A 1958 Lincoln just left the restoration shop I work at. We went through everything mechanical, complete drivetrain, prepped and painted undercarriage and engine bay. A $50k job. The body and paint was already in great original condition. That's a BIG, complicated car that's difficult to find parts for. And when you do, they're big $$$.
It is, to me, a gorgeous car and a FAST car as well. I think if the headlights were vertically instead of diagonally stacked, it would have sold better. At least in 59 and 60.
@@tomsmith2331 To be perfectly honest: i was at US-Car meetings since 1990 here in Germany. My father had an Oldsmobile (1976?) with a V8-Diesel engine which broke, then installed a regular V8… I still…am the biggest fan of such large, enormous vehicles. With that touch of real luxury. Good for me: Never had a chance to own something like this as it is way to expensive over here. But…in the future…my stocks can get better… My interest goes to a Lincoln Continental Town Car (4 doors)…1978 or 1979… During the meantime i am going/driving all-electric with my fabulous Volkswagen e-Up!…🙈🎯🫣🥳🤩
Excellent video! Is there a shop in Connecticut that works on 1958-60 Lincolns, does anyone reading this know. I'm looking for one familiar with them to do work I can't do myself. Have tried good places NOT familiar with them in the past and it hasn't gone well. Have had the transmission on my '58 rebuilt twice and there there's still an issue with it. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.
I like these Lincoln’s- they are ver6 different. I wonder about the longest unibody car - the Mercedes 600 (W100 series) were unibody and they had several variations of extended wheelbase models (limousines and open models with 4 or 6 doors) all of which were factory built (not stretched) and would have to be longer than that Chrysler you mention.
Funny how that is lost on so many people. One thing they forget is the fact that the 58 - 60 Lincolns were too big for most garages. The Cadillac 60 Special didn't sell in the high numbers of the "regular" Cads, the series 62, either. Even among those who could easily afford it.
@@michaelbenardo5695 Everyone thinks the 61 LC was a sales success and it wasn't at all. It just changed the image of the company and helped move Lincoln forward.
That weird HVAC control was not "dropped for the 1960 model year" -- 1960 Lincolns and Continentals used the exact same four-quadrant, single-knob control, just in a different location on the redesigned dash. 1958 Edsels equipped with air conditioning had what was basically the same control, but even simpler. Instead of a knob, you turned the bezel of the "Climate Dial" itself, with fan speed controlled by a toggle switch.
My grandfather had a new 58 Continental 2 dr. I was 4 or 5. I was just fascinated with that car, which also had the retractable rear window. Apparently, he had a lot of trouble with that car, so he traded it in on a new 58 Lincoln Capri (the 'base' model). It did not have the cool rear window. Both cars had factory A/C, and I vividly remember those hoses under the hood. I still have some drawings I made of the Continental in 1962, when I was 8. I was a horrible artist (still am) but I did capture lots of details on my drawings. Thanks for the video to bring back wonderful memories!
I can't believe my grandfather didn't kill me. I managed to put lots of cute swirly marks on the plastic lens of the instrument cluster with the cigarette lighter, I scratched the heck out of the painted metal panel between the rear seatback and that retractable window, and was just about to play gas station attendant with the garden hose. Luckily, my mom caught me before I could fill-er-up! My grandpa never said a word about it.
I'm just a year older than you, what a great time to be growing up, especially if you were into cars like I was. I like making drawings of all the Big Three cars. I knew all model years, their names and opinions they had. I was actually a pretty good little artist. I wish I still had them.
I'm surprised that they made those big ol cars unibody construction and then went back to full chassis, I never did like a unibody car especially a large car.
As an owner of a '59, I knew exactly which control you were talking about in the teaser! I have not attempted to fix mine...an a/c car...maybe some day. These are both wacky and sublime simultaneously...over the top style but high quality and effortless power
My heart goes out to the pinion gear bearings for the load they saw while that "Near 5,000 pound car was propelled to 60 MPH in a little over 8 seconds." Thanks for posting.....
@@billvose7360 I grew up in the malaise era. And when I got my license all I had were mailase era cars. This would smoke a 1982 Camaro 0 to 60 that was stock. It's all perspective though ☺️
@@billvose7360 Agree but the load of pushing a 58, 59 or 60 Lincoln that fast from a dead stop is still a load on the pinion bearings. What makes a Ford 9" so great is the pinion bearing. layout, a earing on either end of the pinion gear.
There really doesn't appear to be a practical way of making a unibody car that is as well isolated from the road as can be done using a full perimeter frame.
Ever ridden in a 2003ish Lexus LS430??? That has to be the nicest riding car I've ever been in, its a unibody. It has that magic carpet ride like a big 60's/70's/80's American land barge but it doesn't bob up/down, it doesn't ride boaty. Plus its king tut's tomb silent, no squeaks/rattles/vibrations/wind noise, its surreal how you can be doing 120mph and feel like you are on the Shinkansen. The handling isn't bad either, yeah it pushes to the outside if you push it and does lean over a bit but the steering is fairly quick and it feels safe/secure. Also tracks laser straight, something that always annoyed me about American land barges with a steering box.
@Eric Ruud Actually my parents bought a 2000 Avalon brand new, that was pretty much a Lexus with a Toyota badge. It had a lot more room in it than a 2000 Lexus ES300, hell a lot more back seat leg room than a Town Car or Grand Marquis. Granted no cool electroluminescent gauges, burled walnut or fine leather like a Lexus but it was $3000 cheaper or so. But it was built just as solid as the Lexus, ride was whisper quiet and smooth as well. Granted the LS430 was on another plane in terms of refinement/ride/quietness/horsepower and just generally better handling/driving dynamics.
@@AaronSmith-kr5yf The Avalon may have bettered the Grand Marquis for rear seat legroom by not quite 2 inches, but it doesn't beat the Town Car's legroom..
You are correct, a unit body is like a 20s or older car with a separate frame - solid body mounts that transmit, rather than absorb, vibration and noise.
OK Adam... you are talking about the really cool HVAC control. Please be advised that it was not vacuum controlled. My knowledge is about the 58 only but perhaps the 59 is similar. Instead of vacuum the control head ran a servo module which was an ELECTRIC motor and gearbox that ran a complex wheel which in turn moved Bowden cables to open-close heat defrost dash vents Also the left and right footwell vent and the heat and ac thermostats. I don't know how long this set up worked properly, but I know that Bowden cables tend to corrode and the inner cables start to stick and bind. I did find a website where a man in Europe was rebuilding his servo system on his 58 but I don't know if the expertise exists in the United States. It is such an obscure system that few know how to troubleshoot and ultimately repair them.
Robert was a man who only saw cars as a means of transportation to get from point A to point B. He really didn’t believe in the ideas of performance or comfort. Sure ford sold performance/luxury options on cars, but only because Robert realized that it ment more money. Robert was so simplistic that on a trip to Europe in the 50s, he was practically drooling over the cheap, small, and rather boring economy cars in Europe. The cars he saw over there were his main inspiration for the 1960 Ford Falcon
@@Hemingray1893; Yes Lincolns, and the whole Mercury lineup, but no Thundebirds according to "Square Bird" forums. Just the 4 barrel 430 option. I read that the intake alone for the 3 carb set up was going for $2500 online, and this was years ago. The 383 is raciest of all the MELs, potentially, because it's a whole 1.00" oversquare ratio of 4.300" : 3.300". I'm surprised Henry II let McNamara get away with cutting the legs out from under the engineers after 1958.
@@Johnnycdrums He probably though the detuning of the engines made sense due to the sharp recession of 58. Buyers were suddenly demanding better gas mileage. The automakers even had thought the 6 cylinder engine would soon be a thing of the past, so no sense in designing new 6s, Chrysler thought. The Slant 6 was originally going to be a Valiant only engine.
I'm slightly scared by the thought of both this HVAC control and the Tele-Touch transmission existing in the same vehicle. Ford had some strange ideas back then.
Not strange at all!!! Just another, underrated, unfamiliar, unpopular, beautiful automobile created by the geniuses at Ford Motor Company. Are they on the same platform or level with the suicide door Lincolns??? Absolutely NOT... But they are extremely awesome machines in their OWN right.
Yes, it wasn't until a bit later that I realized that the knob he was talking about was on the dash, well below the dial. I kept trying to figure out where the knob was, then saw that it was not part of the dial.
These model year Lincolns were "over the top" in just about every respect, but the older I get the more I fall in love with them. That dash has an elegance all it's own and I rank it up in my top 20 favorite dashboards of all time.
My dad’s 1958 Edsel had a very similar control. I remember it being confusing. Next to it was an analog clock that rewound itself with a solenoid every 20 minutes. It made a loud CLACK sound when the solenoid fired.
I remember that dial because when I was a young boy our next door neighbor had a '58. It was pink/coral with a white top and I thought it was just beautiful. And big! Looking forward to Adam hitting 100K subscribers-
I purchased a 1960 base model lincoln in 1980. It did not have ac. I installed factory air from junkyard cars which were still easy to find at the time. It was a hugh job but worth the effort living in Florida. Still have the car today. The redesigned instrument panel for 1960 which many consider better looking than the earlier models made it alittle easier too.
Gotta admit that I never really cared for the '59 or '60... But the '58 was MAGNIFICENT. Albeit not too "Continental like". As for the Designers and Engineers of the era... So many of them from the various manufacturers were "MIT Smart"... Just look at this HVAC switch! The Ford retractable... The memory seat in the Eldo Broughams... The pushbutton gear selectors in the Chryslers and the Mercs, Edsels and Packards! The wild transmission designs! Such incredible creativity.
I have read the 58 front bumper was changed due to customer complaints, the wings on the bumper was creating wind noise at freeway speed's. A older guy told me that he was living on a airbase not far from me, and the base Commanders wife got a new 58 Lincoln Capri sedan and everytime she crossed RR tracks, all four door's popped open. Lincoln, they local dealership had to contact Lincoln and they sent them baces to attach to the unibody construction and the service department installed them. A lot of the bugs were worked out by 59. As a little kid, our nextdoor neighbors bought a new pink 59 Lincoln Premiere. I was really impressed with this car but today I realize that my then uncle's 58 imperial was likely a better car . Ford lost 60 million dollars on building these cars for 3 years
That's dreadful! Ford released quite a few bodies like that in that era - they either didn't listen to their engineers, or the engineers were ignorant of torsional stiffness principles (small box = inherent stiffness, big box = more flex, more bracing.) The Falcon disintegrated on Aussie roads in 1960...took 'em over 18 months to fix it - nearly ruined the brand.
@@saxongreen78 it was the first year of the unibody construction and this was discovered the first week of having the car, October 1957, so it was a very early model 58, I'm sure there was other similar problems across the country,
There was a rather unique control, I think it was on a 50s era TBird, where there was a pedal on the driver's side floor. When depressed, it would cause the radio to automatically scan the AM band and stop at strong stations.
@Eric Ruud Sure does, if I recall. The Flair ranges were really not very good appliances from a practical point. Lifting heavy pans out of the oven over a hot cooktop is a bad idea. We had a Frigidaire wall over, not a Flair just a regular single oven that used the wire cable and for cleaning the door would drop completely down. No window in the door. Don't know what model but the house was built in 1960. Imagine putting a heavy holiday turkey in/out of one of those ovens over hot pots and pans on the stove?
All 1958 Edsel's had that except for having a separate swicth for the blower. It was an option on 1959 Edsel's. 1958's were electric and 1959's were vacuum.
I am an ex Mr. Goodwrench, here is some other oddball things... Portable am radio in the glove box and auto dim for headlights on my 1st car, a 59 olds 98... to me the biggest contender for a control is the Push button automatic. And the winner for just plain strange was the center turning headlight on the 48 Tucker. And Chevy has a nod for the 1st above rear window light on the 58 Impala. so does the VW bug and others with the turning Flags indicators on the front fenders. What about the rudder control on the 1st Mercedes? I would say there are a lot more oddities too, like a wife in the passenger seat.. lol
My father said this Lincoln was ugly and there was no way he liked them when they were new. He said anytime you saw one it was old men driving them, ughhh he said. He said they were ugly and conservative looking. You have to realize when these were new and bought by mature people many of them were born in the 1880s-90s, early 1900s. I saw one in a driveway a few months back and showed it to an 85 year old man and he said "If you had one of those back then you defintely weren't the cool cat". When I was a teen in the 90s, I got to get into a Continental Mark III and I asked the nephew of the owner "Did you find anything cool hidden"? and he replied "My uncle found a wallet that belonged to an old geezer". Personally I like them, liked them as a kid even. True not too many are left and the last time I saw one in Detroit on the road was in 2011. I think it was the one I got into when I was a kid because eventually it was sold and towed out of the garage and ended up parked nearby at a junk lot. If that was the car I hope someone restored it.
The door panel vent you showed is actually a non-air conditioning car, as the factory air conditioning cars had a slightly different vent with a directional control on it. Also air-conditioning cars have two vents in the dash with with control knobs above them.
It seems for some reason, Lincoln has been way up or way down in sales for a number of decades depending on year models. I kind of preferred Lincoln over Cadillac and Chrysler.
Cadillac discovered Design Continuity with their LaSalle, with the tall narrow grille of 34 - 40, and the 36 Cad. The LaSalle they added the Waffle Iron grille look of the 36 Cadillac for 37 and 38. After they did away with it in 39, Cadillac buyers were upset and kept questioning why it was gone, so they brought it back in modernized horizontal form for 41, and never looked back, except for 57 - 60. You could always recognize a new Cad, no matter how much the rest of the car changed. The Lincoln, especially, would often be radically changed, until the 61 Suicide model.
My father had a 1959 DeSoto. It had a button on the floorboard that controlled the radio. Push it down and the radio sought another station. I never saw that in another car.
I'm lucky the hvac system still works perfectly on my 58 Premiere Landau sedan. Theres 7 or 8 bowden cables and an electric motor on the backside. I lubed up the bowden cables. Took me a while to figure out the push/ pull for the fan speed. Apparently the 430 was detuned a few times during the 58 model year. Mine was built November of 57 so it's got the hot engine. Unintentional second gear scratch happens occasionally.
@@michaelbenardo5695 The camshaft was changed to a milder one early on and the heads were changed to using the Merc 383 heads due to an issue of carbon build up on the valves. also, the block height was increased by .020 to reduce the compression ratio from 10.5 to 10.0 to 1. Not aware of any official annoucement from Lincoln declaring a reduction in horsepower.
Parents had a '58 Premiere 4 door hardtop when I was a kid. I've never thought they were odd. Washed that car as a kid, so I ran my hands over every panel. A good looking car and imposing when they were new. Not bizarre like the '58 Imperial, or unimpressive like the '58 Cadillac (which became in '59 a bizarre overreaction to the '57 Imperial). The Capri and Premiere with traditional rear glass were much better balanced than the Continental.
the '57 - '59 Imperials were beautifully styled and ruggedly built on the other hand the '57 -'60 Lincolns were an overly complex awkwardly styled mish mash - which is why they did not sell. Now to your point in 1960 Chrysler laid a big egg with an ugly design which got even worse the next year - I agree with you - the 1960 Continental was a much more handsome car than the 1960 or 1961 Imperial.
Strange indeed Adam, but good information and a learning point. You have a way of sharing about things people did not know or did not think about. Your videos are a educational feast. The 1961 could not come fast enough it seems. It is interesting the position Lincoln was in the late 1950's. It is reinventing itself right now in a changing market today. I hope Lincoln finds its way again.
There was no "Continental Division" in 1958. The Continental Division lasted from April of 1955 until July of 1956, and produced the 1956 and 1957 Continental Mk II. The 1958 Lincoln Continental Mk III was a Lincoln model.
@@Ctrl-XYZ The 58 and 59 Mk IIIs were both unibody. And they were models sold by the Lincoln Division. There was no "Continental Division" at that time. The Continental Division was sunset in July of 1956 and the only model that division produced was the 56 and 57 Mk II. The Mk III had nothing in common with the Mk II other than the Continental name.
@@Ctrl-XYZ He means that there was no separate Continental division the way there was in 56 and 57, (the Continental Mark II of those years was not a Lincoln, it was a Continental. The 58 - 60, while badged as a Continental, was a gussied-up Lincoln.)
The '60 had the same form of control, but instead of small electric servos to actuate the modes, it used vacuum. There were I think, some 14 vacuum tubes coming off the main control behind the dash. Used one year only! I have a '60 convertible and the restoration of the climate system is, uh, challenging.
@@loumontcalm3500 TorsionAir was a Chrysler trademark in the early seventies, basically a carry-over of their excellent torsion bar suspension introduced for model year 1957. Packard's Torsion Level ride in '55-'56 was the most advanced suspension you could get at the time, a true self-leveling system that carried both wheels on one side of the car on a single torsion bar which was pre-stressed when the front wheel rode up over a bump, allowing the rear wheel to step over without jolting. The genius was that the rear axle had a compensating motor attached to secondary torsion bars to level the car's ride automatically when the back seat and trunk were loaded. I would say that the Packard Twin Ultramatic electric push-button selector was less weird than Edsel's Teletouch because it was mounted in a pod on the right of the steering column rather than in the center of the steering hub. Note also the complications of rigging the steering hub to remain stationary when the steering wheel turned. Mercury used electric push-buttons on the left side of the dash in model years 1957-'58, probably wired nearly identically to the Edsel's. American Motors '58-'62 Rambler and Ambassador models used mechanical push-buttons similar to Chrysler's.
@@5610winston You are right, I pulled TorsionAir out of memory; I owned a '56 Patrician, and knew better. My car had bypassed the push button selector at some point with a mechanical rod sticking out the trans hump. Packard had problems with them when they were new. BTW- have you ever seen a teletouch disassembled? Not as complicated as I imagined.
As a massive fan of the Mark III, V, VII and the gen 1 and final gen MKZ ... and hence something of a Lincoln fan - I find these 50s Lincolns horrible and vomit inducing ... just like today's all CUV offering.
This generation Lincoln Continental is, by far, my favorite. I consider these to be the most elegant and most unique looking lincolns, in my opinion. I fell in love with this car when Eva Marie Saint jumps into that '58 Convertible and drives off in the 1959 Albert Hitchcock movie "North by Northwest."
I can't count the times I ran the battery low playing with the seats and windows in my dad's 58 Lincoln and his 59 Continental. He would leave the keys in the car so I would put the key to accessory and play away. I also love hitting the radio button near the dimmer switch and watch the radio change stations. I have to say years ago I thought the 59 was prettier then the 58, but my opinion has changed. I also believe these cars got overlooked at the time, as the body lines and details are superb. I think my goal if I was to make a collection of Lincoln's would be to have a 1956 Coupe, a 1958 Continental, a 1961, then a 1966 or 67, and a 1969-71 Mark III as a collection. I know I didn't put a 55 or 56 Mark II, but lets face it that car like a 4 door convertibles are now way out of reach
Great story from your youth, and some insightful observations to boot. BTW, the '55 has a special place in my affections, representing the 'road race' era car in it's most handsome and refined state.
@@telebob5983 My dad had a 1955, I think I had the old title for that car for years after he junked it. One of the things I remember about those years was the battery was on the passenger side floor board. My dad and uncle were mechanics, as a kid I seen all kinds of cars, a Studebaker pick up truck, and golden Hawk. He had a customer with a old Hudson Hornet. I remember a 1959 Chevy with a 348 and a 50 Plymouth that was like brand new. Back then he worked on quite a few 58,59,60 T-birds. Such a simple time.
I believe that these also had available power vents, ahead of the front side windows. This option was not available on the 1961. Finally, in late spring of 1962, they became available again on the Lincoln Continental.
Been there done that! All that complicated vacuum crap starts to act up after 5-8 years. By 10 years none of it works and it all has to be re-piped. A massive job!
You should also mention that "58 Edsel and Mercury used this system. Additionally, in 1959, both the Merc and Edsel offered this system with heating only as the AC components moved under dash. A regular lever type system was offered also on these cars.
Buick had heater controls in the lower part of it's two round dials on 1959 models. They were actuated by levers but also included ventilation controls. Automatic controls which Buick called "auto heat" was also available for 1959 with or without air conditioning, no blower speed control on this one as blower speeds were also controlled automatically. It was the first type of automatic climate control offered in an automobile. Cadillac introduced it's own version only 5 years later.
Sorry but I just road in a friends 1960 Continental. They used the same complicated single dial system as 1958-59, it's just moved to the third binnacle from the left. same single control knob air system. And his works beautifully.
The 58 and then 59 Continental were outstanding looking cars. They were not appreciated at the time, or were just too expensive, which accounts for the low sales numbers. I've never heard it mentioned the differences in body styles between the 58, 59 and 60. I like them all, but really like the 58. Wasn't there was some guy who specialized in repairing these old Lincolns who would travel around the US ? Jay Leno featured someone who did that with the mid sixties Lincoln cars; a white 66 convertible. These are what luxury cars should be. Size matters and style matters. If only they had th fuel efficiency of the early 2000 Lincolns. These are far better looking cars than the egg cars that plagued FOMOCO styling of the 2000's.
There was nothing quite like the outrageously over the top styling of mid to late ‘50s American automobiles… fins, bumpers, taillights, and massive use of chrome. My interest in cars as a young boy favored the toned down design of the ‘60s, but today I confess that if I owned a classic, I’d want it to be from the late ‘50s. BTW, I pretty much agree with your description of the later years’ Lincolns, I do think the final generation of the Town Car was very classy.
They were too big for most garages, that and the diagonally stacked headlights. If they were vertically stacked, the car probably would have sold a little better.
1:30. The engines. AH, Dodge/Chrysler did something similar in the Fifties with their first letter cars. A big 300 + super engine, MOPAR did it first with two Four-barrels. 1961 Forward Lincoln Continentals. Ah. Suicide doors were a carry over from Carriages and was very pronounced from 1935? to 1937. The Martin brother Resto-moded a 1937 Chevy in Root-beer with Cream Spoke stock wheels. The HVAC system for climate control. This is the first time I heard of used this way. But what about the hydraulic shift Semi automatic s from MOPAR and GM Products from the earlier Fifties? My Dad had a Plymouth that shifted this way, And the Push button shift cars from Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth/Desoto and AMC Motors from 1954 to 1965? (AMC was supplied MOPAR starting at the same time if not slightly earlier.)
GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I'm sure these monstrous cars are all gas hogs, including THE EDSEL, and MERCURY, I KNOW MY 3 EDSELS ARE HOGS WHEN IT COMES TO FUEL, JUS AWEFUL 😭😭😭😭 GREAT VIDEO, 😁👌😉👍
Awesome Mustangs. 😏 I dodont think difficult. Nissan purchases AMX 😏 He bought one. @NGK the all new for 2017 Datsun Almera Nismo Edition 😏 Henry's Jag bought that.
It always amazes me that young people think that these things are unusual " or odd! These were what led v us to the fully automatic things, in cars today! It had to come from somewhere and is often misunderstood as strange by people who didn't live through those days like we have! Talk to some "old people " before embarrassing yourself @
Just a Suggestion, Adam, but maybe do a Reverse Park in one of these land yachts and Your Subscribers will see what it's like...U r a Gr8 Driver, used to driving them, so it shouldn't be a problem...Here's Hoping U will do one in a future show...Cheers from Damo😊🙏
By the way, I've noticed from watching TV reruns from the late 50s, they all seem to feature these Lincolns, they photograph well apparently. Shows like Alfred Hitchcock, and Perry Mason are sure to have them, and many period movies as well. They also have Cadillacs and Imperials, but mostly Lincolns. It may just be that Ford wanted the media exposure to help sell them, but even that didn't work based on production totals.
That's 2.27 tonnes (metric)! Fuel: 180 million years old. A good spend of the world's resources. If only nature could've charged for added value! There is payback though. It wants you kids.
American cars of the 1950s and 1960s were *THE UGLIEST CARS EVER BUILT!!!* American car makers shoved substance issues(reliability, safety, fuel economy) aside for the sake of style(trivial cosmetic appearance). America's car builders should've looked to Britain, Australia and Europe to learn how to design cars as we did it much better. Our cars put the priority *where it belonged,* with *substance over style!*
Damn. I miss your channel. )RUclips stopped promoting your videos to me. Honestly, I have missed them. This is a great video. I'll try to keep up up watching your videos. Thanks for your research and presentations.
Had a friend with a '59. Premier maybe? The HVAC was amazing. The fan was so strong that it would blow your hair around in the back seat! Couldn't keep his foot out of it and kept blowing distributors. That was in the early '80s and parts were hard to come by then! Smooth and fast!
Okay, I'm going to bore you all with a little story that is a little bit off topic, but I hope somebody likes it. The story is not about the 58 or 59 Lincoln, it was about the 57. It was 1965. I was either just out of high school or preparing to be out of high school, and I had a girlfriend whose dad owned a 57 Lincoln. No it was about 8 years old but it was one of those cars that was very well cared for, and her dad was very proud of owning that car. I remember it was white, and had these tail fins that you could Gore an elephant with and kill it. Well her father, my future father-in-law though I didn't know it, had to take her someplace, but was unable to do it. So I, wanted to impress him with my maturity, stepped up and said "it's all right sir I'll take her". Well he wasn't too crazy about me being his daughter's boyfriend, but he was in a jam. So he thought about it for a few seconds, then guardedly said,..." okay". As the two of us got up to leave, I remember him saying, I believe it was through clenched teeth, or possibly telepathically," you scratch my car, don't come back"! "Not to worry sir", I said in my newly acquired,18 year old, almost, adult voice. So we got in the car and off we went. Now, prior to this, the only other car I had driven was my dad's, 55 stick shift, Chevy station wagon, but I had complete confidence. Well this car was huge. I mean it was a barge of a car. It had leather seats that were broken in enough that as you're driving around corners, you sort of sloshed back and forth on that big, pre seatbelt, bench seat that seats four people, easily. Still, I felt like I had this. This great Behemoth of a car had all the bills and whistles. Power steering that just steered with your pinky finger. Power brakes that, you breathe on them, to stop. Enough levers and buttons on the dashboard to equip a 707 airliner. But I wanted to impress My Best Girl, so I displayed total confidence. So here we are, tooling down the road. I seem to recall it was a four-lane Boulevard, but not in the city. Outside the city. Well, it was a beautiful day. Early summer, sun shining with little intermittent rain clouds here and there, but not enough rain to soak anything. Just enough to put some moisture down on the road. So, like I said, here I am sitting in this monster of a car with one hand casually on the steering wheel, and the other around the shoulder of my favorite girl, basically living the life. I was in hog heaven.,..... Then,... Without warning, the brake lights of the cars ahead of me all started going off at once. The next thing I know, I have both hands on the wheel, my girlfriend was shoved all the way to the other end of that huge bench seat, and my eyeballs are as big as saucers. I stomp on the power brakes. Remember the ones that you just breathe on. Well they worked as advertised and all four wheels locked up. Suddenly I go from the coolest guy in the world driving this huge luxury car down the road, to a terrified kid almost in control of a 4,000 lb sled that is sliding toward the line of cars ahead of me. Furiously, I start pumping the brakes, which kept me, fortunately, from ending up going sideways down the road, and gave me just enough control to ease it over to the shoulder of the road and bring it to a stop half a car length past the rear end of the car in front of me. To say I was having a terror-driven, adrenaline rush, is a gross understatement. The car came to a skidding halt on the gravel shoulder, and I couldn't believe what had just happened. My girlfriend was scared, but a little bit impressed with my driving skill. I, on the other hand, was sure I was going to have to change my underwear. We both agreed to never, ever tell her father about this incident, as he didn't much like me anyway, and it might given him reason for Justified homicide. Well that's my little 57 Lincoln story. I hope somebody enjoyed it. Y'all have a good life. I know I have, because I went on to marry that girl, and 57 years later, we are still hitched. I mean, come on, How do you let go of a girl who has it that together.
One wonders what on earth was wrong with the person who designed that HVAC control. It is excessively complicated, non-intuitive, and makes functions which drivers would like to use simultaneously mutually exclusive. Then again, Ford did produce the Edsel.
The thing that the Lincoln engineers missed was that the dual air conditioning systems weren't really dual. There were 2 evaporators fed by one compressor, with just a tee fitting on the suction and liquid lines, and one control. No way to adjust the temperature between the front and rear seats. Still cool, of course. My neighbors had a '57 Premiere with turquoise and white upholstery and factory AC, with the trunk-mounted evaporator, the clear supply tubes and the roof-line outlets. The car also had a continental kit and was too long for their garage door to close. I always looked for tubes when I saw cars with the windows up in the summer. We had a 1956 Nash Rambler station wagon with AC, two vents on either side of the top of the dash. My mother's '58 Buick Roadmaster had the fanciest side and center vents and a similar multi-function control knob. Another cool feature was that you could trigger the station-scanning Wonderbar radio from a floor button next to the headlight dimmer switch.
It's not only awkward but inconvenient. If Mom wants a little more hot or cold air, she has to ask Dad to manipulate the controls. The controls are not intuitive. A left-right slider that says hot/cold and another that says Defrost, Heat, etc. along with a fan knob that says 1,2,3,4 are self-explanatory.
Some of the ugliest front fenders ever designed. The complexity designed into some of these old luxury cars is mesmerizing since most of the wacky stuff was extremely unreliable. 100 years in and everybody BUT newcomer Tesla is struggling to run a profitable business.
A 1958 Lincoln just left the restoration shop I work at. We went through everything mechanical, complete drivetrain, prepped and painted undercarriage and engine bay. A $50k job. The body and paint was already in great original condition. That's a BIG, complicated car that's difficult to find parts for. And when you do, they're big $$$.
It is, to me, a gorgeous car and a FAST car as well. I think if the headlights were vertically instead of diagonally stacked, it would have sold better. At least in 59 and 60.
You did well, to preserve this piece of history. 👍
They sure are ! There are people who subsidize their retirement by selling Lincoln parts
@@tomsmith2331 To be perfectly honest: i was at US-Car meetings since 1990 here in Germany. My father had an Oldsmobile (1976?) with a V8-Diesel engine which broke, then installed a regular V8…
I still…am the biggest fan of such large, enormous vehicles. With that touch of real luxury.
Good for me: Never had a chance to own something like this as it is way to expensive over here.
But…in the future…my stocks can get better…
My interest goes to a Lincoln Continental Town Car (4 doors)…1978 or 1979…
During the meantime i am going/driving all-electric with my fabulous Volkswagen e-Up!…🙈🎯🫣🥳🤩
@@YouTooDoTube
My favorite Lincoln's have to be the 1963 and 1969. I love those body styles.
The DeLorean uses a similar single-dial style HVAC selector.
Excellent video! Is there a shop in Connecticut that works on 1958-60 Lincolns, does anyone reading this know. I'm looking for one familiar with them to do work I can't do myself. Have tried good places NOT familiar with them in the past and it hasn't gone well. Have had the transmission on my '58 rebuilt twice and there there's still an issue with it. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.
this is a butiful car
The least wanted vehicles of the past are the most wanted vehicles of the present.
I like these Lincoln’s- they are ver6 different. I wonder about the longest unibody car - the Mercedes 600 (W100 series) were unibody and they had several variations of extended wheelbase models (limousines and open models with 4 or 6 doors) all of which were factory built (not stretched) and would have to be longer than that Chrysler you mention.
But they were not "standard wheelbase" models.
Your channel is just amazing. I love learning about cars. And you're a great teacher. Thanks Adam
Total Lincoln & Continental production 1958:
29,684
Total Lincoln Continental production 1961:
25,164
Funny how that is lost on so many people. One thing they forget is the fact that the 58 - 60 Lincolns were too big for most garages. The Cadillac 60 Special didn't sell in the high numbers of the "regular" Cads, the series 62, either. Even among those who could easily afford it.
@@michaelbenardo5695
Everyone thinks the 61 LC was a sales success and it wasn't at all. It just changed the image of the company and helped move Lincoln forward.
Nixing the four-barrel carb was a bummer decision. Old Bob Mc Namara didn't know jack-squat about cars.
He was the epitome of the bean counter
He didn't know Jack squat about Vietnam either or anything really.
Confidence overshadowing ability and in a position of influence...could have been PRESIDENT!
@@saxongreen78
Let’s go Brandon.
He was Jack Squat's cousin.
Nepotism...
That weird HVAC control was not "dropped for the 1960 model year" -- 1960 Lincolns and Continentals used the exact same four-quadrant, single-knob control, just in a different location on the redesigned dash. 1958 Edsels equipped with air conditioning had what was basically the same control, but even simpler. Instead of a knob, you turned the bezel of the "Climate Dial" itself, with fan speed controlled by a toggle switch.
I couldn't have said it better than you did - you saved me the necessity of pointing this out myself.
My grandfather had a new 58 Continental 2 dr. I was 4 or 5. I was just fascinated with that car, which also had the retractable rear window. Apparently, he had a lot of trouble with that car, so he traded it in on a new 58 Lincoln Capri (the 'base' model). It did not have the cool rear window. Both cars had factory A/C, and I vividly remember those hoses under the hood. I still have some drawings I made of the Continental in 1962, when I was 8. I was a horrible artist (still am) but I did capture lots of details on my drawings. Thanks for the video to bring back wonderful memories!
I can't believe my grandfather didn't kill me. I managed to put lots of cute swirly marks on the plastic lens of the instrument cluster with the cigarette lighter, I scratched the heck out of the painted metal panel between the rear seatback and that retractable window, and was just about to play gas station attendant with the garden hose. Luckily, my mom caught me before I could fill-er-up! My grandpa never said a word about it.
@@61rampy65 Maybe he was the same type of kid as you!
I'm just a year older than you, what a great time to be growing up, especially if you were into cars like I was. I like making drawings of all the Big Three cars. I knew all model years, their names and opinions they had. I was actually a pretty good little artist. I wish I still had them.
The dashboard design kind of echoes that of the c.1959 Philco "Predicta" TV sets.
I'm surprised that they made those big ol cars unibody construction and then went back to full chassis, I never did like a unibody car especially a large car.
The Continental of the 1960s was also Unibody.. it didn't revert to body-on -frame until the 1970 redesign..
@@trudygreer2491 which to me REALLY made no sense, because of the four-door convertible. That's a long stretch of nothing but floor...
@@marko7843 With big sections of steel beams/‘frame’ rails welded to it...
@@MrZdvy And still necessitating crude, giant weights in the fenders to dampen vibration...
@@marko7843 I have never seen or heard of giant weights in fenders to dampen vibration🧐
As an owner of a '59, I knew exactly which control you were talking about in the teaser! I have not attempted to fix mine...an a/c car...maybe some day. These are both wacky and sublime simultaneously...over the top style but high quality and effortless power
My heart goes out to the pinion gear bearings for the load they saw while that "Near 5,000 pound car was propelled to 60 MPH in a little over 8 seconds." Thanks for posting.....
Ford 9" rear end, very rugged. I had a 1971 Mercury Colony Park wagon, I was able to get it weighed one time, 5500 lbs empty.
@@billvose7360 I grew up in the malaise era. And when I got my license all I had were mailase era cars. This would smoke a 1982 Camaro 0 to 60 that was stock. It's all perspective though ☺️
@@billvose7360 Agree but the load of pushing a 58, 59 or 60 Lincoln that fast from a dead stop is still a load on the pinion bearings. What makes a Ford 9" so great is the pinion bearing. layout, a earing on either end of the pinion gear.
@@johnsheetz6639 Related to the late Vernon from Miami?
@@davef.2329 I can't be sure but I am from Florida, Panama City.
There really doesn't appear to be a practical way of making a unibody car that is as well isolated from the road as can be done using a full perimeter frame.
Ever ridden in a 2003ish Lexus LS430??? That has to be the nicest riding car I've ever been in, its a unibody. It has that magic carpet ride like a big 60's/70's/80's American land barge but it doesn't bob up/down, it doesn't ride boaty. Plus its king tut's tomb silent, no squeaks/rattles/vibrations/wind noise, its surreal how you can be doing 120mph and feel like you are on the Shinkansen. The handling isn't bad either, yeah it pushes to the outside if you push it and does lean over a bit but the steering is fairly quick and it feels safe/secure. Also tracks laser straight, something that always annoyed me about American land barges with a steering box.
@Eric Ruud Actually my parents bought a 2000 Avalon brand new, that was pretty much a Lexus with a Toyota badge. It had a lot more room in it than a 2000 Lexus ES300, hell a lot more back seat leg room than a Town Car or Grand Marquis.
Granted no cool electroluminescent gauges, burled walnut or fine leather like a Lexus but it was $3000 cheaper or so. But it was built just as solid as the Lexus, ride was whisper quiet and smooth as well. Granted the LS430 was on another plane in terms of refinement/ride/quietness/horsepower and just generally better handling/driving dynamics.
@@AaronSmith-kr5yf The Avalon may have bettered the Grand Marquis for rear seat legroom by not quite 2 inches, but it doesn't beat the Town Car's legroom..
@Eric Ruud I had an 06 Avalon Limited, the ride was very, very quiet. I miss that car, it was the most reliable car I have ever owned.
You are correct, a unit body is like a 20s or older car with a separate frame - solid body mounts that transmit, rather than absorb, vibration and noise.
A wonderful description of how this system works, Adam. Thank you!
Hey Adam, "unique" is a very kind description of the 58 to 60 Lincolns & Continentals!!! 🙄
OK Adam... you are talking about the really cool HVAC control. Please be advised that it was not vacuum controlled. My knowledge is about the 58 only but perhaps the 59 is similar. Instead of vacuum the control head ran a servo module which was an ELECTRIC motor and gearbox that ran a complex wheel which in turn moved Bowden cables to open-close heat defrost dash vents Also the left and right footwell vent and the heat and ac thermostats. I don't know how long this set up worked properly, but I know that Bowden cables tend to corrode and the inner cables start to stick and bind. I did find a website where a man in Europe was rebuilding his servo system on his 58 but I don't know if the expertise exists in the United States. It is such an obscure system that few know how to troubleshoot and ultimately repair them.
Similar to a blend door on an F150 of even a new lincoln!
What on earth would make Robert McNamara think that anyone would want a 2 bbl carburetor on a Lincoln?
I don't think he even considered that...his eyes were fixed on two or three columns in the balance sheet and nothing else.
Why would he think a US invasion of Viet Nam was a good idea ?
He thought 4 barrel carbs were "excessive", never mind dual 4s or tri-power. He didn't believe in performance.
The Lincoln didn't get a 4 barrel again until 63! But never again produced the power of the 58 or even the 59.
Robert was a man who only saw cars as a means of transportation to get from point A to point B. He really didn’t believe in the ideas of performance or comfort. Sure ford sold performance/luxury options on cars, but only because Robert realized that it ment more money. Robert was so simplistic that on a trip to Europe in the 50s, he was practically drooling over the cheap, small, and rather boring economy cars in Europe. The cars he saw over there were his main inspiration for the 1960 Ford Falcon
1958 Mercury Highway Cruiser with three carbs on the 430 MEL would have been cooler.
Both are an American Art Form in my book.
That’s the Super Marauder package. I think it was available on Lincolns, but just like the Mercurys, so extremely rare.
@@Hemingray1893; Yes Lincolns, and the whole Mercury lineup, but no Thundebirds according to "Square Bird" forums.
Just the 4 barrel 430 option.
I read that the intake alone for the 3 carb set up was going for $2500 online, and this was years ago.
The 383 is raciest of all the MELs, potentially, because it's a whole 1.00" oversquare ratio of 4.300" : 3.300".
I'm surprised Henry II let McNamara get away with cutting the legs out from under the engineers after 1958.
@@Johnnycdrums He probably though the detuning of the engines made sense due to the sharp recession of 58. Buyers were suddenly demanding better gas mileage. The automakers even had thought the 6 cylinder engine would soon be a thing of the past, so no sense in designing new 6s, Chrysler thought. The Slant 6 was originally going to be a Valiant only engine.
I believe Edsel used a similar HVAC control in '58.
The system is very close to this in the 1961 Lincoln also, except it looks like a radio dial, but same basic system. One dial does it all.
Yes, it was called Dial-A-Temp on the Edsel.
I'm slightly scared by the thought of both this HVAC control and the Tele-Touch transmission existing in the same vehicle. Ford had some strange ideas back then.
@@johnruschmeyer5769 They were trying to out Cadillac the Cad and out Packard the last true Packards.
@@johnruschmeyer5769
Ford was out of its mind in the late 50s but it sure was fun!!
Not strange at all!!! Just another, underrated, unfamiliar, unpopular, beautiful automobile created by the geniuses at Ford Motor Company. Are they on the same platform or level with the suicide door Lincolns??? Absolutely NOT... But they are extremely awesome machines in their OWN right.
At first this seemed rather odd, but as I understood it now it makes sense... and actually wouldn't be that hard to operate.
Yes, it wasn't until a bit later that I realized that the knob he was talking about was on the dash, well below the dial. I kept trying to figure out where the knob was, then saw that it was not part of the dial.
These model year Lincolns were "over the top" in just about every respect, but the older I get the more I fall in love with them. That dash has an elegance all it's own and I rank it up in my top 20 favorite dashboards of all time.
My dad’s 1958 Edsel had a very similar control. I remember it being confusing. Next to it was an analog clock that rewound itself with a solenoid every 20 minutes. It made a loud CLACK sound when the solenoid fired.
I remember that dial because when I was a young boy our next door neighbor had a '58. It was pink/coral with a white top and I thought it was just beautiful. And big! Looking forward to Adam hitting 100K subscribers-
I purchased a 1960 base model lincoln in 1980. It did not have ac. I installed factory air from junkyard cars which were still easy to find at the time. It was a hugh job but worth the effort living in Florida. Still have the car today. The redesigned instrument panel for 1960 which many consider better looking than the earlier models made it alittle easier too.
Fantastic detail on your explanation! When you said “York single piston compressor” I knew exactly the unit you where talking about. Subbed!
Didn't Edsel have a dial choice for optional HVAC in '58?
Not your era, but odd controls for the Edsel too, right?
Majestic car that 58 Lincoln
Gotta admit that I never really cared for the '59 or '60... But the '58 was MAGNIFICENT.
Albeit not too "Continental like".
As for the Designers and Engineers of the era... So many of them from the various manufacturers were "MIT Smart"... Just look at this HVAC switch! The Ford retractable... The memory seat in the Eldo Broughams... The pushbutton gear selectors in the Chryslers and the Mercs, Edsels and Packards!
The wild transmission designs!
Such incredible creativity.
Love that this comes right after the Ed's Auto Review's Continental video
I know they're baroque in hindsight.....but I love these cars.
I like "baroque". I never cared for plain.
I have read the 58 front bumper was changed due to customer complaints, the wings on the bumper was creating wind noise at freeway speed's. A older guy told me that he was living on a airbase not far from me, and the base Commanders wife got a new 58 Lincoln Capri sedan and everytime she crossed RR tracks, all four door's popped open. Lincoln, they local dealership had to contact Lincoln and they sent them baces to attach to the unibody construction and the service department installed them. A lot of the bugs were worked out by 59. As a little kid, our nextdoor neighbors bought a new pink 59 Lincoln Premiere. I was really impressed with this car but today I realize that my then uncle's 58 imperial was likely a better car . Ford lost 60 million dollars on building these cars for 3 years
That's dreadful! Ford released quite a few bodies like that in that era - they either didn't listen to their engineers, or the engineers were ignorant of torsional stiffness principles (small box = inherent stiffness, big box = more flex, more bracing.) The Falcon disintegrated on Aussie roads in 1960...took 'em over 18 months to fix it - nearly ruined the brand.
@@saxongreen78 it was the first year of the unibody construction and this was discovered the first week of having the car, October 1957, so it was a very early model 58, I'm sure there was other similar problems across the country,
@@saxongreen78 Falcons came back in 1964 as "Certified Gold" meaning all faults fixed and went on to win Car Of The Year in 1965.
There was a rather unique control, I think it was on a 50s era TBird, where there was a pedal on the driver's side floor. When depressed, it would cause the radio to automatically scan the AM band and stop at strong stations.
The HVAC knob looks some reminiscent of a clock timer control on a Fridigaire wall oven from that era.
@Eric Ruud Sure does, if I recall. The Flair ranges were really not very good appliances from a practical point. Lifting heavy pans out of the oven over a hot cooktop is a bad idea. We had a Frigidaire wall over, not a Flair just a regular single oven that used the wire cable and for cleaning the door would drop completely down. No window in the door. Don't know what model but the house was built in 1960. Imagine putting a heavy holiday turkey in/out of one of those ovens over hot pots and pans on the stove?
Of course, Frigidaire was owned by General Motors at that time.
Like those single shower knobs that you turn to 3-o-clock for full hot. 6-o-clock for blend and so on. I don't like those much. Really finnicky
All 1958 Edsel's had that except for having a separate swicth for the blower. It was an option on 1959 Edsel's. 1958's were electric and 1959's were vacuum.
I am an ex Mr. Goodwrench, here is some other oddball things... Portable am radio in the glove box and auto dim for headlights on my 1st car, a 59 olds 98... to me the biggest contender for a control is the Push button automatic. And the winner for just plain strange was the center turning headlight on the 48 Tucker. And Chevy has a nod for the 1st above rear window light on the 58 Impala. so does the VW bug and others with the turning Flags indicators on the front fenders. What about the rudder control on the 1st Mercedes? I would say there are a lot more oddities too, like a wife in the passenger seat.. lol
I didn't know they limited the carbs on those big cars. I had a 1956 Caddy Eldorado Biarritz with two four-barrel carbs. How cool is that!😁😁
My father said this Lincoln was ugly and there was no way he liked them when they were new. He said anytime you saw one it was old men driving them, ughhh he said. He said they were ugly and conservative looking. You have to realize when these were new and bought by mature people many of them were born in the 1880s-90s, early 1900s. I saw one in a driveway a few months back and showed it to an 85 year old man and he said "If you had one of those back then you defintely weren't the cool cat". When I was a teen in the 90s, I got to get into a Continental Mark III and I asked the nephew of the owner "Did you find anything cool hidden"? and he replied "My uncle found a wallet that belonged to an old geezer".
Personally I like them, liked them as a kid even. True not too many are left and the last time I saw one in Detroit on the road was in 2011. I think it was the one I got into when I was a kid because eventually it was sold and towed out of the garage and ended up parked nearby at a junk lot. If that was the car I hope someone restored it.
Great vid, really enjoyed!! 👍👍
The door panel vent you showed is actually a non-air conditioning car, as the factory air conditioning cars had a slightly different vent with a directional control on it. Also air-conditioning cars have two vents in the dash with with control knobs above them.
I would like to know how they pulled off the complex Fender sculpting
It seems for some reason, Lincoln has been way up or way down in sales for a number of decades depending on year models. I kind of preferred Lincoln over Cadillac and Chrysler.
Cadillac discovered Design Continuity with their LaSalle, with the tall narrow grille of 34 - 40, and the 36 Cad. The LaSalle they added the Waffle Iron grille look of the 36 Cadillac for 37 and 38. After they did away with it in 39, Cadillac buyers were upset and kept questioning why it was gone, so they brought it back in modernized horizontal form for 41, and never looked back, except for 57 - 60. You could always recognize a new Cad, no matter how much the rest of the car changed. The Lincoln, especially, would often be radically changed, until the 61 Suicide model.
I believe the 1958 Edsel had a similar HVAC control- regardless, the 1960 Lincoln continental is one of my all time favorites!
I do like these 58-60 Lincolns. A 59 Convertible I drove once had the best ride of any car I have ever driven.
Ladies and the occasional gentleman with long finger nails would not enjoy operating this control. The face would get scratched as well.
My father had a 1959 DeSoto. It had a button on the floorboard that controlled the radio. Push it down and the radio sought another station. I never saw that in another car.
So in the AC equipped cars, does the compressor run for "de-ice" mode to get some humidity out of the passenger compartment at the same time?
I'm lucky the hvac system still works perfectly on my 58 Premiere Landau sedan. Theres 7 or 8 bowden cables and an electric motor on the backside. I lubed up the bowden cables. Took me a while to figure out the push/ pull for the fan speed. Apparently the 430 was detuned a few times during the 58 model year. Mine was built November of 57 so it's got the hot engine. Unintentional second gear scratch happens occasionally.
Not all 58s had 375 horsepower? I know the 59 didn't.
@@michaelbenardo5695 The camshaft was changed to a milder one early on and the heads were changed to using the Merc 383 heads due to an issue of carbon build up on the valves. also, the block height was increased by .020 to reduce the compression ratio from 10.5 to 10.0 to 1. Not aware of any official annoucement from Lincoln declaring a reduction in horsepower.
@@paulhettick332 Equipped with tri-power, the 1958 430 was good for 400 hp.
These things were the darlings of the Demolition Derby's in the 70's😊
Some demo derby sanctioning bodies still don't allow unibody Lincolns from this era. Same with full-frame Imperials and sometimes AMC Pacers
@@johneckert1365 Oh wow, didn't know that about the Lincolns and the Pacers , the Imperials I did , thx for letting me know
Parents had a '58 Premiere 4 door hardtop when I was a kid. I've never thought they were odd. Washed that car as a kid, so I ran my hands over every panel. A good looking car and imposing when they were new. Not bizarre like the '58 Imperial, or unimpressive like the '58 Cadillac (which became in '59 a bizarre overreaction to the '57 Imperial).
The Capri and Premiere with traditional rear glass were much better balanced than the Continental.
the '57 - '59 Imperials were beautifully styled and ruggedly built on the other hand the '57 -'60 Lincolns were an overly complex awkwardly styled mish mash - which is why they did not sell. Now to your point in 1960 Chrysler laid a big egg with an ugly design which got even worse the next year - I agree with you - the 1960 Continental was a much more handsome car than the 1960 or 1961 Imperial.
I can't understand why they sold so
poorly, particularly after the 1st year.
Seems like MacNamara was chocked full of bad ideas.
US has a talent for identifying and elevating bottomless pits of really bad ideas. (see donald trump and ron deFascist)
Strange indeed Adam, but good information and a learning point. You have a way of sharing about things people did not know or did not think about. Your videos are a educational feast. The 1961 could not come fast enough it seems. It is interesting the position Lincoln was in the late 1950's. It is reinventing itself right now in a changing market today. I hope Lincoln finds its way again.
1:06 the '58 model. Wow, looks good.
Have you been watching Ed's Auto Reviews? 😉👍🏻
Adam and Ed have done a video together, so probably…
There was no "Continental Division" in 1958. The Continental Division lasted from April of 1955 until July of 1956, and produced the 1956 and 1957 Continental Mk II. The 1958 Lincoln Continental Mk III was a Lincoln model.
The 1958 and and 1959 cars were marketed as Continentals. 1960 was the first model year for a unibody "Lincoln Continental."
@@Ctrl-XYZ The 58 and 59 Mk IIIs were both unibody. And they were models sold by the Lincoln Division. There was no "Continental Division" at that time. The Continental Division was sunset in July of 1956 and the only model that division produced was the 56 and 57 Mk II. The Mk III had nothing in common with the Mk II other than the Continental name.
@@Ctrl-XYZ He means that there was no separate Continental division the way there was in 56 and 57, (the Continental Mark II of those years was not a Lincoln, it was a Continental. The 58 - 60, while badged as a Continental, was a gussied-up Lincoln.)
The '60 had the same form of control, but instead of small electric servos to actuate the modes, it used vacuum. There were I think, some 14 vacuum tubes coming off the main control behind the dash. Used one year only! I have a '60 convertible and the restoration of the climate system is, uh, challenging.
..especially those vacuum windshield wipers, which were more than sluggish at low rpm....
Yeah, weird, but the 1958 Edsel Teletouch shifter takes the cake.
Teletouch - true!
How about '55-6 Packard TorsionAir suspension and electronic push button shifter pod?
@@loumontcalm3500 TorsionAir was a Chrysler trademark in the early seventies, basically a carry-over of their excellent torsion bar suspension introduced for model year 1957.
Packard's Torsion Level ride in '55-'56 was the most advanced suspension you could get at the time, a true self-leveling system that carried both wheels on one side of the car on a single torsion bar which was pre-stressed when the front wheel rode up over a bump, allowing the rear wheel to step over without jolting. The genius was that the rear axle had a compensating motor attached to secondary torsion bars to level the car's ride automatically when the back seat and trunk were loaded.
I would say that the Packard Twin Ultramatic electric push-button selector was less weird than Edsel's Teletouch because it was mounted in a pod on the right of the steering column rather than in the center of the steering hub. Note also the complications of rigging the steering hub to remain stationary when the steering wheel turned.
Mercury used electric push-buttons on the left side of the dash in model years 1957-'58, probably wired nearly identically to the Edsel's.
American Motors '58-'62 Rambler and Ambassador models used mechanical push-buttons similar to Chrysler's.
@@5610winston You are right, I pulled TorsionAir out of memory; I owned a '56 Patrician, and knew better. My car had bypassed the push button selector at some point with a mechanical rod sticking out the trans hump. Packard had problems with them when they were new.
BTW- have you ever seen a teletouch disassembled? Not as complicated as I imagined.
As a massive fan of the Mark III, V, VII and the gen 1 and final gen MKZ ... and hence something of a Lincoln fan - I find these 50s Lincolns horrible and vomit inducing ... just like today's all CUV offering.
Different strokes for different folks.
This generation Lincoln Continental is, by far, my favorite. I consider these to be the most elegant and most unique looking lincolns, in my opinion. I fell in love with this car when Eva Marie Saint jumps into that '58 Convertible and drives off in the 1959 Albert Hitchcock movie "North by Northwest."
I can't count the times I ran the battery low playing with the seats and windows in my dad's 58 Lincoln and his 59 Continental. He would leave the keys in the car so I would put the key to accessory and play away. I also love hitting the radio button near the dimmer switch and watch the radio change stations. I have to say years ago I thought the 59 was prettier then the 58, but my opinion has changed. I also believe these cars got overlooked at the time, as the body lines and details are superb. I think my goal if I was to make a collection of Lincoln's would be to have a 1956 Coupe, a 1958 Continental, a 1961, then a 1966 or 67, and a 1969-71 Mark III as a collection. I know I didn't put a 55 or 56 Mark II, but lets face it that car like a 4 door convertibles are now way out of reach
Great story from your youth, and some insightful observations to boot. BTW, the '55 has a special place in my affections, representing the 'road race' era car in it's most handsome and refined state.
@@telebob5983 My dad had a 1955, I think I had the old title for that car for years after he junked it. One of the things I remember about those years was the battery was on the passenger side floor board. My dad and uncle were mechanics, as a kid I seen all kinds of cars, a Studebaker pick up truck, and golden Hawk. He had a customer with a old Hudson Hornet. I remember a 1959 Chevy with a 348 and a 50 Plymouth that was like brand new. Back then he worked on quite a few 58,59,60 T-birds. Such a simple time.
I believe that these also had available power vents, ahead of the front side windows. This option was not available on the 1961. Finally, in late spring of 1962, they became available again on the Lincoln Continental.
I’m disturbed by the fingernail.
Been there done that! All that complicated vacuum crap starts to act up after 5-8 years. By 10 years none of it works and it all has to be re-piped. A massive job!
You should also mention that "58 Edsel and Mercury used this system. Additionally, in 1959, both the Merc and Edsel offered this system with heating only as the AC components moved under dash. A regular lever type system was offered also on these cars.
Fast Creepin’ up on 100,000 subzzz !!
They don’t make ‘em like they used to!
I've driven some of these types of cars. They were a great ride. They were not fast like today's cars, but the ride and comfort was great!
Buick had heater controls in the lower part of it's two round dials on 1959 models. They were actuated by levers but also included ventilation controls. Automatic controls which Buick called "auto heat" was also available for 1959 with or without air conditioning, no blower speed control on this one as blower speeds were also controlled automatically. It was the first type of automatic climate control offered in an automobile. Cadillac introduced it's own version only 5 years later.
Sorry but I just road in a friends 1960 Continental. They used the same complicated single dial system as 1958-59, it's just moved to the third binnacle from the left. same single control knob air system. And his works beautifully.
The 58 and then 59 Continental were outstanding looking cars. They were not appreciated at the time, or were just too expensive, which accounts for the low sales numbers. I've never heard it mentioned the differences in body styles between the 58, 59 and 60. I like them all, but really like the 58. Wasn't there was some guy who specialized in repairing these old Lincolns who would travel around the US ? Jay Leno featured someone who did that with the mid sixties Lincoln cars; a white 66 convertible. These are what luxury cars should be. Size matters and style matters.
If only they had th fuel efficiency of the early 2000 Lincolns. These are far better looking cars than the egg cars that plagued FOMOCO styling of the 2000's.
There was nothing quite like the outrageously over the top styling of mid to late ‘50s American automobiles… fins, bumpers, taillights, and massive use of chrome. My interest in cars as a young boy favored the toned down design of the ‘60s, but today I confess that if I owned a classic, I’d want it to be from the late ‘50s. BTW, I pretty much agree with your description of the later years’ Lincolns, I do think the final generation of the Town Car was very classy.
They were too big for most garages, that and the diagonally stacked headlights. If they were vertically stacked, the car probably would have sold a little better.
That's interesting.
Strange indeed. It's cool some people like the looks of those cars, but I think they're as ugly as it gets.
Just like some people like the looks of today's Japanoid tin cans, but I think they are unspeakably ugly. Different strokes for different folks.
@@michaelbenardo5695 I don't like those either. I like most of the 60's cars.
What a frustrating unit! The only thing worse than this was the the I-Drive in the 2000s, when EVERYTHING was controlled by one unit.
The top and how operates and taps into the car is really cool Yup I seen it on Lenos garage 👍🏻
1:30. The engines. AH, Dodge/Chrysler did something similar in the Fifties with their first letter cars. A big 300 + super engine, MOPAR did it first with two Four-barrels. 1961 Forward Lincoln Continentals. Ah. Suicide doors were a carry over from Carriages and was very pronounced from 1935? to 1937. The Martin brother Resto-moded a 1937 Chevy in Root-beer with Cream Spoke stock wheels. The HVAC system for climate control. This is the first time I heard of used this way. But what about the hydraulic shift Semi automatic s from MOPAR and GM Products from the earlier Fifties? My Dad had a Plymouth that shifted this way, And the Push button shift cars from Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth/Desoto and AMC Motors from 1954 to 1965? (AMC was supplied MOPAR starting at the same time if not slightly earlier.)
GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I'm sure these monstrous cars are all gas hogs, including THE EDSEL, and MERCURY, I KNOW MY 3 EDSELS ARE HOGS WHEN IT COMES TO FUEL, JUS AWEFUL 😭😭😭😭 GREAT VIDEO, 😁👌😉👍
I enjoy this kind of information.
Awesome Mustangs. 😏 I dodont think difficult. Nissan purchases AMX 😏 He bought one. @NGK the all new for 2017 Datsun Almera Nismo Edition
😏 Henry's Jag bought that.
Most beautiful car ever 1958 continental my dad had one when i was a kid in the middle 60s in Southern California 😍🌟😎👌
It always amazes me that young people think that these things are unusual " or odd! These were what led v us to the fully automatic things, in cars today! It had to come from somewhere and is often misunderstood as strange by people who didn't live through those days like we have! Talk to some "old people " before embarrassing yourself @
Just a Suggestion, Adam, but maybe do a Reverse Park in one of these land yachts and Your Subscribers will see what it's like...U r a Gr8 Driver, used to driving them, so it shouldn't be a problem...Here's Hoping U will do one in a future show...Cheers from Damo😊🙏
By the way, I've noticed from watching TV reruns from the late 50s, they all seem to feature these Lincolns, they photograph well apparently. Shows like Alfred Hitchcock, and Perry Mason are sure to have them, and many period movies as well. They also have Cadillacs and Imperials, but mostly Lincolns. It may just be that Ford wanted the media exposure to help sell them, but even that didn't work based on production totals.
That's 2.27 tonnes (metric)! Fuel: 180 million years old. A good spend of the world's resources. If only nature could've charged for added value! There is payback though. It wants you kids.
Imagine putting the 1960 driver, in a -2 second, 60 mph... electric vehicle 😅...you wouldn't be, you
American cars of the 1950s and 1960s were *THE UGLIEST CARS EVER BUILT!!!* American car makers shoved substance issues(reliability, safety, fuel economy) aside for the sake of style(trivial cosmetic appearance). America's car builders should've looked to Britain, Australia and Europe to learn how to design cars as we did it much better. Our cars put the priority *where it belonged,* with *substance over style!*
Damn. I miss your channel. )RUclips stopped promoting your videos to me. Honestly, I have missed them. This is a great video. I'll try to keep up up watching your videos.
Thanks for your research and presentations.
Had a friend with a '59. Premier maybe? The HVAC was amazing. The fan was so strong that it would blow your hair around in the back seat! Couldn't keep his foot out of it and kept blowing distributors. That was in the early '80s and parts were hard to come by then! Smooth and fast!
Okay, I'm going to bore you all with a little story that is a little bit off topic, but I hope somebody likes it. The story is not about the 58 or 59 Lincoln, it was about the 57.
It was 1965. I was either just out of high school or preparing to be out of high school, and I had a girlfriend whose dad owned a 57 Lincoln. No it was about 8 years old but it was one of those cars that was very well cared for, and her dad was very proud of owning that car. I remember it was white, and had these tail fins that you could Gore an elephant with and kill it. Well her father, my future father-in-law though I didn't know it, had to take her someplace, but was unable to do it. So I, wanted to impress him with my maturity, stepped up and said "it's all right sir I'll take her". Well he wasn't too crazy about me being his daughter's boyfriend, but he was in a jam. So he thought about it for a few seconds, then guardedly said,..." okay". As the two of us got up to leave, I remember him saying, I believe it was through clenched teeth, or possibly telepathically," you scratch my car, don't come back"! "Not to worry sir", I said in my newly acquired,18 year old, almost, adult voice. So we got in the car and off we went. Now, prior to this, the only other car I had driven was my dad's, 55 stick shift, Chevy station wagon, but I had complete confidence. Well this car was huge. I mean it was a barge of a car. It had leather seats that were broken in enough that as you're driving around corners, you sort of sloshed back and forth on that big, pre seatbelt, bench seat that seats four people, easily. Still, I felt like I had this. This great Behemoth of a car had all the bills and whistles. Power steering that just steered with your pinky finger. Power brakes that, you breathe on them, to stop. Enough levers and buttons on the dashboard to equip a 707 airliner. But I wanted to impress My Best Girl, so I displayed total confidence. So here we are, tooling down the road. I seem to recall it was a four-lane Boulevard, but not in the city. Outside the city. Well, it was a beautiful day. Early summer, sun shining with little intermittent rain clouds here and there, but not enough rain to soak anything. Just enough to put some moisture down on the road. So, like I said, here I am sitting in this monster of a car with one hand casually on the steering wheel, and the other around the shoulder of my favorite girl, basically living the life. I was in hog heaven.,..... Then,... Without warning, the brake lights of the cars ahead of me all started going off at once. The next thing I know, I have both hands on the wheel, my girlfriend was shoved all the way to the other end of that huge bench seat, and my eyeballs are as big as saucers. I stomp on the power brakes. Remember the ones that you just breathe on. Well they worked as advertised and all four wheels locked up. Suddenly I go from the coolest guy in the world driving this huge luxury car down the road, to a terrified kid almost in control of a 4,000 lb sled that is sliding toward the line of cars ahead of me. Furiously, I start pumping the brakes, which kept me, fortunately, from ending up going sideways down the road, and gave me just enough control to ease it over to the shoulder of the road and bring it to a stop half a car length past the rear end of the car in front of me. To say I was having a terror-driven, adrenaline rush, is a gross understatement. The car came to a skidding halt on the gravel shoulder, and I couldn't believe what had just happened. My girlfriend was scared, but a little bit impressed with my driving skill. I, on the other hand, was sure I was going to have to change my underwear. We both agreed to never, ever tell her father about this incident, as he didn't much like me anyway, and it might given him reason for Justified homicide. Well that's my little 57 Lincoln story. I hope somebody enjoyed it. Y'all have a good life. I know I have, because I went on to marry that girl, and 57 years later, we are still hitched. I mean, come on, How do you let go of a girl who has it that together.
One wonders what on earth was wrong with the person who designed that HVAC control. It is excessively complicated, non-intuitive, and makes functions which drivers would like to use simultaneously mutually exclusive. Then again, Ford did produce the Edsel.
Now do the '61-63 HVAC control and system. Similar but at the same time completely different and equally incomprehensible.
The thing that the Lincoln engineers missed was that the dual air conditioning systems weren't really dual. There were 2 evaporators fed by one compressor, with just a tee fitting on the suction and liquid lines, and one control. No way to adjust the temperature between the front and rear seats. Still cool, of course. My neighbors had a '57 Premiere with turquoise and white upholstery and factory AC, with the trunk-mounted evaporator, the clear supply tubes and the roof-line outlets. The car also had a continental kit and was too long for their garage door to close. I always looked for tubes when I saw cars with the windows up in the summer. We had a 1956 Nash Rambler station wagon with AC, two vents on either side of the top of the dash. My mother's '58 Buick Roadmaster had the fanciest side and center vents and a similar multi-function control knob. Another cool feature was that you could trigger the station-scanning Wonderbar radio from a floor button next to the headlight dimmer switch.
It's not only awkward but inconvenient. If Mom wants a little more hot or cold air, she has to ask Dad to manipulate the controls. The controls are not intuitive. A left-right slider that says hot/cold and another that says Defrost, Heat, etc. along with a fan knob that says 1,2,3,4 are self-explanatory.
Some of the ugliest front fenders ever designed. The complexity designed into some of these old luxury cars is mesmerizing since most of the wacky stuff was extremely unreliable. 100 years in and everybody BUT newcomer Tesla is struggling to run a profitable business.
I have your HVAC beat for strangest control ever. Mercedes 280 SL with the clutch and brake on the same pedal. I have actually driven one.