Lincoln Continental
Since it first appeared as a one-of-a-kind executive vehicle, the Lincoln Continental has been the pinnacle luxury Ford car. In 1938, company president Edsel Ford directed chief designer Eugene Gregorie to fashion a car for Ford’s March 1939 spring vacation to Florida. Ford said he envisioned something like a modern-looking 1930 Lincoln Victoria. After receiving these nebulous marching orders, Gregorie started with blueprints of the Lincoln-Zephyr and supposedly completed the initial Lincoln sketch in under an hour. The Zephyr was basically an entry-level luxury car which sold between 1936 and 1940.
The prototype Continental had no running boards, a low hoodline, and virtually no chrome except for the trim. This car had a 12-cylinder engine to go along with front and rear hydraulic brakes and leaf springs.
Ford may or may not have planned to mass-produce what would become the Lincoln Continental. But the car’s overwhelmingly positive reception made the decision a no-brainer. Ford cabled executives in Michigan that he could have sold a thousand Continentals to friends and neighbors.
1939-48 Continentals
Even with the stepped-up production and the famous Ford assembly-line techniques, much of the Lincoln was hand-crafted. Machine presses did not appear until 1941. Before production ceased in 1942 as the country moved to a war footing, Lincolns were very boxy and heavy cars. Full-time production resumed in 1947. Designers updated the trim, added a wood interior, and reconfigured the grille.
These early Lincolns are among the last “classic cars,” according to the Classic Car Club of America. Moreover, the 1948 Continental was the last American car to have a V12 engine.
But in the late 1940s, Ford was a company in transition. Upper management reorganized in the wake of Edsel Ford’s 1943 death. Eugene Gregorie, the Continental’s designer and chief cheerleader, left the company. Ford dropped the Continental at the end of the 1948 model year, choosing to focus instead on lower-priced automobiles.
1956-57 Continental
Probably to take advantage of postwar prosperity, Ford re-introduced the Continental for the 1956 model year. Ford even created a Continental division, making the Mark II its flagship vehicle. That moniker gave the Continental a more European flair while distinguishing it from the Bentley Continental. Because of the Mark II’s $10,000 sticker price, which was as much as five mid-priced Ford Customlines, there was only one option (factory air conditioner for $595). Everything else came standard.
Much like its predecessor, the Mark II had minimal chrome trim, no tailfins, a flat hoodline, and a signature Continental spare tire. However, it had a smaller 368-cubic inch V8 engine. Each Mark II was hand-constructed.
Largely because of the non-assembly line production, Ford later claimed it lost $1,000 for every one of the 3,000 Mark IIs that it produced during these years.
In 1958, third-generation Continentals lost the classic Mark II look. Ford ordered Continental to slash vehicle prices by 40 percent, to better compete with Imperials and Cadillacs. So, Continental placed the new Mark III on a Mercury Capri/Lincoln Premier chassis. As a result the Mark III looks a lot like the Premier, with a few notable exceptions such as slanted headlights and breezeway windows.
