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In the interest of historical accuracy: The 1956-57
Continental Mark II was NOT a Lincoln. It was never
badged as such nor was it marked under hat name.
True, the Mark II was intended to retrace the legacy
of the original 1940 Lincoln Continental, created by
Edsel Ford and Bob Gregorie. It used a Lincoln
drivetrain, and was sold through Lincoln dealers.
But the Mark II was actually the product of a new
Dearborn entity: the Continental Division of the
Ford Motor Company, with its own plant on Oakwood
Boulevard.
The Continental Mark II was an automobile so
distinctive that it totally redefined the image of
American luxury cars. More than 30 years later it is
still regarded as one of the most significant
designs of the 1950s. For the mid-1950s, an era of
styling excesses of every kind, the Mark II arrived
remarkably unmarked. Its clean lines, close-coupled
proportions and intimate greenhouse neatly captured
the essence of the original Continental as a
personal luxury car. Only one gimmick was employed,
a phony spare tire bump on the decklid, a feature
then copied by Lincoln forever after. The new
Continental had an additional mission; it was to be
the world’s finest mass-produced luxury automobile.
The cars were almost entirely custom-built according
to exacting standards and material specifications,
making the Continental Mk II the most expensive
mass-produced car ever offered for sale up to that
time. Priced at $9,695, it was as close as any
American automaker in the 1950s would ever come to
building a car in the classic 1930s tradition.
Lincoln had at last outdone Cadillac by creating a
car so stunning in its appearances, so luxuriously
appointed and calculatedly limited in production, as
to be with out equal.
The Mark II was built on a special chassis unlike
any being used on production Lincolns. The engine
was a 368 cubic inch ohv V-8 specially tuned to
deliver an estimated 285 horsepower. The Mk II was
only produced for two years. There is no 1956 or
1957 model year designation. Total production was
3,012 pf which 1000 have been accounted for, with 23
prototypes added including one convertible for
William Clay Ford. Manufacture’s Suggested Retail
Price was $9.695.00. |
