Take a close look at the car in the lead photo – do you see anything missing? Eagle-eyed Lincoln spotters will immediately tell you that all non-convertible 1961-69 Lincoln Continentals have a B-pillar between the front and rear side windows, and that Lincoln never made a 4-door hardtop version of this car. Perhaps, but that almost wasn’t the case (and in fact may not actually have been the case, as we shall see). I recently returned from a long safari to hunt down this mythical beast, and I am pleased to report what I found.
The 1961-69 Lincoln Continental has attained near mythical status, and deservedly so: It single-handedly both saved the Lincoln brand from extinction, and boldly set an entirely new direction of automotive design in the 1960’s. The fourth generation Continental has been covered many times here and elsewhere, and Paul’s exhaustive history of this car is one of the best I’ve read anywhere. The Reader’s Digest version:
Early 1961 Thunderbird clay model. Note Thunderbird script on fender and logo on grille, and Thunderbird style hubcaps.
After losing $60 Million on the unpopular 1958-60 Lincoln models, Ford President and “Whiz Kid” Robert McNamara was seriously considering shuttering the Lincoln brand, in addition to Edsel. Realizing that a complete transformation would be necessary for Lincoln to survive, he became smitten with a proposed design for the 1961 Thunderbird by Elwood Engle (the picture above is supposedly of the exact clay model that swayed him). While the design was rejected for the T-Bird as being too formal, McNamara thought it would form a good basis for a redesigned Lincoln.
I have long been aware that some (but certainly not most) automotive reference guides allude to three styles of 1961 Lincoln Continental: four-door convertible, four-door sedan, and four-door hardtop. The number associated with the hardtop production is almost always four, like the screenshot from one automotive pricing guide above suggests. So what is the deal with this hardtop, and how come I’ve never seen one?
At least one of the prototypes of the 1961 Continental was in fact a hardtop, like the one pictured above and in various other photos that I have sprinkled throughout this article. The hardtop differed from the pillared sedan in that it was essentially a fixed-roof convertible: It was to have the same rear doors, wiring, and glass as the convertible. It also had the same servo mechanisms in the doors that convertible did, which lowered the side glass several inches when the doors were opened, a feature that the pillared sedan did not have.
From the November 1960 issue of Popular Mechanics. While the hardtop is not mentioned in the text, the car in the photo clearly is one.
The decision to kill the hardtop apparently happened early in the production run. According to production records obtained by the Lincoln Continental Owners Club (LCOC), Lincoln produce nine hardtop (body style 57C) models in December, 1960, and one more in January, 1961. The production records from March, 1961 further reads:
March 6 units model 57C converted to 53A in accordance with L-M program timing. From this point 4 units will be carried on the production records until change-over.
This still leaves four hardtops unaccounted for, which is the generally accepted number of 1961 hardtops sedans actually produced (at least by those who acknowledge their existence in the first place). While I was unable to independently verify these numbers, I have no reason to doubt this august organization.
1961 Continental seating buck featuring hardtop roof. I believe this photo may have been used internally to evaluate the ease of ingress and egress with the rear hinged doors.
What is less clear is whether any of these hardtops were actually sold to the public. Keep in mind that ’61 Continental, which went on sale on November 17, 1960, had already been in showrooms for several month at this point. It is also unclear why Lincoln pulled the plug on the hardtop so late in the development cycle (or more accurately, so early in the production cycle). Perhaps it was feared that the cost of the added convertible door mechanicals would push the price the already expensive Continental (10% higher than a comparable Cadillac) even further into the stratosphere. Perhaps there was some sort of structural issue discovered at the last-minute. This seems unlikely, as the Continental’s unibody is widely regarded as solid and sturdy, and the convertible gets by just fine without a B-pillar or even a roof.
My guess: The four-door hardtop got nixed for the same reason that the Continental launched without a two-door coupe variant: Reduction of product variations and manufacturing complexity. Remember that when the Continental launched, the Lincoln brand was on its last gasp, and success was far from guaranteed. While in retrospect the 4th generation Continental was a smashing success, at the time it represented a huge risk. To hedge their bets, the Continental was launched with only two body styles, with large amounts of standard equipment and few options to reduce production configurations.
Scan from 1960-1964 Lincoln Master Parts Catalog
This unfortunately is where the trail gets cold. It is possible that these four hardtops were used by Ford for internal purposes (training, photography, crash testing, etc). Perhaps they were driven by Ford executives or members of the Ford family, who have been known order custom production runs from time to time. There is just enough evidence to plausibly make the case that they might have been sold to the public. For instance, there are references to the hardtop model in the 1960-1964 Lincoln-Mercury Master Parts Catalog (excerpted above), as well as in a 1961 electrical equipment installation manual (which is how we know about the hardtop’s door servos).
Image courtesy FordImages.com
My personal belief, however, is that none of these hardtops were actually sold to the public, and that the few random Ford service manual references just reflect the 11th-hour indecision of L-M as to whether to produce the hardtop or not. This opinion is shared by several Lincoln experts I consulted when researching this article, none of whom have ever seen a hardtop in their collective decades of buying, selling, servicing and restoring these cars.
From 1961 Lincoln Brochure. Note the lack of a pillar on the passenger side.
So while these four hardtops likely never got sold to the public, they clearly did exist. Tantalizing clues are scattered everywhere, if you look hard enough. One even made it into the 1961 brochure, where a quick and dirty airbrush job added a pillar to only one side of the car.
From the 1962 Lincoln Brochure
The final (and unlikeliest) appearance of the 1961 hardtop model was in the 1962 brochure, which clearly made use of some leftover 1961 photos (the lack of exposed screw heads on the door handles indicates the left picture is of an early 1961 model). Observe that no pillar is visible over the shoulder of the model on the shot on the left, which uses almost the exact same angle and pose (and model) as the photo on the right, which clearly shows a pillar.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1965 Lincoln Continental – The Last Great American Luxury Car
Car Show Classic: 1966-67 Lincoln Continental Convertible – End Of An Era
Curbside Classsic: 1969 Lincoln Continental – Missed It By THAT Much
Interesting. I’d always thought of the ’61 Conti as a hardtop. If asked to sketch it, I would have confidently drawn a hardtop!
Probably because the 4-door convertible necessarily implied a pillarless closed version, and because 4-door hardtops were just the norm in that era.
Same here! I completely forgot it was a regular sedan. A pity… the hardtop sedan look really works for it.
The side windows on the sedans have a stainless steel border as was the practice for hardtops at the time. There is no frame, hardtop style. Kind of like Teslas or some others today or Subaru Legacys in the past, a sedan post with hardtop style doors.
What an enjoyable article, Mr. Halter. This is automotive eye-candy for yours truly. There was another article posted here yesterday in regards to various streamlined cars of the 1930s and ’40s and I really don’t care for those styles of aerodynamic vehicle (except for that Cord). I like boxy-looking cars best of all. Like the Lincolns of the 1960s and ’70s. I bought Lincoln showroom booklets from 1961-80 and that picture of the white Lincoln with the dog in front of it . . . well, shucks, I never noticed until reading the article the pillar had been airbrushed into the pic -and- the passenger side still has no pillar. Live and learn. → Watching MeTv lately I’ve seen Perry Mason driving around in a ’61 Lincoln. Those Lincolns from ’58-’60 were rump ugly compared to the ’61 models, which look like metal art on wheels. 😀
Sure would be interesting to know if any of those four hardtop 61s still exist — and who has them.
If there ARE still 4 door hardtops of these Lincolns, any speculation on their value?
And, amazed that the model used (with the exception of the one exiting the rear of the car) all have an amazing similarity to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Although I haven’t gone through all the Lincoln ads/brochures, was this a deliberate choice–and if so, are there other examples of using impressions of first ladies in automotive advertising?
Its hard for todays generation to appreciate the impact Jackie Kennedy had on women’s fashion. My Mom had an outfit just like the model in the left side of the bottom photo. All the women who attended her “Daughters of the Empire” luncheons were dressed as Jackie wannabes.
Today, women wear yoga stretch pants in First Class on a jet. My Mother would have been appalled if she was alive today. 😯😯😯😯
“Its hard for todays generation to appreciate the impact Jackie Kennedy had on women’s fashion.”
Not just fashion. My parents (both lifelong Republicans who voted Nixon in 1960) named their daughter Jackie in 1961. Her appeal was universal.
Agree, JPC!
Even my Father, a conservative, life long Republican (this would change a few years later down the road!) admired Jackie Kennedy’s beauty and sense of style.
I suspect my Mother still has one or two “pillbox” hats on the top shelf of her closet.
Even The Flintstones got into the act, with Jackie Kennelrock:
As popular as Jackie Kennedy was in the early 60’s, I’m sure that the models resemblance to her is no mere coincident.
I believe the side-by-side photos are of the same model. Agree with the JK resemblance.
Yes, she has the same freakishly wide-set eyes and broad face as Jackie. Can’t be an accident.
Love it. One would assume a true classic like this would be fully explained out, but your discerning eye has identified a crack in history. I imagine the collectors themselves are going to have another deeper look into this. I hope they keep you in the loop should any further info come to light. Excellent post Tom.
Terrific detective work and outstanding post. That last pic is the purest illustration of “hiding in plain sight” ever.
I love a good mystery and you have done some fine detective work.
History views the 61 Lincoln as a huge success, but actual sales were barely higher than in 1960. But with 1 series (not 3) and 2 body styles (not 4) the bottom line must have been so much better.
Lincoln offered both a 4 door sedan and a 4 door hardtop in 1958-60. The decision to drop the hardtop must not have been an easy one because the hardtop outsold the sedan by 4:1 in the lower two series and by 6:1 in the high end Mark V. What I find interesting is that with Lincoln simplifying things as they did, why would they build a sedan at all? Cadillac had dropped sedans several years earlier and they had been poor sellers at Lincoln (convertibles outsold them in 60).
My guess is that body rigidity was the factor. The convertible outweighed the sedan by 300 pounds, and this without a steel roof or rear window glass. Perhaps it would take the convertible’s strengthened structure to make up for the missing pillar, which would have made the hardtop the heaviest of them all.
Another idea is window sealing and wind noise. Did anyone ever make a suicide door 4 door hardtop? You have to expect some wind/water leakage in a convertible but it would be unacceptable in a 4 door hardtop. Maybe they were afraid that if their expected highest volume model got a reputation for wind whistles and wet passengers in car washes that they would never recover.
Who would have figured that we would never see a Lincoln 4 door hardtop after 1960?
Wasn’t the Facel Vega a suicide 4 door hardtop?
It certainly was.
The four door Facel Vega Excellence had a bad reputation of sagging in the middle due to poor body rigidity.
“My guess is that body rigidity was the factor. The convertible outweighed the sedan by 300 pounds, and this without a steel roof or rear window glass. Perhaps it would take the convertible’s strengthened structure to make up for the missing pillar, which would have made the hardtop the heaviest of them all.”
^^^I’m going to throw my support toward this hypothesis. Probably the most plausible reason I can imagine that Ford would have opted out of a hardtop at a time when that bodystyle was considered almost mandatory on higher end cars.
I’m more inclined to think it was cost. McNamara was understandably very concerned about restoring Lincoln to profitability after the disaster of the ’58-’60 cars. As described in the article, the hardtop would have required the expensive automatic window lowering mechanism and other parts from the convertible, and the sedan was already some 10% more expensive than a comparable Cadillac. I’m guessing he wanted to minimize production complexity and cost to give it the best shot at making money. He rightfully assumed that a hardtop wouldn’t really likely generate incremental sales.
There’s also the fact that a/c was becoming more common on this class of car, and that folks weren’t realistically going to be driving around with all the windows down. In that regard, Lincoln was just ahead of the game.
You could well be right, but would it not have been simpler still to build only one car with the only difference being a steel roof vs. a folding one? Yes, there would have been a few more parts in the hardtop for the window mechanism, but then you would avoid the labor/parts/assembly complexity for the pillared body vs. the pillarless one you were building anyway. And you would have had a 4 door hardtop, a body style expected in this price class and which had been far and away the most popular with your customers.
Also, if McNamara was focusing on costs so obsessively (which he likely was) why would the hardtop have not been killed until it reached the ragged edge of production?
I still lean towards some kind of techinical issue that the engineering and production people were not able to get ironed out in time for production. Or ironed out at a reasonable cost, which goes to your point.
I’m not an expert on these, but I’ve always assumed the convertible must have had structural changes/reinforcements to compensate for the loss of the roof structure. I’d be surprised if that was not the case. It certainly is in every other convertible.
There were several things in play. The initial prototype was a 2-door sedan. With the car being a unibody, the weight of the 2 ling doors on the A pillars became a problem (solved a few years later). Also, only having 2-door models available was not acceptable, a 4-door model was needed. Then again due to the unibody structure, rear doors could not be supported by the B pillars. So structure was designed at the C pillars to carry the rear doors. It then comes down to a 4-door sedan and/or a 4-door coupe (hardtop). It becomes a structural problem again. Extra bracing is typical on convertible cars to control (resist) body twist. On the 4-door hardtop there was a problem with roof panel movement do to wind pressure. In effect, the roof panel as structurally designed for the sedan could not resist wind pressures when installed as a hardtop without additional reinforcement. Findings from the initial testing on the hardtop was unacceptable wind noise which was traced to the roof panel. The engineers were more successful controlling wind noise on the convertibles than a 4-door hardtop given the original roof panel design. To make a short story longer, it came down to cost.
I’m sure A/C played a part in this decision. The take rate for A/C on the 1961 Continental was almost 50%, far ahead of most contemporary cars. The appeal of having an uninterrupted opening from A-Pillar to C-Pillar is greatly reduced if the windows are never rolled down.
The article on the Continental at Ate Up With Motor states that the sedan had the automatic lowering feature as well:
“…On 1961-1963 cars, with their curved side glass, the rear windows automatically lower a bit when the doors are opened, so the glass will clear the roof molding. Engel’s designers originally hoped to make the sedan a true pillarless hardtop and latching the doors to the floorpan and each other, but for cost reasons, the production sedan retained narrow B-posts…”
There was the extremely expensive, limited-production Eldorado Brougham from Cadillac (the 1957-1958 model), equipped with everything GM could throw at it.
Excellent point – neither the Facel Vega nor this came to mind when I typed that comment this morning.
57/58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Suicide doors; 4 dr ht.
A very interesting article! Being a die-hard Chevy fan, I never paid any attention to Lincoln, so I was never aware of a possible 4 door hardtop Continental, just pillared ones in addition to the convertible.
I hope that if any are still in existence, Ford may have at least one in its collection stashed away, somewhere in the Detroit area. I sure hope so, because I’d like to see it!
I know we may never see hardtop styling again, but i always hold out the hope that Detroit comes to their senses, and offers up true pillarless styling at least on Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers. Two door configurations may be the only way to go. I don’t ever see four door hardtops making a return, especially in today’s traffic realities.
Great article!
Who knows! They may discover a way to sell even more cars that aren’t crossovers!
See, that’s the thing. You can make a hardtop that meets modern safety standards. Mercedes coupes have remained predominately true hardtops over the years, all the way to the present–the current E-class and S-class coupes are pillarless hardtops. So Detroit could do it if they wanted to, they just haven’t bothered.
I do wonder–what was the last production 4-door hardtop? For American cars, the ’78 New Yorker Brougham is the last I can think of. And I believe several Japanese manufacturers offered them in the 80’s in the home market, but none of those were sold on these shores that I know of. The ’91-’95 Mazda 929 was a “faux hardtop” design where there was no external evidence of a b-pillar, as the window glass completely covered it when raised, but that tricky b-pillar did in fact exist.
According to Ate Up With Motor’s excellent article, https://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/japanese-four-door-hardtops/view-all/, the last production 4-door pillarless hardtop was the 1989-93 ST180 Toyota Carina ED/Corona EXiV. Didn’t see many of those around over the years, but the 1988-92 C33 Nissan Laurel was also a pillarless 4-door hardtop, and it was (and still is) very popular here in New Zealand. I had a 1992 Laurel (which features in AUWM’s article) that was pillarless – see pic below of it. The base of the B-pillars were fairly large, curving partway across the floor to the centre tunnel, presumably to offer a bit of side-impact protection. Of all the cars I’ve owned, the C33’s all round visibility was by far the best, especially for looking over my shoulder when pulling away from the curbside.
I find the pillarless or even thin pillar sedans are much nice looking that today’s thick pillar vehicles. To make the matter worst, almost all vehicle pillar designs are the same black shining plastic piece covering the large B pillar between front and rear doors. I believe today there is no production sedan with pillarless design, which we could commonly see in 60s and 70s. The closest vehicle with a large roof is probably beautiful S class Mercedes Coupe. The large pillar is likely existing in the new vehicle because of the safety concerns. I read somewhere some of Mercedes vehicle roof could withstand up to 16 metric tons, that is a lot of force for the 60s and 70s Detroit irons.
Fascinating read and great piece of sleuthing, Tom. This is all completely new to me – hadn’t ever thought about the absence of a true hardtop roofline on these Connies before.
Great detective work!
BTW, what is old is new again- my last Mini, which had frameless glass doors, also would move the glass up and down slightly when opening and closing the door.
So does my Mustang. I’ll assume the 2015 and up are that way, but my 2007 works like that as did my Dad’s 2014. Since it’s a Ford product, I wonder if it’s the exact same servo as the old Lincoln. Nah, that would make for a 50 year old part, although for Ford, I suppose that’s not totally out of the question. ;o)
Great sleuthing! I particularly love seeing the “cheats” in the brochure photography–and I must admit I never noticed them before.
As others have said here, pillared or not, this is just a beautiful car.
Odd that the price guide listing fully acknowledges the car’s rarity with a single-digit production number and ER (“extremely rare”, I’d assume) notation but still only gives a standard-formula price bump to a car that would be a Barrett-Jackson Saturday evening million-dollar rarity if one went up for sale.
Also note the “Floating Mirror” (as used on the 1961 Thunderbirds), on the 4 dr hardtop photos, which did not make it into production.
Had Lincoln put the hardtop into production, the cost of manufacturing and warrenty repairs of these very complex rear window lowering systems, which are prone to continued failure, would have killed off Lincoln (already on it’s last leg).
Not much more section modules with the bolt in upper B pillars (4 bolts each).
Ans also note the different rear door panel aluminum trim, which goes straight through to the rear seat, on the black and white photo with the seated lady.
Good eye. Some did have brushed stainless steel instead of the wood, but all were the same isolated round cornered long rectangle chrome edged panels. Clearly an early prototype.
Another fascinating article about an automotive unicorn, and an exceptionally beautiful unicorn at that. I was seven in 1961 and it was a different world. My mother was one of those who followed the Jackie Kennedy look… we have many pictures of her dressed in a La Mode Jackie including the pillbox hats, and the white gloves.
As for why the hardtop was dropped, I would a La Mode Occam propose cost savings over structural concerns – far too early for structural problems to have become evident on zero-mile cars. Unless: they were really bad. The production-line conversion of the six might suggest that was true – otherwise, the pillarless cars would not have been converted, but merely completed and production stopped after that. I can visualize a situation where the cars were driven off the line and workers then discovering that the doors wouldn’t close. The first would have been a report; the second car a concern; the third an alarm; and the fourth, constructed with the QC team hovering about, a death knoll. In such a case, those four cars would probably be scrapped – can’t sell cars whose doors won’t close.
For what it’s worth I can provide a little personal anecdotal evidence about the structural integrity of these Lincolns in convertible form. In 1961 or 62 (I don’t remember) my family was invited to a summer party at the lakeside home of my father’s richer and more successful friends. While the adults had lazy afternoon cocktails, we kids played under the trees along the beach. Parked there was our friend’s father’s beautiful 61 (or 62) white Lincoln convertible. So beautiful, so inviting, that six or seven of us kids opened all the doors and started jumping up and down on the seats and hanging on the doors,enough to bounce the car on its springs (Cool!) and apparently enough to bend the frame (Opps!).
We didn’t know it at the time because we all ran off to play elsewhere and left the doors wide open. In fact I didn’t learn what had happened for a week or two when my friend told me how mad his dad was at all of us, and how they were getting a new car.
I have never been in one of these convertibles. Your memory of the way these flexed makes me all the more inclined to believe that this became an insurmountable problem as the hardtop neared production.
Imagine the panic that went through the minds of the sales and advertising people when they learned that there would be no 4 door hardtop in their luxury car lineup.
It’s interesting how Popular Mechanics described these as the first entry in a new class called “compact luxury” – they seem pretty big to me.
The lady in black in that last pic looks just like Jackie Kennedy.
They were much shorter than the 1958-60 model or competing Cadillacs or Imperials, in fact I think shorter than a 1961 Ford Galaxie. They are about the length of a Crown Vic, but several inches lower and also wider. And close to 1000 pounds heavier. In 1964 the wheebase and length got a 3″ stretch, with all the inches in the back seat. Also flat windows and a different roof and interior, which kind of ruined them. Probably a new heating and AC system that made sense though.
The 61-63 Lincolns were ‘compact’ inside. They couldn’t compare to the room their competition (Cad/Imperial) offered. Remember, they’re actually a stretched 4 dr TBird, which means their front seat room is about the same. From personal experience with these cars, I assure you that they are indeed ‘compact’ when compared to comparable cars. Anyone much over 6′ would notice it immediately, and I’m well past that number.
Great article! I was aware of the ‘61 hardtop Lincoln (not aware of the air brushed Photo in the brochure), body rigidity is often the reason sited as to why it wasn’t built, but production complexity makes more sense.
GM copied Lincon by offering a 4 door pillared hardtop as the sedan style for its 1965-1970 luxury ‘C’ body Cadillac, Electra, and 98 models.
I remember reading as a kid that the rarest production Ford Motors car was a ‘73 or ‘74 Mercury Monterey 4 door hardtop with something like 9 total being built. I don’t think that article had mentioned the ‘61 hardtop Lincoln.
We all benefit from your safari and nice writeup, Tom Halter. These cars were always “out of my league,” so I never paid attention to these little details–now I’ll be looking carefully at every (early) factory photo, ad, and so on. Bravo!
Had 3 61 Continentals simultaneously. One was a parts car for the other two Called them Jackie, Rose, and Ethel…Poor Ethel was the parts car. While disassembling for various parts We noticed the “B” pillar was a simple bolt in affair. Easily removed. Was it really structural in a major way? Maye to counteract body flex? Always thought a true hardtop was a better choice for this. My Maternal grandfather bought one in late 1960. Even as a child I thought the “B: pillar was unnecessary.
While I am not a structural engineer, I remember an observation from when these cars were nearly new. Members of my family bought five new L-C sedans of this type, from years 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967. A neighbor bought a new L-C sedan in 1964. I was in all of these cars on many occasions, and noted that, once they were about a year old, the rear doors never closed flush with the front doors. The ultimate indignity was suffered by the neighbor’s car, when he started in drive with the right-rear door ajar. The door struck a light pole just a short distance from the curb, and the door and right quarter panel were severely damaged. I believe it was at that time that the neighbor bought a new 1967 L-C COUPE! At the time, I never thought that structural integrity might be the problem. I just chalked it up to less than ideal quality of construction. We may never know the exact reason or reasons for the deletion of the hardtop body style, but the mystery certainly adds to the mystique of the “Kennedy” Lincoln Continental.
While a suicide door Lincoln Continental convertible was President Kennedy’s personal car and a limo his official car, a 1960 Imperial Ghia limo was leased by the White House for First Lady Jackie’s use.
She also used a black 1962 (I believe) sedan with the rear half of the roof done in plexiglass. I saw it on display at the Imperial Palace Hotel car museum in Las Vegas in the mid-90s.
Mrs. Eisenhower preferred Chrysler Imperials and also used a Ghia limousine for official duties on some occasions.
Fantastic write-up, Tom. A more thrilling read than most detective stories!
It sure sounds paranoid but
I almost get the feeling like Ford did all this on purpose to create a pillarless mystery that today, more than 50 years later, we could read about.
Note the position of the gear leaver in the bottom photo.
On the left (dark dress), it looks to be in the Drive position.
On the right (white dress), the leaver looks to be in the Park position.
LOL! You guys would be pretty good at the “Can you spot the differences between these two pictures?”
I noticed that, too. Maybe the selector lever on the left is in the “neutral” position, one would hope, these ladies are not exactly assuming a driving stance.
A really great research article, btw, as much of a Lincoln fan that I am, and my parents owned a ’65 sedan back then (the B-pillar was even thinner than the ’61-’63s), I was never aware of this early hardtop design. Pretty interesting.
I really enjoy car-nerdy detective stories like this, and all the discussion they engender. Makes you wonder what it was like to work in the front office back then.
You know I love my obscure/forgotten limited-run models, Tom. I thoroughly enjoyed this article — excellent sleuthing! I’m so surprised about the ’62 brochure in particular.
One wonders if there are any surviving.
Really interesting, I didn’t know such a model existed. Good job on the research.
Even today, when someone mentions “quiet, classy, conservative good taste” the dual images of this Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy pop into my brain.
Had I been old enough and had the financial means needed, I like to think I would had been a “Cadillac man” all though the 1950’s.
In 1961 I suspect that I would had switched my allegiance to Lincolns.
The four have been the Holy Grail of the LCOC for years, a few recreation have been done on hardtop sedans utilizing the rear door window apparatus from the convertible.
As to why management decided to drop this model: it was essentially redundant since the thin-pillar style was sufficiently attractive by itself. The additional expense and trouble to install the rear window retraction mechanism necessary to eliminate the windows binding when the rear door was opened when the front door was closed was simply eliminated by the thin B-pillar.
There may have been doubts as well whether the retraction apparatus was dependable enough to install in a majority of production. It could have turned into a servicing nightmare and damaged the quality reputation they were trying to rebuild. Convertible customers were a bit more of a forgiving lot when mechanical glitches appeared, expected of a more complex mechanism.
Some of the 300 pound differential weight between the sedan and convertible was the suspended tuning weights hung forward of the front axle in the corners. Their function was the cancel harmonic vibrations that could develop in the open body on rough roads. That was an old engineering trick that had been applied to convertibles from the 1930’s on.
Having had a ’63 convertible years ago, while a magnificent design inside and out, some of the build qualities and execution methods were no better than found on any FoMoCo cars of those years, the electrical harness springs to mind.
Your comment reflects my thoughts, and seems to be the most likely answer.
The photographer of the bottom photos certainly understood color, contrast, and subliminal suggestion.
On the left, the model is in a dark outfit with a light colored interior. The door is closed to reflect a formal situation (state department cocktail party).
On the right, the model is in a white outfit with a light blue interior. Based on the hat, its a bit more informal (garden party attire). The door is open to bring in the celebration of Easter (inflection point for the white shoes). How many women at the time projected themselves into these pictures??
If you look at some of the early (’61 thru ’64) Continental brochures, there are more pictures of women solo and the balance are of well healed couples. The few male solo shots are of craftsmen implying the car is very well made and will not leave the female stranded.
I’m sure the majority of the early Continentals were registered in the husband’s name, but were driven by the spouse (or mistress)😎😎😎
The story about the kids bending the car’s frame sounds more like an urban legend. My family had a ’63 sedan and it felt quite solid. If the frame was weak enough to be bent by kids, imagine how it would have folded up during crash testing. These things weren’t Benzs but they weren’t likely to fold up driving down the highway.
There was a custom hardtop convertible that was done up for one of the guys that has an auto related tv show. Does anyone have a link or photos of this? It was more along the lines of a hot rod but would love to convince my wife to buy it for me!!! Any info appreciated.
My production numbers information of the Lincoln Continental 4-Door Hardtop (57C) Is the same as the article. 10 assembled and 6 modified into sedans. A 2-Door Hardtop concept was created prior to any 4-Door concepts. The problem the engineers were having with the 4-Door Hardtop was wind infiltration. The roof panel would slightly deform in the wind tunnel allowing infiltration around the door window seals. By using thicker sheet metal for the roof panel, they could eliminate the wind infiltration. Then the question arose as to why offer a 4-Door Sedan and a 4-Door Hardtop. The bean counters reported that the 4-Door Hardtop with the thicker roof panel would cost more to assemble than the 4-Door Sedan with the standard thickness roof panel, the added b-pillar extensions attached the roof panel, and the different door window weatherstripping. Getting back to the 4 hardtops, I have no information as to later modifications into sedans or where they are today. I am still looking.
I was a 12 year old boy/car nut (and a model car novice also) when the ’61 Continental was introduced. The four door convertible fascinated me because it was unique among 1961 offerings, and it was also ten years after the last 4 door convertibles (1951 Frazers) were sold in the U.S. What made it even more exciting to this young kid was that a scale model of the car was also available. In the years since, while amassing a collection of both scale model vehicles, and automotive sales literature, I had become confused by seeing photos of the ’61 as both a hardtop, and a sedan, with – prior to your most welcome article – no explanation. Thank you for enlightening this old man and others who also may have been confused…thereby proving the adage that one is never too old to learn!
Lincoln made 13 1961 Lincoln Continental 4-door hardtops. The problem was that the steel roof panel would flutter it highway speeds do to wind pressure. Using thicker steel for the roof panel solved this problem but Lincoln did not want to have different steel thicknesses on the cars. It was less costly to produce the pillared sedan. Nine of the pillarless hardtops were modified with an extension of the B-pillar. the other 4 made it to the public. One of the hardtops was used for preproduction publicity photos on Lincoln ads. Original 1961 Lincoln Continental factory order forms listed the 4-door convertible (74A), the 4-door sedan (pillarless 57C), and the 4-door sedan (pillared 53A).