Free Mark lll

[scoopyg]

Hello folks,

I have been offered a free '71 Mark lll for the taking. I saw the car a couple of years ago, and it isn't currently running. It has what appears to be a factory sunroof that appears to be leaking. Otherwise the car appears to be complete, but the interior is rough.

SO,the question is.....is there a market for Mklll parts? I would likely part the car out if I were to bring it to my shop. I believe restoration would be out of the question logistically and financially.

Thanks! Rich

[Dan Szwarc]

There's a market for Mark III parts, but you have to find it. It won't find you.

eBay is the best place to see what's selling and for how much.

Good luck.

[LithiumCobalt]

Definitely a market for them. There is a Mark III Facebook group where you will probably come across the most action. I would maybe reconsider restoration of the car, though. If it is a factory sunroof car, they are pretty damn rare and people will pay a premium for them. Of course, restoration is always more expensive than what a car is worth most of the time, even cars with limited run options…

[TonyC]

Dittos Nick's input. A Mark III with a factory-installed sunroof option really should not be relegated to organ-donor status unless the core shell has terminal cancer. Those are extremely rare and need to be preserved to the greatest extent possible.

Reconsider your intentions. A rare variant of Mark III is a fantastic find, even more so when it's literally given away! Clearly the owner does not realize what he has, so jump on it. As for resto costs, unless you're looking for museum-grade OE look, there are ways to mitigate those costs. If people will spend five to six figures replacing entire drivetrains on cars that were not designed for casual swaps (after spending five figures to buy the victim car in the first place) and not bat an eyelash, you can spend less than that to get the interior back to a presentable condition. "Worth" where vintage cars are concerned is a very subjective term; what an insurance syndicate will say is worth only $5 may be worth $5g's to an individual who isn't colluding with said syndicate. Besides, with no sale price, that crosses off one expense ... that is, unless some amount of sale has to be documented for a title to be issued. But I guess that depends on the laws in the respective states.

---Tony

[scoopyg]

Thanks gents for the input. I did, in fact, research ebay for sold parts for the Mklll, and I wasn't impressed with the volume or the prices of the sold parts. So, as a parts proposition, the juice did not seem to be worth the squeeze.

I spent about 3 years finding and parting out Volvo 1800 cars, so I have a fairly good grasp of how parting out a car would work. Problem is, a Mklll weighs about twice what a Volvo 1800 weighs! And the European market was hot for the 1800 stuff.

Restoration of the car does not fit my modus operandi with old cars, except for the "acquire it cheaply" part. I have a rule of 3 when it comes to buying project cars: I look for good bodies and paint, and I can work with interiors that need help, and the mechanicals are the easy part. If a car needs all 3 of these things addressed, I usually pass.

Florida cars are are unique as well. Up north, where I come from, you know that the rust is gonna be underneath....quarters, floor pans, trunk floors, frame rust if it's a Ford, etc. Florida cars are usually clean underneath, but the salty rain will infiltrate the rain gutters and around the glass and wreak havoc on A and C pillars. With that long-leaking factory sunroof, I can almost guarantee that the entire roof structure of that Mklll is shot, and probably the floor pan and trunk floor too. And, of course, the Mklll deck lids rusted if you looked at them.

Finally, I called the guy back, and he indicated that he actually wanted to see how much he could get for the car. I mis-interpreted his voice message, mistakenly thinking he just wanted to get the car gone, and was offering in to me for the taking. I still think he'd take 500 bucks for it, but again, for the reasons above, I paused at taking the car if it were free. SO, I the gave him the number for LincolnLand over in Clearwater to see if Chris and John might be interested in buying the car. I plan to follow up to see if those guys bought the car, I'll let you fellas know how it turns out.

Cheers from Tampa, and thanks again for the input,

Rich

[Dan Szwarc]

Scoopyg, is That free Mark III available to friends of scoppyg? Because you may find someone here willing to save that Mark for parts or otherwise.

[scoopyg]

Dan Szmartazz,

Scoopyg here, not Sloppy. The car is in Tampa, so if there are members nearby, I will be happy to direct them to the car.

As a 40+ year veteran of the old car hobby, I can easily recognize a lost cause/money-pit/ parts car when I see it. And, I've met dozens of hoarder types who keep these cars thinking that they are "gonna restore it", when in fact they have no clue. The subject car is one such car. These dreamers have no money, no skills, no tools, no storage, and no ambition. It is the very stuff of the old car hobby these days.

The owner called me, so I thought maybe I could part the car out an help some other Mark lll guys with their cars. But I wasn't interested in paying too much for the car, not really knowing what the market for parts might be. After researching ebay, I saw that in fact there isn't much of a market for Mark lll parts.

Having restored a number of cars, I could easily see that this car would require an outrageous amount of money and work to get it even roadworthy, let alone "restore" it. But, Dan, you are the expert, so if you want to drop 100K to restore this car, PM me and I will give you the guy's phone number.

[Dan Szwarc]

Lol, blame Autocarrot for calling you Sloppy.

I'm not asking for myself. There may be a member in Florida who is interested.

[TonyC]

I would think so, too, especially in that part of Florida where the vintage-Lincoln crowds are most congregated. Maybe, if you haven't yet, you can bring up the subject to Chris Dunn who owns and runs LincolnLand, just next door to Tampa in Clearwater. Although the E-Bay market may be dry, that's not the only source of market; and Chris ought to know the car's potential as well as anyone. Will he pay a pusher's weight? No...but he can likely get a better idea of whether to salvage or cannibalize.

Unless the subject Mark has vinyl covering on its roof, or a prior owner did not bother clearing his weapons, I doubt the roof may be "shot." The primary cause of trouble will be in the seals around the movable panel. But, without actually seeing the hunk-a, I cannot swear to that.

---Tony

[scoopyg]

I did in fact refer the guy to Chris and John over at LincolnLand over the weekend. I plan to follow up to see if they were interested in the car.

[BobCT]

Did this wind up at Lincolnland? I was there about a week ago after hours and there was a sunroof Mark III there. It was beyond shot, not a prayer of restoring if it was the same car.