Lincoln Continental 4 door ConvertibleCoordinates 34.0973268,-118.3689273
Picture dated February 2011
The lincoln Continental started its life in 1939 as a custom car for Edsel Ford, then the President of Ford Motor Company. Between then and 1948 the car was largely unaltered: a very large, low, but quite boxy design, with a “spare tire” shaped (but usually NOT actually containing the spare) hump behind the trunk. This styling continued in most redesigns of the car.
In 1955 the car was reintroduced as the Coninental MkII, “the most expensive car in the world” with a hand built body and no Ford or Lincoln branding. Between its release, and the replacement in 1958 the car sold about 3000 examples, losing about $1,000 on every $10,000 example sold.
In 1958 the Continental Mark III was introduced, with a factory made body availabe as a 2-door hardtop, 2-door convertible, 4-door sedan, 4-door Landau hardtop, 4-door Town Car sedan and 4-door Limousine. These were some of the longest and heaviest cars ever built. The car was not finacially sucessful: the Lincoln Division lost over $60 million over 1958-1960
Originally intended as a full size Ford Thuderbird, the 1961 Continental was 14 inches shorter than the car it replaced – but barely any lighter. The most recognized feature of the design of the Continental was the rear-hinged "suicide doors" for the back seat passengers. Minor styling and engineering changes were made most years between 1961 and 1970.
In 1970 a completely new Continental was released, based on the Ford LTD chassis, but losing it's distinctive “spare tyre” hump in the process.
For more information see here.
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