I have to admit–I have mixed feelings about this car. On the one hand, it seems like an ideal “Jewel Box Beauty” sedan: smaller than full-size, with sharp-edged neo-classical styling and luxurious materials throughout; lots of bright trim, the distinction of the Valentino name, and it “drives like a dream!” But something seems a little “off”.
When this model was first introduced, it looked rather appealing in the brochures. But slick photography on glossy paper doesn’t always match up with 3-D in-person reality. The designers faced a difficult challenge: create an all-new smaller luxury car that is distinctive and upscale-looking, worthy of the magic name, “Continental”.
You can see a lot of early ’80s Cadillac Seville and Chrysler Imperial here, which I have to say is not a good thing. The bustleback rear, the downward-swept (droopy) lines going back–and of course a fake spare tire hump (“So they’ll know it’s a Continental” LOL!) I can see what the designers were trying to do–re-interpret classical elements into a modern form that says to the beholder, “This is an elegant car that looks luxurious and high-priced.” But it’s a design that somehow doesn’t seem 100% right.
The car I’m featuring is a 1985 model, which has a revised grille (to me, not necessarily an improvement). I have to give credit to the seller for taking excellent photos which almost look like brochure images! And this is a Valentino edition–Midnight Black over Burnished Pewter Clearcoat Metallic. Love the enthusiastic description too–“If you’re not buying this one, you’re not buying one!”🤣 Location: North Plainfield, New Jersey. Price: $12,500.
If the photos and seller’s description are to be believed, this looks to be one of the nicest examples out there.
OK, after laying out all my criticisms, I have to say that despite its faults, this is actually a very nice car that I myself wouldn’t mind owning. From what I have read, this Continental is a silky smooth, powerful, quiet machine (as it should be). I like the fact that you’re getting 1980s Lincoln luxury without the bulk of a Town Car. More exclusivity too. And the fact that it’s a Valentino Edition adds smartly to its appeal.
What makes the Valentino Edition “great”:
Interior shots:
Not as lush as a contemporary Chrysler or Cadillac, but still nice.
The dash too, seems surprisingly minimalist. I think the steering wheel looks cheap, like it’s something used on lower-priced Fords.
Digital dash, cream trim, leather-wrapped steering wheel. Is that wood? Yes, real walnut veneer.
The design isn’t perfect, but I think there’s a lot to like here. This seems like an ideal “daily” (or “weekly”) driver for the classic car enthusiast who doesn’t want to do his usual errands in some dull minivan or SUV (providing you don’t mind relying on a 40+ year old car to do so). I mean, this car does exude a certain kind of distinction and class–it’s something special that people will notice and admire in 2026.
There you have it–your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own this cream puff. Rarity + Condition + Charisma = Great Value. ’80s nostalgia remains hot. For the right person, this is a gem of a find!
Further CC reading:
CC Capsule: 1982 Lincoln Continental–Bustling Back To Prominence by Brendan Saur
Auction Classic QOTD: 1985 Lincoln Continental–What’ll You Think She’ll Fetch (UPDATE: SOLD–We Have A Winner!) by Jim Klein
CC Capsule: 1985 Lincoln Continental–Mr. Droopy Drawers by Jim Grey
Curbside Classic: 1987 Lincoln Continental–Last Of The Bustleback Breed by Eric703
I would love to have this car just because of the condition. And with a wee bit of freshening up, I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across the country. Far more easier and fixable than todays shitboxes.
It’s a curious thing with wood in car interiors. As long as it was nearly impossible to really imitate it with plastic, it couldn’t be made glossy enough. Then, when it became possible to produce high-gloss plastic imitations, the pendulum swung back, and manufacturers tried to use wood with a more matte finish. The wood trim in this Lincoln seems to be on the decline in that respect.
I’m interested. My favorite car from 1985 Valentino was my favorite color combo. Let me know. I pay cash
Some years ago, Autocar magazine from England commented that Mercedes Benz was making their genuine wood dashboard and door trim to look like plastic!!
I think it’s lack of success had a lot to do with it’s 140 BHP 5.80 V-8. The back seat was cramped; a couple inches of additional wheelbase would have helped a lot.
Slow and funny-looking does not a Lincoln make.
When this generation was released for 1982, fuel economy was a concern, and Ford gave the magazines Continentals that were powered by a special light-weight V6 of negligible power output. The test cars were truly slugs. The 4.9 liter V8s probably weren’t the biggest barrier to these cars’ success. I’d say being the last-to-market bustle-back neoclassic after the Seville and Imperial had already met some buyer resistance while being based on the aging Fairmont platform was always going to be a tough sell.
Correction of my typo; it was a 5.0 V-8
This facelift did it no favors that’s for sure. I think the bodystyle and tail end is attractive though, it’s much more of a hint at the bustleback to the point of you smoothed over the line from the pillar going into the body it would look like a conventional sedan. It doesn’t live up to the Continental name, but what Continental since did either. This as a package was essentially the spiritual successor to the Versailles and with that as the bar this was a much much more thorough execution
I for one like the dash, it always reminds me of a 68-70 Chrysler B body whenever I see it. On the flipside, quite frankly substitute the climate control/stereo stack with a touchscreen it doesn’t look far off from what’s inside Teslas in its minimalism.
I have always liked these cars. They look the best (IMO) in the two-tones to accent the lines of the car or in darker colors. This car looks nice, but man they need to detail that interior better. The driver seat and steering wheel look like they could use a scrubbing.
Interestingly, there’s one of these for sale now in (I think) Portland Oregon. And it’s the diesel!! Now there’s that needle in the haystack.
Back in the 1980s (I miss them!), my aunt had a 1986 Lincoln Continental like this (not Valentino, but the “base” version). I loved the digital dash (very modern), it was a nice, practical size (not too big, not too small), and it rode like a dream (smooth and quiet, as to be expected). I only thought it looked odd where the C-pillar and trunk met. That part did look “off” to me. Her brother (my uncle) had at the same time a bustleback Cadillac Seville. No comparison, the Lincoln left the Cadillac in the dust, at least to my worldly teenaged self. The Cadillac felt old-fashioned, looked off in some way to me (moreso than the Lincoln) and just didn’t seem as modern. I only wish I’d known someone with the Chrysler Imperial as based on looks, that one is my favorite. Of course, I also loved the looks of the Lincoln Versailles, so what do I know?
Regarding the steering wheel: In the pre-airbag days, a steering wheel may have been one of the simplest and easiest car parts to design. But rather than design a bespoke steering wheel, it looks like the folks at Lincoln walked over to the Ford Tempo assembly line and swiped a bunch of steering wheels. No class.
I think the secret to appreciation of these cars is how much you like the Fox platform. This is the version of that most versatile architecture with the luxury knob turned to the max. I like all flavors of the Fox cars for what they are.
That said, I drove my father’s 84 in probably late 1985. My daily was a new VWGTI, and this car was almost scary for me in the way it pitched over undulating pavement. I suspect I would like it more now. These were nicely trimmed cars with simple, robust mechanicals. I would drive one.
Given the common Fox-body underpinnings, I often wonder why we don’t see more of these given the “Hot-rod Lincoln” treatment with Mustang performance parts being relatively cheap, plentiful and easy nut’n’bolt upgrades. Maybe even give it looks to match, imagining what a factory “Continental LSS” trim package might’ve looked like alongside the Mark VII LSC.
Unless you can find one basically given away you can find other foxbody non-Mustang cars for about the same price as these that are more widely appealing, including the closely related Mark VII
My late father in law owned two of this model Lincoln-a really sharp 1983 two tone silver over dark grey with a red interior, and later an 85 silver over grey. The first car was class, in both his and my opinion. And never one issue.
The second one lacking quality. That real wood veneer didn’t hold up in the south Florida heat and was replaced 4 times under warranty in the 3 years he owned it. BTW, I hated the steering wheel design. The 1983 still had the four spoke used on so many Ford products.
His aunt had one of the featured cars. It wasn’t great or terrible but she also needed the wood veneer replaced a few times. The rear window in her car shattered on day. It was parked in a guarded lot and the guard said he heard the glass and said there was no one around-it just broke.
I thought these were a nice break from all the Town Cars of the day.
When these came out, I was perplexed by them. GM had sort of made the bustle back work, but it was on a larger car than the Continental. Ford was obviously copied GM but for some reason it came out even more weird than the Seville. The Conti has some cheap features, too. That steering wheel is totally inappropriate for it.
Yep, it’s like they didn’t want to fully commit in case they bit of styling whimsy laid an egg – and by that yardstick it was Easter time
Styling failure is my vote and what is it with that center console…
Lincoln held on to that fake spare tire bulge for way too long. I also don’t like those severely rectangular instrument panels and center stacks of so many ’80s cars.
Beautiful cars. I have always driven American luxury cars, I currently have low mileage 95 town car that I absolutely love. The two tone paint scheme caught my attention and still does today.That particular car is a rare jewel that I would love to own. Cars today just don’t have the style or the presence of days gone by. Not surprised, just disappointed.
I like the dash, I used to have a General Electric clock radio that had similar wood grain, and numerals that glowed the same greenish blue, a pleasing combination now.
A stretched, a bit, gussied up “Marquis”.
I was about 8 the first time I saw one of these in 1982 in a book of American cars I got out of the library. It reminded me very much of the bustle-back Cadillac Seville – which I was familiar with as although Cadillacs weren’t sold here, someone in my small rural NZ town imported one new and converted it to RHD.
I remember sitting outside the library with the book open at the Continental page, and staring across the railway line to where the Seville was parked. I liked them both, but decided the Seville was my favourite – its tail was a bit short, but it looked longer, lower and more elegant. The Conti was looked marginally more modern, but a little bit stunted – like someone designed a full-size car and squeezed it in a vice. None of the Conti wheel choices appealed to me either. But I’d still have either in my dream garage!
I owned one for awhile. Slate blue with navy leather, air ride on all four corners that still worked, even had the tiny little vent windows that I guess smokers liked. Hydroboost brakes because there was no room under the hood for a normal brake booster and a battery that was so small it looked like it belonged on a garden tractor.
Just a nice, quiet, low key car.
Had neighbors in the mid 80s, had a diesel Continental and a diesel Seville, both in two-tone rose and maroon. Bizarre choice of cars…
A swing and a… well, ground ball, maybe. It’s not a car that I have a negative reaction to overall. If anything, I like it. The silhouette is attractive, but the details in the C-pillar catch your eye and don’t come together quite right. It may also be that combining the continental hump with the bustleback was trying to do too much, but I think the biggest problem is there was no good way to keep the flow going without a tiny trunk and probably other issues with rear bumper and taillight height. So they raised the trunklid well above and parallel to the sill line and did their best to disguise it with a pin stripe and the extension of the pillar into the quarter panel to break it up. They probably would have done better to just match up the trunk lid with the sill line with a less pronounced droop, plus the angled tail, but it’s not like they squirted ketchup on a gourmet meal. There are much worse “swing and a miss” examples of such styling affectations.
I also agree on the disappointing interior appointments. It’s all too clear during this timeframe that Lincoln was forced to use a lot of Ford parts – often with no change other than the cross hair in place of the oval. It’s understandable that it’s not going to get big and expensive upgrades (an independent rear suspension, for instance), but Ford’s accountants cost them untold thousands of sales because you had to look close to see what was actually different from an LTD or whatever the gussied-up Fairmont was called (other than the “I’m really a Lincoln, I swear! badge-work). It’s not surprising that Mercury withered on the vine when the level of effort on Lincoln could have been considered weak even for a Mercury. Maybe they thought the digital dash and sea of buttons for the trip computer and such was enough to capture upscale buyers’ attention. For some, it was, but I guarantee not anyone considering a Benz or BMW, and that stuff made the car very dated in just a few years.
All that said, it’s still a car worth picking up as a weekend or cruise night car if it’s this well-preserved. Anything with a splash of chrome and solid paint from that era will get some attention. Also, the powertrain is fairly robust, and maybe a couple thousand to fix even if something big goes – or dirt cheap and simple to maintain for a competent DIYer. So it falls short of timeless classic status, but I’d still drive one, and hard to go wrong for someone just looking for something to change up from the boring typical commuter car.
Never liked the bustle back looks like a tree feel on the rear of the car, and that steering wheel is the same as the one in my 78 Futura, other than mine didn’t have buttons.
Hmmm……
Not sure this works except for Lincoln aficionados to be honest. But each to their own and if you do, enjoy.
To me, it looks like it shrank in the wash with so much going in the profile and that weird/contrived/signature/character defining (delete as preferred) bustle on the boot lid. Not helped by the two tone looking looking like dinoc on first sight in some of the photos.
On another note, how is that Ford do not use/have uses for great names like Thunderbird and Continental? Seems crazy at my distance……