(first posted 6/18/2013) Let’s continue the Continental theme, shall we? None of the Continentals were exactly small cars–even the late-gen Taurus-based version, but the biggest of them all were undoubtedly the 1958-60 Continental Mark III, IV and V. Wait, you say, weren’t the Marks 1960s and ’70s personal luxury cars? Yes, but they weren’t the first…
As Paul related in the 1965 Continental CC, Lincoln’s ambitious Mark II and, indeed, the entire short-lived Continental Division did not pan out. It was too expensive, and FoMoCo lost money on every single one of the lavish 1956-57 Mark IIs. Thus, when the gigantic new Lincoln debuted in 1958, a badge-engineered version of the Continental replaced the graceful II coupe.
What a change, eh? The 1958 Lincolns were over-the-top; big, brash and gaudy, though remarkably restrained compared to the rolling jukeboxes at Imperial and Cadillac. The Continental was little different from the Lincoln Capri and Premiere, save the reverse-slant, retractable backlight (even on the convertibles!), additional standard gadgets, and Bridge of Weir leather seating. About the only thing that looked the same were the turbine-blade wheel covers.
It was ambitious. Not only did the Lincoln/Continental bigger in every dimension than Cadillac, it was the world’s largest unibody as well. These things were tanks. But they came out at the beginning of a nasty 1958 recession, and sales never took off.
For the 1959 and 1960 model years, the original 1958 styling cues were toned down bit by bit, but these things never really faded into the background. The ’60 Lincoln was very nearly the last, as the 1958 generation had been such a sales disaster that Robert McNamara was about ready to take Lincoln out to the woodshed. Only a last-minute re-do of a Thunderbird design saved the marque, and brought Lincoln back from the brink in the form of the lovely ’61 Continental.
1960 was the last year for this style, and the ’60 Continental Mark V was, in my opinion, the best-looking of the whole series. The bizarre front fenders and Salvador Dali-esque front bumper were no longer in evidence, but that cool Breezeway rear window was retained.
I saw this nice black Mark V at the June Quad Cities Cruisers cruise night, and though I had seen it in the past, it was in my pre-CC days. I actually thought it was my friend KV Dahl’s 1960 Lincoln Sedan (which he sold last year), but the reverse-slant window and red-and-black interior proved otherwise. These cars may not have the following of the classic 1961-69 Continental, but their scarcity and over-the-top looks endear them to me.
Always liked them, especially the ’58’s. Just the same, for the ’58-60 luxury period, give me the ’58 Cadillac. It managed to project a modicum of class without shouting “look at me” at the top on one’s lungs, like the Lincolns and Imperials.
’59-60 Cadillac? Give me the Lincoln or Continental, any day!
The front grille is amazing. There are about 198 squares within squares on it. And yes I did try to count them. 🙂
Agreed, I don’t like this car very much but that grille is a work of art.
This was a bottom of the ninth, bases loaded period for Lincoln,the division was on the threshold of an ignominious demise. McNamara was about ready to pull the plug when they pulled the ’61 Suicide out of the hat. Lincoln is in a similar fix today, in dire need
of something revolutionary. Except it’s a different world today. I truly believe ignominious demise redux is just around the corner.
Personally, I loathe these oversized, overwrought and simply hideous 4-wheeled gargoyles to the same degree that I love the ’61 Continental.
“Personally, I loathe these oversized, overwrought and simply hideous 4-wheeled gargoyles to the same degree that I love the ’61 Continental.”
My feelings, verbatim!
C’mon Roger, don’t hold back. How do you really feel?
Count me as another guy with an irrational love for these. I have always suspected that if the stylists had gone with a more formal rear roof and ditched the slanty headlights, these would have become icons of good taste in an era otherwise off its rocker. The brochure shot of the Continental Town Car (yes, really) with its formal roof is quite conservative.
I have never even sat in one of these, and the only ones I ever saw in the wild were the lesser Premiers or Capris. My local CL had a guy selling a Continental convertible of this series, I forget which year. It needed some help, but was pretty nice. Quite expensive, not unexpected given its rarity.
From 1957-57, it would have been Imperial all the way for me, but in 1960 it would be this Lincoln.
Oops – forgot my picture
This brochure is fascinating. “Formal Motoring”. Town Car and Limousine. Half inch deep pile carpet. Woolen Upholstery for the owner. Vinyl Padded Roof. Hand polished Presidential Black Paint. Only two Limousines can be made per day. Both are Continental Mark V.
I like the Senate Sub Committee meeting depicted in the photo, it reminds me of the scene from The Godfather Part II, when Mike has to testify in Washington.
These were interesting, sort of a “personal limousine” smaller than the big 7 passenger Cadillac 75’s, it interesting that they were able to fit a power glass divider window in such a small space. Was the wheelbase any longer on these or was it just the different roof?
Wiki says it was the same wheelbase, but with more back seat room due to ditching the Breezeway roof.
“The Eyetalian people are one of the backbones of this country…”
I got my own family senator….
These cars had more than adequate rear seat legroom. My bottom-line Premiere had something like two feet of floor between the bottoms of the seats – and that’s with the front seat all the way back.
I was hoping someone would post something about this rare model. I have seen two in my life. Both were 1960 models, one completely original in fair condition and one was a frame off complete restoration. The original was a local car and owned by a friend. Both cars I have seen were the Formal Sedan/Town Car, which meant they did not have the partition.
I seem to remember these cars were only offered in black. My friend passed away early in his life so I no longer have access to his car or his knowledge. I think he told me around 50+/- of these were made each year 1958-60, perhaps reaching up to 60 units one year??
In the case of the other 60 I experienced, which was a frame off restoration, it was 16 or 17 years ago at a national Lincoln club meet. The guy had $75,000-$80,000 in receipts and had no takers at $16,000.
I think these cars were neat as they had such a low production number, model specific features and never made it into the livery and funeral home business like Cadillac and Lincoln. Of course none of these formal cars could compare to the Chrysler Imperial Ghia Limousines.
Again, thanks so much for including this article on these rare cars.
I had a 1960 Lincoln that was on the other end of the 1960 line from these. It was a remarkably plain Premiere sedan that was the only 1960 Lincoln I ever saw that didn’t have power windows. In addition, it was light tan inside and out. It was a very nice old-lady car (I think she was the original owner) that was as straight as could be…perfect bumpers, not a dent anywhere, all clean inside. It was the second of my three Lincolns and the best handling of them all. I sold it to another car guy and saw it several times over the years, looking great each time.
The 1958-60 Premieres came with power windows as standard equipment. The base, non-Premiere, Lincoln had cranks.
I have to laugh when someone calls these “taseful and restrained” in comparison to a 1958 Cadillac. Really?
This was a Bulgemobile brought to life, not to say its not a cool car, because it is, but using tasteful and restrained is a stretch.
The thing about these, is they are probably the best deal for a highline over the top 50’s luxury car,1959-1960 Eldorados go for sky high money in comparison to these, I’ve seen nice Continental convertibles go in the upper $20K’s
I used to detest these cars, but the design is really growing on me. I don’t like the canted headlights, but the 1960 version is definitely an improvement. (I still think the Breezeway is atrocious… if a brand ever deserved to die thanks to a single styling feature, this has to be it.)
I think I read somewhere that these were so wide that they technically violated some federal regulation about passenger car width. Nothing ever came of it, of course.
It was the 1960 Fords that were too wide.
They’ve grown on me, too. Not that they really needed to grow…
Somebody paint an “H”, in a circle, on that decklid.
The helipad is on the front, the rear is for F4’s
The inside door handles look like something from a small safe. And the length of the overhang from the rear wheel is incredible.
Cant say Ive seen one up close i doubt any came here new and the rear end Ive seen like this a couple of streets away is a Mercury. Its cool in an OTT way but Luxury from the US in this era comes from cadillac mostly.
I, too, am another guy who always had a thing about these long, low, lovely Lincolns. They were the epitome of luxo-mobiles when I was a child. I still recall trooping along with my father on his annual new car introduction treks, which always included a stop at Lynch Lincoln-Mercury in Santa Monica. I would sit in these gargantuan road warriors in the showroom and transport myself to another world. Nothing could have been finer!
It is funny how Lincoln disavowed any knowledge of these cars when the now much better known Mark III was introduced. I guess part of the claim at the time was that the new III was a personal car in the vein of the II while these were basically trim packages on the standard sedan.
I just got a ’60 convertible, had a ’59 and ’60 when younger. There was a ’60 Landau at this weekend’s LCOC Eastern meet in Dover, DE, the same colors as my convertible, dark Turquoise, two tone turquoise leather. You can see the cost cutting relative to the Mk II, but the visible surfaces are first rate for the era. The ’58-’60 was a dead end project, but by ’60, much of the quality that made the landmark ’61 famous had been implemented and the ’60 was a far better vehicle than its immediate predecessors.
Driving one is a real time machine moment, almost like a visit to a universe far, far away, but really only 50+ years ago (not that long for some of us!).
There are so many things I like about this car. I’m drawn to the dot-within-a-square grille and the rear taillight panel & bumper especially: gorgeous! Parts of the intrument panel & many other details appeal to me. As I back away and look at the machine in its entirety, I find it much less attractive; klunky perhaps.
Now I know where the first-gen Toronado designers got their steering wheel design…
Could the ’58 Continental also be the design inspiration for GM stylists, who later used the ‘fin & skeg’ design on the ’61 Cadillac (see post below)? [PS: you’ve got to love the Lincoln’s tiny white marker lights embedded in the fins!]
Here’s the ’61 Cadillac fin & skeg.
Those white things in the Lincoln fins don’t light up.
The Cadillac fins were based on some Firebird or whatever they called it concept car.
Sorry this is everything that’s bad about American cars,a gaudy gas guzzling behemoth.I still think Lincoln styling took a step back after 1956.This 60 model is still a bit better looking than the awful 58 & 59.I’d sooner have a last of the line Edsel now there’s a great looking car.
Last of the line Edsel was a poor characterless badge-engineered Galaxy, which was such a flop Ford cancelled it half-way thru the model year (and then renamed the production-ready Edsel-mini as the Comet and gave it to Mercury.)
The 60 Edsel was turned into a badge engineered Ford due to the poor sales of the previous years models and was canceled pretty much as soon as it officially went on sale based on the badwill the earlier models had earned. The 60 wasn’t left on the market long enough to be a flop.
By the way, 2nd look, the subject car has regular Lincoln trim added onto the side, that big chrome strip only came on the Premiere/Lincoln.
Isn’t this the last of cars with the “Dagmar’ bumpers? I like the 1961 Continental’s much better as they look crisp and clean and still stylish all these years later.
Always liked these cars; especially the white Capri with a sexy Eva Marie Saint (surprised nobody has mentioned North by Northwest yet!) behind the wheel!!
Also surprised that nobody mentioned how the rust caused that cantilever back-end of the vehicle to collapse after a few years exposure to road salt!
That’s right! I forgot about the one in North by Northwest.
I love these cars, always have, especially this ’60. Canted headlights match up with the fins, it’s the Space Age look!
Here’s Eva Marie Saint and some stony faces looking over her shoulder in South Dakota. The Capri is a ’58.
There were no Lincoln convertibles in 1958 — Capri or otherwise — all convertibles were Continentals
love these cars you could get fm radio and cruise control…not to mention the power vent windows- you cant sort of see the box that controls the fm radio
here is a pic of the cruise control
Does anyone remember the tv show about a prairie hotel and Chief Hawkeye, who drove a white ’58 connie convert? I can visualize that beautiful car soaring through the prairie grass and Hawkey’s giant feathered headdress, but cannot remember the name of the show. I thought it was Holiday something, but the googles don’t work!
The show was called Guestward Ho starring Joanne Dru and Mark Miller. It ran from 1960-61.
Thank you! I’ve been searching for years. I thought maybe I had dreamed up Hawkeye! None of my contemporaries remember the show. Why do my favorite series always last one season?
Glad to be of some help! I’m 57 and live in Western Australia. We didn’t get TV over here until 1959, and my parents didn’t buy a set until 1961. As I was pretty young at the time, I only have vague memories of this short-lived show, but I definitely recall watching it, although it was probably some years after it was shown in the US. We only had 2 channels until 1965, and then had to wait over 20 years for a 4th channel!
I think Perry Mason may have driven one of these back in the old B&W show?
I remember the character Hawkeye’s Lincoln as being the next version of Lincoln Continental, 1961 or newer. It was usually driven top down, even on the dusty roads, with Hawkeye wearing his full headress.
Each year my Pop and I would head out in the Fall to check out all the new cars at local dealers. It was great fun, and we’d spread it over several weekends so we could see every make (and I could collect brochures). I remember in the Fall of 1978, we went to Benson Lincoln Mercury to see the new models (the new Marquis being the intended highlight). In the middle of the showroom the dealer had put one of these on display–not exactly sure why, but there it was. Absolutely enormous (even with new 1979 behemoths surrounding it), a two door finished in white with red inside, it was quite the sight. The first time (and actually last time now that I think of it) where I’ve seen one in person. I’ll admit I was mesmerized, especially little details like the power vent windows. Spent more time in it than the new Marquis next to it (Pop spent time in that one talking to the salesman). The funniest thing I remember from that day was a perfect indication of how clueless non-car people are about cars. A woman, with her husband in tow, came over to the (vintage) Mark V and proclaimed “now, which one is this? It’s the Mark?!? We want the best one. Is this it?” Pop and I chuckled about that for years.
While there’s no question that the ’61 was the better looking car, the ’60 was far more “luxurious”. It had rear reading lights, more sophisticated A/C venting across the dash and to the rear seat, power vents and antenna, electric trunk opener, FM radio adapter, more room, more models and more horsepower (15 more), none of which were available on the ’61. This was rectified in later years, but…
This is not to say that the huge improvements made in ’61 weren’t the wave of the future, they set the tone that saved Lincoln and set it on the path that would last 20 years. Just remember that the ’60 was the last time that a car was made with no regard to marketing or practicality, just luxury. If nothing else, it was, um. imposing.
These gargantuan gargoyle inspired boats are gorgeous!
Hope this link works, as I could only find this ’59 Lincoln ad on e-tail sites like Ebay and ioffer.com, and couldn’t download a copy of it. But apparently Lincoln’s ad agency got painter Norman Rockwell to endorse their baroque beasts:
http://www.ioffer.com/i/lincoln-ad-orig-vint-automobile-norman-rockwell-1959-94794721
From the ad copy:
“To me, Lincoln’s clean styling is decidedly more impressive” — Norman Rockwell
“Clean styling”? I don’t hate these Lincolns, but let’s get real here: their overwrought forms and haphazard lines are about as cluttered, confusing, chaotic, and UN-clean as automotive design can get! The ’61 Continental, now THAT’S clean styling! You would think a man of simple, unpretentious artistic sensibility like good old pipe-smoking “Normal Norman” would know that. Now, if Salvador Dali thought the late-50s Linc’s had “clean styling”, that might be more understandable. But I guess somebody from Dearborn offered Rockwell a big pile of money (or maybe a free Lincoln) to make this bizarre claim.
Great ad. Compared to a ’59 Cadillac or Imperial, however, I can see where the 59 Lincoln could be considered the cleanest and most conservative of the bunch.
Sorry, had to put this here:)
Is that Christine’s father?
When too much is not enough. I love the rear end styling of the 1960 Mark V. It looks a mile wide, the slightly “V”eed looks, and the way the chromed fin ends cut into the ornate rear panel.
1960 Continental Mark V spotted at a gas station, Sussex Turnpike & Calais Road, Randolph Township NJ, 1989. The color was Sapphire Metallic, and it looked just like the example shown in the 1960 brochure. Shortly thereafter, it was offered for sale @ $2500. I have not seen it since.
The reverse-angled rear window makes the trunk seem out-of-this-world BIG when seen in person!
Black & white photography doesn’t do it justice! Here’s another example (in this case a 2-door) in the beautiful Sapphire Metallic color:
Nice to see this one reappear. I love the sapphire metallic paint job immediately above.
The other thing I like about these (and 60s) Lincolns is the “full-star” hood ornament–with the points of the star extending beyond the bullseye/box. Thus actually looking like a star instead of a cross in a box.
I wish that that hood ornament had continued being used—well through the ’89, at least. It just looks right on any 50s Lincoln or Lincoln with the ’61-’89 fender blades.
I think that Lincoln star remained on hoods through 1966. When ornaments went back on Lincoln hoods in the 70s we got the safety version.
The “full star” emblem looked rich. The safety version never did. Hood ornaments are dead. Bring back the “full star”.
I guess the safety regs are such that if your rump could somehow be impaled on the full-star if you are thrown onto the hood in a car-pedestrian collision, or little Johnny could poke out an eye by deciding to head-bang the full star hood ornament in the driveway, it isn’t allowed.
I understand four abreast was possible on those wide, wide seats.
My admiration for the 61-66 Lincolns knows no bounds as the pinnacle of American design, along with the 58 Chrysler 300 and 1st gen Oldsmobile Torronado for aesthetics.
Whilst I do not find these tasteful, for some reason I like them, especially the 58, as if they came from a parallel world in the twilight zone.
I would be interested to know if design wise they were successful cars, was the Unibody structure strong in comparison to the BOF, were they better built than Cadillacs and Imperials ?
Love to see articles like this of rare and interesting cars, although a complete petrol head I realise that petrol reciprocating engines are so 19th/20th Century and had their day, so much effort goes into overcoming their shortcomings and we cannot afford their wastefulness
I cannot wait for their replacement with Electric with decent range and the infrastructure to recharge them. This is the main reason why I cannot get really enthusiastic about modern cars, but I can enjoy these old machines without that thought nagging me
I hated these when they were new, still hate them now.
Ford should have continued the ’57 Lincoln for a few more years with the usual facelifts. They finally got it right in ’56, after many years when the Lincoln looked like a botched Kustomizing job on a Mercury. The ’56 and ’57 looked truly impressive and luxurious in the same class as Cadillac, but without copying Caddy.
O.K., I’m another lover of these big, bold and brash luxury cruisers. I admit that. They were designed for the market at the time, a few years earlier. By the time they came to market, on the showroom floor, the market changed dramatically. Luxury car buyers were affected by the ’58 recession. What car maker could have planned for that? This situation reminds you of….Edsel, does it not? And everybody on this site knows what happened there! Anyway, I love thee cars, especially the hardtop sedan. Imagine if they also offered a 4-door convertible iin the lineup of these…
I love these. For better or for worse, they had a signature style, and one cannot mistake one for another as is the case with most luxury cars today. With the similar Cadillac and Imperial models, it was probably one of the last true American Luxury cars that holds its own against the other standards of the world, like a similar Rolls. Not better, but not worse, mostly just different, and for a different audience. And with the general disdain for foreign cars at the time, owning a Continental versus a Rolls or Mercedes would be more socially acceptable for the American owners.
This question may’ve already been asked and answered here, but when they came out with the Mark again in 1969, why didn’t they pick up where they left off and call the new Continental a Mark VI, instead of using Mark III again?
It’s as if Lincoln wanted to forget these cars (the original III, IV, and V) altogether.
Of course the ’61 is an icon – I had a ’62 when it was over 40 years old. And I like the ’56 Continental a lot also. These are awesome in their own way as well. But I do think the original ’58 iteration is the best. The Continental model has the pointless (if you have AC at least) and not that good looking reverse window, but the Premieres have a chrome spear on the side that it’s better off without. I think I read somewhere that the ’58’s had a coil rear suspension and then in ’58 they went back to the more primitive leaves, which the ’61 still had.
When I worked in Don Mills back in the late ‘90’s I used to see one of these at a garage around Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue. It belonged to the owner and appeared to be a daily driver – quite a surprise, as I even saw it on the road in the winter. I hope it had plenty of undercoating – they tend to pile on the salt here in Ontario.