I’ve written about the incredible 1958-60 Lincolns before (most recently a 1959 Continental coupe in black) but I was scrolling through Craigslist, and this just stopped me in my tracks! Wow!
Looking fantastic!
This is the kind of thing that really gets me enthused! You have one of the most over-the-top cars ever produced in the ’50s, lovingly and meticulously restored. Plus a presumed owner who dresses in matching glamorous attire, looking so much like the late spokesmodel Julia Meade, who originally advertised these cars on the Ed Sullivan Show. Perfection–just perfection!
Here’s the real Julia, showing off the 1959 Lincoln on live television.
I’m the kind of person who gets turned on by extremes. And it’s hard to get more extreme than this. There’s an ordinary way of doing something, and then there’s the lavish, charismatic, artistic way of doing it, with flair and élan.
And I’m not too concerned with what some people call eccentricity or so-called “bad taste”. I’m all for beauty and proportion and getting along well with other people–but if you love something and it speaks to you in a deep way, I think you should embrace it, regardless of popular opinion. You are gifted with the ability to see the greatness in something that others can’t see.
I’ll confess: I actually LIKE a lot of the stuff in this book. Does that make me a bad person?
The Craigslist ad includes photos, apparently taken in 1996, showing the complete and total restoration of this car. Someone put a lot of love, skill, (and money!) into this project, which included complete disassembly, stripping the body down to bare metal, and total refurbishment:
The Lincoln unit body is one solid structure of steel!
Here’s the seller’s description:
Fully restored 1958 Lincoln Premiere 2 door hardtop classic car in excellent condition. Body off restoration with only 11,000 miles on rebuilt engine. Has full power steering, power brakes, power windows, power seats, and power antennae. Additional electronic fuel pump for quick starting. Has 430 cubic inch engine, 4 barrel carburetor, 375 horsepower. Automatic transmission. Original autumn rose color exterior with white top. Interior all new upholstery two-tone gray. Car has won dozens of trophies at car shows. Price somewhat negotiable.
Location: Killington, CT. Asking Price: $38,000
Here’s a look at the all-new upholstery:
Love the cockpit on these! I imagine myself taking the wheel. The transformation from the car’s stripped-down state to its present condition is just mind-boggling!
Engine compartment and trunk look pristine.
Well, that’s all the information I have, based on the Craigslist ad I found. There is so much more to this story, like why this car in particular was selected for total restoration, who did the work, the enjoyment the restored car provided, and why this special gem of a car is being sold now.
There are wonderful cars and amazing people out there doing incredible things. You just have to discover them!
I too have a thing for these cars, and have from the time I was a pre-teen. But I don’t think I have ever seen one painted this color. It’s funny, pink 59 Cadillacs are everywhere (relatively, at least) but these always seem to be painted black or white when you find one.
This is one of the rare cars that is both conservative and flamboyant at the same time. Which is probably a tough thing to create.
There is a really ratty one in primer sitting outside at a nearby auto repair shop. There is a little teeny part inside my brain telling me to rescue it. But then someone is going to have to rescue me, because if Marianne doesn’t kill me, trying to restore the car will.
I would not call these an example of bad taste. I would call them eccentric, as they expand the usual bounds of car design and styling, into a unique art form. This is an automotive sculpture. Meant to motivate, stimulate, and inspire.
Very impressive restoration. Less a car, than a statement. Great work finding, and showcasing it, Stephen.
I thought the first pic was Marilyn Monroe.
Yes, not Julia Meade. This one…
And I thought it was Madonna, as Marilyn Monroe, as ‘the material girl’. 🙂 The images now overlap but all come from the same time and place.
With an asking price of $38,000, how much money will the owner lose on this car?
$50,000?
$75,000?
$100,000?
These are ruinously expensive to restore, and many parts are unobtanium. It’s a fantastic resto, and you could never do this for the asking price. If it’s the car for you, this is the one to buy.
Agreed. If the owner did most of the work, there is likely a lot of “sweat equity” in it, but still a financial loss. The seller did get a wealth of restoration education out of it. Stunning car though. I rather like it.
That being said if the restoration was done in the ’90s either the original restorer’s taken their bath on it or has gotten almost 30 years of use and enjoyment from it.
It was probably a labor of love. There are a lot of cars people restore that cost more than they could be sold for. The car is special to them. If the restorer has owned it since then, he got his money’s worth in fun and satisfaction over the last few decades.
How many high quality classic cars are sold on craigslist? I don’t look at it much, mostly associate it with quickie sellers who post three sentences and two pictures in low light with the whole car not even in the frame.
Pretty in Pink! A perfect example of LINCOLN, what a Luxury CAR should be and ONCE was. Makes the Peasant cars look revolting! I’m on to VERSAILLES!
We all know that you are a Land Yacht fan, Rick, but I just have to ask…
You end many of your comments here about what a “Real Lincoln” should be with the tagline, “I’m off to Versailles”, and yet, wasn’t that model of Lincoln a glorified Mercury Monarch or Ford Granada?
No disrespect intended, as I too am a Brougham fan of yesteryear, having a Bill Blass Lincoln Mark V in my own Fantasy Garage, I was just curious…
Julia Meade ! Anyone else remember her with real Lincolns on stage on The Ed Sullivan show?
That looks to be the nice$t of these I have ever seen, or seen pictures of! The colors makes this over the top design look good.
I still have my AMT model of one of these, but a convertible. Mine has real leather upholstry and a 4 COIL SPRING suspension courtesy of some ball point pens!! Too bad mine is a boring silver, but done many years b4 silver was all over every third or 4th vehicle. 🙂 DFO
I had a metal friction toy of the same type of Lincoln perhaps 1/24 scale in white done as an ambulance. I believe there was another version as a Fire Chief car.
The toy was likely made in Japan and was in my possession until I traded it for another small, toy car. Foolish move. At least I still have some model kits from my elementary, junior high days.
I love it. It reminds me of the optimism of the country at that time. The “we can do and achieve anything” mindset then. Beautiful auto and woman. Hope it goes to a good home with a very large garage.
The seller didn’t detail how hideously expensive and complicated the 1958-’60 Lincoln series is to restore. Lovely car he lost his shirt on.
Have loved this series since I was a six-year-old kid in 1958, my bad taste was formed at a young age …
In the long run the car is much cheaper.
My uncle bought a yellow and white Continental convertible in 1958, and another uncle bought a yellow Premiere coupe in 1958. As a ten-year-old, I particularly enjoyed climbing into the Continental, leaning forward on the passenger seat and looking up to the sky through the huge windshield. I enjoyed many rides in both cars, and always liked their styling, no matter what the Style and Taste police proclaimed. The Mark III convertible was preceded by a 1956 Premiere two-door hardtop in the very same light pink of the posted car. It was as much of a head-turner as the ’58s.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw one of these, some months after arriving in the US: WOW! I had seen a ’59 Cadillac in Austria but had no idea these existed. It quite blew me away. It took a while to process; it was just so different from any car I’d seen before.
These were very scarce in Iowa City, maybe one or two?
Ah, the Encyclopedia of Bad Taste! I received a copy of that book for my birthday many years ago. Good Taste is overrated. The car itself is beautifully restored, but how would I drive it? I’d need two trucks with “Oversize Load” signs prominently displayed to accompany me everywhere I go, one in front of me and one behind.
How does one do a “body off restoration” of a unibody car? Or is that still the proper term for dismantling all the mechanical parts, interior, doors, and trim from a unit body?
The rather large closed-off underhood areas surprise me. How does one reach anything just behind the front wheelwells? Or is that just empty space?
I agree this car is a stunner, and a good value if the resto was done as well as it appears in photos.
I had no idea these were unibody! All that money paid and you didn’t get body on frame isolation from the road harshness??? No wonder Cadillac out sold them.
Was that why Ford later advertised Quieter Than A Rolls Royce?
I never paid any attention to these or to Lincoln ads before “Cannon” TV show.
I didn’t realize some Lincolns were slant eyed, thought that was a Chrysler or George Barris thing.
And what are those ‘Corvette Coves’ doing in the side of the body??? They looked vastly better on a ‘Vette…
Surprised when they went new upholstery, they just went with gray…
The gold valve covers seem to have turned to chrome.
I’ve always liked these. I haven’t looked at one in a while, so like being in the dark and turning on the lights, my eyes have become unadjusted to the extreme. That front end (fenders and headlights) are jarringly wild. I still prefer the 58 over the toned down 59 and 60, though. 58 has more power, as well.
The price is probably roughly market value. Freshly restored convertibles can bring around $100k, but a almost 30 year old restoration on a hardtop would be significantly less. It does seem like a lot of car for the money! The droptop would be fun, but those are crazy complex and it would be much more practical to own a hardtop. I’ll take it (I just have to talk the wife into it and make sure my garage is big enough)!
Someone’s going to get a great deal on a fully restored car. As nlpnt commented, this restoration was done in the 1990s (check the 1996 date stamps on several of the photos). So, that money was spent 30 years ago, and it looks like the car has been well taken care of since then. I’d guess that the owner is doing his final down-sizing and just wants to move the car along. And so hopefully there will be a new owner who wants to use and show the car.
Ideally NOT someone who wants to park it in front of a business as an attraction while the tires slowly go flat.
The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste photo reminds me that I haven’t taken out my copy of that for some time. I have many Jane and Michael Stern books…their Square Meals cookbook is one of my favorites.
In that color (Autumn Rose?) with the white roof, this Premiere really looks like it should come in a cake box — the metallic pink looks like fancy frosting, something the guys on Cake Boss might have made.
My favorite pics are the ones with the Marilyn Monroe look alike in the hot pink strapless evening gown! To quote Joe E. Brown, as millionaire Osgood Fielding III in “Some Like It Hot” (1959): “Zowie!”
P.S. Both car and the movie were made in the same year I was born: 1959!
As the years between ‘then’ and ‘now’ increase, it’s hard not to just stare at this car with astonishment.
Here’s a link to the commercial mentioned.