1957 Continental Mark II

The demise of the first Lincoln Continental is attributed to Ford's poor financial condition in the post-war era. It had been the vision of Henry Ford's talented son Edsel, and the design was perfected by designer Eugene 'Bob' Gregorie and built between 1939 and 1948. Plans for a replacement continued with styling proposals failing to gain corporate approval in the late 1940s. By the early 1950s, Ford's financial prospects had improved, and another prototype was shown by the newly formed Special Product Operations committee, which in 1955 was renamed the Continental Group. William Clay Ford, the youngest of Edsel Ford's son, was the manager. The design team was headed by Edsel Ford, tasked with creating America's most elegant and opulent personal luxury car. These elite automobiles were two-door personal luxury cars with a European flair.

These vehicles were made by the Continental Division of the Ford Motor Company, a new division completely separate from Lincoln-Mercury.

The Continental Group unveiled the Mark II in 1955 at the Paris Motor Show. In the front was a hood-mounted four-point star, which would later become the Lincoln emblem. The paint was wet sanded, double-lacquered, and polished to a shine industrial painting techniques could not achieve. Power was from a 368 cubic-inch V8 engine offering 300 horsepower and mated to a Turbo-Drive automatic transmission. The cars were predominantly handmade which accounted for a list price of $10,000. Ford planned to build about 2,000 Mark IIs a year for five years. Just 2,550 were built in 1956 (some sources state 1956 production of only 1,325), followed by 444 in 1957. It is believed that approximately 1,500 examples are still in existence.

Of the 444 built-in 1957, only 98 were built with optional air conditioning. Power steering, brakes, windows and seats, Town and Country radio, and wide Whitewall tires were standard.

Some examples ended up in the hands of such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Louis Prima, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, to name a few.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2019