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Tastefully understated, yet fabulously overpriced.(Escape Roads)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Byline: BILL McGUIRE
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 marketed under that 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 selected Lincoln dealers. But the Mark II was actually the product of a new Dearborn entity: the Continental Division of the Ford Motor Co., with its own plant on Oakwood Boulevard.
Continental Division was headed by William Clay Ford, not yet 30 at the time, and son of Edsel, younger brother of Henry II, and father of today's CEO Bill Ford. Chief body engineer was Gordon Buehrig, creator of the Cord 810, while chief stylist was John Reinhart, designer of the 1951 Packard line, the best-selling Packards in history. Chief engineer was Harley Copp, who would later find his fame as the Ford executive who provided damaging revelations in the Pinto fuel tank controversy.
For the mid-1950s, an era of styling excesses of every kind, the Mark II arrived remarkably unmarked. Its clean, elegant lines, close-coupled proportions and intimate greenhouse neatly captured the essence of the original Continental as personal luxury car. Reinhart employed only one gimmick-a phony spare tire bump on the decklid, a feature then copied by Lincoln forever after. Meanwhile, the new Continental had an additional mission: It was to be the world's finest mass-produced automobile.
Body assemblies received careful and extensive hand fitting, topped with four coats of hand-sanded lacquer. Exterior trim was triple-plated (copper-nickel-chromium; today we call it ``show chrome'') and only the finest leathers and fabrics were selected for the interior. Few expenses were spared, if any. One story goes that the delicate hood ornament was so difficult to cast that it was subcontracted to a defense firm, and cost as much as the car's entire grille.
All this finery was erected on a special ``cow belly'' chassis, with six crossmembers-it was massively overbuilt, for a retractable hardtop ...
- 1956 Continental Mark II appeals to owner younger than car.(Auto Weekend)(Out...
- Newspaper article from: The Washington Times Parker, Vern February 27, 1998 700+ words
...new, improved car would be called Continental Mark II. Ford President Henry Ford II...division was established for the Mark II. It was offered only as a coupe...pushed the price past the $10,000 mark, about the combined price of a regular...
- Opposites, But Attractive
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times Dan Jedlicka November 5, 1994 700+ words
...030 Civic EX and $38,800 Continental Mark VIII are radically different in...small cars. Mark VIII: Lincoln "Mark" models have been very special...for decades because the first Continental Mark I was a late 1930s, custom...
- Plenty of good subcompacts to choose from
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times Dan Jedlicka June 3, 1989 700+ words
...exposure to rust-causing salty pavement. But the 1977 model isn't a collector car. The 1956-57 Continental Mark II and 1968-71 Continental Mark III are collector Continentals. The 1977 Continental described could be worth $7,000. Q. I...
- 1972 Lincoln Mark IV a charitable project.(AUTO WEEKEND)(OUT OF THE PAST)
- Newspaper article from: The Washington Times August 6, 2004 700+ words
...Lincoln before trading it for a Mark VIII model in 1993. Unfortunately...he came across a 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV advertised with 89,000 miles...1972 boasts that the 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV is "the finest car built in...
- CLASSIC FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, ITS TIRE COVER SPARKED A DESIGN...
- Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY) June 20, 1996 700+ words
...000. Reportedly, only 1,900 Mark I Continentals were built in the...1942 model years, although the Continental Mark I returned after World War II...1948. A new, totally restyled Continental Mark II appeared in 1956 and 1957...
- The Continental That Left Its Mark // Hand-Built 1956 Mark II a Stunner
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times DAN JEDLICKA May 12, 1996 700+ words
Ford Motor's gorgeous Continental Mark II coupe - the last virtually...reportedly lost $1,000 on each Mark II because it put too much into...dollars left. There was a 1958 Continental Mark III. But by then the Continental...
- Caddy's `dream machine' // '57-59 Eldorado Brougham cuts a dash
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times DAN JEDLICKA July 14, 1996 700+ words
...Ford Motor's stunning 1956-57 Continental Mark II. General Motors had heard...bought in 1958 - although the rival Mark II no longer was sold that year...horsepower - or 40 more than the Continental Mark II's V-8. But acceleration...
- Market.(Escape Roads)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek January 21, 2008 700+ words
Byline: KEITH MARTIN 1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II Two-door Hardtop RM Auctions: Wiseman Collection Tarpon...during his second term as president. Sold at $42,900 The Mark II debuted at the Paris show in October 1955. Its long hood...
Source: HighBeam Research, Tastefully understated, yet fabulously overpriced.(Escape...