(first posted 4/17/2013) What defines a true luxury car? Not comfort and convenience, as was proved so convincingly by the Broughamization of mundane Chevys, Fords and Plymouths. A genuine luxury item is recognized as such because it has sufficient exclusivity, style, quality and prestige to set its owner apart from the masses. What’s more, it must have presence-–the ability to at once command attention and instantly make others aware of the fact that this is something truly out of the ordinary. This Lincoln Continental was the last American luxury car that did just that.
The Great Depression killed the great classic American luxury cars such as this 1932 Lincoln KB V12. The luxury brands that didn’t die were forced to adapt to greatly changed circumstances, such as sky-high top marginal tax rates (91%) that started an era of unprecedented income equality: “The Great Income Compression” had begun.
Successful movie and TV stars of the 1950s like Ronald Reagan lived in 4,000-square-foot ranch homes, not 56,000 square foot palaces. And strong income growth among blue-collar workers made it possible for them to afford tract houses that didn’t look all that different from theirs–not to mention shiny new Chevys that looked very much like new Cadillacs. It was America’s great experiment towards a classless society. Even if reality fell a bit short of perception–especially for some–the optimistic hope of sitting with the elite at the Formica table of the American Dream was about as high as it’s ever been.
At the dawn of the 1950s, these were the forces shaping the luxury car market. Gone were the unique and rarefied top-tier models of the past as manufacturers’ flagship models began sharing bodies and/or other major components with their lesser corporate siblings. The company that tapped into the zeitgeist most successfully was, of course, Cadillac. Together, Harley Earl’s brilliant ability to gauge evolving popular taste, and GM’s ability to deliver it at the right price, gave Cadillac a dominant share of the luxury-car market.
But was Cadillac a true luxury car? This 1950 Series 61 coupe (CC here) was priced at $2,761–just 59% more than a 1950 Chevy Bel Air hardtop coupe. The Great Luxury Car Compression was also underway. If Average Joe wanted one badly enough, he could swing it–even if it meant buying used–which might make this calling this era “The Great Luxury Car Debasement” a more accurate term.
But the Cadillac was a huge commercial success, especially when it came to GM’s bottom line. It certainly didn’t cost the company 59% more to build a basic Cadillac versus a Chevy–especially in 1959, when all GM cars, including that Chevy, shared the same basic body. Where’s the true luxury in that?
The 1959 Cadillac (CC here) may have set new heights with its fins, but otherwise it was a nadir. Advertising could place it in “old money” settings, but the truth is that old money wasn’t exactly likely to climb into a pink ’59 convertible. The term “kitsch” wasn’t invented recently, you know.
Despite these factors, the true-luxury car market in America was by far the world’s biggest, and top-tier European brands were now eying it hungrily. Although cars like Mercedes and the big Jaguars often cost twice as much as a Cadillac, they were nonetheless making inroads despite a comparative lack of certain amenities (and fins). What they did exude was superb quality and timeless elegance–qualities that in themselves justified the cars’ premium prices to a relatively small number of buyers in search of genuine exclusivity and willing to pay the price.
Presumably, Detroit knew they were vulnerable at the upper end of the market. The Lincoln brand struggled throughout the Fifties, fighting a recurring if not endless battle to differentiate itself from a Mercury or Ford. This is not a luxury car.
Thus Ford took a giant step into the rarefied niche of true luxury cars with its 1956 Continental Mark II and the creation of the exclusive Continental Division. Priced at $10,000 ($85,000 adjusted–and two-and-a-half times as much as a Cadillac), its hard to say whether the Mark II was more a halo car and PR effort made at the very time Ford was going public with its stock or a serious attempt at a commercially-viable undertaking. Since Ford ended up losing $1,000 on each of the 3,000 made, hopefully the PR value wasn’t a loss either.
The Mark II (CC here) was relatively conservatively styled to recapture some of the timeless elegance of the original 1939 Continental, named in homage to the elegant coach-built cars of Europe. It was decidedly all-American, but in an understated way; it wouldn’t look totally out of place on the continent, except for its size. Despite the throwback spare-tire hump, it wasn’t exactly neo-classical either; a trend that would appear some years later. But the controversial decision to incorporate what now came to be known as the “continental spare” was clearly a first shot in that direction, and one that would reappear with a vengeance.
Although the Mark II was a commercial flop, GM was not about to be left behind in the all-important war of public perception. Its 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was priced at an even loftier $13,074 ($110,000 adjusted), although it was fundamentally less distinct from lesser Cadillacs than the Mark II was from other Lincolns.
The Eldorado Brougham’s styling was the result of Earl’s carefully calculated feedback from several Motorama prototypes and as such, reflected popular taste rather than the breaking of any new ground stylistically (although it did premiere GM’s X-frame, which allowed a lower roof line): The Brougham was an über-Cadillac with leaky air springs–and an even bigger sales bust than the Mark II.
The most significant design aspect of the Eldorado Brougham was its suicide rear doors, which undoubtedly were chosen to improve entry into the rear compartment, into which the large C-pillar intruded substantially. In that regard, the Brougham was really a forerunner of today’s four-door coupes, as well as the 1961 Continental. Note the lack of a B-pillar.
images:aaca.org
Continental was also working on a four-door version, to be called the Mark III. The earliest proposal depicts it as just a lengthened Mk II given rear suicide doors and a new roof. With a 132″ wheelbase, it would have been a huge car.
The Mark III design was developed further, but still on a lengthened Mk II frame.
But when Ford decided to switch the 1958 Lincoln and Thunderbird to unibody construction, the Mark III program (also dubbed “Berline”) got the order to start over with a unibody-based design. Although there is certainly some design continuity, it was heading in a much more angular and flat-planed direction. The Mark III program was killed along with the Continental Division, but it foreshadows the ’61 Continental’s basic configuration, as well as aspects of its styling.
image: remarkablecars.com
There was a production 1958 Lincoln Continental Mark III, but it was only the top-line version of the giant 1958 Lincolns (CC here). It was such a disappointment that Ford had no compunction about re-using the Mark III name again in 1969. That would makes this one the Mark III Mk 1.
The oft-told 1961 Continental design genesis story goes like this: Elwood Engel was working on an alternative design proposal for the new 1961 Thunderbird (CC here); however, Joe Oros’ more overtly sporty version was picked, resulting in the Bullet Bird. Ford President Robert MacNamara ran into Engel’s slab-sided proposal almost by accident. He took a shine to it (as had some other execs), and wondered if it couldn’t be adapted for the new 1961 Lincoln.
And so it was. Although now lengthened to fit a 123″ wheelbase for the rear doors, and widened a bit, it still shared certain key unibody structural components with the Thunderbird in order to save costs. Not to take anything away from Engel’s fine design proposal, but it would hard to deny that the Mark III concept by John Reinhardt was also a contributing factor, right down to the suicide doors. Thankfully, the continental spare hump wasn’t included.
That goes for the front end too, which was still very much showed its Mark II roots. The ’61 Continental was spared any attempt at design continuity with the past–and why? In the wake of Lincoln’s near-death experience there was no point in carrying any continuity forward. The approach was exactly opposite to Cadillac’s, which nurtured design continuity and avoided drastic changes. Now Ford had a unique opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start fresh.
The result was nothing short of brilliant. It was a radical departure from the norm, and a true harbinger of a new decade of change. The 1961 Lincoln Continental utterly eclipsed its competition with the first new design direction of the 1960s. Just like the 1960 Corvair was highly influential on European and Japanese design, the ’61 Continental showed the way forward in American luxury car design–nor was its influence limited to the U.S.
It was a group effort that brought it to completion, and Eugene Bordinat (Design Chief), Don DeLaRossa, Elwood Engel, Gale Halderman, John Najar, Robert Thomas and George Walker were collectively honored with an atypical (for a car) award from the Industrial Design Institute. They noted its “outstanding contribution of simplicity and design elegance”.
And in another break from the GM-initiated annual design-change tradition, it was clearly stated that the Continental would not be playing that game. No changes for the sake of change alone. Heresy!
The Continental was a total repudiation of everything Harley Earl and Cadillac stood for. The era of fins, chrome-slathered sides, rocket exhausts, jet engine intakes and fighter-cockpit greenhouses was over the moment eyes set on the new Continental. Has there ever been such a paradigm shift in automotive taste, and one that happened so abruptly?
It didn’t take long for the Conti’s influence to be felt; by 1962, Cadillac offered a formal four-window roof as an alternative to their traditional six-window sedan. And perhaps influenced by the Continental’s tidier dimensions, this Park Avenue model also featured a shorter trunk.
By 1965-1966, Cadillacs had become decidedly more slab-sided.
And after Engel’s move to Chrysler, it was no surprise to see the Conti’s key design aspects reappear on the ’64 Imperial (save for the carryover 1957 windshield, which Chrysler was too cheap to update). Following the Continental’s design genes as they scattered across the globe would take a whole article by itself, but since we’re quite familiar with the recent Chrysler 300, we know it certainly hasn’t ended.
Undoubtedly, many wish it would reappear on a proper Lincoln.
The 1961 Continental was unique in other ways. It was available only as a four-door sedan and four-door convertible, in one level of trim. The sedan was priced about 10% higher than a Cadillac DeVille, and was very well equipped for the times. What’s more, each car was subjected to rigorous quality testing, something very atypical for a production car at this price level. Even the lighter was given a workout. Imagine that today.
The new Continental encompassed all the qualities of a true luxury car: Exclusivity, style, quality, prestige and presence, at a mere 10% premium of a DeVille. What a bargain, given the Mark II’s towering price. And what exactly did the Mark II and Fleetwood Brougham have that the Continental didn’t, other than the spare tire hump and leaky air springs? Lincoln staked out a new niche just above Cadillac, and it was embraced heartily by those looking for that.
There were a number of reasons this generation is commonly called the “Kennedy Continental”, including the obvious fact that he was riding in one at the time of his assassination. But the ’61 Continental arrived at the same time Kennedy was elected. Fifty new Continentals were sent to the Inaugural parade, further cementing the ties. And a new presidential limo soon followed.
Jackie Kennedy brought a new era of tasteful refinement to not only the White House, but the entire nation, and it was hard to picture her riding in anything else. This generation of Continental truly lived up to its name. Maybe too much so. The French adored Jackie, and the Continental too. Was the Continental a bit too to rarefied and “continental” for the Silent Majority? If so, it certainly cemented the Conti’s image as being one definitive step above the Cadillac in exclusivity and prestige.
I arrived in the U.S. at almost exactly the time of the ’61 Continental’s debut. As with all of us, the cars of our childhood tend to leave the deepest impressions. Ironically, when it comes to the Conti most of them came from LIFE magazine and TV; I struggle to conjure up a memory of seeing one in Iowa City during those years.
Undoubtedly there must have been some sightings, but I knew of none anywhere in my part of town, even though I did see several Cadillacs. That certainly added to the perception of exclusivity, and perhaps warped it. But any Continental sighting in Iowa back then, likely at a University of Iowa football game (where I prowled the parking lot) was a memorable moment indeed.
A chance to feast on its many superb details, like the symmetrical door handles.
To peer down the pointed peak of its belt line, like a gun sight.
And feast on its cast-metal taillight housing.
Take note of what seemed like the world’s longest wipers, which were operated by a hydraulic motor fed from the power steering pump: whoosh, whoosh.
Mustn’t forget to check out the huge tires. The early ones had 9.00 x 14s, a size almost unheard of on production cars. This 1965 originally came with 9.15 x 15s, also a highly uncommon size back then. Ford certainly didn’t wimp out on tires here. But then, they were carrying a bit of weight; all these Conti’s typically topped the 5,000 lb barrier; the convertible was solidly over 5,500 lbs.
Under the hood, the biggest engine in the land, the 430 cubic inch MEL V8, murmured quietly to itself in the engine room, until the “full-speed ahead” order was received from the helm. The rather unusual two-barrel 1961 version (full story here) later went the way of a four-barrel, with a 320 hp rating at an easy 4600 rpm. With 465 lb-ft. of torque, the redline was probably rarely seen.
Except maybe when LBJ took some members of the press on a tour of his ranch in his Continental convertible and topped ninety mph. Those are the kind of tidbits from the news back then that I remember.
It’s no secret that the ’61 likely was Lincoln’s last chance to survive as a brand; Ford lost massive sums on the fiascoes of the 1958-1960 models and the Edsel. While its sales results did not fully match its acclaimed aesthetic reception, and given that 1961 was a recession year, the Continental did increase its market share compared with the competition. And it permanently moved into the number two slot above the Imperial. It was an encouraging if not overwhelming start, and certainly more than enough to give Lincoln a reprieve. Nothing like a near-death experience to really sharpen the focus and creativity; it’s a lesson Ford would re-learn more than once.
One of the key design features of the 1961 Continental is its use of curved side-window glass, and the pronounced tumblehome of its roof. This reflects its origins as a coupe; in fact, a bit too much so, as egress to and from the rear seat was less than ideal, and certain interior dimensions were not overly generous.
This shot makes that quite clear, and certainly reinforces the benefits of the rear suicide doors.
Thus, in 1964, the Continental received its first significant changes, adding additional space in the rear passenger area by extending the wheelbase to the rear by three inches, along with a wider roof structure to reduce tumblehome and increase shoulder room. The Continental was now a true luxury sedan instead of a four-door coupe (1965 shown above). But there was a price to pay.
Gone were the delicately-curved side window panes, replaced with flat ones. It’s a bit retrograde. There has been speculation that there were water intrusion issues, or that it was just a cost-saving measure, but the wide “gutters” that run between the tips of the peaked belt line molding and the actual greenhouse are still very much there, and rather impressive.
I’m a purist, and as such I once regarded the changes for ’64 and ’65 as sacrilegious, but I’ve since changed my mind. The length of the roof of the ’61-’63 feels like it’s just a bit too short relative to the long hood and trunk; the additional length in the rear door and roof make for a well-balanced design. And the flat-paned glass works well-enough with all the other flat planes and edges. Still, if I had the choice, I’d take a ’61-’63.
Ideally, there would have been a two-door coupe, like this one imagined by casey/artandclour with the shorter wheelbase and narrower roof, as well as a longer sedan from the get-go, but that wasn’t in the budget. Too bad.
I do prefer the earlier front end designs, even the slightly modified version of the ’64 (above). It was already iconic.
The 1965 front end was the first substantial deviation, a deliberate effort to give the starkly simple original design greater depth and complexity: a foreshadowing of things to come.
Sorry, brougham lovers; no loose-pillow, crushed-velour Barcoloungers here. The Continental’s interior was available in a choice of leather or cloth of restrained patterns and design. The influences of sleek international modernism had not yet been overpowered by over-the-top “luxury for the masses”.
(dashboard missing its padded cover)
That would come soon enough. As would Mercedes, whose sleek and modern leather interiors and high-quality materials created a general ambiance not all too different than a Lincoln’s. Live and learn: That’s really the gist of this whole post.
The Great Brougham Epoch made the trappings of luxury available to the masses. By the time cars like the Plymouth Valiant Brougham appeared in 1974, it had long become obvious that any connotations of genuine luxury, prestige and exclusivity were now history, color-keyed wheel cover centers and all.
Of course, it was none other than Ford that ushered in the Brougham Epoch, starting with the 1965 LTD (CC here). Here were all the perceived trappings of a genuine luxury car, at a Ford price. And where did that leave the real luxury cars? Ironically, Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial began to cheapen their products in the late Sixties, which was of course exactly the opposite of what needed to happen.
Instead, Lincoln started chasing Cadillac. The 1966 refresh added length, new curved hips and larger wheel openings. A 10% price reduction didn’t fully reflect the drop in exclusivity and some de-contenting, but it succeeded in pushing sales upwards. And also in looking a lot more like the 1966 Ford LTD.
Instead of taking the Continental upmarket against Mercedes with a modernized trimmer unibody, independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, fuel injection and more modern technology, Lincoln, by 1970, (CC here) had become nothing more than a tarted-up LTD. Presence? Exclusivity? Prestige?
Stephanie called me excitedly when she spotted this black ’65 Continental; she had recognized it instantly. I can assure you she would never have noticed the blue 1970 blob above, let alone known what it was. Tell a non-car person standing across the street that the ’70 is a Mercury or a Ford LTD and undoubtedly they’d believe you. Try that with any Mercedes or BMW. Or with any Gucci shoes, Louis Vuitton bag, Hermes scarf or so many other luxury goods. If it isn’t distinctive, it might as well be…a Mercury.
With the 1961-1965 Continental, Ford created an icon, one as instantly recognizable as any Mercedes or Rolls Royce–and without even copying them! It was an all-American original and timelessly classic design. And then they proceeded to throw it all away, watering it down for 1966 before completely melting away in 1970.
Presumably, Ford must have seen that problem coming, so they did do something highly original about it: slap a faux Rolls Royce grille on the front of a glorified Thunderbird, and resurrect the Continental spare hump in the back. Bingo: the 1969 Mark III, with genuine copy-and-paste luxury creds on both ends. And the Great Brougham Epoch now had a new standard-bearer. Not a bad-looking car, but certainly not a very original one.
Many love these Marks; to each their own. They have their charms, undoubtedly; a rolling, wallowing testament to an era of unbridled excess. And they certainly sold well, making Ford tons of money. But they were also a dead end, because the real luxury car market had already moved on to other things. Like the car behind it.
And no, not this. But this is what the Marks spawned. And it’s not exactly something Jackie would have been caught dead riding in.
For what it’s worth, she bought herself a BMW Bavaria, a clean, simple and elegant design if there ever was one. Now this post isn’t about the cars of Jackie O., but her choice makes a convenient (and predictive) end point to our story about the “Kennedy” Lincoln Continental, the last great American luxury car.
Vintage brochure images from oldcarbrochures.com
Related reading:
CC Unicorn Hunt: The Missing 1961 Lincoln Continental Pillarless Hardtop Sedan T. Halter
CC 1956 Continental Mark II: Caught in the Pincers PN
CC 1958 Continental Mark III T. Klockau
Call me a Philistine but the suicide doors looked old fashioned to me and reminded me of the British taxi cab.The coupe is gorgeous,what a shame that was a non starter.
As a european it has always has and continues to baffle me how anyone could like those huge, gas guzzling, poor quality, prehistoric, badly performing and above all ugly beasts that only Americans drive. We call them Yank tank. Love America. Love it in so many ways, but when it comes to cars the world looks at you in dissbelief my friends
As an American, I have exactly the same thought as you, David. You’d think people would tire of hauling around town a car the size of a small building. But no—the bigger the better, and uglier, too. We once made some very beautiful cars here, like the Lincoln Continental which is the main subject of this article. But now it’s just giant SUVs and tawdry Cadillacs.
As an American, I look at those tiny, misanthropic vehicles of Britain, and wonder where your creativity and artistic visualization is. The distances on travels in the United States spoke for a vehicle large enough to be comfortable in. The technical restraints of the time, and the quality of build, required good metal. And good metal weighs. When one considers how many of those cars survived, as compared to British automobiles, the quality of build is starkly evident. Of course they used gasoline. They had mass. They had weight. And above all, they had a presence that only the most rarefied British automobile had.
It is all very easy to look down your nose at an American automobile. It is equally shortsighted and ignorant. Now, we suffer under this homogeneity of “european” inspired copycat jelly beans, and it is depressing. And considering the passage of time, you have done no more to increase the MPG of your automobiles than Detroit has. It’s absurd. Particularly when I can do it with the simple addition of header pipes.
If we wanted British automobiles, we would purchase them We did not. And apparently, they are no better, most assuredly, than ours-BMW seems to have flouted your automotive presence entirely. Screw all of your foreign cars. I long for the days of real American iron.
Well said, British cars for a long time, were the laughing stock of the automotive landscape.
Must we bring up the lovely British, trouble-prone Lucas Electronics?
Triumph, MG, Rover(Land Rover, excepting?), Austin, Jensen Healey went the way of the T-Rex…
But us Americans really can’t talk. Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Mercury, Saturn, Plymouth, have also joined the realm of the Passenger pigeon.
If British cars were more superior, why would Jaguar and Aston Martin, with their Blueblood pedigrees, look to lowly, country bumpkin Ford, for guidance and automotive rehab?
Naw, that would be absurd.
Although, I’m glad to see Jaguar, back as being designed and built in England, again…I do like the latest offerings.
Wow, are the new ones sexy.
American and British cars, both have their Deadly Sins and vices.
That’s why, I’m an older Toyota and Datsun guy. 😛
What I can tell anyone, around the world, about my owning a 1961 Lincoln Continental in 1982-’83, when I took 2 years out in the middle of college is that it was actually quite good on gasoline and handled extremely well (keep in mind had a 280ZX as well). The 430 was detuned and had only a two-barrel carb– hence the good gas mileage. Due to it being a very rigid unibody and low-slung I found that it handled exceptionally well for a car of it’s size and it was still relatively small, in America, at that time (so short that the rear-hinged doors were necessary for someone to enter and exit the rear with ease). Also, due to the fact that these were the first American cars to have a thorough quality control program on each one before it left the factory meant that it was quite reliable for me to use as a daily driver. The quality in it was second to none and miles better than any other US car. It looked beautiful and was built exceptionally well. Today I have a low mileage Rolls Royce Silver Shadow which I love but, the 1961 Lincoln Continental is on par with it in regards to build quality. The quality of the Lincoln Continentals would begin to drop by 1966 due, in part, to cost savings sharing of parts with lesser Ford products and also it going down market to iincrease sales.
How can you say American cars were huge and ugly with poor quality. The older cars had good quality & reliability. and had style. Europeans cars were dull looking in comparision .Look at all of the people around the world that still strive for & collect these cars to this day. It is true most people don’t have the foggiest idea about style & prestige. Most people only look at cars, and if it has four wheels a seat & steering wheel they are excited, with the saliva dripping down. Most cars coming out of any country today all look like bars of soap. Few people had class back in the day and now you have to search for class in people.
Good afternoon sir
David – as a European, I love the luxury segment of US cars. Ever since I could walk, I would gasp whenever my eyes cought sight of one of these cars.
My parents were used to it, but it always took a while for friends of my parents to get used to my reactions, if they had me riding with them in their back seat. They would think they were about to hit a tree or something.
When I was fourteen, my two friends in the house next door had a visit from their uncle, who turned up in a black 1965 Lincoln Continental with tuxedo interior.
I was lost – forever.
To this day it is still one of the most elegant and ariscotratic cars I have ever seen, heard and driven in.
I was very close to buying a similar car back in 1986, but the dealer would not trade in my 1977 Opel Comodore GS/E Coupe (the only European car I bought myself – the most expensive car to run I have ever had), why I ended up driving Cadillacs for almost two decades (still do).
Not untill 2002 did I manage to become the happy owner of a 1975 Continental Mark IV, which I still drive and enjoy immensely.
Should faith be with me, I would add a 1964-67 Lincoln Continental to my fleet anytime possible.
Pictures of the 1965 Lincoln Continental with tuxedo interior.
The car no longer exists, but the interior does. It rear seat was moved to the car pictured in 1986, to repair a damage a mechanic did to the back seat whilst reparing the panels under it for rust.
Another picture from 1973
In 1986 I tried to buy one, but the dealer would not trade in my Opel Commodore GS/E Coupe, unfortunately.
Another 1986 picture of the tuxedo interior
Another 1986 picture from my test drive. I am quite sure the person, who actually bought it, removed these unfortunate wheels and put the original wheels and wheel covers back on.
The car is for sale again, but the price – with a good reason – has become quite high – $24K – which unfortunately is too high for me at the present moment.
A car with an interesting first owner history.
The rear suspension springs were wrapped in leather to prevent noise.
There were 2 or three of these cars imported to Denmark in 1965 – interestingly enough with similar interior. Either of them was used in more than on Danish movie – like here.
Perhaps the best and, in my opinion, one of the most important write-ups to yet appear in Curbside Classic.
Seconded.
Thirded.
Obviously, this article was inspired by the elegance and luxury of the vehicle. It is a terrific presentation!
Also, very, very picture heavy!
So, much luxury car eye porn, along with good insight, makes this a CC best.
Paul, at the top of his game.
I love these with all their sinister undertones- this one reminds me of the car of choice of Robert Vaughn, “Former TV scientist, turned nightmare angel of the expressways” from the novel “Crash” by J.G. Ballard.
Very well presented, very well researched article. While I may disagree with some of the opinions stated, the author’s sincere admiration, appreciation and respect for this model comes thru loud and clear.
The 61-65 models were beautiful, but I think the 66-67 models are very attractive also, especially the coupe. After that, they went downhill, with the exception of the engine – in my view the 460 was a better engine than either Cadillac’s 472 or Chrysler’s 440…..
Again, great article – I’d suggest you forward it to the Lincoln and Continental Owners Club “Continental Comments” monthly periodical….am sure they’d consider publishing it.
I agree, a great article and with real good information. I have been a Ford man since 1966. In my opinion the 65 Continental is the most beautiful and elegant of the 60s. The simple changes to the front turn indicators and marker lamps, and the chrome bezels surrounding the taillights really set the entire car off. It’s exactly what the Continental needed. The 66 through 69 exterior look, seemed bland compared with the 65s. I do like the dashboard redesign, that worked well. In my opinion, the 1970 through 77s are also attractive, again the front and rear end of fender lights are very Lincoln esk.also the C pillars have a very stately design, and I love the dashboard, the full gauges placed in front of the driver works great, it fit perfectly with the rest of the car, and I’m sure no one has ever seen a larger ashtray than the ones on the Continental. When compared with the Cadillacs of the same era, the Continental Town Cars win every time. I never understood how Cadillac could have produced such a non discript car. They were just big and boring. There is no design quality to the rear of the car at all. The taillights were as boring as the dashboard, so in regards to the rest of the car I suppose they fit the entire look. Boring. The mid-70s Lincolns are the last of the big American luxury cars. The author made the point that here in the US, the wide open roads spanning the country need large luxury cruisers to be comfortably handle the long distances. I would much rather have the comfy cruisers than the SUVs that dominate today’s roads. I don’t think any of us could have seen that coming back in the day.
Very nice writeup! Enjoyable to read, and captures the essence of this grand Lincoln perfectly. Oh, how Lincoln needs something like this now, as it’s back in near death category. Naming it “Continental” would probably help, instead of the stupid MK-something. Unfortunately, Lincoln had decided to go straight for the ‘reward’ part of the rebirth, and do the bread and butter models first. Bread and butter models like the Lexus ES and stuff sells because Lexus was known for its great LS. Can’t do the ‘reward’ part without doing the ‘halo’ thingy. Lincoln’s ‘halo’ is this Continental, and being from the ’60s, and without a true successor since then, its effect has been diminished to nothingness. Thus, Lincoln today compete with Buicks and Hyundais, not Cadillac, let alone imported Luxury brand.
All true, and thought the same while I read this CC. But if this car ends up being Lincoln’s high point before extinction, well, it’s not a bad way to go.
You knocked this one out of the park, Paul.
Superb post. The photos do it justice too. Design-wise, it’s difficult to overstate the significance of this car.
A very good article! This is an example of why I visit this website every day.
Simply fabulous, both the car and the piece about it. I consider the 1964-65 as the ultimate 1960s Lincoln, and perhaps the ultimate post WWII Lincoln. I was hopeful that this car was starting to get the respect it deserves within the Ford Motor Company when, a few years ago, themes from the grilles and dashboards of these cars started to appear on Navigators. Alas, Lincoln seems to have moved on.
I have loved these cars since I was a kid. This one in basic black inside and out is just perfect. This answers a question asked yesterday: THIS is a car I would happily drive for the next ten years.
As an aside, as much as I enjoy everyones work here, a genuine PN-penned CC is a juicy, delicious treat that I will savor all day long. This piece is as much of a luxury as the Continental.
LIke PN, I’m torn between the original ’61-’63s and the ’64 – I could never warm to the ’65 front end. Truly the most mid-century modern car ever created – the seats were inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair. I’m an Imperial guy, but I make an exception for these (and ’55-56, ’63-64, and ’69-70 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Specials).
Re: your reference to current Lincoln styling, they seemed torn between this look at the ’41 waterfall grille for inspiration, but the ’41 won out. On the new MKZ, it’s actually quite nice, not so much on the others, and I think they would have been better off pivoting off the ’61. They did a great concept a few years ago, even had suicide doors, but it went nowhere. Like so much at Lincoln these days.
Great right up, thanks Paul.
I’ve been fascinated with this cars since I was two and my grandparents’ neighbor bought one. In a lot of ways, it set the standard in my mind for what a luxury car should be: powerful and stylish, yet elegantly restrained. Confident without being a showboat. It’s a car that knows what it is, and makes no pretensions. Too many cars try too hard (looking at you 99% of all Cadillacs).
Why cannot someone like something,and not put something else down/? Cadillac outsold these Lincolns 2-1. When Cadillac,became ‘retrained’,the fell behind the every large, parody of a”WHAT A LUXURY CAR SHOULD BE”:during the early80’s,and culminating in the early Town Car,of the 90’s..
Thanks for addressing the mystery of why Ford reverted to flat side glass in the 1964-65 Continental (and 1964-66 Thunderbird), in particular the priority given to widening the roof for a less confining interior. I suppose, given that side-door steel guard beams weren’t required until 1969, that there was a lot of empty space in the doors that enabled a change in the shape of the window tracks to be made easily, whereas preserving curved side windows with a wider roof would have necessitated narrower “gutters” between the base of the window and the bright molding on the upper door edges, probably a much costlier choice.
Not just the Lincolns but also Thunderbirds went to flat glass with their new ’64 model on the same platform. I read once that it was a corporate decision that the stylists were not happy about, probably caused by complaints about water leakage. I had a 1961 Lincoln for ten years that was 40-50 years old and should have had shrunken seals by then (my 25 year old Trans Sport leaked at both front doors and let in road noise – and it didn’t even have hardtop style windows like the Lincoln did – and also the tailgate leaked a lot, but had no leaks when I got it at 10 years old) but the curved glass Lincoln had no road noise or water leakis.
Best writeup ever. Great find too.
I was privileged to ride in one of these exactly ONCE – in early 1970, before I bought my avatar, hitching a ride into town from my air force base.
It was pale yellow, of all colors! The interior was black, though, and it was a real cool car, if a little tired and slightly rough around the edges at that time.
I got to ride in a wide variety of cars for my first 7 months at Beale, and I must admit, Ford products were a much smoother ride than anything else from that era.
My high school sweetheart’s mom had one of these, a ’65 I believe, in pale yellow with black interior. So elegant. What a ride, and was she ever proud of it.
Wonderful article!
FoMoCo has multiple examples of coming out with winners just when it seems like it’s all over.
A friend of mine’s family had an immaculately preserved ’65 Fairlane back in the 80’s. One day I got a glimpse of what was in the trunk – Continental winter floor mats. I asked about them and was told the father once had a ’61 Continental. I was also told the father did not want to talk about the car because he regretted letting it go. No kidding.
Excellent article, well-chosen illustrations. The ’65 is an appropriately symmetrical apex between the bizzaro ’60 and the bloated ’70. And I don’t object to the squared-off greenhouse, as it adds some formality that would have been perceived as, well, continental.
I think Paul’s point about this being a distinctly American approach to modern luxury is what makes the story so poignant – if only because they gave up on it so quickly. I think my all-time favorite Imp pic is this one:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/1973Imperial01.jpg
Maybe because it echoes this shot of the Connie from Paul:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CC-182-070-1200.jpg
“Sigh.” – Charlie Brown (Another all-American yet somehow counter-American postwar icon.)
Outstanding write-up, expressing the same thoughts about these cars that I have had for many years. I have almost bought suicide-door Lincolns three times (64 convertible, 66 sedan, 67 convertible) without finally pulling the trigger, each time drawn by the unique style and elegance, and deterred each time by the expense of the repairs that were clearly necessary (convertible top mechanisms, A/C system on the sedan). It is one of the only American cars that can be put side-by-side with any luxury car in the world (Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, etc.) and fit in perfectly.
The only downside that I see in these cars is that the materials used in the interior did not match the style of the interior — plastics were hard and switches felt flimsy. The contemporary Imperial had a more luxurious feeling interior. Perhaps the Lincoln-inspired Imperial can be considered a further evolution of the Elwood Engel design, albeit without the distinctive suicide doors.
Your mention of the Imperial is interesting. Cadillac used unique mechanicals but shared its body with lesser Buick and Olds cars. Imperial had its own unique body and chassis, but shared its mechanicals with lesser Mopars. Lincoln was the only luxury car in America that shared so little with lesser Ford products. Of course, this distinction did not last all that long.
The heating/AC system on at least the 1961-63 Lincoln is a nightmare. A separate heater core and blower etc. for each side, but no way to set different temperatures. The AC vents are in the center of the dash with another blower and look built in, but the AC is not integrated with the heater and only recirculates like a hang-on unit.
The whole system is run from a single knob (seriously) and uses about 50 miles of vacuum lines. I think the extended/facelifted 1964 model may have had an actually integrated AC system, and I doubt that there is anyone left who understands the first version except, like with the convertibles (also a nightmare but awesome system with all kinds of relays etc.) maybe about one old guy. (Jay Leno has a YouTube video with him).
A hydraulic line to the wipers on my Lincoln burst one day when I was parking, resulting in dead steering (same pump) and smoking PS fluid all over the place. I always figured that if the wipers froze to the windshield they would have enough power to yank it out.
Well, the switches etc. were 1960’s FoMoCo quality, but the turn signal and shift lever are works of art and the window switches (definitely not plebian) too. The interior of mine was like in the photo, but all blue pearl leather and with AC vents replacing the ashtray in the middle. Overall the best Mid Century Modern interior (and exterior) ever. Here’s a closeup of probably the same one. Notice the Continental logos on the instruments and how the instrument pods echo the shape, and the speedometer with turn signal arrows and two other points is a widened logo. It doesn’t get better, people.
Like with a wooden boat, the two best days of my life: the day I bought the Lincoln and the day I got rid of it. It was an awesome problematic joy every day in between.
Outstanding article, Paul! This generation Continental touched my life twice. In 1962 or maybe early ’63, our entire elementary school took a half-mile walk to stand on the sidewalk and watch President Kennedy drive by. I can stil visualize the black Lincoln. And in college, my machine design professor had a 1st gen Continental, which described in class as an example of outstanding American engineering. It was already almost 15 years old and in a time when many faculty members were driving Volvo, Saab, BMW or Mercedes (or Peugeot) but he stuck to his Lincoln. I was a townie, and a friend was friends with the professor’s son, and I actually got a ride in the car. My strongest memories are the suicide doors and the “gutter” along the belt line.
Wow, that was a great article. My first car was a tired but road worthy 1964 Lincoln Continental. I was a Kennedy junkie and a Green Acres fan and had wanted one real bad. I got it for my 16th birthday (1993) and didnt get my license for another 18 months. So it just sat there in the driveway, where I would sit in it for hours at a time. It was “Regimental Red” which was a fancy way of saying maroon. And it had a black leather interior much like this one, albeit with an intact dashboard. My mother haggled the lady who was selling it down to 500 dollars. I will always love that car. It had horrible brakes, and they would go out on me occacionally. One time the only thing that kept me from plowing through the intersection was that the passenger front fender caught on a flat bed truck, the slab sides sported a 12″ gash after that not unlike something you might have seen on the Titanic. I sold the car to a kid who knocked on my door for….$500 by that time it didnt run and he had to tow it away. That was about 12 years ago, and I hadnt driven it for a few years before that. But to this day I still have nightmares of my failing brakes and I wake up with my feet clenched in a panic stop position. On a good day it took both feet to stop that car. But I still miss her, there is nothing like setting sail on an open road with acres of hood and a Continental star at the bow. In fact it is one of the sad things about the Continental Mark III I had later, plenty of hood, but no ornament. But the front discs on the Mk III were a dream, I miss that car too.
“My mother haggled the lady who was selling it down to 500 dollars.”
I like your mom.
Scott, My bet is that your ’64s drum brakes needed repair, because a properly-functioning ’64 brake system would NOT behave THAT badly. [Yes, the ’65s received front disc brakes, with four-piston calipers: marvelously articulate, and with greater stopping power.]
The other, industry-wide “thing” regarding brakes.. is that most makes did not receive the now-standard “dual master cylinder” until MY 1967. Two makes DID have this most excellent and desirable safety feature five years earlier, in 1962: Cadillac and Rambler!
The dual master cylinder is one of the very best features incorporated into automobiles, as were radial tires, alternators, and automatic transmissions.
Great article Paul! Really drives home Lincoln’s switch from true luxury to faux in just a matter of years. Also I never realized how Cadillac followed Lincoln in the 60s. Usually, the slab sided style change is attributed simply to the different tastes of Bill Mitchell as opposed to Harley Earl.
Bill Mitchell was already cleaning up the styling of GM cars before 1961, he became head of styling in 1958, really the cars that had the first serious Mitchell “touch” were the 1961-1962 cars like the first Grand Prix.
Clean and tastefull was very much starting to become the norm, as evidenced by the 1960 Corvair, which pre-dates the Lincoln, and the 1963 Riviera was was already pretty much done by the time the Continental made its debut.
1963 Riviera
“Best ever”, version of the “Riv”!!
Cars not only respond to market pressures, but stylists and designers, while loyal to their employers, are a small but proud group and often is the case everyone knows who everyone is and often are friends. While there is intense competition, like with any type of art form, paradigms and styles often become fashionable as a group and in response to social pressures of the day. The 50s were all about fins not only because of Exner’s and Earl’s personal feelings, but they reflected the mood of the day in the country. So I look at the 61 Continental not only an expression of Elwood Engel and others but a larger social move from the emphasis on jets rockets and Sputnik to the sharp crisp semi formalism that was popular in the early to mid 60s. That is reflected not only in car design but fashion and architecture. No more so than comparison between Mrs. Eisenhower and Mrs. Kennedy, the former was very 50s both in look and poise while Mrs. Kennedy was very 60s. The one off 61 Cadillac dubbed ‘Jacqueline’ was as sharp and trim a car as anything presented.
So I look at the 61 Conti as less a discovery of a previously undiscovered phenomenon but rather one of the first cars to be successful in reflecting the changing paradigm.
Well, if the 1961-69 cars represented true luxury, then I’d say that the transition to faux (or, at least, the full process of broughamization) took place during the 1970-74 model years, with the revised 1975 cars reaching a plateau of awfulness (half-vinyl roofs, fixed quarter windows on the coupes, oval opera windows added to the sedans, needless filigree across the full width of the trunk lid edge, etc.). There were further changes in that direction through 1979 (Mark-type grille, cheapened dashboard) but their additional impact was minimal.
(In the case of the 1975 revision, it was Lincoln that followed Cadillac, with the B pillar redesigned to flow into whatever vinyl roof covering was applied, emulating the B pillar of the 1971-76 Fleetwood Brougham.)
Until the advent of the big bumpers, at least, the 1970-74 Lincolns maintained a certain proportion of the 1961-69 elegance, especially at the tail (with no badging save the Continental symbol that hid the trunk keyhole). The return of the bright full-length fender edge moldings in 1972 was nice, too.
Great article on a car that is in my “top ten” list. I’ve passed an identical twin to the subject car a couple times driving to meetings downtown, but never had time to stop and shoot it. Hope it’s still there next time I head that way.
An outstanding article. It is worth printing out to keep.
And you wonder where they come up with the phrase “Ugly American”? Give the public a beautiful, taut, understated design; executed with care and style. And what do they prefer? The stinking, fat, overweight, ugly, overdone, brougham. Proof that the concept of American taste is totally limited to the individual’s tongue.
Ugly American is not just a political perception. It’s also a realization of the domestic style.
Well, American taste (or lack thereof) is heavily influenced by the fact that in the States, social class is largely a function of money, which creates a strong impulse for conspicuous display.
I’ll speculate that part of the backlash against the fin-mobiles and embrace of cleaner styles like this Lincoln, is related to JFK’s popularity, his strong identification as a New Englander, and the aversion to conspicuous display we associate with New England culture.
Well, saying that cleaner styles were embraced is a tricky thing in this case. The critics and nonautomotive design people loved the Continental, as did some European observers who were not in a position to buy one (or afford the running costs, which would have been ruinous in most European markets). The punters shrugged and bought Cadillacs — during this car’s lifespan, Cadillac outsold Lincoln by something on the order of eight to one. Admittedly, the ’61-’65 Cadillacs were cleaner than they had been, but I would hesitate to call them understated.
When it comes to automobiles, European choices have been influenced as much by high gas prices and tight quarters as by a more refined sense of style.
Syke,
.. and it’s only been accelerated by trashy TV, like Jerri Springer-like crap.
“Taste cannot be taught”… except at home by perceptive, excellent parents.
Our family had only had small cars through the late 50’s and the 60’s… Austins and VW’s mostly. When I was graduating in 1969, some family friends offered to let me drive to my grad in their black ’63 Continental. I drove to their house, dropped off my Dad’s ’68 Beetle and picked up the Conti. Then to pick up my date and head to the Grad Ball.
What an impression that car made on me. Solid, powerful, elegant, quiet… it seemed like the ultimate luxury car, and still feels that way in my memory.
Great write-up, Paul.
Impressive article!
I would love to see an article about the ’61 Continental’s influence on cars’ styling in Europe and Japan.
And Europe may have had some influence on the design of the 1961 Lincoln Continental via the European Ford Taunus:
I recall reading that Engel was influenced by the headlight design of the Taunus when he penned the model that became the Thunderbird and then the Continental.
The Taunus P3 came out exactly the same time as the ’61 Continental (Sept. 1960). Cross-fertilization?
Engle had gone to Europe and saw the Taunus and became obsessed with the bladed fenders and the peak the fenders had. I think the Taunus directly influenced the Continental by inspiring Engle to play with the same motifs on a large scale.
I have loved these cars ever since they were introduced, especially in basic black or very dark blue. A masterful piece, Paul. Thank you.
Excellent article!
In my first air conditioning job the owner had a Lincoln of about that vintage with a big block engine (IIRC he said it was a 460). I remember being offered a ride and having to dig for gas money. He should have been driving something else. It’s a car that I did not appreciate much until now. Your article makes me realize how important it was to Ford.
I have owned a cadillac (1977 with a 425ci engine IIRC) but never wanted that Lincoln. Felt as though I would have had to beg for gas money too and knew I would have been a pretender. When they became Panthers they had enough real world application to interest me. I owned a 85 and a 86 and feel like they had mostly gotten the bugs out of the design. Great cars with a 302. Would cruise at 80 or higher and pass all sorts of gas stations. I still do not feel the itch.
When you retire you seem to change your mind about a lot of things. This is one that hasn’t changed. You also have more freedom with your time but your website seems to own my time several times per day.
The last great original U.S. luxury design.
Did anyone notice this car has no side mirrors? Judging from the paint and interior pics it is a work in progress.
Lincoln did hit a high note with these. I once owned a ’66 Fleetwood Brougham in very dark sapphire (so many of them were black) it was very formal and very crisp like this car and quite heavily laden with real wood and other touches. I am a fan of Elwood Engel and consider the 64-66 Imperials the nicest looking aside from my own 81. I have the least amount of ownership experience with Ford products but could own one of these easily. I will say I do prefer the later models with the more formal squared look.
Another touch that was unique besides the suicide doors was the reverse opening hood. I am not sure if that was a first for an American post war car but it was different. Coupled with the reverse opening trunk lid on convertibles it was an interesting look.
From what I understand since the Conti was based off of four door Mark designs, the car design was finalized in like a record two weeks. They certainly were confident of it as the warranty was 24/24k at the time.
Fomoco had used reverse-opening hoods on and off going back to at least the ’57 Ford.
1955 Thunderbird
My 64 only had one side mirror to begin with, and those blind c-pillars can hide quite a few cars! One of the things I miss the most about my Lincolns is those bladed fenders, It’s really something to see all four corners of your car from the driving position. Although the Mark III because of the slope of the deck you didnt see the rear blades as much.(You did see the tire hump though!) That channel between the greenhouse and the blades(collects alot of debris, leaves, puddled water) was a perfect armrest.
Plus aiming down the road with the squared off gunsight hood ornament centered between the sharp edged stainless trimmed fender blades framing the hood. Perfect.
On the other hand the parallel wipers were backwards, continuing through the completely rebodied 1966 which probably had the same or very similar cowl/firewall structure.
For those claiming the Lincoln and Thunderbird shared a lot of structure, the Thunderbird body was lower, the windshields are different, and the TBird wipers are not parallel. No doubt as unit body cars made in the same factory (as were the also both all new 1958s) they had a lot of engineering and no doubt bits and pieces in common.
The black Conti always reminds me of Animal House and the borrowing of Flounder’s brothers car also a black Continental . Bluto’s advise to Flounder after it gets wrecked – My advice to you is to start drinking heavily. Otter- Better listen to him Flounder he’s in pre-med !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uepFO4psgKE
DEATHMOBILE!
It also doesn’t hurt that Animal House was filmed in Eugene and both the movie and this article share a character named Niedermeyer…
Hey Neidermeyer!!!!!!
Very interesting and wonderful article on American society and the Lincoln Continentals.
Are you trying to win a Pulitzer? (lol)
I prefer the ’61-’63 models, too. They were a lot more distinctive than the later models which looked too “Ford LTD” to me. The new roofline killed it. I’ve always preferred Lincolns over Cadillacs. Although if I were in the market for a $50K car today, the Lincoln dealership is probably the last place you’d find me, what with their “MK-this” and “MK-that” stuff.
IMHO, this is truly one of the most elegant names for an automobile:
Lincoln Continental Town Car
MichaelH, The Lincoln Division tried to copy Cadillac’s “brief letters” style of model nomenclature… which, as you indicate, has NO beauty or creativity… and is, in fact, pathetic—for late-models in both makes.
I think that the designers at GM and at Ford should re-read the incredible 1935 advertisement, “The Penalty of Leadership”. Maybe they should also read the incredible magazine advertisements for the Jordan automobile, the very classy ad-copy prose for which was written by Ned Jordan himself. Ned Jordan could write… like Van Cliburn could play the piano!
Interesting article. Just not a fan of the dragging on the ground plain slab sided suicide door look that this car introduced. Now those 59-61 Impala coupes. Those are beautiful looking vehicles. What is interesting to note is that many of today’s manufacturers are incorporating the low slung, plain slab sided door look with chrome trim way on the bottom rocker along with small windows but this time mail slit instead of abbreviated on today’s faux luxury sedans.
In the mid 60’s we moved to a new home. I was a 9 year old just blossoming car fanatic. Guy across the street had a Mercedes. Another, diagonally across from us, had a Rolls but our next door neighbours had dual 64’s- a Lincoln in gold and a Thunderbird in blue. Those two cars were the coolest of the four, even though everyone knew how expensive the Rolls was. Those cars exuded class, substance, beauty and quality. I’ll never forget peering into that garage and filling my eyes with the magnificence of those lovely cars.
Paul, may I add my kudos to all the others today, in the past couple of years that I have been a visitor to this site, this is the most fascinating, well researched and superbly executed article that I have read here. Great job, nicely done!
“Lincoln Continental…America’s Most Distinguished Motorcar.” Was there ever a more appropriate ad line? The 1965 Continental was the penultimate luxury car of the era, the likes of which were never to be seen again. And I was lucky enough to have Lincolns in my life for a long time. This black Continental was my parents’ exact car, my heart did a skip when I opened up CC this morning and saw this writeup. They had it all through my college years, and I was privileged to drive it often. It was, simply put, the most elegant, the most stylish, the most prestigious automobile to ever come down the pike. Thank you for this wonderful ride down memory lane.
A nice article, Paul, and very much appreciated. I was lucky enough to own for several years a 1962 Continental convertible sedan. I bought it in 1972 and sold it four or five years later. It was desert tan in and out. It had been reasonably well cared for; all the electrics still worked, the body was straight, the interior was nice, and in general the car seemed in every way the exclusive but not overly large vehicle it was designed to be. It’s definitely one of the cars I’d have kept if I had the resources.
Great write up Paul I liked it and Ive no interest in Lincolns at all and an unknown brand out here. Yep the last great US luxury car and the previous Versailles article shows how far the brand has declined to being just bling on a beater.
This is a wonderful write-up on a great car, and another example of why sites such as this are much more interesting than the old-line special interest car magazines.
Even as a youngster in the 1960s, I knew that these cars were special. Very classy and very elegant. It didn’t hurt that Matchbox offered a Continental sedan in its line-up – initially in metallic dark blue, then in mint green.
Instead of “sites such as this” in the first sentence, I should have typed “this site.” I don’t know of any other “sites such as this.” (I can’t edit my comment, for some reason.)
I love the picture of the guy lighting his stogie with the lighter from your new $6000 car. Does also fart in the car and roll down the windows to see how quickly it clears out?
Carmine! Not only does a fart exit the passenger compartment more rapidly, but with MUCH less turbulence… because of the VENT WINDOWS!!! Anything less is simply déclassé.
I kind of think the ’97 Town Car or Mark VIII deserves the title in the headline.
I don’t understand why Lincoln is using older cars in its’ ads. Is the new MKZ a huge improvement over the last model in style, presence and distinction from the Fusion? Should it still be called Zephyr? Does it look like a generic blob from a Chinese startup next to a ’61 Continental? Yes on all counts.
For the record, I believe that Cadillac used a few ads in the 1960s, featuring the new one… along with one slightly-older in the ad photo….. trying to impress the idea that Cad maintains it value.. better than most. And, in those days, it did.
Me? I’ll take a sandalwood beige ’64 Fleetwood 60 Special, with the first year of the 429, the turbo-hydramatic (w/ the ‘normal’ shift quadrant sequence), a standard braking system dual master cylinder…. and the last year of real rubber gaskets for the windshield.. and rear window.
And even the ‘regular’ Cads had a six-inch longer wheelbase than ’61-63 Lincolns.. for increased roominess. I grant you: the early-60s Lincolns were beautiful, like no other. But they were far more complex and more expensive to maintain, too.
I have/do owned the domestics mentioned in this article with the exception of the Mark III (boy would I like to have one of those). I could never warm up to the 65 Lincoln with it’s Mercury look. The 61 and 69 Lincoln Sedan is the most handsome to me. The first generation 60’s Lincoln convertible drives and handles much better than the later 60’s Lincoln convertible, which are to tail heavy. The Imperials are much roomier to me.
What saddens me is what were such neat cars when I was growing up (Cadillac and Lincoln) are insignificant brands today without an identity.
A monumental design–the shame of it is that, as a couple of you pointed out, as brilliant as it was, Ford and the market it had to satisfy couldn’t leave well enough alone, and we ended up with wretched excess in the early ’70s, and now a Lincoln that is a shell of its former self. This is a car with presence. If the “Lincoln Motor Company” is to stick around, this is the kind of thing Ford needs to be using as inspiration. Not that I want a retro clone of a ’61 Continental, but the spareness and restraint is something we could use (not plainness, that’s different).
And, a great writeup. 🙂
Thx for the great write-up Paul!
I still wonder whatever happened to the 4-dr conv Lincoln locked in the abandoned enamel-clad service station on Lapeer Rd. a few miles North of the ChryslerTech. Ctr.
Spotted it there in the early 1990’s, thought often of trying to buy it, but when I finally got around to trying to do so, in the mid-90’s, both the building and the car were gone.
Great article Paul, and my all-time favourite style Lincoln. For 1961, these Lincoln’s made the Caddy’s and Imperials look like relics from a past era, which in a way they were. Styling wise they were Ford at it’s best, and of course quality was top notch. The cars underwent extensive pre delivery testing at the factory including each engine being run 3 hours, each transmission 30 minutes before installed in the car, a check of the vehicle wiring and a 12 mile road test. As a result the warranty was extended to 2 years and 24,000 miles, double the typical warranty of the period. No doubt this car set a new standard for styling and quality in the American car marked.
That said it wasn’t perfect. The 430 MEL V8 was lethargic at best, being considerably slower than the Caddy and Imperial. The unibody structure was a vastly stiffened versus the soggy 1958-60 Chassis, but was really wasn’t hugely different in design verses the old chassis. Brakes were sub-par, in one 1962 comparison test taking 205 feet from 60 mph (vs 152 feet for a Caddy). Brakes improved with the aluminum drums in 1963, and much more so with discs in 1965. Further, contemporary tests of the period don’t really pen it as significantly better than the old style Caddy and Imperial.
By 1965, the competition had caught up, and in some cases surpassed the Lincoln. Car and Driver test six luxury cars for 1965, including a Mercedes 600, Cadillac Brougham, Lincoln Continental, Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, Imperial LeBaron, and Jaguar 4.2L. The Benz came out on top of the Test with an 8.6 out of 10 overall, followed by the Caddy at 7.9. The Lincoln was third with a 6.7 ( Rolls 6.4, Imperial 6.2, Jag 5.9). By this time, it was in the opinion of Car and Driver, Cadillac was the clear American Luxury winner.
Here are some comments from Car and Driver:
“By itself, the Lincoln is a good example of an expensive, contemporary American car. Only in direct comparison does its acceleration seem a bit sluggish and it’s handling vague…Like some table wines, the Lincoln is a good car, not a great car, but a good car.”
“Cadillac is a fine automobile. Its fit and finish, silence and comfort, are equal to anybody’s. Like all American cars of its ilk, it needs more brakes and better shock absorbers, but everything else is beyond criticism. In our estimation, Cadillac’s great sales success is all that hurts its “image” as a prestige luxury car. If it was built in England, just as it is, and they only built a thousand a year, the Cadillac Fleetwood would be an automotive legend selling very nicely, thank you, for about $15,000 per copy”
We ran that test here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/six-luxury-cars-a-car-and-driver-test-from-1965-with-some-cc-pictures/
There’s no question that the Continental was getting a bit long on tooth in certain dynamic qualities. Perhaps because Ford knew that the whole unibody Lincoln would be going away in a few more years?
And GM spent more effort, and had more resources in exactly these areas. GM started putting more emphasis on handling and other dynamic aspects about this time, and soon left Ford in the dust.
The Lincoln would have needed serious updating to stay competitive, by 1965 or so.
Thanks, I hadn’t seen that, as it was posted before I started to read this site.
Bill Mitchell, From that same Car & Driver test of six luxury cars in 1965, said write-up DID note that while the Cad was quick, that the ’65 Lincolns brakes were truly exceptional: to use that magazine’s words, “stops like crazy”.
Lincoln’s choice to standard-equip the ’65s with four-piston caliper disc brakes, were among the first in America (not counting a few special Studebakers… and early 50s Imps). In comparison, Cad offered disc brakes in ’68, but they were NOT standard equipment.
And, having owned a half-dozen 60s Imperials: they were the “great pretenders” of the Sixties. The execution of workmanship on ’em… was decidedly inferior. And, like post-’64 Cads without rubber windshield & back window gaskets, water leaks into the body… will drive you crazy!
Oddly proportioned car. That’s why you didn’t see many in Iowa. Just because it “stood out” (circus doors, droopy mismatched wheel-wells, one long horizontal line for style, and those wretched aluminum-foil pie pan hubcaps) didn’t mean it had class or luxury. This looks like a pinewood-derby car. A little panache goes a long way. This just ain’t got it.
(This is in no way meant to disrespect your views, or your writing style [everyone here apparently loves the article!]).
glad someone is brave enough to point out this car’s drawbacks- I like it…..but would rather have a 1965 cadillac
Brilliant Paul, a tour de force CC. So many photos! So much work to pull this all together with superb writing. Thanks.
I never knew John Huston was moonlighting as a Continental test driver.
He looked familiar too, but unlike you, I didn’t recognize him. Good catch.
I don’t think it really is John Huston, but I sure had to look hard. Compare their ears for example. He must have been a guy with the great good fortune to look just like John Huston.
Kudos to the ad director who picked him for this compelling page. Kudos to you for finding and sharing it.
No—it’s not the same guy: not even a good “stand-in”.
I see more of a Max von Sydow resemblance myself.
I’ve always been a bit cool toward these, but they do grow on me. Also, a lot more of these cars seem to be black (or at least are black now) than was the norm for the early sixties; it’s a look that lends itself to the funereal.
One minor correction: At the time he saw the Engel T-Bird study, Robert McNamara was not Ford president, but group vice president of the Car and Truck Group, overseeing all of the automotive divisions. He didn’t become president until the fall of 1960, around the time the Continental went on sale.
Paul, this is a fine article. Your thoughts about these cars mirror my own. I agree that the 1965 was the last great iteration of this beautiful car. My Dad took me to my first new car show in the fall of 1960 when I was about to turn 11 and it was difficult to get me away from the Lincoln Continental exhibit. I came away tightly clutching two copies of the brochure with the white parchment-like cover that contains many of the pictures you include here. I nearly wore one of them out pouring over the pictures and text and wish I had one today.
There was not a single one of these cars in our town (my mother’s best friend had purchased a new 60 Continental sedan the year before). I think the Lincoln Continental and Thunderbird became aspirational for my Dad in 1961 and when his finances became better later on he bought a 65 T-Bird, a 71 Lincoln Continental, and a 78 Mark V Cartier Edition. I regret that now that I can afford a luxury car, Lincoln makes nothing that I like or want.
There is no doubt that JFK loved these cars and he had several, including a convertible that he occasionally drove himself. I believe the Kennedy Lincoln was the first presidential limousine painted in any color other than black. The Dallas sun sparkling off its dark blue paint is another deep memory of that tragic day. I think it was wrong for that car to have been radically modified and reinstated to White House use (though I understand the reasoning behind it and no, I’m not a conspiracy theorist).
Jackie had a 62 Lincoln Continental sedan assigned to her but I think she preferred the 60 Imperial Ghia limousine that she used far more often, including during those three days in November, 1963. I imagine it was much easier to enter and exit and provided much more room and comfort for her and the children.
Great article on one of my all time favorites. The Continentals and T-Birds of the 60’s did have a certain style. My favorite is the 61-63 or 66-67 continental. Back then the lack of curved glass in 65 seemed so old school. Oh to have had a 66 or 67 Continental Convertible. Now unless I hit the lottery it is not going to happen. I also feel that way for a 67 plus suicide 4 door T-Bird. Something about the Continental never seemed to age where the Cadillac looked old as soon as the next year came out. Would have loved to have seen the proposed 58 Continental Mark 3. Never had heard of it before but it looks fabulous. Thanks for the great read!
Terrific piece, Paul.
The picture of the Lincoln tester lighting a cigar in the new car will stay in my mind forever.
Very “Mad Men”, isn’t it?
Sometime in the late ’90s I saw someone from the local VW dealership sucking a giant stogie in a new car with sticker and dealer plates.
And here I was thinking a major selling point for new-car ownership is that nobody’s smoked in it…
I was thinking as I read this, I’m not sure ‘Mad Men’ has featured any Lincolns. Don Draper drives a Buick and then Cadillacs (thus far). (Someone correct me if I’ve missed one.)
Today’s Continental appears in one Mad Men episode, season 3, says the IMCDb.
The Lincoln shown above was a fairly important car, it belonged to Don Drapers father in law, there is a great scene where he lets his grandaughter drive the car around the neigborhood.
A most comprehensive reading about what is luxury and what is not, and most illustrative. I liked the pink Cadillac ad. That car is something to behold.
Thanks for the perspective, Paul, and I’ll join the others in saying that this is a very well done article. It’s top ten, if not the best.
I am a couple of decades too late for this car, so all I have to go on are pictures and seeing them at shows. The pictures of JFK and Jackie in the back of the presidential limo is inevitably what I think of when I see one of these. That image is one of those timeless scenes in American history. It’s as powerful as the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, only more haunting because we know what happened next.
Paul said it best: Cars from our childhood. I don’t know how or why, because ours wasn’t really a Lincoln neighborhood…but somehow several of these four-suicide-door sedans were in our briar patch on a regular basis. They were…different…obviously different. The suicide doors. The four-door convertible. The wipers hinged “backwards” – in those days, even the Beetle hinged the wipers from the left side, not the right.
And it was always older, patrician ladies or obviously stern, serious gentlemen…driving them. No little boys like me scampering out those doors that opened funny.
Yes…truly…the essence of a luxury car. Something a tad different; a different reach style-wise. Substantial. And, price no object. So different from my household…with a company Impala, a rusted Rambler, and later, something as gauche as a Jeep Wagoneer. My mother was horrified – afraid the neighbors would think we owned a gas station!
My, how things change. The guys with the SJ Wagoneers…they own businesses, but not ones that pump gas. And the Wagoneers still roam the Earth…
…but the slab-side, suicide Lincolns are gone. And shall not pass this way again.
I don’t think Ford ever really expected in 1961 that they would outsell Cadillac with the Continental. However, I do think they expected to do better than a number that would be a rounding error in Cadillac sales figures. On that level, the Continental, despite its elegance, did not succeed. Based on what rolled out of the factories, it doesn’t look like Ford had a Plan B. Hence the 1970-74 Lincolns which were a holding action, tarted-up Mercurys that were cheap to build and thus kind to the brand’s bottom line. The 1975 restyle was part of Ford’s mid seventies strategy to out-brougham GM model for model — hence the Mustang II Ghia, the Elite, the Versailles, the Mark IV and V, the huge Mark-based T-Bird — and the incredibly baroque 1975-79 Lincolns, shamelessly marketed after ’77 to devotees of road-hugging weight dissatisfied with GM’s downsized offerings.
MadHungarian, The planning for the new Lincoln, the ’61, began around ’58. The decision was made, from R. McNamara on down, to embark on a highly-serious quality control campaign… to make the eventual ‘new’ Lincoln to be exceedingly good, quality-wise: both in materials and in assembly. This goal was decided because of well-known problems with a number of 1950s Lincolns.
I believe that this unprecedented quality-control program [which came with the significantly-increased total-car warranty] eventually paid off for Ford Motor Co. with the 80s Town Cars: a “bread & butter” luxury car.. that proved very reliable, and hence, desirable. Yes, the Mark Series in the 70s made FoMoCo a level of money that it needed; but it wasn’t until the sales success of the 80s Town Cars… did the public perception become established that there truly was an alternative to a Cadillac…. that a Lincoln Town Car was truly a worthy consideration as an automobile, having finally overcome the leftover fears of former Lincoln purchasers in the 1950s, when Cad had that market all sewn up.
It took a very long time to overcome this lead of Cadillac; but Lincoln DID overtake them. Witness the surveys of 20 – 25 years ago, when people were asked what car they would choose if money was not an object: far more people in the Nineties said they would choose a Town Car—period. That would never have happened.. had not McNamara and others at the Lincoln Division committed the entire division of FoMoCo to an expensive-at-the-time sheer quality program.. “way back then”.
Even in the 60s, Cad sold 8 or 9 cars for every Lincoln sold: just to show their sales lead in that market segment. It was also true in the 1950s. But Cad started to cheapen their cars.. ironically beginning with their ‘new’ perimeter-frame ’65s, which “cut some corners” from THEIR quality zenith of their ’64 models. Compare the carpeting in those two years, for example.
Wonderful article Paul, certainly among your all-time Greatest Hits! I remember when these cars were new, and I agree that the ’65 represents the end of an era.
Your first (and last) photos are sublime – the beautifully proportioned car in front of a tidy, well-kept classic home under a typically gray Eugene sky.
Echoing JP’s comments earlier, and with full appreciation of all of CC’s contributors, when you’re firing on all cylinders Paul, you are the original and best!
That was one of the best CCs ever, great job Paul. Your original photography is better than even the archive stuff, although that shot of LBJ is super cool.
I hate it when folks put modern monster wheels on classic cars except maybe this one. The 61-65s actually look pretty nice with the right 20s. lowered a bit. The black car in Paul’s article is lowered by the perfect amount. For me these cars define the words stately and timeless, that’s why the 20s work.
I too am a fan of the 64 front end styling. Hated the 65. Like the 61 but not the 62 or 63 (what’s with those orange turn indictor lenses anyway?).
There is so much eye candy on these cars. The way the hood opens and that gigantic air cleaner over the carb. The streamlined courtesy lights on the inside C-pillar of the 64 and 65s. And as Paul mentioned those glorious wipers. If they’re going to show you might as well style them.
In fact until I saw the head rests I wasn’t sure that was a Bavaria Jackie was driving. The driver’s side wiper is downright Beetlesque even with the little airfoil. I’m a bit of a wiper freak actually.
I always noticed different wipers on different cars, LBJ had a bunch of cars on his ranch, including an Amphicar and Fiat 500, along with Lincolns and Cadillacs, he gave one of his daughters a Sting Ray convertible too while he was President.
I liked how the 64 grille was a riff on the Continental Mark II grille. In my opinion the 65 grille looks too Mercury.
The guy who got the VP styling job at Ford over Elwood Engel was a man named Eugene Bordinat, he kept it until the 80’s I think. He was a competent designer and a good executive but he lacked flair and panache, and his revisions to the Continental over the years reflect that as the original concept got watered down. That combined with them poaching the Continental DNA and using it on nearly every Ford product created the why buy a Lincoln problem when you can have an LTD/Marquis for less money.
Funny thing is he really didnt like Engle, and thought he was a second rate intellect. I think it was Bordinat who went hard for the flat side glass and straight line on the 64/65 greenhouse rear side window. “Doesnt ruin anything at all, and saves money”.
The Lincoln Continetal look was a team effort, but Engel was the lead, and I think his work at Chrysler shows he had a bit more flair for the three box design language then say Bordinat.(of course Fords outsold Chryslers anyway so he had his own victory) You can see it In the way a 65 Chrysler has a lot more presence than a 65 Mercury does.
I think the 64 Imperial vs. the 64 Lincoln is a fasinating comparison. Engel gave the 61 Continental a sense of motion, the tumblehome of the greenhouse, the angle of the backlight, and the way the grille meets at that strong center mounted second bumper. By 64 the Continental had lost it’s sense of motion, the flat side glass, the straighter greenhouse, the elegant but more conventional grille, and everything about the 64 Lincoln is in repose, the lines pretty much all return to the vertical or the horizontal. For the most part this is the direction the Continental would take in the later 60’s and 70’s. The 64 Imperial is dynamic(except for the borrowed a-pillar and windshield), it is still a three boxer, but the fender peak is a gentle uninterupted curve from front to back, with a character line just below.(that would show up on lincolns in 1967, but to be fair was on the Continental Mark II) The Imperial has a slight lunge to it, the way the front of the car is canted slightly forward, and the the rear of the car is steeply slanted forward, this is also reflected in the greenhouse and the daylight opening. It is all very subtle but the whole theme is canted, forward motion. It will always read as a riff on the stunning 61 Continental, but it still has a remarkable individuality that I think upon closer inspection makes it an equal of say the 64 or 65 Lincoln and definitely superior to the post 67 Lincolns.
Scott KC, The Imperials were wonderful DESIGNS… but ugh, the poor level of actually quality & workmanship: can’t “hold a candle” to Lincoln.
On top of that, Chrysler engines AFTER their excellent 50s Hemi, became abominable. I had at least five 60s Imps… and every one of those 413 / 440 engines became “oil-burners” after only 125,000 miles. Every one! Lincoln engines lasted FAR longer.. even longer than Cad.
Finally, when those lovely 60s Imperials became 30+ years old, they had developed water leaks into the body so bad.. that you might have thought that you needed to consult with a swimming pool contractor for a layer on gunite on ’em. Truly, “leaked like a sieve!” Yuck!
Amazing writing, Paul!
This is the best CC I have ever read.
Amazing article! The 61′-65′ Continentals are my favorite American luxury car of all time. In my mind no other American car says ‘class’ quite like these.
I never cared too much for Lincolns beyond this generation. Later models always said less ‘class’ and more ‘pimp-mobile’, especially the Mark III and IV’s with that chintzy faux Rolls Royce grill.
After spending way too much time looking at this CC yesterday, I popped out for an errand and saw a Fiat 124 sedan cross the intersection in front of me, giving me several seconds to watch it pass by. Don’t laugh, but it was surprisingly Continental-like, with it’s slabbish sides and nearly symmetrical front and rear profiles.
I absolutely love these cars. The 1960s Continental was the coolest luxury car of the Big Three, and while I love the Imperial and Caddy too, the Connie is the one I’d most want. My grandfather had a dark green ’66 sedan with dark green leather interior (just like the ’66 pictured in the post, but without the vinyl roof). They drove it on a family vacation from Rock Island to South Padre Island back in ’66 or ’67; there are pictures of that trip–and the car–somewhere. It replaced (I think) an early ’60s Electra 225. Grandpa Bob never drove anything but Lincolns from that point forward.
My dad remembers sneaking it out of the driveway for unauthorized joyrides late at night when he was a teen. Their driveway was on an incline, and Dad had to put it in neutral to get it out of the garage, then kill the motor and let inertia carry it back into the garage when he returned. It was extra difficult because my grandparents’ bedroom was directly above the two-car attached garage! But Dad managed 🙂
Thanks Paul!
Hey! That black ’58 Continental 4-door is my car! I took that picture in 2005, I think, at a playground up the road from my parents’ house in New Haven, CT! remarkablecars.com must have stolen it from a post I made on the aaca.org bulletin board.
Absolutely elegant. The car and the article 😉
To bad today’s Lincoln’s look like crap!
navigator is classyest lookin lincoln ever.
Talk about baby Lincolns today! A friend of mine had one Continental, 1964, I believe. He once told us sometime in 1979 that one day he was driving on a main avenue in the city, and accidentally broke up a funeral motorcade. His car was black, and he told us (a bunch of believers) that when he turned right in some street, the rest of the motorcade followed him instead the hearse. I don’t think it happened but these cars were something rare and exquisite to view. Thank you, Paul, for a post so rewarding!
Dad bought a ’64 sedan on a whim for $400 in the 1970’s. It was metallic aqua, inside and out. Yes, metallic finished leather. Maybe not as “pure” as the ’61, it wasnt until ’65 that the front end of the Mercury and Continental merged into the same basic look, a shame.
Mechanically, an out-of-warranty luxury car is always a risk, and not sharing much of anything with ordinary Fords turned into a liability. The cast iron trans was not as common as the C-6, hard to find parts. The power door locks were vacuum, yet the wipers were hydraulic. Both systems were electric on most cars. The hydraulic pump for the steering and wipers was driven directly from the crankshaft, another oddity.
IMO, 1961 was a landmark year in automotive styling. Look at the Continental, XKE, and even Pontiac as examples.
Your experience mirrored my own with a 1963 Cadillac. The low stance and X frame required 3 universal joints, and two of them were CVs. Instead of a $20 repair at a shop for a standard U joint (around 1979), the CV cost $100 to fix. This was my story with the Cadillac. Everything that needed done seemed to cost $100, which was big money for a college student in 1979. Just as with your family’s Lincoln, there was not a lot of parts sharing with lesser cars in those years.
Cavanaugh, Cads & Lincs DID have some “constant-velocity” U-joints in their driveshafts: a relative rarity (though a few Buicks may have had ’em).
What really turned it into a “nightmare” was Ford’s decision, for the ’66 MY to go to the so-called, “sealed-for-life”, U-joints—without any grease fittings! So, what happens is that when a ’66 or later Lincoln U-joint fails, one must find a re-buildable driveshaft “core” that still has the “centering pin” intact…. and not grounded off completely because of no grease after 18 or 23 years. “Double-Cardan” constant-velocity U-joints were chosen by the Lincoln Division, starting in ’61, to reduce “noise, vibration, & harshness”, which is more likely noticeable in a uni-body car—all else being equal.
Smooth, yes. But a very expensive re-build.. when eventually necessary. It was for my ’66 four-door convert. My re-build was done properly, and lasted for years… still functioning perfectly when I sold it.. with over 200,000 miles.
And that 462 engine was the BEST that I ever owned!
My 74 Impala also uses those double cardon CV joints at the rear. I dread when I have to replace it. It ain’t going to be fun.
i like the lincoln navigator. I think its the most classy best lookin lincoln ever made. mine is a 2005 candy red metallic with 22s. the interior was boring gray but i redit in totone tan and red insert leather with 12 inch sony monaters in seat back for dvd. audio is sony with surround sound 21 speakers and 2 19inch pyle ported subs. total output is 13000 watts 7 amplifyers. Engine mods is kn air induction high perfermance fuel pump flow masters i raced mustangs and cameroes and won.i get lots of thumbs up and people want to talk about my navigator cause it makes people envoyous.
Great, well written article. There is a slim chance of me, at age 18, getting a ’64 convertible as first car. If it all works out, I will probably give this car to my grandchildren. Fingers crossed.
Nearly everything about the 1961-1969 Continentals was top drawer. The ad copy spoke so quietly, so softly, as did the product brochures.
The 1961-1963 Continentals were the subtlest, the finest, the cars closest to Elwood Engels’ original design. This was a rare car, a car of quiet self-assurance that had no need of flash. It was—and is—the car that knows itself. And it shall always be so, because the Continental is so close to the truth.
One of the best Auto articles ever written, well presented, incredible graphics. as immediately classic relative to Auto writing, as the Car being written about. Bravo and Thank You.
Just found the best article ever on the early Conti. Talk about detailed. How did I miss this the first time? I would have never realized the 64-65 changed to flat glass and extended the cabin size without reading this. And the childhood obsession many of us have had with these cars is quite amazing. Since Dad had a 67 2 door, silver with black vinyl top model, that’s probably why I like the slimmer 66-68 version the best. Paul must have been going for the Pulitzer prize with this one! Am I the only one who also used to grab the National Geographic magazine of these years just to check out the Lincoln ad’s that frequently appeared? After this post, I’m going to re-read this article. Good luck topping this one, Paul, although I’m sure you can.
The 430ci two barrel MEL engine is here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/lincolns-two-barrel-carb-mel-430-engine-taming-the-thirsty-beast/
Recently I had the pleasure of riding in a friend’s fully restored 1964 Continental convertible (baby blue, white leather, nicknamed “Mrs. Kennedy”) and the experience–like this article–was absolutely sublime.
Great article, Paul. Your automotive histories are always interesting reads, and this one was no exception.
Today, Ford ought to seriously think about wiping the slate clean and making a new start with Lincoln again. The vehicles in the current lineup are all too much like their Ford brand siblings, only with marginally nicer interiors—not exactly the stuff of exclusivity and presence.
The Continental concept that appeared at the 2015 New York auto show looks promising but, in my opinion, it should be based on either a lengthened version of the RWD Mustang platform or the RWD Australian Ford Falcon platform. In the luxury car market, front wheel drive isn’t perceived as exclusive (although, for some reason, Audi is an exception to this).
Indeed the Continental concept and it’s subsequent spy foto of the production one, seems to show that Ford finally gets it, it’s 99.9% there. Be interesting to see what the final production one looks like. And I agree they shoulda leveraged the cost of the S550 mustang platform onto this (that’s that .1% they didn’t get) And looks much better than the ucoming Caddy CT6.
Curious. The interchangebility study for the 4d MkII uses the same front doors as the 2d, but they would have been disproportionately long and don’t match the study (even though it’s not to scale).
Superb piece Paul
Quite interesting this. Massive fan of Continentals, prefer the Mark III. Particularly like the pic of preposterous white car which looks a bit like a Stutz
I had a dark green ’65 (w/ soft black cloth seat upholstery—-infinitely better than the oh-too-typical, lousy velour we’re tortured with these days), when I was in my early 20s. It was a great car, with lots of pure quality. Lincolns from the 1960s are very expensive to maintain, however—-far more than a similar-vintage Cad or Imp. Finally, their V-8s were so heavy that such cars under-steered.. a LOT!
With the bungalow in the background, it could really be 1965! Lots of memories, that Lincoln.. And well proportioned compared to modern equivalents.
One of the most stately cars of the 1960s. The other day I was enjoying this photo of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s visit to Ottawa for Canada’s 100th anniversary in 1967.
Still a great article, years later.
The 2017 Conti might not hold a candle to this one, but I’ll admit that a week ago or so one passed me when I was walking downtown and it caught my eye- “what is THAT?” I also got a ride in one a month ago or so (as a livery car) and the interior was amazing- easily rivaled an E-class in materials and design. I really do think Lincoln is back on the right path.
I do hope that Lincoln is on the right path, but I wish their ads today were more upscale, like the ones seen above. That guy in their recent ads just doesn’t cut it. Does he own a razor? Does he own a tie? And why is he always alone? Not a very upscale image for a luxury car.
You must not watch many movies! Their current spokesman is Matthew McConaughey, a rather well-known actor. He’s a bit of a quirky guy, and the ads are somewhat idiosyncratic themselves, but they’ve got a consistent look and feel.
And the new Continental? Also an impressive effort, at least to my eye. Clean, distinctive, powerful (the base engine makes 305 HP and the top option 400), and very nicely detailed. The door handles being integrated into the chrome molding at the base of the windows is one of my favorite little details that one might not notice at first. And while I haven’t had the good fortune to ride in one, the interior *looks* phenomenal. And you can get it in blue. Not just the seats, but pretty much the whole interior. Welcome back, color…
I spent a good chunk of the afternoon oozing around town in the new Continental. Even in base “Premiere” trim, it’s a fine car. Very comfortable, plenty of power and really turned heads.
The recent Continental, while way better than the ones since the 19670’s, didn’t do that well and is now over. The unique door handles integrated into the chromey strip at the beltline were cool for now, but nothing new. Sedans were dwindling but it was still another example of Lincoln once again not displaying the design nerve it did back in 1961. Or even the rebodied ’66.
Here’s an earlier example, from 1951. Since Packard continued the same basic body to the bitter end of real ones in 1955, they are all like this.
Ugh, what happened to “Edit”? S/B 1970’s, obviously.
I knew this article was a revisit…
Carmine was still posting here. Lol
One other thing that made the 1961-65 Lincoln Continental exclusive…
No corporate twin!
Superb article. And the car is one of the best-looking American behemoths of all time. They really wrecked the whole thing in 1970 by adding like a foot of extra front overhang.
The 1961 wasn’t a behemoth among cars at the time. A Ford was longer. Compared to the last Crown Vic it was almost exactly the same length, over an inch wider, and over three inches lower.
Weighed a lot more though.
If ever a car had the million dollar look – the 1961-65 Lincoln Continentals had it.
I have two 1961s and wish I had more!
This photo really shows off the stunning styling.
My two 1961s are both sultana white with blue interior – one sedan and one convertible.
I should have used a Dean Martin song in the background, but oh well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyywJOzxorw&t=1s
My convertible is close to identical to the one in the brochure.
photo from brochure
Which is photo from a brochure?
For some reason it did not attach.
I will try again! I made it smaller.
Still smaller…
OK, maybe it was not a jpeg
After this, I give up.
While they didn’t have today’s performance and safety technology, back in the day, even cars like the Falcon and Valiant were solidly built. But by 1970, the plastic revolution was well underway. With all their advances, today’s cars, like so many other consumer items, are products of regulators and bean-counters…. designed to be disposable.
The ’61 Lincoln is so gorgeous, but it’s also sad reminder of how far we’ve fallen.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Well gosh, it is really unfortunate that the dash and door are completely apart in the ’65. 1965, IMO, had the best looking interior and especially the dash. I had a ’66 a ’68 and a ’77 Coupe’, then went into the ’80s. Sad for the wrong reasons, I never was able to get the one I wanted. My favorite is the ’65 followed by the ’61. 1961 sure favored the Thunderbird, but that is another story. I also have s soft spot for the ’59 Mark and the ’69.
Thank you for posting this. – Mike
It’s interesting that this post popped up today, after I’d been watching a review of the new for ’18 Navigator Black Label. I have experience with a ’63 and ’66 Lincolns and I feel that the interiors were of good design and high quality compared against the Cadillac. Recently Lincoln has really stepped up their game when it comes to their interiors. The ’18 and newer Nav, and new Aviator have very high quality, high style, interiors that have no traces of Broughammy excesses. Just solid quality, good taste, and unlimited conveniences. The smaller Lincolns have been pretty nice, but pale in comparison to the new flagships.
I have an ’05 Navigator, which I consider a classic model, it combines the upgraded interior of the ’02 model with a much simpler and cleaner exterior design. The interior is just as good as the ’63 that I knew.
The new Navigator and Aviator have an even higher level of quality and design. I don’t know if the new Lincoln Nav has an aluminum body like the F150, but the price escalation has been breathtaking. My top level trim Nav was priced in the high 50,000s, when new, the new top level Black Label is priced at over 100,000 dollars. That’s quite an increase! Though the Black Label cars are better trimmed and equipped than my ’05.
I think that Lincoln is taking the right track for their marque, a true luxury interior makes their vehicles highly attractive. My dream car is a new Aviator, though that is still out of reach. I’ve just got to give it a few more years. I would also consider a nice low mileage Continental, this design has started to grow on me over time. They will never be as iconic as the ’61-’65s but they will certainly be more attainable.
“Has there ever been such a paradigm shift in automotive taste, and one that happened so abruptly?”
For cars I can only think of the shift to pontoon style fenders, but that was rather gradual.
There was an equivalent in the bike world, however – the Suzuki Katana. Designed by the Brit Jan Fellstrom at Target Design in Germany, it instantly made everything on the market seem dated and revolutionized bike design.
“Has there ever been such a paradigm shift in automotive taste, and one that happened so abruptly?”
The Katana is an excellent choice.
The Triumph Speed-Twin is another from a much earlier era. Suddenly all the single-cylinder British motorcycles were out-of-date and out-of-fashion. It’s a wonder that Velocette, the Norton Manx, the BSA Gold Star, the Panther 100, held on so long, but their death was foretold in 1938. The Honda 750 likewise performed a similar role in 1969.
Another that comes to mind is the Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit in 1974. That looked like the future, even if it was a future various folks didn’t want. Suddenly straight lines were in, hips were out, and the future looked to be all front-wheel-drive 2-box hatchbacks.
Agree on the Golf – Giugiaro’s “origami” style was hugely influential and changed the look of ’70s car design. It still looks fresh and agile today.
I hope one day someone comes across a Lehmann Peterson Lincoln.
Pablo Picasso was a true car connoisseur,his last personal car,a white 1963 Lincoln Continental is still owned by his family, in 2018 Artist Sylvie Fleury presented “the last Picasso car @Grand Basel in Switzerland, “I was thrilled by the chance to present Pablo Picasso’s last personal car in my frame, she said
My car a 1966 Lincoln Continental with 13,000 miles, it won’t be for sale any time soon
Jackie certainly had style and taste in just about all things.