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

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.