1958 Continental Mark III Convertible
At 229 inches long and riding on a 131-inch wheelbase, the Mark III convertible was among the longest and widest American passenger cars ever produced (a distinction it still holds among production convertibles, excluding later specialty limousines and modern SUVs).
Continental’s swan song as a stand-alone Ford division arrived in 1958 with this all-new design, but a sharp recession that year severely limited luxury car sales.
Only 3,048 convertibles were built at the Wixom, Michigan facility, where they were assembled alongside Lincoln models (the second-generation Thunderbird was built at Wixom beginning in 1958 as well).
The Mark III’s approximately 4,928-pound bulk (about 2,235 kg) wore styling developed under Ford design chief George Walker, with significant input from designers including John Najjar and Elwood Engel.
These Continentals marked Ford Motor Company’s first large-scale use of unibody construction on a full-size model line, abandoning traditional body-on-frame architecture for this generation.
Power came from a 430-cubic-inch MEL V-8 generating 375 horsepower, mated to a Twin-Range Turbo-Drive automatic transmission. Independent front suspension with coil springs, a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, and four-wheel power hydraulic drum brakes completed the mechanical package.
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