I use the word “alien” because this car would be alien to most people–how many individuals living today would be able to identify this as a Lincoln, let alone name the correct year? These vanished from the roadscape over 50 years ago, and these Lincolns are not “iconic” like a ’57 Chevy or a Mustang, or even the 1961-64 “Kennedy” suicide-door models forever associated with that tragic day in Dallas in November of 1963.
The car next to it is a Facel Vega Excellence, which was featured in a previous post.
This ’59 Lincoln has been sitting here for a least a decade; more likely two decades or more. I’ve only been able to photograph it recently because a couple of other junkers were towed out, providing room to take some pictures. The New Jersey inspection sticker on the windshield expired June of 1974, so this baby has been off the road for quite a long time.
It’s amazing how well this interior has held up considering how old it is combined with a total lack of care. The dash pad is not warped or cracked; the seat seams have not split; the door panel looks pretty good; and the steering wheel has a few little cracks but nothing major. And the chrome horn ring isn’t broken!
Photo of a nice example.
These 1958-59 Lincolns had a dashboard design that was totally unique. There was a protractor-like speedometer set in an upright panel that resembled an elongated TV screen. All kinds of exotic optional equipment could be controlled from here including Automatic Starting (moving the transmission selector lever to N after a stall to engage the starter; “Multi-Luber” push-button power lubrication; “Autronic-Eye” automatic headlight dimmer; FM radio tuner (first in America in 1958); plus other extra-cost goodies that your Lincoln dealer would be happy to demonstrate for you!
Yes, sitting behind the wheel of this Lincoln, I started to imagine what it would be like to pilot this ancient spacecraft down the highway. 227″ long, 80″ wide, yet merely 56 1/2″ high (but with plenty of head and legroom) and over 5000 lbs. of road-hugging car weight! A 430 cubic inch V-8 with 350 horsepower and something like 490 lb./ft. of torque. A transmission which normally starts in 2nd with one smooth upshift to 3rd, with so much torque that the well-insulated V-8 just makes a steady, low throbbing sound the whole time. And of course, power everything! This is what “super-luxury” driving was all about in the ’50s. And if there’s any Mexican Road Race DNA left in this ’59 Lincoln, I’m thinking the roadability will be more solid and satisfying than what the super-soft Cadillac was offering up.
Speaking of Cadillac, if people hated gigantic fins and wild space age design so much, why did the ’59 Cadillac out-sell the Lincoln by like 5 to 1? Compared to Cadillac, this Lincoln seems rather upright and conservative, sort of like Abe Lincoln’s stovepipe hat. To me, Cadillac says flashy “Look at me!” new money, while Lincoln says understated, conservative old money–well suited to people like Mrs. Igor Cassini, Cholly Knickerbocker, and Thurston Howell III. (However, I’m sure a lot of “old money” people bought Cadillacs too!) Imperial, Chrysler Corporation’s luxury offering, was also an excellent machine–but its sales figures were even lower than Lincoln’s!
Apparently there’s some body repair on the rear door which is now deteriorating, but look how clean and rust-free the rear wheel fender arch is! Normally this is an area that often rusts out. And I think that’s just surface rust on the rocker panel.
The unitized bodies of these Lincolns were dipped in a rust-preventive solution at the factory. I’ve noticed that many of the 1958-60 Lincolns I’ve seen are remarkably rust free! When I closed the door, it shut with a solid, precise thud–further proof of the solidity of unit body construction!
On the back window is this decal from East Stroudsburg (Pennsylvania) State College.
The subject car is pushed up against a fence so I can’t show the front. But this is what the ’59 Lincoln front end looks like.
In this brochure, the 1959 Lincoln is shown as the direct descendant of the great Lincoln motorcars of the past.
Lincoln’s vision of peak mid-century modernity: New buildings in the “International Style”, and the “newest expression of The Lincoln Look.”
Another expression of an ideal: The top-of-the-line Continental Mark IV in a residential setting. The house is large, certainly new, and not International Style but a kind of American/English “Colonial Lite”. Presumably it has a garage big enough to house a motorcar of such ample proportions.
If I were to get one of these, I’d prefer the ’58 because it’s the original, “purest” version of the design. Some very exotic paint color combinations were available, such as this example in Starmist White and Rosemetal Metallic. Rosemetal Metallic was a special, custom color which a customer had to pay extra for. (Capri model shown, one trim level below Premiere.)
Despite all the good, intact features of this car, it appears to be too deteriorated overall to be restored cost-effectively, relegating it to “parts car” status. Its fate is uncertain and not very hopeful, but at least I preserved images of it on Curbside Classic before it’s too late!
Damn, you managed to sell me on that fat lump’s styling, which also may or may not have to do with me having watched a Wes Anderson movie trailer just before.
And, while I agree on the 1958 front end, give me those sparkly elliptical 59 tail lights all day long over the original triple rounds. More Googie spaceship cred here.
I liked these BULGEmobiles from the late 50s! BTW, there are NO aliens bc EARTH IS FLAT and STATIONARY like it sez in the Bible.
Oh contraire, Nick!
In 1959 Plan 9 from Outer Space proved the earth HAD been visited by aliens.
Stephen, As alien as this Lincoln looks today, back in 1959 it had a lot of competition in the alien looks department from GM and Chrysler. It’s always a bit sad to see a big, bold, mileage eating, highway cruiser stopped forever. Such is the allure of auto junk yards and numerous back alleys.
Of course, for some of us, dead highway cruisers are metaphors for dead, or dying humans. People we knew and loved, stopped forever.
Rosemetal Metallic was as special then as it would be today. Any current car or SUV in such a subtle yet powerful color would turn many heads in interest. Maybe even make people demand something other than black, white or the million shade of grey currently.
Based on its excellent condition for living outside so long I get the feeling this Lincoln was treated to a most thorough wax and detail before being parked. Amazing how well the whole interior has held up.
The 1956 Lincoln was the only auto in history to win an award from an industrial design association, was a clean beauty but the beginning of Lincolns growth in size and to rival Cadillac. 57 gave a face-lift including large tail fins. For 58 Lincoln pulled out allow the stops to OUTCADILLAC Cadillac. As stated it was an even larger car, unified body(supposed so heavy that additional welds were needed) and a huge motor. So much was spent on developing this car that FORD had to keep it in production (with some changes) through 1960. The classic Mark II was so costly to produce, it was dropped. So for 58 the Continental Mark’s were added to full size Lincolns. These Lincoln Premier, Capri, and Mark’s were gorgeous OTT excessive luxury vehicles, as FMC intended. But GMs 59 Cadillacs stole the thunder in the age of space and jets. The sliding glass rear windshield was unique, but it’s use for ventilation became of little use as most luxury cars were now air-conditioned. But that roofline was striking. For me, the 1960 Premier (believe 🤔 Mark was gone) was the most beautiful. Loved the front end (so similar to last 61 DeSoto). The 61 downsized Lincoln Continental started as a sketch for Thunderbird and to me a disappointing turn, but they were well received. I loved watching Lincoln gradually grow in size until 70s Lincoln Continental and TOWN CARS were once again huge LAND YACHTS! The 78 TOWN COUPE I once owned was 235 inches long with a 460 motor more than capable of burning rubber 🔥. Also had an 89 Signature Series and currently have 2007 TOWN CAR Signature Limited. Although Lincoln usually lost the sales battle to Cadillac, after Cadillac 77 downsizing LAST of Lincolns giants actually out sold Cadillac for those who wanted the last of the TRADITIONAL GREAT AMERICAN LAND YACHT. And until 2011, Lincoln Town Car was the last of the real Luxury Sedans. 🏆😎
I very much doubt that.
I do not remember the name of the organization. Seems like perhaps Industrial Design Organization 🤔, but the award was mentioned in a feature on 56 and 57 Lincolns. May have been in COLLECTIBLE AUTOMOBILE or HEMMINGS.
I don’t doubt the ’56 Lincoln won a design award; I doubt it was the only auto in history to win one.
For 59? And 1960 there were a number of Lincoln Continentals converted by custom body companies to four door upscale limo like TOWN CARS! 👍 check those Beauties out! 😎.
What a prosperous person might have aspired to own in 1958.
Because the ’58-’60 Lincolns were so poorly received in the marketplace compared to contemporary Cadillacs, it makes one wonder if Dick Teague’s original plans for the ’57 Packard would have sold, since they were quite similar. Did a Studebaker-Packard designer quit and go to Ford when these Lincolns were being developed?
If they had gotten off the island in-show, Thurston Howell would almost certainly have driven a Lincoln. Or an Imperial, depending on whether Ford or Chryco got the “Automobiles Furnished By…” product placement. GM in the ’60s was GM, they didn’t need to do that sort of deal.
This is one of those cars that are almost impossible for me to imagine new, as though they spawned into existence, fully formed and already mostly-used-up, on the back row of a used car lot sometime around 1970. Even in the original factory photos, the paint looks faded and chalky.
One big reason that these disappeared from the roads years ago: These unit-body Lincolns were tremendously overbuilt, making them a popular choice for demolition derby contestants.
And horses, as featured in the June 1981 National Geographic World magazine:
http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/147544-kitbash-idea-for-your-59-60-lincoln/
I got National Geographic WORLD back in those days. How did I miss this?
I wasn’t there at the time, and I am from a completely different generation than the one Lincoln was marketing towards. That said, I think the Lincoln is more attractive than either the Cadillac or the Imperial. But that’s just me – in 2023, 65 years later.
The interior looks great because the quality of the materials was sky-high for this generation Lincoln. Out-Cadillac-ing Cadillac went into the interior. This generation of Lincoln is one of the finest examples of Mid-Century modern interior auto design. Every seam has a purpose. That is English leather, (House of Weir), dyed into those shades. That is the best stuff available. You see, if I recall, Lincoln wanted to up their quality to bring those Continental Mark buyers who spent $10,000 for their wheels a few years earlier. Ford put the Continental name on the Lincoln line, plus had a Mark version on the same body. So they went all out with the quality.
I don’t know if you mentioned this, but this is the largest unibody auto made by an American manufacturer for public sale. 5000 pounds.
How big a flop was this generation? So large that it survived by the skin of its teeth under McNamara – Ford’s president at the time. This was a completely new and extremely expensive car, and it did not bring in any profit. Again, I wasn’t there, but I think there was an impact on the market when Ford unveiled both the BIG MERCURYS and the Edsels against these giant luxury cars. In a severe recession – 40% market loss. Everyone in Detroit, South Bend and Kenosha was focusing on small economy cars – all of a sudden. Then VW showed up with huge sales years during the Recession. So probably, everyone panicked just a bit.
I fully agree with you, and I too am far removed from the generation they were marketing to. If you pause long enough to take in the details, they are exquisite. That steering wheel and its ginormous hub, the brake pedal suspended by two girth-y arms instead of one, the instrumentation and switchgear, those courtesy lights at the edges of the wraparound dash, the leather, and on and on. You can tell that a lot of the same thought process that went into making the 1956-57 Continental Mark II a quality benchmark was at work here, albeit delivered without the same styling restraint.
This would be relatively easy to identify as a Lincoln: the “C” pillar is a dead giveaway (though I was expecting a breezeway rear window) and the scalloped front fenders (I think this differentiates from a big Mercury), but this being the generation before the Engel Lincolns starting in 1961, I saw very few in the metal during the 1960s and 70s, and thus unfamiliar with the nuances between the years. In advertising I thought these were huge, garish and overly baroque (as others may say: too much gingerbread and not as maybe appealing as Harley Earl flavored gingerbread) and unlike some of the more iconic cars from the 50s they really looked dated and dare I say frumpy even by late 1960s standards.
There has to be a Lincoln club that can come and strip it bare because there looks to be a lot of unobtainium to find here.
That was my first impression of the C-pillar, too: “Hey, how come the lower-cost Mercury, and not the Lincoln, got the niftysonic Breezeway backglass?”.
The Breezeway winduh was reserved for the not-a-Lincoln Continental Marks III, IV, and V (they advanced the Roman numeral one cog for 1958, 1959, and 1960, before giving up on the notion of separate Lincoln and Continental divisions and reabsorbing the latter into the former for 1961).
The standard Lincoln Capri and Premiere (the Capri took off after 1959, leaving just the Premiere) used the exact same roofline as the pricier Continental, but had a conventional rear window stuck in the opening in lieu of the reverse slant glass.
I rather love these cars, and think they’re one of those special treats that needs to exist despite the fact that they are the equivalent of quadruple or quintuple chocolate cake… because triple has already been done before. I know they pushed a little too hard in a market that was piling excess on like it was going out of style (it actually was going)… The canted headlamps, the deeply sculpted sides, and especially the brightwork at the rear. Even after they backpedaled on many of the original details for 1959 and 1960, it’s still a car that cannot be mistaken for anything else.
The Continental Division was closed in mid-1956. The 1958 and up “Continentals” were just one of the models of cars sold by Lincoln. No separate division, all in the same brochure, etc.. No different than when Lincoln sold the Continental Mark II and its successors in later years. All products of the Lincoln-Mercury Division.
Ah. I thought that they were still pretending that the 1958-60 Marks were a separate brand from Lincoln, but it looks like it was only the admen who were pushing that. One interesting tidbit is the naming convention, which saw the Mark III, IV, and V names used for one year only. They were of course recycled for complete model ranges down the line, pretty much erasing whatever they were shooting for with these cars.
I am too young to have known this car when new, but I must say that this Lincoln is almost restrained when compared to 1959 offerings from Cadillac or Imperial. In general, FoMoCo seemed to have been caught flat-footed in the spaceship-inspired stying wars of the late 1950s, but it’s relative conservatism seemed to pay off in the form of higher sales than Chevrolet in 1957 and again in 1959. Viewed from today’s perspective, while not as exuberant as their competitors, the Fords and Lincolns of the late Fifties look somewhat less dated and perhaps more purposeful as terrestrial transit devices.
These were hardly conservative, only in comparison to the over-the-top Caddy and gaudy Imperial do they come off as somewhat understated. I think they exemplify American power and innovation better than almost any other late ’50s car.
Dad had a friend who was a prominent architect in the Philly area and lived in a gorgeous MCM stone glass, stone and steel house of his own design, with a stone waterfall wall inside, a real showplace. He drove a white 1958 Continental with white and black leather interior. It was a stunning car that still stands out in my childhood memories.
I had briefly a ’57 Premiere, being unable to find the right ’56 I had wanted. It was imposing but I found quickly that these cars are really too big, and the ’58-60s were even more so. I sold it as it was just too bulky and unwieldy to drive comfortably in these days of small parking spaces and inattentive drivers.
As stated in my original post, no automobile was ever too big for me. Yes, finding a parking space was difficult, but love that feeling of acres of hood out in front! 🏆. Even my current 2007 Town Car lets me see a substantial amount of hood capped with Lincoln hood ornament. This Lincoln has back up alarm assisting in parking.
Lincoln did not “outsell Caddy after 1977”. The downsized ’77-’79 models did well, but there were die-hards who went to Lincoln, but not enough to overtake Cad.
It’s later in the mid 80’s when the Panther based TC outsold FWD DeVilles.
Now? Lincoln is way down.
As exuberant as the ’59 Cadillac was, it arguably had a more unified styling theme. Lincoln’s styling approach seemed to me like an exercise in adding random sheet metal complexity and ornamentation for its own sake.
Those front fender side panels were always a styling deal-breaker to my eye, and the canted headlights were handled more elegantly by Buick. Overall, more ‘eek’ than ‘chic’. 🙂
Must have been built with really quality interior materials because the inside of that car is remarkable!
Being born in 1961, my ideas on what a Lincoln is was based on the ‘61 forward. We had two neighbors with these, but I had never seen any of the previous generation.
Then, one day I did. From my generational perspective I found these to be breathtakingly hideous. To this day, it’s my go-to visualized definition.
I totally agree, Thurston Howell III is much more a Lincoln man than a Cadillac guy 🙂
Great find Stephen.
I prefer the ’59 with these oval tail lamps. The front bumper with the added on ‘bomb” light is not as clean as the ’58. With incorporation of the Mark III line there are quite a few differences in the roof line and rear window treatments. The early cars also had air suspension which was problematic and later removed. As an analogy to architecture, these are certainly Mid Century Modern in a way that Cadillac and Imperial weren’t. A three year run of a bodystyle wasn’t far from the norm, though GM had the money to have single year model runs.
I remember looking at these in the back row of low buck used car lots in the mid to late 60’s. While the same year Cadillacs weren’t really any better styled, they were just better received and held their appeal as used cars. I think that the canted headlamps were the most polarizing design element. Though all of the Big Three manufacturers flirted with this styling concept. It appeared to be faddish and aged very quickly. I would love to see some photo shopped modified pictures without the canted quads. I suppose that the other fault was the extreme size, they were less than six inches bigger than a regular Cadillac, but their blocky profile made them look even bigger.
Restoring this car wouldn’t be economically feasible, but it might be mechanically recommission with improved cosmetics. It still doesn’t solve the problem of where to park it. There are a lot of people that would object to having this car parked in your driveway.
The tail lamps varied by year *and* model. Continentals had three separate lamps on each side, with two tail/brake lamps and one reverse lamp per side. They were round for 1958, oval in 1959, then back to round for 1960. The standard Lincoln Capri and Premiere had single tail lamps with combined reverse lamp, that terminated in a point toward the outside for 1958; 1960 looked like a three section Tootsie Roll with the reverse lamp in the middle. I think I like the 1959 Capri/Premiere treatment best as well.
The roof stampings are pretty much the same between the Continental and Lincoln lines, with the main difference being that the Continental featured the reverse slanted Breezeway rear window, while the Capri/Premiere had a more conventional piece of glass filling the opening.
I’m having a hard time picturing these cars without the canted headlamps, as their positioning sets the basic shape of the upper fenders and bodysides going all the way back to the tail fins. I know they tried to tone down the effect for 1959-60 by integrating the headlamps with the grille and filling in the concave sections of the front fender, as well as inserting the parking lamp/turn signals into that space that made the 1958 front bumper resemble a dog bone.
Though these cars are hyyuuuge when viewed in relation to other passenger cars, I bet their footprint isn’t too far off that of a modern full size pickup in the default crew cab/extra short bed configuration.
Any of these cars that survived into the 70’s were done in by the 1973 Arab oil embargo. When the only people buying old luxury cars are the poor and they can’t afford to feed them, it’s game over.
Re reading the article, the inspection sticker on this car expired in June of 1974 which would give some relevance to my previous comment.
When the car was a mere 15 years old. How many 15 year old Lexus are still on the roads today…
Incredibly ugly cars these and the 58 Chunder burd what did they smoke in the design dept at Ford? its really good shit whatever it was, they took fairly nice cars and produced this hardly a surprise Caddies sold better you can look at them and not feel queasy.
On a side note Mrs. Igor (Charlene) Cassini featured in the ad committed suicide in 1963 following the indictment of her husband by the Kennedy Justice Department on criminal charges: that he had been a paid agent of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, and failed to register as required by the Foreign Agent Registration Act (he later pled “nolo contendere”). Ironically Cassini’s brother Oleg was chief designer for Mrs. Kennedy’s White House wardrobe. Life is complicated.
When I was a kid a good friend of my mother had a new 1960 Continental, a real rarity in small town Indiana. It was huge and quickly dated with the introduction of the slimmed down 1961 model. She liked the car and did not trade it in until 1965 – for a new Oldsmobile Starfire coupe, a car much more to my liking. The Continental had wonderful air conditioning but the retractable rear window also was used – for removing the ever-present cigarette smoke of that era.
Cassini’s brother Oleg was also engaged to Grace Kelly, prior to her engagement to her future husband, Prince Rainier. Kelly’s devoutly Catholic family did not approve of the prospect of her marrying the twice-divorced Cassini.
Meanwhile, at Neil Young’s house… https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/neil-young-lincvolt-electric-1959-lincoln-continental-mark-iv
Quote: “…it appears to be too deteriorated overall to be restored cost-effectively, relegating it to “parts car” status…”.
It appears to be enuff there for at least getting it roadworthy, without it causing any buyer to go bankrupt. Having it moving down the road in a Patina pattern would be healthier for it than to just let nature take its course with it in that yard
I am about the same age as this car. I can barely remember these on the road (rarely even then) and don’t really ever remember them as old beaters the way we saw old decrepit Cadillacs of this era in the 70s. When I was a kid my mother’s aunt had a toybox in her basement, mainly kept for her grandchildren. There was a pair of metal toy versions of this car – red cars with black roofs. They were familiar to me as a kid yet exotic at the same time.
Let us not forget that these were not significantly poorer sellers than the Lincolns that followed. These things were produced in the 24-30k range in 1958-60 (starting high then decreasing) and it was not until 1964 that Lincoln production started to break out of that range. Recall also that in 1957 Lincoln built over 40k cars, down from 50k in 1956.