The fifth generation of Ford's Thunderbird featured a full redesign on a unique platform. Launched in 1966 as a '67 model, it was bigger than earlier T-birds and was of body-on-frame design rather than the unibody construction of the previous generation.
Sales did not soar, so in order to spread the design costs out, FoMoCo Vice President Lee Iaccoca ordered Ford's design department to "put a Rolls-Royce grill on a Thunderbird". The resulting car was loaded with every luxury appointment available at the time and launched as the Continental Mark III, aimed to go head-to-head with the Cadillac Eldorado as the premium American luxury coupe.
The 1969 Continental Mark III debuted Ford's then-new 460cid 4-bbl big block V-8, rated at 365 SAE gross horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque in its 10.5:1 compression, pre-emissions configuration.
While it was sold at Lincoln-Mercury dealers, the Lincoln name appeared nowhere on the car. It was positioned as a successor to the ultra-luxe Continental Mark II from early Sixties, which had been sold by the now-defunct Continental division of Ford.
It was priced at over 6,700 bucks, nearly sixty grand in today's dollars. This was more than a Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL, although only a third the tariff of a Rolls Silver Shadow.
I like that it still has a bit of that Sixties coke bottle style in the haunches.
Just five years later Detroit was gaga over the "formal" look and everything was right angles. Ford would have put square wheels on the Granada if they could have got them to roll.
Apologies for the potato-quality photos. I left the house without a camera that September day in 2023 and these were taken with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
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