The Car Is A Lincoln Continental Mark III

The Car Is A Lincoln Continental Mark III

If you have already been able to watch the 1977 flick The Car, you would know that the story revolves around a vehicle, hence the title. This movie is both a thriller and a horror film and it does tell you the story of a car with no driver and yet the vehicle has been known to do some really gory deeds. Yes, you’ll see scenes of the car moving across a dark stretch of road with its headlights glaring but there’s nobody at the wheel.

One of the things that I do distinctly remember about this movie is when the Lincoln Mark III, which is “The Car”, would blare out this horrifying sound. It simply means that it is just about to kill a person.

I’ve done further research on this movie and I learnt that it was marketed with two taglines. One states, “Is it a phantom, a demon, or the Devil himself?” while the other says, “What evil drives… The Car.”

And while doing my research, I did also come about learning that the Lincoln Continental Mark III was actually a 1971 model. It was designed and customized by the same person who also designed the 1966 Batmobile, George Barris. I guess there was also a six such cars created and all were destroyed during the creation of the movie. However, a seventh unit was created but it was later on given back to Barris. I don’t know where it is now, though.

Anyhow, to get a real good idea of what The Car is all about, here is an summary I found from Wikipedia:
“A small Utah community is terrorized by a phantom black muscle car that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. The main character, Sheriff Wade Parent, is on a mission to stop the demonic car which seems to have no driver. The cops chase the car through the desert, but it takes out several squad cars and disappears after injuring Wade. Things take a personal turn when the car eliminates Wade's girlfriend Lauren in a shocking sequence. Gathering his remaining officers, Wade concocts a plan to stop the horsepower-laden monster. But discovering it hiding in his own garage, Wade is forced to lure the car into a mountainous canyon area, where a final confrontation settles the score and reveals the driver's frightening identity.