Leaving Lowes yesterday, I came across this 1965 Lincoln Continental. While admiring it, I couldn’t help but think of the hit song “Hot Rod Lincoln” which was written in 1955 by Charlie Ryan. Over the years, there have been numerous covers of the song including the most famous one by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman. While the song is about a Model A with a Lincoln Zephyr V12, this Lincoln has the 430 cubic inch MEL engine that was standard from 1961 thru 1965.
While it is now living a new life as a street rod, this Lincoln still has an elegant look to it. The crisp lines of Elwood Engel’s original look still shine through and this is the last model year before the 1966 design. Paul wrote a great article on the 1965 Lincoln and its place in automotive history (https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1965-lincoln-continental-the-last-great-american-luxury-car/) which I highly recommend as required reading for any Lincoln enthusiast. I was amazed by its size. I had always heard that Lincolns were the “smaller” luxury car in the early 1960’s but this car has presence.
I could well imagine arriving at a formal affair in this Lincoln.
I find conflicting messages, I never associate wire wheels with hot rods, particularly on a Continental, but that bug catcher scoop on the other hand… well, I have nothing nice to say about it. I like the fact that it’s neither lifted or slammed to the ground
I don’t like the scoop, either. But the car is cared for, and loved…as of today, by how many thousands more among the CC readership?
Love the car, I personally Like the ’61/’62 front ends more though. This one looks very cool, but I’d lose the hood scoop as well. Incongruous to the rest of the car. And as XR7 says, nice to see its suspension not altered.
I like it
I like the hood scoop and the rims on this car. It gives it a very mean and sinister look to it. Adding tinted windows would complete the look.
It kind of looks like a car in one of those killer car movies (such as the The Car(which was a customized 1971 Lincoln Mark III ) )
It’s a shame to cut- up the hood for a cheesy retro mod. It’s largely decorative and unnecessary. There’s other mods that one could do that aren’t so permanent.
I’m all for people trying different customizing looks on cars. Go for it and live your dreams. But its nice to do things that can be un-done / unbolted / scraped-off to return a classic to stock. A stock look is always worth more and has more broad appeal.
Agreed, if a bowling ball landed on the center of the hood, then by all means, cut a hole and add a scoop. This particular scoop rubs me the wrong way in general, there needs to be a 6-71 blower underneath it to pull it off, and because it sits so low on the hood it doesn’t even fake it well. I’ve seen this used on other cars before too, I think a 71 or 72 Mustang Mach 1 on Top Gear a few years ago, and it drove me nuts then. I felt as irritated by that as the Argentine protesters did about the falklands plate on the Porsche on the same episode!
There are things I’ve considered adding to my Cougar in the many many years I’ve owned it, but I know my indecisive nature would make me regret it down the line, regardless of value or onlookers opinions(I may not like what this owner did with the scoop but I don’t want him to be obligated to fix it either). I installed a factory sport package spoiler designed for my car in the exact color match and to date go back and forth wishing I hadn’t done it, and that’s only a hew little holes I had to make! I’m very wary of cosmetic whims apart from wheels, which can always easily be changed(and on these old cars modern tread makes them sooooo much better to drive)
When I was still too young to drive, I thought it’d be cool to put a well-built, well-muffled 460 in an ’80-’84 Town Car. This reminds me of that.
Aaaahhh, sacrilege! This was my parents’ car when I was in college, triple black ’65, I drove it often. It did indeed have presence, it was the most elegant car on the road, you felt like a million bucks in it. Easy to drive and navigate, never seemed too big to enjoy. My favorite luxury car then and now.
Is it possible the scoop is fake and just glued to the hood? I see the look the owner is going for, and it’s not too bad. Not too radical. I would drive it for sure. The back legroom is smaller than I imagined. It looks roomier in The Matrix when they have to get the “bug” out of Keanu Reeves. “Woah.”
“The back legroom is smaller than I imagined.”
Yes, rear seat legroom (and trunk space) was never a strong suit of the “Camelot Continentals.” If you think this one is tight, you should look at a ‘61 to ‘63, which has a wheelbase that is three inches shorter than this one (123” versus 126”).
Yet despite being 10” shorter than a DeVille of the same era, the Lincoln managed to weigh a few hundred pounds more!
I can attest that there was a LOT of legroom in that back seat, my brother and I were both 6′-3″ and 6′-2″, and we never wanted for legroom in that spacious rear seat area (see my post above). And in spite of it being heavy, it still drove and handled beautifully. And those center opening doors allowed you to enter the rear seat area gracefully, rather than “climbing” in like other 4-door cars. I can’t say enough good things about these Lincolns, they were fabulous.
The rear seat leg room of a ’65 Continental is 40.5″; the ’65 Cadillac has 41.1″, or a whopping 3/5 of an inch more! But the Conti is some 8″ shorter overall shorter. So which one is more space efficient?
Looking again at the picture above, it seems the front seat is all the way back, and maybe reclined. That added to the “small legroom” effect in the back. Maybe someone 8 feet tall is driving it. Or it is being used as a dental chair. Still, nice dental chair.
Your point is well made. But the term “space efficient” for either car is giving me a laugh…
The move to flat side glass in ’64-’65 was also to widen up the interior at the shoulders and make the car feel roomier. The roof as a result is noticeably wider than in the ’61-’63 models. I’m hard pressed to think of another car that reverted to flat windows after switching to curved glass.
“I looked in my mirror a red light was blinkin’, the cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln!”
The next step…
I could do without the scoop and wire wheels, but at least it’s being cared for. Looks like the owner appreciates the status of the vehicle.
May it roll many more miles😎😎😎😎😎
How does a 6-cylinder Continental rate on the sacrilege scale? This one was built to provoke, but also does have 600+ rwhp.
It’s a Ford engine so I’m a-ok. Looks easier to work on, the engine bay in these unibodies are tight!
That looks like Ford Australia’s Barra straight six engine with turbocharger hidden under the heat shield.
https://www.fordmuscle.com/news/video-obscure-engines-the-australian-ford-barra-inline-six/
You are correct, you need a turbo for 600 rwhp. The air filter is mounted directly onto the turbo inlet and can be seen just behind the breather.
Looks like factory manifolds but custom pipework, maybe a slightly different turbo. Not much change to make what is a fair amount of horsepower; more than the car could use with the 18 or 19″ wheels it was running. No need to worry about breaking driveline components, you would get wheelspin well before that.
Except for the hood,this is an amazingly beautiful car!!!
This thing would have to have about a thousand horsepower to get out of it’s own way!
The ’65’s are nice, but I always preferred the ’61-’63’s with the curved side glass. They we’re a bit smaller and seemed more personal and exquisite. The ’61 Conti was a hugely significant car, instantly redefining the essence of a luxury car and eclipsing Cadillac for one of the few times in its history. The contrast with the ’60 Lincoln and Cadillac is stark.
The story was that Elwood Engel originally designed this to be the ’61 T- Bird, but the Bulletbird styling was selected instead. However, Ford prez Robert McNamara liked Engel’s design so much it was used for the new Continental. For not being a car guy McNamara had pretty good automotive instincts. He pushed for the 4 seat T-Bird and Falcon, both sales winners, and opposed the Edsel from the start. Too bad his magic deserted him in his next position.
Beautiful, stately car. I’d like one with the 5.0 Coyote under the hood and some modern brake and suspension hardware. Not digging the wire wheels and hood wart, this thing needs to fly silently and tastefully.
Hey, it’s a restored Lincoln. Regardless of personal taste issues, the car lives and the owner is proud of the statement it makes. If it’s good for him, it’s good for me.
Are those Thunderbird seats?
Sorry, but Commander Cody’s Hot Rod Lincoln had a flathead V8. (“…got 8 cylinders, and it uses ’em all”)
Paul Niedermeyer did a little research into this song and the original version was, in fact the V-12. A 1960 version by Johnny Bond seems to have been the first where the engine lost four cylinders.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/music/in-search-of-the-true-hot-rod-lincoln/
I have to agree that the 1961-63 models had a more intimate “personal car” feel. The smaller, narrower roof really made it seem cozy inside. I got to drive my Dad’s ’63 through high school, what a sweet car!