The seller of this beautiful, 116,808-mile, Dark Ivy Green 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III says that it’s an original survivor and has no rust. It doesn’t get much better than that, even at a mere 10 mpg. For the ultimate in luxury for 1969, check out their listing here on eBay. It’s located in Panama City, Florida and the current bid price is $8,800 with no reserve and five days left on the auction as I write this.
The TV detective character, Frank Cannon, (played by Bill Conrad) drove a 1971 Continental Mark III for most of season one (not counting the Continental four-door sedan that he drove in the pilot episode), until moving to Mark IVs. I always think of that show when I see the Continental Mark III and Mark IV. This beautiful Mark Ivy Green color would have been Cannon-approved. The Mark III came after (let’s say it together), the Continental Mark II, although, just over a decade was in-between the two models.
The Continental Mark III came out in 1968 for the 1969 model year, and they were made until 1971, so a short three model years. Can you imagine a car maker doing that today? They run for a decade or more now it seems like. The seller says that there is no rust on this car, but it sure looks wavy to me on the bottom of the passenger side. It could just be reflections. Hagerty is at $12,600 for a #3 good-condition car, so this could be a bargain if it’s as nice in person as it appears here.
Complimenting the beautiful dark ivy green exterior is a beautiful, optional dark Ivy Green “leather with vinyl” interior. Other than Frank Cannon’s beautiful red/burgundy leather interior on his Lincolns, this color is always my second choice. The seller says that this car has 116,900 miles, it’s a two-owner Lincoln, and it has always been kept in a garage when not in use. And, everything works!
The engine is Ford’s 460-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been factory-rated at 365 horsepower and a crazy 500 lb-ft of torque when new. The seller says that it runs and drives “excellent”, and they have provided a short video here on YouTube showing it being started and idling. Any thoughts on this Mark III? Or, the old TV show Cannon?
There’s a Charcoal colored MKIII that I drive by
all the time.It’s been sitting in front of a business for at
lest three years,& rust is getting more visible.Sad to see
things like that.
I remember in our grade school class of reading
about the MKIII in the Weekly Reader,well before it was
on sale.The thing that stuck in my mind was just how long
these were.
I also remember seeing one in Northern Nevada in
August ’67.Evidently they were testing it on the roads.
The first one of these I ever drove belonged to my girlfriend’s mother at the time in 1970. It was the same color inside and out. I drove it from the San Fernando Valley to Big Bear Lake, about 200 miles one way. It was fantastic, the 460 handled the steep mountain grades with power to spare. We had 6 people in the car and it was smooth and level at all times. It got even better when it became nighttime and I saw the color of the instrument panel illumination. That cool shade of bluish green! Well that did it. From that point on I only wanted Fords Lincolns and Mercurys, and that’s all I drive to this day. I was 16 at that time, I’m almost 68 now, many Fords Lincolns and Mercurys later.
I always thought the Mark III had presence without being gaudy. It has clean lines and comes across as being understated (even considering the stately grille and the fake spare tire hump). The green/green colors fit the car well.
I’ve read that Ford made a ton of money on each one.
Those nighttime shots of the car in the parking garage look like someplace Frank Cannon might have met the bad guys to get some information.
Unlike the Chrysler Imperial written about a few days ago this was one of Lee Iacocca’s hits. The styling exercise to take the Thunderbird chassis and move it upscale with the waterfall grill was an instant hit. Certainly caught Cadillac by surprise. The Mark 3 is my favorite Lincoln. Timeless design and I’m surprised they have not appreciated in value like other classics.
116k and looks eager for the hunt! Very sporty GT, GLWTA
Reminds me of the car in the movie …The car…..Nice car I like it. Body style is classic late 60’s early 70’s.
“The Car” was in fact a Lincoln MKlll
‘It’ was three of them, wrecks that Barris bought and ‘rebodied’ with sheet metal stock. One survivor lives on in a museum.
I had a burgundy ‘69 when I worked on the Alaska Pipeline in the ‘70s and had waaaaay too much money. It was gorgeous, fast and eerily silent at ridiculously high speeds.
Nobody ever mention The French Connection and arguably the real star a 72 Mark V in chocolate brown used to carry the heroin into NYC. Its like the baddest car ever filmmed and with Frog 1 driving even badder. There’s the scene where you can hear the nearly 400hp but of there’s nothing in the car except a map of NYC. This is FORD at their finest, I met a FORD grandaughter in Carmel whom drove a 57 t-bird but said her father drove a Mark V. Finest car Ford ever built (Lincoln-Mercury Division) A steal for anything less than 10k.
72 is a mark IV. I owned a 77 mark V for about 16 years.
The III is best looking to me.
The French Connection threw away a Mark III, not a V. That quick rebuild was a real stretch.
There was on in our little town that met a bad end. The dealership had gotten it in and the salesman wanted it for his demo. It was a brown car with brown interior and was very sharp. The salesman took it home and went drinking that night. Less than 100 miles of I remember correctly and it was rolled into a field. They bought all new sheet metal but never repaired it. It looked way worse than it was, mostly bolt on on parts except the roof skin and straightening the quarters. It bounced around a half dozen owners and disappeared, still not repaired.
Sounds a little like the one in my hometown around 1982 , but it was a daily driver . It was dark blue with a black interior . It ended up getting vandalized; someone threw some large rocks at it, bending the trunk and quarters, and breaking most of the glass. It was supposed to have been repaired, but it ended up in the back of a gas station, full of leaves and soaking wet inside. My buddy ended up buying it for $50 and he put it in a demo derby.
My dad bought one of these in about 1978 or so. It was silver with black vinyl. I was 9 years old at the time, and thought it was like a rocket ship with all of the controls on the dash. He washed it all the time. Nice looking unit. Brings back a lot of memories. Good luck to the new owner.
Sorry pall 72 is a MARK FOUR NOT FIVE ! FIVE STARTED IN ’77 !
Built on the 4 door TBird frame, Mark III had more interior room than a 2 door TBird. Definitely a cool car and well made.
My ’69 Lincoln Continental (last year for suicide doors) averaged nearly 14 mpg on a trip to and from the west coast from central Nebraska. Wonderful car, probably the best I ever owned.
I don’t ever remember Cannon ever driving a Mark III. He did drive a Mark IV. I had a ’71. Same color combo. I loved that car!
Cannon drove a black Lincoln sedan in the “Pilot” movie.
In the first season he drove a Mark III.
After that they were all Mark IV’s
William Conrad drove red Cadillacs in real life.
Cannon drove a black Lincoln sedan in the “Pilot” episode.
In the first season he drove a Mk. III.
After that they were all Mk IV’s
William Conrad drove red Cadillacs in real life.
Cannon still comes on MeTv here in Houston at 3am. right after Mannix. I watch both those shows when I can’t fall asleep. I owned a 75 Mk IV it was a wonderful car. I had a partner in an automotive repair and service shop in about mid 80’s. He had a MK III which he drove the wheels off of. I think he said it had over 500 K miles on it. These cars were built like tanks but drove like they were on air. I agree anything under $10 K for this car is a steal.
God Bless America
I sold my 69 MKIII, a few years ago was mostly original with 70K on it. I had to many cars in the driveway, it took a few months to sell, sold at a reasonable price, just not a lot of interest in these. I always thought it was one of the cleanest cars of its class, next to the MKII. It looked even better when I had Torqie Thrust wheels on it.
Dad always wanted one of these. A beautiful car, but I always liked the ’72 Mark IV’s. We both threatened to buy one, some day. He ran out of time, and I ran out of room!
That wavy part of the right lower door is a small dent, and may be able to be worked out using special “paintless dent removal tools”. I’ve looked over the photographs on the feeBay ad and it’s my opinion the car has the original paint. Someone took extra care of this car down thru the years. Hard to believe it’s from Mass. It’s at $9,900 with less than a day to go, so unless a couple of serious bidders get into a buying frenzy, this could turn out to be a very nice buy!
And we know this wasn’t the car used in the Cannon TV show, the driver’s seat isn’t collapsed!
A little sizephobic are we?
Nah Karl, Just speakin’ from experience. While I never reached his size, prior to losing almost 100 pounds, I was approaching 300 pounds. At those sizes, older car seats have a hard time handling big guys.
These were great cars. My grandfather bought a new Mark IV in 73, of course by then the 460 had been pretty well castrated, but would still get right down the road, 90mph, you could hardly tell you were moving, like riding on a cloud. I remember watching Cannon in my high school years, he lost a lotta wheel covers on the corners while in hot pursuit.
Definitely going to sell, something this or a cadillac fleetwood I’ll enjoy everyday no need for new engine or swaps. Few updated parts and radio, I’m set.
My Polo bicycle was the same color with training wheels my Christmas gift at 6:00 years old 2 years after I was parked and back of the apple tree I like the song yeah I didn’t make little green apples it doesn’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime keys in the ignition and everything that tolerance plant was right around the block and my neighbor always offered me those Twizzler candy wraps yeah I Playboy bunny life was good at 7 years old
Carl Reynolds
437 West 101st Street Chicago Illinois 60628
Huh?🤔
I think they call that “word salad”. Wow.
“Chat-Bot”?
I fell in love with the Mark iii in 1971 watching Cannon at the age of 9…I’m now the owner of 14 Mark iii’s ! My earliest Mark iii was built in April of 68…I know of some built in February 68!…They were released to the public in April of 68
Looks like someone got a good deal on this one.
You are correct about the passenger door being wavey. If you look at the driver’s side door, it’s straight as an arrow.
Brian,
If you blow up the photo of the passenger door, you will see it’s not wavy, but an actual dent in the metal.
I had a 69 Mark III way way back, it was a handsome vehicle and a dream to drive. I’d buy another if I could find one with low miles and the right price. I also had a 69 Thunderbird around the same time, smaller and with a sportier feel, the paint the color of a new penny. These were real cars, and we’ll never again see cars like this. Thankfully a few have survived to remind us of the America that was in the 1960s.