Continental Mark III Convertible 1958

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Model number: 4706

Back in 1958 you know you were special, if you could afford to go to the Lincoln Dealer, and order a brand new Continental Mark III. This was the car that had is own brand not because it was and outsider but because it was the top of the top the Ford company had to offer. The make was to compete with Imperial and Cadillac. And it surly did! You had to lay over $6283 USD for the convertible (3048 produced) to be in the exclusive club of the proud owners. But boy what a car! It was a true Land yacht and it was even bigger than the Cadillac. In fact it is one of the biggest production cars that ever leave the factory.

If you don’t have room for the real car you can purchase one in scale 1:18, but be aware; this model car is huge. Sun Star gives you the choice of three models: The Coupe, Convertible with the soft top on, or as this model the open Convertible. Do you have difficulties making the right choice? You can with an open mind buy one of each! These models are so beautiful and well made, that they are every dollars spent worth it!

On ordinary reviews of my model cars I take every part of the model in my judgment and I still do on other models. But here I will cut to the conclusion right away and let the pictures tell their own story. 1:18 American model cars from the mid 50´ to mid 60´ are best made by Sun Star Models from China and the price is very fair as the cost is $130 USD but can often go as low as $50 USD at sales. Sun Star sometimes lack good quality control and often a part had to be glued on again. Or sometimes a part had a bit of access glue on it. But never had I have to return a model as I always have managed to fix it myself. This 1958 Continental Mark III was flawless and only need ad soft brush and light cleaning on the marvelous chrome parts.

The model is well protected in the Styrofoam package and all delicate parts are sealed by a piece of plastic tape. This is also the case of the windshield vipers – here the tape can make a mark on the “glass” of the windshield! I used a soft clod with WD40 to polish the “shadow” away.
Do you like Boats and Land Yachts? This car is sure the right one. Please look at the Coupe as well.
 

I will give this model 6 out of 6 stars  ******

Below here are pictures of the model, historical description, old brochures, technical data and some movie clips for the real car. So please enjoy!

1958 hoax brochure frontpage

Up close note all the fine details from Sun Star

The massive bumper resemble a dogbone

The Lincoln Continental is a series of luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. First introduced in 1939 as a coach built convertible, which would spawn the personal luxury car segment, the nameplate has been in use by Lincoln at various times for more than 75 years. In the Lincoln model line, the Continental has served various roles, ranging from the top-trim sedan to the base-trim sedan. Through its production, the Lincoln Continental has been produced in several body styles, including two-door and four-door convertibles, two-door and four-door hardtops and sedans, and two-door coupes. The Lincoln Continental is the final American car factory-produced as a four-door convertible or with a V12 engine.

In 1956, Ford created a successor to the first-generation Continental with the introduction of the Continental Mark II and the separate Continental Division created to market and produce the car. As the most expensive car ever produced by Ford at the time, the Mark II lasted only through 1957 and the Continental Division was integrated into Lincoln, with the Lincoln Continental Mark series as its top-trim model.

Third generation (1958–60)

For 1958, the Continental Division was expanded with two- and four-door vehicles that shared an appearance with Lincoln-branded products; the Continental gained new life as a flagship for the Lincoln line. To bring it in line with its predecessor, the 1958 edition was branded as the "Mark III", with "Continental III" fender trim; the approach was similar to that followed by Chrysler with the Imperial line.

To drop the price from $10,000 ($85,273 in current dollars) to a somewhat more accessible $6,000 ($49,806 in current dollars), Lincoln switched the Continental from a hand-built body to a version of the body shared with the Lincoln Capri and Premiere. The Continental received its own body and interior trim, and its own roofline. For both sedans and hardtops (and even convertibles), the Continental was designed with a retractable "breezeway" reverse-angle rear window (similar to the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser except for its reverse-angle design). AM radio was standard, with FM radio as a rarely ordered option. In contrast to the ceiling-mounted A/C vents of the Mark II, the A/C vents were mounted in the dash board. A unique option was "Auto Lube"; as long as the owner kept the lube reservoir full, the car automatically lubed itself.

In a break from Ford, Mercury, and Edsel, Lincoln adopted unibody construction^[for what would be one of the largest cars ever produced by Ford Motor Company and one of the largest unibody-chassis cars ever made in the automotive industry. Using a 131-inch wheelbase, the Continental III was longer than any Cadillac sedan; it is the longest car produced by Ford Motor Company without federally mandated 5 mph bumpers. The 1959–60 Continental Limousine and Town Car remain the heaviest American sedans built since World War II without an extended wheelbase. They had the same wheelbase as other Continentals, but had additional legroom in the rear seat (the same legroom as Lincoln) due to the absence of the "breezeway" window, a reverse-angled rear window that retracted electrically into the trunk. The window increased ventilation through the passenger compartment in an era when most cars did not have air conditioning, and the unusual notchback body design provided a distinctive visual identity for the brand. Also, the 1958 Continental convertible is the second longest convertible ever produced in America, exceeded only by the (extremely rare) 1934–37 Cadillac V-16 convertibles

Although less expensive and better-selling than the Continental Mark II, the Lincoln Division lost over $60 million over 1958–1960, partly reflecting the enormous expense of developing what is perhaps the largest unibody car ever made

Some commentators have suggested that even for an era such as the late 1950s when most American cars were chrome-covered behemoths sporting massive jet-age fins on each side of the trunk, the third generation Continental was "excessively styled" with too many distinctive design features that muddied the design. Others say this simply reflects the overabundance of design talent involved in its development and modification.

George W. Walker, known for his contribution to the original Ford Thunderbird, was Vice-President in charge of Styling at Ford during this time. Elwood Engel, famous for being lead designer of generation four of the Lincoln Continental and for his work as chief designer at Chrysler in the 1960s, was Staff Stylist (and consequently roamed all the design studios) at Ford during this period and worked very closely with John Najjar in developing not only the 1958, but also the 1959 update. After John Najjar was relieved of his responsibilities as Chief Stylist of Lincoln in 1957 he became Engel's executive assistant, and the two worked closely together in the "stilleto studio" in developing the fourth generation Lincoln Continental, which won an award for its styling.

Don Delarossa, who succeeded Najjar as Lincoln's Chief Stylist, was responsible for the 1960 Continental update, and went on to become chief designer at Chrysler in the 1980s. Alex Tremulis, who was Chief Stylist at Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg in the mid to late 1930s and famous for his work on the 1948 Tucker Sedan, was head of Ford's Advanced Styling Studio during this period, and it was his Ford La Tosca concept car, with its oval overlaid with an "X" theme, that gave birth to the "slant eyed monster" nickname to the third generation Continental headlight arrangement.

L. David Ash was Lincoln's Executive Exterior Stylist when Najjar was in charge of Lincoln styling, and Ash would later play a prominent role as Chief Stylist of Ford in designing the 1969–1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III. The reuse of the Mark III badge, together with an early 1960s marketing decision by Ford's then-Executive Vice President Lee Iacocca to downplay the older models when the Fourth Generation Continentals were released, helped cause the Continentals of the 1958–1960 vintage to be dubbed the "forgotten Marks"

Technical specification:

Old brochures of the Continental Mark III

Elvis Presley in his 1958 Continental Mark III Convertible

Video clips of the real car from Youtube

1958 Continental Mark III Convertible - Top Down & Driving

1958 Continental Mark III Convertible

If you have any question or comment your are free to contact me at: aeronautic@stofanet.dk

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