1958 Continental Mark III
There was nothing ironic that 1958's Lincolns and Continentals -- including the 1958 Continental Mark III -- were the largest, heaviest postwar Detroiters yet. They were simply out of phase with the times, conceived in boom-market 1955 amid predictions that people would always want the biggest cars they could get. Bigger
was usually better in the Eisenhower era, but that started to change in
1958, when a deep recession caused lots of car buyers to "think small."
The 1958 Continental Mark III was incredibly large and heavy in
an era of small cars. See more pictures of classic convertibles.
Riding grand 131-inch wheelbases, these Lincolns were boxy but clean and imposingly massive, though slanted quad headlamps were dubious. Continental was renamed Mark III, but though still a separate make, it was now a more luxurious Lincoln, unlike the unique, timelessly styled 1956-57 Mark II hardtop coupe. At least the Mark III offered more models priced up to $4000 lower. These included two hardtops and a sedan, plus the first open Continental in 10 years.
The 1958 Continental Mark III featured a 430 V-8 engine with 375 horsepower.
Despite the recession and a stiff $6283 price, the convertible sold respectably at 3048 copies; only the hardtop sedan did better. Like standard '58 Lincolns, Mark IIIs featured a big new 430 V-8 with 375 horsepower, plus unit construction -- the biggest "unibody" cars yet -- and surprisingly decent handling. A distinctive reverse-slant rear window with drop-down glass distinguished all Marks -- even the convertible. It made for a very complex top mechanism, but then this was the '50s.
The 1958 Continental Mark III boasted a distinctive reverse-slant rear window.
For more classic convertibles of the 1950s, see:
1950 Oldsmobile 88
1955 Cadillac Series 62
1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner
1951 Chrysler New Yorker
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air
1957 Lincoln Premiere
1951 Lincoln Cosmopolitan
1955 Mercury Montclair
1957 Oldsmobile Super 88
1951 Rambler Custom Landau
1956 Ford Thunderbird
1958 Edsel Citation
1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta
1956 Lincoln Premiere
1959 Cadillac Series 62
1954 Hudson Hornet Brougham
1956 Packard Caribbean
1959 Dodge Custom Royal
1954 Packard Caribbean
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
1959 Ford Thunderbird
1955 Buick Century
1957 Chrysler New Yorker
1959 Pontiac Bonneville
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