The Continental Mark series (later renamed Lincoln Mark series) is a series of personal luxury cars that was produced by Ford Motor Company from 1956 to 1960 and from the 1969 to 1998 model years. Serving as the flagship vehicle for Ford Motor Company, the model line derived its heritage from the 1940–1948 Lincoln Continental, a model line that established the personal luxury car segment.
The Mark series was inaugurated with the 1956–1957 Continental Mark II, which was the first (and only) product line of the Continental Division, which was introduced to provide Ford Motor Company a luxury car brand slotted above Lincoln (with the Mark II serving as the most expensive car sold in the United States). Produced for approximately a year, the hand-built Mark II lent several design elements that would be adopted for the rest of the model line: a two-door coupe design (with few exceptions), a continental tire trunklid design (derived from the spare tire mounting of the 1940s Lincoln Continental), and a four-point star emblem; in revised form, the emblem remains in use by Lincoln today.
Following the retirement of the Continental Division, the Mark series became the flagship Lincoln (but not branded as such) from 1958 to 1960. After a hiatus from 1961 to 1968, the series was restarted again, becoming the Continental Mark III for 1969, serving in a similar role (though far less expensive) than the previous Mark II. Instead of competing against Rolls-Royce, the Mark III commenced a flagship brand rivalry with the Cadillac Eldorado. The new design adopted a similar configuration as its Mark II predecessor, returning a spare-tire trunklid design feature and a hardtop coupe roofline. Following the Mark IV and Mark V (some of the largest two-door coupes ever produced), the downsized 1980 Mark VI introduced a four-door sedan to the line. The 1984 Mark VII was downsized further, becoming a mid-size car; along with reverting to a coupe-only line, the Mark VII saw its spare-tire trunklid decrease in size (in the interest of aerodynamics). For 1986, Ford ended all brand confusion related to the Mark series, with the Mark VII officially adopting the Lincoln nameplate in both marketing and on an official basis. The 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII became far sleeker and saw substantial upgrades to its chassis and powertrain.
With the exception of the hand-built Continental Mark II and the 1958–1960 Continental Mark III–Mark V, the Mark series has shared chassis underpinnings with other Ford or Lincoln-Mercury vehicles. The 1969–1979 Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V are counterparts of the 1969–1976 Ford Thunderbird, while the Mark VI uses the Ford Panther platform. The Mark VII uses the Ford Fox platform (shared with the 1980 Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar XR-7), while the Mark VIII is a variant of the 1989 Ford Thunderbird/Mercury Cougar.
Following the 1998 model year, Lincoln discontinued the Mark VIII, serving as the final generation of the model line. During the 1990s, buyer demand for personal luxury cars had declined, as luxury car buyers shifted towards four-door sedans and luxury SUVs; buyers of coupes shifted towards smaller, higher-performance cars. While the Mark series has not currently been replaced, from 2017 to 2020, Lincoln briefly revived the Continental (discontinued after 2002) as its premium sedan.
From 1958 to 1998, Mark series vehicles were produced alongside Lincolns by Wixom Assembly at Wixom, Michigan.
Background Prior to the Continental/Lincoln Mark series, within Ford Motor Company, the Continental nameplate began life in 1939, following the design of a custom-built Lincoln-Zephyr convertible commissioned by Edsel Ford. Modified extensively over a production vehicle, the personal car had a lowered hoodline, a relocated passenger compartment (requiring an external-mount spare tire), and deletion of the running boards. Upon taking delivery of the car in Florida, Ford discovered the vehicle generated a high degree of interest from potential buyers; renamed Continental by Ford, the name reflected European styling influences for its design.
At the end of the 1930s, Lincoln was transitioning away from the exclusive Lincoln K-series and moving towards the more contemporary and affordable Lincoln-Zephyr coupes and sedans. As a flagship, Edsel Ford wanted to revive the popularity of the 1929–1932 Lincoln Victoria coupe and convertible with an updated approach, reflecting European styling influences.
Continental Division For 1949, the Lincoln Continental was discontinued, as Ford sought to introduce post-war model lines for all three of its divisions. In 1952, the company commenced design work on a successor model line; following the 1953 introduction of the limited-production Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Skylark, and Oldsmobile Fiesta, Ford also sought to create a competitor, aiming to make a model line as exclusive as the 1930s K-series.
As its new model line was to be one of the most exclusive and expensive automobiles in the world, Ford chose to create a stand-alone division positioned above Lincoln in 1955, the same year Chrysler introduced the Imperial Division. The namesake of the 1940s Lincoln Continental, the Continental Division named its model line the Mark II. Along with aligning it as a successor to the pre-war Lincoln Continental, the Mark II designation was a convention used by European industry; along with automobiles (i.e., Jaguar Mark 1), similar nomenclature was used to identify versions of artillery, tanks, naval vessels, and aircraft.
In July 1956, Ford integrated Continental into Lincoln-Mercury, which marketed Continental as a marque positioned above Lincoln; the Mark II was withdrawn after the 1957 model year. From 1958 to 1960, Continental remained in a similar role, replacing the Mark II with the Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V as flagship vehicles above the Lincoln sedan line.
For 1961, Lincoln-Mercury consolidated the Lincoln model line with a singular Lincoln Continental replacing the Continental Mark V and both Lincoln model lines; the division would serve this single line of Lincoln sedans through the 1976 model year.
Continental Mark revival In response to the introduction of the two-door Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (later renamed the Corniche) in the United States, Ford vice-president Lee Iacocca directed Ford vice president of design Gene Bordinat to "put a Rolls-Royce grille on a Thunderbird" in September 1965.. Not branded a Lincoln, the all-new model line was effectively a reboot of the Continental Mark series, adopting the Continental Mark III nomenclature as a direct successor to Continental Mark II (leaving the 1958–1960 Mark series aside). In line with the design directive, the Mark III adopted a large radiator-style grille and was a large two-door coupe (using the frame of the four-door Thunderbird). While no longer intended as a functional feature, the Continental spare-tire trunklid made its return as a styling feature to further distinguish the model line.
While less expensive than its Rolls-Royce design inspiration, the Mark III competed against premium luxury coupes from American manufacturers, including the Imperial Crown Coupe and the Cadillac Eldorado; the latter two model lines formed a model rivalry lasting through multiple model generations.
Following the Mark III, Ford developed five successive generations of the model line. During the 1970s, the Mark IV and the Mark V shared a chassis with the Ford Thunderbird through 1976; the Mark V was a substantial revision of the Mark IV. The 1980 Mark VI was the first model to undergo downsizing, adopting the full-size Ford Panther platform; a four-door sedan was offered for the first time since 1958–1960. The Mark VII was downsized further for 1984, sharing the Ford Fox platform with the Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Cougar and Lincoln Continental sedan; the model was offered only as a coupe. The Lincoln Mark VIII grew slightly in size for 1993, derived again from the Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar.
First generation (Mark II; 1956–1957)
From the 1956 model year, Ford Motor Company and its Lincoln division introduced the Continental Mark II as the inaugural offering of their new flagship Continental Division. A two-door personal luxury car, the Mark II was developed as the successor model line for the 1939–1948 Lincoln Continental. Largely hand-assembled, the $10,000 (US$ in dollars) model line was the most expensive American vehicle sold in 1956, competing against Chrysler's new for 1955 Imperial top marque – matching even Rolls-Royce in price (or two new Cadillacs). Air conditioning was the only optional extra.
The Mark II returned the long-hood, short-deck exterior design of its predecessor, reviving its rear spare tire design feature as part of the trunklid (the design was partly functional, as the trunklid closed around the vertically mounted spare tire). In contrast to many American (and some European) vehicles, the exterior was highly conservative, limiting chrome trim to the grille, window trim, bumpers, and badging.
During 1956, Continental was integrated into Lincoln, leaving the Mark II coupe as the only model line of the Continental Division. In spite of its status as the most expensive vehicle sold in the United States, the high cost of its assembly led Ford to lose over $1000 for each Mark II produced, leading to its discontinuation after the 1957 model year. In response to the Mark II, Cadillac released the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham; while far different in design, the Eldorado Brougham was the first Cadillac to rival the model line directly, leading to a rivalry that would last through the 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII.
Successor (Mark III, Mark IV, Mark V; 1958–1960)
Following the integration of Continental within Lincoln-Mercury in July 1956, Ford sought for ways to bring its flagship brand to profitability. After the 1957 model year, the hand-assembled Mark II was discontinued and replaced for 1958 with the Mark III branded as a Continental which was positioned above the Lincoln brand with higher trim sharing all new bodies that were built at the new Wixom Assembly Plant.
As part of an ultimatum to continue the brand, Continental underwent a US$4,000 (40%) price reduction ($ in dollars ), giving the all-new Continental Mark III a market position against the highest-trim Cadillacs and Imperials. To facilitate the price reduction, the Mark III was assembled in the same factory as the Ford Thunderbird, Lincoln Capri and Lincoln Premiere. Distinguished by its reverse-slant, retractable "Breezeway" rear window on all models – including convertibles, the Mark III was both one of the first Ford Motor Company vehicles to feature unitary body construction (along with the contemporaneous 1958–1960 Thunderbirds), but also one of Ford's largest unibody vehicles in history. In other firsts, FM radio joined AM radio as an option; "Auto Lube" automatically lubricated the entire car (through an oil reservoir kept full by the owner). The 1958–1960 Mark III–V has the distinction of being the only Continental Mark series vehicles offered as a convertible. The listed retail price of the convertible was US$6,283 ($ in dollars ) and 3,048 were built.
The 1959 Mark IV introduced two formal sedans, the Continental Town Car and Limousine. The Town Car/Limousine replaced the reverse-slant window with a forward-sloping rear window (moving the rear seat several inches rearward); the Limousine has a rear-seat partition. Other options include dual air conditioning units and a padded vinyl top; both versions were offered only in black. 214 Town Cars were sold and 83 Limousines were sold, making them the rarest Mark series variants.
The 1960 Mark V was restyled slightly, receiving a larger grille and new "dagmar bumpers".
Superlatives