1961 Lincoln Continental

The lineage of the Lincoln Continental dates back to 1939 and owes its existence to Edsel Ford and a Florida vacation. Edsel had commissioned Eugene Gregorie to create a one-off custom automobile for use while vacationing in Florida. Beginning with a Lincoln Zephyr, Gregorie's design featured a swept-back grille, a long hood, a short trunk, a covered, rear-mounted spare tire, a folding full cabriolet top, and a V12 engine. It was hand-built at Ford and delivered to Edsel in time for his vacation. His affluent friends were so impressed Edsel dispatched a telegram to Ford H.Q. ordering 1,000 examples to be built. This was the birth of the Continental, and it remained part of the Lincoln lineup from 1939 to 1948, re-appearing in 1958 as a standalone brand. The Continental Mark II was handbuilt, and its price tag of approximately $10,000 put it on par with Rolls-Royce. Sales were slow, and after two years, the experiment with the Continental brand came to an end.

The Continental name returned to the Lincoln marque in 1958, known as the Mark III. They were now built on the regular Lincoln line to help lower costs and built as a large, four-door luxury sedan or a two-door convertible. Utilizing unibody construction, these were the biggest Lincolns to date and the largest unibody cars ever. The design was modern and perpendicularly sculpted, but by 1960 it had become decidedly dated.

The 1961 Continental dropped the Mark series moniker and was simply known as the Lincoln Continental. The redesign was courtesy of stylist Elwood Engel (and a team that eventually included John Najjar, Bob Thomas, Joe Oros, John Orff, and Colin Neale), and a dramatic departure from the previous Mark III. The design proposal had been intended for the Thunderbird, but Robert McNamara, Ford's general manager, chose Lincoln instead. More conservative, the design did away from the excessive detail and frenetic design cues, replaced by elegant, low slab-sided sedan or four-door convertible body styles complete with rear suicide-hinged doors. Although over 14 inches had been removed from the outgoing car (including 8 inches in wheelbase), the Continental was still a fairly large car. Its design and proportions were well received by the buying public, and over 360,000 examples were sold from 1961 through 1969, including 2,857 Continental convertibles and 22,303 four-door sedans for 1961.

Power was supplied by a 430 cubic-inch MEL, overhead valve V8 engine with a Carter two-barrel carburetor, and 300 horsepower (a decrease of approximately 15 horsepower from the 1960 engine) at 4,100 RPM. Standard equipment included an automatic transmission, heater, power steering, power brakes, power windows, power door locks, carpeting, and radio with a rear speaker. The interior featured either walnut applique or a padded instrument panel. Over seventy percent of the 1961 Continentals received air conditioning, a $504 option. Other optional equipment included tinted glass, a directed power differential, a six-way power seat, and speed control. The Sedan had a base price of $6,060, and the convertible listed for $6,715. These were rather dramatic price reductions from a year ago, which had ranged from $6,850 to over $10,000 for the Continental. The 1961 Continental production totals of 25,160 were more than double the 1960 Continental production of 11,086 units.

Production
1961 was the start of the 'fourth generation' of styling for the Continental which would continue for the remainder of the decade, ending in 1969.

Mechanical Specification
The fourth-generation Lincoln Continental initially had a wheelbase size of 123 inches, a length of 212.4 inches, a width of 78.6 inches, and a height of 53.6 inches. Thus, it was nearly 15 inches shorter overall with a 8-inch shorter wheelbase compared to its predecessor. The unibody platform would grow to 126 inches in wheelbase by 1964 and its length measured 216.3 inches. Its longest form was in 1969 when it had a length of 224.2 inches.

The 430 cubic-inch MEL V8 engine produced 300 horsepower and was paired with a three-speed automatic transmission. Stopping power was courtesy of four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. The suspension was independent at the front with coil springs, while the rear used a live axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2020