design, a 37 foot long hood and a short trunk lid. It’s cousin the Thunderbirds carries that same look. I had a teacher in high school that had a 1970, fastback Thunderbird in this same brown color, with matching padded vinyl top and leather interior. It was a beautiful shade of metallic brown that looked deep and very high quality. It had the 429 cid under the hood. I also had a girlfriend who’s mother had a Mark lll, it was the same quality look as the brown but hers was a beautiful shade of dark green which was also a very popular color at that time. I was able to drive that Mark quite a bit and it was a powerful, smooth riding car. It was very comfortable and easy to drive. The dashboard of the Mark and the Thunderbirds were the same design, however the Mark was finished a bit nicer, and they were both among the best looking dashboards ever made. They had full instrumentation a Cartier clock and lit up at night in Ford’s bluish green color that was so beautiful I was memorized by it. Both the Mark and Thunderbird had hydraulically operated windshield wipers power by the power steering pump. You could dial the exact speed you needed by turning a know on the dash. It had so many speeds you could always find the best one that fit your driving needs. As the car was low RPMs the blades would slow down automatically and then speed up as the RPMs increased, very cool. The Mark llls are beautiful and carry traditional American luxury styling, l also like the Mark lVs from 74 to 76, They are bigger and even more elegant and seem to capture the Lincolnesck heritage look perfectly. They may be my favorite. But then the Mark Vl is gorgeous, I really like those too. Then came the Mark Vlls, Ford downsized both the Mark and Thunderbirds and made them more road worthy and sporty. The Thunderbird offered the Turbo coupe, and the Mark LSC. I actually owned a 1990 LSC. It was black with black leather interior and much smaller. It had the 5.0 V8 injected engine, duel exhaust with a very throaty sound and air suspension at all four corners. The front was modified McPherson struts, with gas shocks front and rear. The ride was comfortable and sure, although it was a little stiff on cornering. But it was a great looking car that was right for the time, and nobody saw such a sporty small car from Lincoln. I used mine as my daily driver while I was a Marketing Representative for IBM US Sales and Marketing Division in downtown Los Angeles. The LSC was a perfect fit. The Mark Vll seemed to lack what it took to be part of the Lincoln Mark series. There never was a Mark lX. My next car was a 97 Explorer, Eddie Bauer. It was black with Medium Prairie Tan leather interior. It also had the 5.0 injected V8. It was completely loaded with every option available including ATC and Moonroof. It even had a 6 stacker CD player, the stacker was mounted in the center console. It was a great vehicle. It was part car and part truck, and I loved it. It was stolen from in front of my house. So sad. It was a good thing I kept the Mark, I drove that as my daily driver again until I bought a 95 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series. Of course it was black with black leather, and completely loaded, including a Moonroof. Electronic dash and a 10 stacker CD player mounted in the trunk. It had Ford’s new Modular 4.6 liter injected V8. I never really understood why Ford called it a Modular engine, it didn’t seem any different than any other engine. A beautiful car, inside and out and it turned out to be a great road car. After about a year, I received a call from the police, they had found my Explorer. It never seemed the same to me, but was glad to have it back. So now I had my 69 Mach l, my 75 Mercury Marquis Colony Park wagon, (another great car), I also had my mom’s 76 Lincoln Town Car, the 95 Town Car, and the 97 Explorer. I loved them all and couldn’t live without any of them. Oh, I also had a 98 33 foot Southwind motorhome built of course on a Ford Super Duty F53 chassis with an injectioned 460. I loved that too. But eventually I had to. I let them all go, I didn’t want to but I did. So now I just have a 2008 Explorer XLT. It’s black with gray cloth interior. A 4.0 injected V6. The first non V8 I’ve ever owned, and you know, I love it. It’s very good looking, it runs great and other than the way it sounds it seems just like the 5.0 V8. I’m much older now but I feel the itch coming on to start buying more cars, and a motorhome. I’m sniffing around online to see what’s out there, and I’m guessing it won’t be long before I start adding again.