1957 Lincoln Premiere

From the beginning, the Lincoln automobiles offered the finest luxury paired with precision engineering, which caught the attention of the Ford Motor Company who quickly added it to its portfolio. Under the guidance of Edsel Ford, styling reached new heights, and it soon became a leading manufacturer within the luxury car segment. By the mid-1950s, however, executives at the Ford Motor Company recognized that Lincoln was no longer competing for sales with rival GM's Cadillac. In response, the company introduced a fully restyled line of cars that included the introduction of the Continental Division and a new top-of-the-line Lincoln called the Premiere. Although ads proclaimed them 'unmistakably Lincoln,' there was scarcely a trace of the 1955 trim. The length grew by seven inches, and the width and wheelbase by three-inches, partly previewed by the 1954 Mercury XM-800 show car and Ford's 1955 Futura Show Car. In comparison, the Premiere was a full two-inches longer than a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado, and period advertisements declared 'No other car is so Lincoln long... Lincoln low... and Lincoln lovely!'

Modern design cues included peaked headlamps, rakish vertical taillights, a clean grille, and a wraparound windshield. It received plenty of chrome, futuristic fins, and the latest gadgetry that American luxury car buyers demanded. The grille was wide and short with a similar faux grille-mounted above the large rear bumper and would remain mostly unchanged for the 1975 model year, with the exception of the iconic quad-headlamps. The list of standard options included power brakes, power steering, power windows, power antenna, and a six-way power seat.

Mounted under the graceful hood was a bigger engine, a V8 enlarged to 386 cubic-inches and offering 285 horsepower. It had overhead valves, 9.0:1 compression, and a Lincoln four-barrel carburetor. A Turbo-Drive automatic transmission was standard, along with whitewall tires, a heater, and 8.00 x 15 tires.

Lincoln's model lineup for 1956 and 1957 was the same, consisting of the 'entry' level Capri, that received a restyling in 1956 and again in 1957, and priced in the low $4,000s. Body styles included a hardtop sport coupe and a sedan. Above the Capri was the intermediate Premiere, offered as a hardtop coupe, sedan, and convertible, with pricing in the mid-$4000s. Following its debut at the Paris Auto Show in October of 1955, the Mark II Series arrived for the 1956 model year (actually, a Continental model - like Cadillac with its Imperial) with a price tag attainable by only the richest in society, at a lofty $10,000 for the two-door sports coupe.

The 1957 Capri and similarly-styled Premiere both had price increases for the 1957 model year, with the Premiere increasing by over $700, paralleling that of its competitors. Body styles included the sedan and Landau Hardtop Sedan priced at approximately $5,300, the convertible at $5,380, and the hardtop coupe at $5,200. The most popular body style was the hardtop coupe with 15,185 examples built, followed by 11,223 of the Landau Hardtop Sedan, 5,139 of the sedan, and 3,676 of the convertible. The total 35,223 Premiere vehicles built for 1957 accounted for approximately 86-percent of Lincoln's total production, however, was 6,308 fewer than those produced in 1956. The convertible featured something not shared with any other American convertible for 1957: a self-locking top.

Although the Premiere was well equipped, options for 1957 included air-conditioning (installed on just over 20-percent of Lincolns, including the Mark II), dual control heater, Town and Country radio, directed power differential, whitewall tires, three-tone leather trim, seat belts, and spotlight. A padded instrument panel was also optional, along with an automatic headlight dimmer and auxiliary driving lights. The optional push-button chassis lubrication was a feature not seen since the grand automobiles of the 1930s. The power vent windows, electric door locks, and six-way power seat were added to the options list for the first time.

The tail fins grew taller in 1957 and were among the tallest in Detroit. The had QuadraLites, with 7-inch headlamps resting above 5-inch 'road' lamps operated via a separate switch, and the 368 CID V8 gained higher compression, a new Carter four-barrel carburetor, and 15 horsepower for an even 300 bhp. The Quadra-Like system was Lincoln's response to several state legislatures that were threatening in 1956 to block the industry-wide adoption of quad headlamp systems. Additional styling changes were most extensive at the rear with flared quarter panels, tail lamps, bumper, and lower back panel applique. In the front were a new grille, a revised bumper, and the new 'Quadra-Lite' arrangement.

Along with higher compression and the new carburetor, the engine received a centrifugal vacuum-advance distributor, throw-away spin-on oil filter, harder camshaft, self-locking tappet adjustment screws, revised exhaust manifolds, and a Paper-Pak air cleaner. The Turbo-Drive automatic transmission was now water-cooled rather than air-cooled, and a smaller torque converter was adopted.

1957 was the second year of the all-new body and chassis of the Premiere, yet Lincoln extensively updated the model in order to remain competitive with Cadillac and Imperial, which were both all-new.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2021