We had neighbors, the Olson's, who had the income to afford these kinds of cars. The dad sold Piper airplanes for a living. They particularly liked convertibles. The eldest daughter had a 56 Olds Starfire convertible red and white two tone, the mother a 1960 Continental convertible in a blue sapphire and the father a new 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible black with red leather. They also had the only color TV in the neighborhood and that's where I saw the Wizard of Oz in color in 1962, for the first time. Mrs Olson, made us oatmeal cookies hot out of the oven with a glass of milk. A very early 60s wholesome experience.
@@seanmeisner3190 this was the early 60s. Their house was behind ours and one over on a different street that was developed after the majority of homes were built. They only had a one car garage on their one story ranch home with the living room facing their backyard. The majority of homes were late 40s two story post WW2 bungalows. They moved after a couple years to Wisconsin and I'm sure to a better home to accommodate their new found wealth. Later mid the same decade our new next door neighbors had two 64 Lincoln Continental's. Our neighborhood was mostly blue collar so yes, both neighbors were an anomaly to the rest of the area but both lived in the best homes our neighborhood had.
During the past in our collective childhood we did think things would better and now we are at the point where we collectively think things are getting unpredictable and unstable!
65 Mercury Park Lane owner here - it's fantastic to have in a non-AC car, but make sure you have the factory correct dual (Park Lane) or single (Monterey/Montclair) DOWNTURNED EXHAUST or you will enjoy a lot of exhaust winding up in the cabin.
Yes the 57-58 Merc Turnpike Cruiser , growing up in the 70s we had a neighbor whom had a gorgeous black and gold one of these, he was our mailman . Gave me a ride when I was a freshman in highschool and since that day I've been a huge Mercury fan. Mercury" ride engineered" " The sign of the Cat" commercials.
I have a 60 Mark V it’s surprisingly nimble and peppy despite its size and draws crowds wherever you go , I absolutely love the car because it is so unique in every way
I remember at a classic car show a woman who would’ve been around 1960 was going on about how big a 60 Impala she was looking at. It was basically a VW Bug in comparison to this. I’m sure the younger generations eyes nearly pop out when they first see your Lincoln.
My father bought a '58 Capri, which was essentially a Continental without air conditioning. Our car was a 4-door hardtop and that meant that you had a huge opening into the car with the windows down. The car didn't ride well until my father installed the heaviest heavy-duty shock absorbers he could find, and then it rode like a dream. The white leather interior was totally awesome! That massive 430 cu. in. motor with the 4 bbl. produced the same 490 ft. lb. of torque as the 1968 Chrysler Hemi. I helped drive on a 1966 trip from California, across Route 66, to Chicago and back. We were pulling a 14-foot utility trailer, and got 17-18 MPG at 75 MPH. I am 6' 1" and had plenty of legroom in the back seat. Plus, I could lay down almost fully straight in the back seat, it was that big.
My parents in 68 bought a brand new T-Bird coupe with the 429 V8....same situation with the shocks...totally soft from the factory...total joke, bounding squishy ride. We replaced them immediately with Sears extra heavy duty shocks. Transformed the car into a nimble performer with solid suspension control. Nothing better on those boats than soft springs and hard shocks. I loved the way it drove after that.
I still remember in 65 as a kid where I was when I first saw one of these cars in person. They were very rare where I lived and it left an impression on me that it’s one of those things you remember where you were on 911 and when Elvis died and when you saw your first Continental. I just remember the massive size and no other car on the road looked like it . The thing that really stood out was the thickness of the doors and all the power buttons on them the doors alone were gorgeous. The car had real presence and I would imagine back in the day the wealthy that bought them did so to just get noticed . Even today it is one of my favourite cars even though the styling was in bad taste compared to the 61 masterpiece that came afterwards. I can only imagine what a dream it would be to float down the road in one of these land yachts
At the 9:00 mark, you show the instrument cluster, and state that the lens (mask is the correct term) is made of glass. My grandfather had a new 58 Continental, and I, being 4 or 5, thought that it would be so cool to put a bunch of swirl marks on the lens with the cigarette lighter. When I was done, there were swirl marks everywhere. My grandfather just sighed and did not get too mad. The fact that the lighter put swirls in makes me think it was plastic, however. (I also tried to play 'gas station' with the garden hose, but mom caught me before I started pumping the fuel). I was infatuated by that 58, and I still am today!
@@MostlyBuicks Little kids just do not understand the effects of what they are doing, which is why they need specific rules. Obviously this was not the case and rampy was never told to just not touch anything in grandpa's car unless he was there and said OK.
Another fine presentation! Nearly 20 years ago, I spent 6 years and at least $60,000 restoring one exactly like this, including the color. It would cost at least twice that much to do it today. Old American luxury cars are very expensive and time-consuming to accurately restore compared to, say, a muscle car or a Tri-Five Chevy. The proliferation of power accessories alone add countless hours to sort out. Not to mention, the interior fabrics and leathers are pricy, and they have a LOT of chrome inside and out. Still, it was worth it. I had a lot of fun with that old Connie while I was restoring it and for a few years after before I sold it to a collector who I believe still has it.
I am currently restoring a 59' Mark IV. I bought it from the original owner back on 1979. It only had 45K on the clock and was my daily driver thru 1985'. Age start to catch up with it, and it needed some work because it was driven much before I bought it. I put it in my garage until I could properly restore it to it's glory years. Still only has 55K. I love driving it, loved all the compliments from people. It is worthy of my endeavors.
@@starkparker16 At least it didn't have a second grille stamped into the hood like the '61 DeSoto, but the sculpting on the flanks and the reverse-slant roofline more than made up for that oversight.
Our neighbors had a 1958 in a light blue color with light blue interior. I was mesmerized. It was HUGE to my 4 yo eyes! I recall that it dropped its driveshaft in the driveway after the owners wife put it in Park without coming to a full stop. They replaced it with a 1967 Olds Delta 88 in a similar light blue. I was so so very disappointed!
It's an 8-year-old boy when these came out and I first saw one I just thought it was a big gorgeous automobile. I think it still looks that way nowadays too.
My dad was a bit of an 'autoholic', and he changed vehicles with some regularity. Among his interesting menagerie, we had a '58 Lincoln Capri, which he traded in for a red '59 Continental convertible. My mother had an unfortunate event with the Continental, which totalled the car (she was basically unhurt). So, the red convertible was replaced with a white '59. I remember how massive those cars were in their day, but in the context of some of today's large SUVs, maybe not so bad.
An early advertising on a car with a limited slip differential was Studebaker. Pioneered on the 1956 Packard as an option, Twin-Traction was then offered on 1957 Studebaker cars & trucks. 1957 Studebaker cars so-equipped had two circled " T's " on the lower right if the deck lid. And another interesting fact about the 1958-60 Lincolns. They were the first American cars available with a factory installed AM-FM radio.
Interesting that it was the first to offer an am/fm radio, because Lincoln was the first regular production car to offer a cd player in 1987. (The limited production 1987 Shelby Dodge Lancer had one as standard.)
I like that the convertibles also had an electric powered rear backlight with the canted C-pillar, same as the Sadan and Coupe. They had a hard covered boot, which automatically closed over the top. There were pontoon shaped filler panels on either side of the boot that were manually installed to give it a finished look. When the top is up, its bows are hidden under the tight fitting material, and it looks much like a hardtop.
When I was about maybe 4 or 5 the front end of this car with the bullet bumpers looked like a scary monster with mean eyes but, not even 10 years later I learned to like them and still do to this day almost 60 years later.
I have always been fascinated by these Lincoln behemoths. I recently had the opportunity to sit in and examine a '60 Mark V 4-door Landau carefully. Even though it was of driver quality, the quality of the interior fabrics, fittings and trim still evidenced great quality, as did the exterior trim. If only I'd been able to go for a ride!
I had a 1960 coupe that I worked on restoring, did engine, drivetrain etc and invested thousands. I lost heart when welding rust under the car - unibody rust was terrible to deal with. So I reluctantly gave up and let it go. It's still not on the road after some years, even with a new owner who can weld etc. What a magnificent car, wish I had it back, mint. Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it!
I'd still prefer going on a cross country road trip in the black four door (0:48) than the computerized crap they put out now - what an adventure that would be!
This is truly a beautiful and UNDERRATED automobile. My advice, find one that's at least pretty close to restored as parts are really scarce for this particular model... But definitely a Gem if found in decent, drivable condition.
Had a '59 as a daily driver in the early '70s. Wonderful. All the controls being in that "pod" in front of the driver, meant the front passenger legroom was enormous -- could ride with your legs crossed in front of you and still install a small jukebox. The dash was set way back.
Beautiful car tho none the less. The front face of these cars is to me QUINTESSENTIAL 1950s auto styling. One of my relatives had one of these long before I was born as a used car. Apparently it was legendary 🤷🏻♂️. These cars as I understand were very undervalued for several years. Good to see them in the spotlight. Your videos are consistently excellent.
@@richceglinski7543 I don't know if you've ever heard of Kris Trexler but he's a 58' Lincoln-FoMoCo guru and I know he has the tsb and has performed it...
Along about 1970, when I was 10, my Grandfather came home with a used 1966 Chrysler 300. I was in the car checking it out, when I asked him what that little button was on the inside of the door. He just told me to push it down, and there went the window! Went down all by itself, no cranking! I had never seen that before! I felt like I was in a Rolls Royce! Lol.
At the end of the video there is a beautiful yellow convertible. The cool factor here is the the rear window went up and down, just like in the hardtops. I often wondered how they did that, until I recently watched a video of a 58 with the top going up and down. I can't describe it, but if you look up 58 Lincoln Convertible, you might find it and watching it in action is almost equal to watching a 57-59 Ford retractable. I made $10 betting my uncle that the convert window did indeed raise and lower. The L-M dealer up the street had one on their lot. (This was in the late 60s).
I rode in one of these convertibles in Ausin, TX with friends. Can't remember the guy who owned it, but is was such a strange vehicle! Wished you had shown the unique convertible, where the back cantilevered window sank under the back seat while a panel rose and took in the convertible top. Also, there were vacuum powered rivets at the top of the windshield that made an incredible "whirring" sound as the roof came down and was literally bolted in. More interior details would be great if you ever run it again, Adam.
My parents had a 59 Ford with a cruise-o-matic with the same shift pattern. When my mother wasn’t looking, my older brothers us to sneak and move the shifter to the D1 position just to watch the car take off quicker than she expected.😂.
I'm impressed that you remembered (and found a picture of) the Packard Balboa. To my knowledge only 1 Balboa was ever made. This was an excellent and obviously knowledgeable and well researched presentation. 👍
My 1959 Lincoln was perfect for a young high school student. I could fit a handful of beautiful young women inside and in comfort. The trunk would hold all our skis and poles securely for a trip to the mountains. That 430 V8 was very powerful and 100+ mph speeds felt like you were about to take flight. Good times!
Have been following new cars since 1958 and one tends to forget how big they were. (Don't follow the newer models anymore. Ho-hum, I'd rather fold my socks.)
Haha. Boomers missing days of points and injuries from Minor fender benders.....yet you are all using today's technology to watch this. Your generation is a joke.
Studebakers had a really cool emblem on the trunk lid if you had limited slip. Twin circles spinning with a T on each for twin traction.. or something like that!
@@johnscanlan9335Without a doubt; $10g's was the going price for a Rolls-Royce back then. And there's an irony to that: They charged $10g's for a car that cost them $11g's to build. They lost $1,000 on every car they sold at the MSRP.
The front fender sculpturing going into the door (if vertical where it curves instead) actually previewed the sculpture along the sides of the '64-'68 Mustang.
Lincolns and Thunderbirds had unibody construction throughout the 1960's. Those 1958-60 Lincolns were the longest cars ever produced by Ford WITHOUT 5 mph bumpers. The 1961 Lincolns still used unibody construction and were famous for the "suicide doors" that latched in the middle. The reason for that wasn't for style; there wasn't enough body strength to front-hang the doors. Thunderbirds used unit construction until 1966; 1967 went back to body-on-frame. Lincolns used unit construction until 1969; 1970 went to BOF. My uncle had one of these that was a 4-door hardtop; the body would flex so much the rear doors would sometimes pop open. Good ol' Earl McPherson; he brought us the McPherson strut. GREAT VIDEO!
The very excellent Lincoln and Continental - the Postwar Years book by Paul Woudenberg (corrected) calls these Misunderstood Giants. An apt term. I drove a 1959 Convertible Mark IV and it was the best riding car I have ever driven. They used to be cheap but have climbed a lot in recent years like most other old cars.
In high school I had the coolest ride in 1975, it was a 1964 Black Mercury Monterey! It was the envy of many with its electric rear , roll down window..My buddies called it the “Batmobile” 👍🏼😎
I have a 59 Lincoln, im 28 and I've had it since I was 19. Hands down the worst feature of the car is the reverse opening hood,it makes it very annoying to work on. Does look cool tho
My friend has a 59 Lincoln continental ragtop and it took him years to restore it. Not many donor vehicles left and lot of the parts are harder to find now and more so in the future. With the ragtop you also have hinges for the top to fold over that usually are in a very bad shape(aka whammy'd and smashed). Another thing is the floors on these if the car has been sitting on the field for decades, are just super rusty. I did manage to drive the restored vehicle once it was done and the experience was over whelming. My friend did upgrade the the brakes cause the origial setup is just too dodgy and unsafe for the road.
My grandfather had one of these- not sure if it was a 58 or 59. He lived on a farm and had to drive about 9 miles before arriving at pavement. His two main complaints were that it didn’t have adequate clearance for the rough country roads and they could never get the trunk to seal well enough to keep out the dust. It was a very comfortable car and the power seats were adjustable to fit his rather tall over 6’ frame as well as my grandmother’s short legs.
The D2 position in the shift quadrant, as you mentioned, started out in second gear. This was a big advantage in snow country at a time when virtually all domestic cars were rear drive only.
There was a 58 for sale a few years ago on my way home from work. It was black but fairly rusted. The old man only wanted $1500 for it. I debated on it but by the time I went back the next day it was gone. I have no idea where I would have put it, I’m pretty sure it was longer than my garage.
Very nice, except for one minor correction. It's just that parts for the old TredleVac braking systems are readily available from Kanter Auto Supply. The major flaw with the TredleVac system is that if you let a car with it set for any length of time without having a weight holding down the brake pedal, a valve inside the master cylinder will stick. This will cause the brakes to not work properly until you tear the master cylinder down to unstick the valve. The master cylinder bolts to the vacuum booster from inside the vacuum booster, which means that you have to tear down the vacuum booster to unbolt the master cylinder. It's a crazy setup, and I had to learn to work on mine myself because professional mechanics won't touch it.
That 59 is a sharp looking car specially in that color but that I/C is so 1940's ! What cracks the lense cover is drivers using the steering wheel to get in and out of the car !
One of my high school friends in the mid '70s had a 1964 Mercury Park Lane as his first car. The '64 echoed some of the styling of the Continental in this video, right down to the reverse slant "breezeway" rear glass. It was a huge barge of grandpa car, but far from making fun of it and him, he was the first in our gang to have wheels so we had no complaints. It was very roomy to say the least, it rode very well, and the reverse slant power rear window was fun and unique. Another friend got a '68 Park Lane as his first car shortly thereafter, but the '68s had lost the '64's quirkiness and were far more conventional.
My father owned one of these, bought used in 1962. A four door in the blue color featured in your video, it did not have the differential option. One feature I recall that is now unusual for me, is that the windshield wipers were operated by a wire cable that wound/unwound as opposed to a connected rod/linkage mechanism.
Can you imagine the poor body repairman that had to replace the rear quarter panel.on one of these 2-doors? Just that sheetmetal part is gigantic! Imagine the logistics of distributing that one sheetmetal part to the various dealers and them having to keep them in their parts inventory. It boggles the mind. Yikes!
Excellent coverage on cars that are truly fascinating and rarely written about. The thing to keep in mind about Lincoln in the 1950s and '60s is that Cadillac sold 4-5 times as many cars as Lincoln. Lincoln management was desperate to change that. The '50s Lincolns were smaller and more performance oriented than Cadillacs (they performed well in the grueling annual Mexican road races.) When that didn't work they decided to see if making the cars bigger would do the trick. (Spoiler alert: it didn't.) Some of the engineering was pretty wild though. Like most upper level GM cars Lincoln planned to offer optional air suspension which is why the '58 and '59 Lincolns had coil rear springs (which could even pop out from a really bad pot hole); the '60 switched back to leaf springs. The single combination HVAC control was also, I believe, offered on the senior '58 Edsels. The automatic headlight dimmer was sourced from GM. Lincoln also offered an optional extra FM tuner that was mounted separately from the in dash AM radio. The in-block power steering pump added hydraulic windshield wiper power but I believe that was in 1961.
One of my uncles, who was a doctor, had a white 1958 Continental Mark III with the retractable rear window. which he loved, especially driving it between home here in Illinois and Miami Beach. Although I was only about 3 years old, I have vague memories of that huge car, which is perhaps why I still love Lincolns.
My great Uncle had a 1958 and he was always calling it the bloated Edsel. He had the car until around the 110,000 mile mark and went with a 1969 Cadillac Fleetwood.
I like the '58 better. There's just something more pure [and more over the top...] in it's design. I saw one of these at a car show, and the hood was opened. The firewall is so far back that most of the bellhousing is visible behind the engine, kind of a strange design. Great video!
My dad had one, a black 4 door. I remember the center of the steering wheel seemed very very large, much larger than a regular steering wheel hub, maybe the diameter of a saucer for a tea cup, but I was very young and may remember incorrectly. The instrument panel was a big boxy slab. I don't remember any bumps while riding in it, and I think it was very quiet. I was probably 6 or 7, looking over my dad's shoulder at that giant tombstone instrument panel, and that flying saucer sized steering hub.
Just going by vague memories, I seem to recall a Ford designer working at Packard in the early 1950s. Was it John Reinhardt? He was largely responsible for the beautiful 51-54 Packards. At any rate, he went back to Ford in the mid-50s, taking with him many of the styling themes that were to have been incorporated in the proposed 1957 Packards. The public’s reaction to the 58-59-60 Lincolns seems to prove to me, that if Packard HAD got funding for the big 1957 cars, they would almost certainly have been a flop. I am offbeat enough that I think this squared styling is absolutely gorgeous, but I may be one of the few.
From 1958 on big luxury cars were out of date and did not sell, at first compact cars were the new hot thing, then came the pony car and muscle car era followed by the gas crisis malaise era. Of course there was always a limited market for Cadillacs etc but they were never as popular as they had been in the fifties. I suspect Packard was doomed no matter what they did. DeSoto, Nash, Hudson, Edsel, also fell by the wayside, all medium priced and high priced cars.
As a 14 year old young boy, as wild and outrages as the 1959 Cadillac was, I always thought the Lincoln Continental was a more attractive car and actually classier looking. When I grew up later on in life, I owned two Cadillac Sevilles and two Lincolns, a Mark VII and a Continental Signature Series.
There was a company back in the day whose name escapes me at the moment - but they would convert these cars into limousines. One feature of their conversions was a dome that fit over the back window area and, together with a padded vinyl top and small "privacy" back window.... gave the car a much more contemporary roofline. They also sold this dome as a bespoke kit for people who loved their Lincolns, but didn't love the kitschy breezeway back window. I've seen one of these conversions in person, with the big padded vinyl top and I can say it only made a good thing BETTER. The car was a 1960 model and also triple black! Had a very "gangster" vibe to it.
The reverse-rake rear window was another feature that made its way to Europe, both on Ford Consul Classic, no work of art, and on the Citroen AMI 6, a car that was stunningly ugly. But, as far as I know, neither of these windows opened.
I was watching an old movie last night n 1 of the characters was driving a convertible model of these. Beautiful car man! I really dig the late 50's early 60's cars👌
It was probably North by Northwest in the Mt Rushmore part of the story. Eva Marie Saint stomps on the throttle in a huge white convertible after fake shooting Cary Grant at the visitor center. :)
I believe these were hand built until 1960. These were so nice, I used to sit in one (a 1959) at the Flying A gas station in my hometown here in Ca.. It was there for a long time this was about 1968. The guy brought it in to be fixed but couldn't pay the bill so he gave it to them for payment. They wanted $300-$400. for it just the price of the bill. I couldn't get my Dad to buy it and save it for me until I turned 15 but I tried for weeks! But I do remember even then it was only 9 years old but look much older/dated. We had a 1962 Continental it was much more modern in and out. Great info as always, love this channel!
Actually, no. The Mark IIs were mostly hand-built. The IIIs thru Vs that immediately followed were machine-built...and those machines were giving some significant troubles, at least with the '58s.
Great video, being an owner of a immaculate 1957 Nash Ambassador, I can vouch that its an extremely comfortable riding car despite being unit-body. By 57 AMC had about 8 years of unit-body experience. The Nash even rides better than my 59 Imperial.
Interesting. About a week ago I watched the movie “The Help” and one of the female characters was shown arriving at another’s house in a beautiful red sedan with an oddly sloped rear window. I couldn’t place the model for the life of me… it was THIS! Thanks for solving the mystery 🙏
my favorite "feature" of that era of Ford products was the pneumatic windshield wipers. When you accelerated the vacuum went down and the wipers just stopped. Great fun in a driving rainstorm.
The "one knob' controlled HVAC system was also used on the 1959-1960 Mercurys that had A/C. The A/C outlet was a large rectangle in the center of the dash, period. All controls(as far as I can tell) were operated by vacuum motors that pulled panels back and forth to change temperature and direction of air flow. The knob moved a 'maze' that connected/disconnected various motors to effect the mode desired. It worked, but once the vacuum lines hardened and started to crack, the operation became very 'iffy'. Dad bought a Colony Park 4-door hardtop station wagon that got 12mpg. Go 70, 12mpg. drive in stop and go traffic, 12mpg. Not too sure why it was so consistent, but the 430 sure liked to eat gas. Going down the partially built Interstate system on the way to FL, you did not steer it so much as 'aimed' it. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by outside force', and that was certainly true. Boy did it have torque with a capital T. Most think these were baroque. Preceded by the '56 with very clean styling, and the '57 with excess fender re-design, and followed by the simplistic style of the 1961 slab side Continentals, the 58-59-60 were in a 'class' all to them self.
As a small child when these were new I thought they were cool but as an adult I prefer the 61 thru 69 Lincoln Continental. I don't hate the 58 thru 60 Lincoln I just don't like them as much but they are unique.
Yes, that is how the HVAC system worked. The 1961 Lincolns had a completely different system that also worked that way, with only a center AC vent because instead of two evaporators it had two heater cores and the AC unit only recirculated like a hang-on one even though the controls were integrated into one knob. I didn't know the Mercury was similar, but the 1957-58 Mercurys also had a unique but different integrated AC (shared with upper model 1958 Edsels which used the Mercury body).
Hey Adam thanks for this review of the 1959 Lincoln Continental. Maybe it's because I'm a total Ford man, or maybe not. Ever since I was a little kid in the 60s, I have been attracted to these Lincoln model years. I really like the canted headlights, and the rear taillight arrangement. I think they get a pretty bad rap from most people. Yes they are huge and they're styling may not be for everybody, and they're size may have pushed what was considered normal for the times, I respect Ford for pushing the limits of normal car design. And to that I say that doesn't so be it. They do hold a special place in automotive history that no other brand can compete with. By the late 50s all the other brands pushed the limits in their own way, and there was no way to sustain that. In 1958 cars projected the image of what America was. The American people were living large, and had good reason to be. Those same people had lived through 2 world wars and came out it as the winners in both. People were proud to be Americans. Our technology had become a world wide leader in every way. Those Lincolns were an icon of what America could do, and so we did. I love, American cars and I'll go so far to include General Motors, even they seem to make so many bad decisions that effect all of their brands. I always blame the oil crisis of 1973 for changing every thing. Until then no body cared about good gas mileage, we didn't have to. While it's true we needed to make more efficient cars, but we lost everything else that made American cars so great. That crisis was responsible for killing the American auto industry and all the other supporting industries that supported the American auto industry. For the most part America recovered from that horrible crisis, but we're living in an all normal. In any event, I appreciate your car reviews because it allows us relive those great American icons for what they were.
I like these, especially the '58 edition which had the most fidelity to what must have been stylist John Najjar's original vision (and which also had the 'wildest' headlight/grill/side scallop configuration). I remember Road & Track testing one of these at the time and expressing amazement at the 9 second 0-60 acceleration time (their math said it wasn't possible given the horsepower and the gear ratios, but their actual testing confirmed it). I also remember an episode of "Father Knows Best" where Margaret Anderson wins a similar '58 Lincoln Premier coupe in an orphanage raffle; ultimately the family decides to trade it for a pair of Ford wagons, one of which they donate to the orphanage.
Another great one with all sorts of interesting minutiae! There is only one item missing, how long was the '59-60 Cadillac compared to this? I wonder if these had hydraulic wipers, which would explain the crankshaft steering pump... That trunk lid is just insane, just as the way Lincoln boxed the engines in all the way through '69.
@@MarinCipollina No, he said he "believed" that they still had vacuum wipers... Perhaps Ford was testing it for the next decade of variable-speed hydraulic wipers, but there's really no reason to have a beltless steering pump unless you're using it for something crucial like windshield wipers. Kinda' makes me wonder what happened if a belt broke on those later 4-wheel-disc cars with Hydra-Boost.
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I am embarrassed to admit that my teenage self did not appreciate these beauties when new, now I do. The price, over $5,000 in real Eisenhower dollars, could have bought you a modest home.
These are beautiful cars. One flaw that probably made a lot of people not buy them and many owners trade them in early was the rear trunk not opening up enough for a car its size. I see a lot of design cues from the 1958-1960 Thunderbird. Outside of the rear trunk flaw, I find these huge Continentals more attractive than the 1975-1979 models.
My family had a mk4 as a family car, it gave us good service, and the roll down rear window was a excellent feature, replaced with a 67 Lincoln continental, many many years later I have a 98 mk8 as a spare car.
I hope that it isn't rude to mention that Jay Leno has one of these cars and has published a video on it, including a drive, If anyone would like to see more of this fine automobile.
Saw one of these last night while watching Svengoolie's feature presentation. I believe it was 1958's "How to Make a Monster." A character was murdered in the front seat of a convertible model, just after having parked it in his garage. The murderer appeared to have had an eyeball that was coming from its socket.
I think that was the "Teenage Frankenstein" make-up that one of the drugged or hypnotized actors wore when doing the disgruntled make-up man's bidding.
Beautiful car...rode in one at the Ford Rotunda's "Roads of the World" test track. Neighbor had the Continental's 'sister', the Lincoln. Similar appearance to the Continental except no 'breezeway' rear window. The window sloped outward.
My dad was an insurance adjuster back in that era. I remember him telling me how complicated a write-up would be on ornately-trimmed cars like those. Probably today its not that much different except now all the unique trim bits have been replaced with electronic hardware and doodads...😎
I rather like the canted headlights - it doesn't look bad at all to me. But the rest of the car is a more acquired taste. Nice Ford Dentside truck @5:43! Those 'Dolly Partons' are a little much on the '58... WOW, I always thought that power steering pump was just a MEL thing! So you're saying that it found its way onto 385 series engines?
385 series 460 engines in 1968 and 1969 had power steering pumps on the front of the crankshaft. Discontinued in favor of a belt-driven pump for the 1970 model year there was a spacer used that fit over the end of the crankshaft, the harmonic balancer and accessory drive pulleys were positioned in front of that.
Watching this fabulous video it hit me. Continental was a separate division at the same time as Edsel. That meant that FoMoCo had a FIVE tier product line (Ford, Edsel, Mercury, Continental and Lincoln) to compete with GM's five divisions.
My father had a similar '58 Lincoln Premiere in the early-mid 60's, a truly mammoth and heavy car. The only problem I remember him having with it, was the rear spring mounts kept breaking.
Yes, spot on observation ! These were never my favorites and personally I think Lincoln's design team was off their stride during this period when compared to what they were building just a few years earlier with the Capri's ! A bit softer lines would have helped a lot here. They missed the mark again later with '79 model which was huge and boxy and of course at the present time no luxury sedan offering whatsoever which to my mind discards completely their rich history as a luxury badge.
My dad’s best friend bought a 1960 Lincoln Premier 2 door hardtop brand new in 1961. I was to understand that the dealership still had a few unsold 1960 Lincoln’s well into 1961, so they were available for some aggressive discounts. Nice, smooth massive car.
I had a baby blue 1959 4-door hardtop. I was only around 20 years old but had already developed a taste for luxury cars rather than the noisy muscle cars my friends aspired to. So it was about eight years old at the time but pristine and loaded, with A/C and all seven power windows (the power vent windows were optional). One quirk you didn't mention that my car had (may have been an option) was - believe it or not - a button to lube the chassis and a light on the dash that confirmed it was complete. I suspect the previous owner did not use it as recommended, because the one major failure I had with the car was when the right front suspension simply collapsed when I turned a corner. Ball joint, if I remember correctly. And a funny story: I had one friend that had the same taste; loved my car and bought one himself, in a different color. So we occasionally traded off, picking up a girl for a second date in a different color Lincoln! Then we took it a step further and got a chauffer's cap someplace so we could pick her up not only in a different Lincoln, but with a chauffer. Don't remember if we ever actually got to pull that off.
I saw one of these cars, it was a 1960 model, being restored on the show "FantomWorks" on the History Channel a few years ago. These are oddly beautiful old cars. On the show, it seemed they fought greatly with this car's restoration, especially with the power steering unit which you mentioned that ALWAYS seemed to leak. It seems that parts for these cars are also extremely hard to get. Thanks for the video, very informative!! (Though I like the '69 Lincoln you mentioned that YOU have much better!!)
We had neighbors, the Olson's, who had the income to afford these kinds of cars. The dad sold Piper airplanes for a living. They particularly liked convertibles. The eldest daughter had a 56 Olds Starfire convertible red and white two tone, the mother a 1960 Continental convertible in a blue sapphire and the father a new 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible black with red leather. They also had the only color TV in the neighborhood and that's where I saw the Wizard of Oz in color in 1962, for the first time. Mrs Olson, made us oatmeal cookies hot out of the oven with a glass of milk. A very early 60s wholesome experience.
Mrs. Olsen sounds like a doll! RIP Mrs. Olsen! We miss your cookies! And your vehicles ha ha ha
That must have been a fantastic driveway to walk past; what collection of cars!
@@seanmeisner3190 this was the early 60s. Their house was behind ours and one over on a different street that was developed after the majority of homes were built. They only had a one car garage on their one story ranch home with the living room facing their backyard. The majority of homes were late 40s two story post WW2 bungalows. They moved after a couple years to Wisconsin and I'm sure to a better home to accommodate their new found wealth. Later mid the same decade our new next door neighbors had two 64 Lincoln Continental's. Our neighborhood was mostly blue collar so yes, both neighbors were an anomaly to the rest of the area but both lived in the best homes our neighborhood had.
The better times then, far from perfect , but far better in many ways. Morals too.
During the past in our collective childhood we did think things would better and now we are at the point where we collectively think things are getting unpredictable and unstable!
Also the rear window was the “breezeway” which my family enjoyed in our 1964 Mercury
Loved that feature on the '63-'68 Mercury's.
Mercury definitely got some things from the back half of this car.
My neighbor bought a 1960 Mercury and it had the breezeway also. It was a gigantic car.
65 Mercury Park Lane owner here - it's fantastic to have in a non-AC car, but make sure you have the factory correct dual (Park Lane) or single (Monterey/Montclair) DOWNTURNED EXHAUST or you will enjoy a lot of exhaust winding up in the cabin.
The '64 Mercury also received very similar triple tail lights.
As a boy, my father had a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser sedan. It had the rear window that dropped down and raised electrically.
Yes the 57-58 Merc Turnpike Cruiser , growing up in the 70s we had a neighbor whom had a gorgeous black and gold one of these, he was our mailman . Gave me a ride when I was a freshman in highschool and since that day I've been a huge Mercury fan. Mercury" ride engineered" " The sign of the Cat" commercials.
That's my favorite car.
Those old Mercury & Lincoln were brilliant styling exercises, as "period" furniture remains classic, so do these designs.
I have a 60 Mark V it’s surprisingly nimble and peppy despite its size and draws crowds wherever you go , I absolutely love the car because it is so unique in every way
They’re so grand in proportion that a large crowd seems smaller than those who might gather around lesser automobles😊
I remember at a classic car show a woman who would’ve been around 1960 was going on about how big a 60 Impala she was looking at. It was basically a VW Bug in comparison to this. I’m sure the younger generations eyes nearly pop out when they first see your Lincoln.
My father bought a '58 Capri, which was essentially a Continental without air conditioning. Our car was a 4-door hardtop and that meant that you had a huge opening into the car with the windows down. The car didn't ride well until my father installed the heaviest heavy-duty shock absorbers he could find, and then it rode like a dream. The white leather interior was totally awesome!
That massive 430 cu. in. motor with the 4 bbl. produced the same 490 ft. lb. of torque as the 1968 Chrysler Hemi. I helped drive on a 1966 trip from California, across Route 66, to Chicago and back. We were pulling a 14-foot utility trailer, and got 17-18 MPG at 75 MPH. I am 6' 1" and had plenty of legroom in the back seat. Plus, I could lay down almost fully straight in the back seat, it was that big.
My parents in 68 bought a brand new T-Bird coupe with the 429 V8....same situation with the shocks...totally soft from the factory...total joke, bounding squishy ride. We replaced them immediately with Sears extra heavy duty shocks. Transformed the car into a nimble performer with solid suspension control. Nothing better on those boats than soft springs and hard shocks. I loved the way it drove after that.
I still remember in 65 as a kid where I was when I first saw one of these cars in person.
They were very rare where I lived and it left an impression on me that it’s one of those things you remember where you were on 911 and when Elvis died and when you saw your first Continental.
I just remember the massive size and no other car on the road looked like it .
The thing that really stood out was the thickness of the doors and all the power buttons on them the doors alone were gorgeous.
The car had real presence and I would imagine back in the day the wealthy that bought them did so to just get noticed .
Even today it is one of my favourite cars even though the styling was in bad taste compared to the 61 masterpiece that came afterwards.
I can only imagine what a dream it would be to float down the road in one of these land yachts
"The thickness of the doors", and at 10:50 the enormity of those forged hinges necessary too support them.
At the 9:00 mark, you show the instrument cluster, and state that the lens (mask is the correct term) is made of glass. My grandfather had a new 58 Continental, and I, being 4 or 5, thought that it would be so cool to put a bunch of swirl marks on the lens with the cigarette lighter. When I was done, there were swirl marks everywhere. My grandfather just sighed and did not get too mad. The fact that the lighter put swirls in makes me think it was plastic, however. (I also tried to play 'gas station' with the garden hose, but mom caught me before I started pumping the fuel). I was infatuated by that 58, and I still am today!
You destroyed that man's car. Apparently he didn't care because he probably had buyers remorse and loved his grandson.
You be evil----
The only thing more astounding than your vandalism and spoiled behavior is your admitting to it.
@@MostlyBuicks Little kids just do not understand the effects of what they are doing, which is why they need specific rules. Obviously this was not the case and rampy was never told to just not touch anything in grandpa's car unless he was there and said OK.
Sounds like you were quite the terror as a youngster.
Another fine presentation!
Nearly 20 years ago, I spent 6 years and at least $60,000 restoring one exactly like this, including the color. It would cost at least twice that much to do it today.
Old American luxury cars are very expensive and time-consuming to accurately restore compared to, say, a muscle car or a Tri-Five Chevy. The proliferation of power accessories alone add countless hours to sort out. Not to mention, the interior fabrics and leathers are pricy, and they have a LOT of chrome inside and out.
Still, it was worth it. I had a lot of fun with that old Connie while I was restoring it and for a few years after before I sold it to a collector who I believe still has it.
I'd like to chop, drop & LS swap a 59 and paint it with a satin paint
Absolutely love your videos. Straight to the point. No bs just facts and info. You and Nate are the class of the field when it comes to preppers
Yes, it’s all outstanding stuff but where does he gather his intel? Knowing where to get a resource is always a battle.
I am currently restoring a 59' Mark IV. I bought it from the original owner back on 1979. It only had 45K on the clock and was my daily driver thru 1985'. Age start to catch up with it, and it needed some work because it was driven much before I bought it. I put it in my garage until I could properly restore it to it's glory years. Still only has 55K. I love driving it, loved all the compliments from people. It is worthy of my endeavors.
I would like to put my hat in the ring to say I personally love the "Slant eyed monster" lincolns/continentals.
They look pretty cool in person
@@starkparker16 At least it didn't have a second grille stamped into the hood like the '61 DeSoto, but the sculpting on the flanks and the reverse-slant roofline more than made up for that oversight.
@@5610winston You could avoid the silly rear window by getting the regular Lincoln version.
@emjayjay or a convertible!!!
Actually the Continental convertible has the same reverse-slanted roofline as the hardtop model!
Glad you covered these again. I've always liked the Baroque styling, but you can say their uniqueness led to the groundbreaking 1961 styling.
Our neighbors had a 1958 in a light blue color with light blue interior. I was mesmerized. It was HUGE to my 4 yo eyes! I recall that it dropped its driveshaft in the driveway after the owners wife put it in Park without coming to a full stop. They replaced it with a 1967 Olds Delta 88 in a similar light blue. I was so so very disappointed!
It's an 8-year-old boy when these came out and I first saw one I just thought it was a big gorgeous automobile. I think it still looks that way nowadays too.
My dad was a bit of an 'autoholic', and he changed vehicles with some regularity. Among his interesting menagerie, we had a '58 Lincoln Capri, which he traded in for a red '59 Continental convertible. My mother had an unfortunate event with the Continental, which totalled the car (she was basically unhurt). So, the red convertible was replaced with a white '59. I remember how massive those cars were in their day, but in the context of some of today's large SUVs, maybe not so bad.
Todays SUVs are large on the outside-tiny on the inside plus very heavy with tiny engines.
An early advertising on a car with a limited slip differential was Studebaker.
Pioneered on the 1956 Packard as an option, Twin-Traction was then offered on 1957 Studebaker cars & trucks. 1957 Studebaker cars so-equipped had two circled " T's " on the lower right if the deck lid.
And another interesting fact about the 1958-60 Lincolns. They were the first American cars available with a factory installed AM-FM radio.
Also, the retractable rear window was pioneered production wise on the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.
Studebaker was way ahead of it's time .
Hill holder clutch, positraction , supercharger Hawk,Aventi.
Sad they are gone .
Interesting that it was the first to offer an am/fm radio, because Lincoln was the first regular production car to offer a cd player in 1987. (The limited production 1987 Shelby Dodge Lancer had one as standard.)
Excellent point about the CD player!
I like that the convertibles also had an electric powered rear backlight with the canted C-pillar, same as the Sadan and Coupe. They had a hard covered boot, which automatically closed over the top. There were pontoon shaped filler panels on either side of the boot that were manually installed to give it a finished look. When the top is up, its bows are hidden under the tight fitting material, and it looks much like a hardtop.
When I was about maybe 4 or 5 the front end of this car with the bullet bumpers looked like a scary monster with mean eyes but, not even 10 years later I learned to like them and still do to this day almost 60 years later.
"bullet bumpers" aka dagmars
@@johna.4334 yup named after
Virginia Ruth Lewis stage name: Dagmar
I was only 5 then, and agree, it looked scary to me.
I have always been fascinated by these Lincoln behemoths. I recently had the opportunity to sit in and examine a '60 Mark V 4-door Landau carefully. Even though it was of driver quality, the quality of the interior fabrics, fittings and trim still evidenced great quality, as did the exterior trim. If only I'd been able to go for a ride!
I had a 1960 coupe that I worked on restoring, did engine, drivetrain etc and invested thousands. I lost heart when welding rust under the car - unibody rust was terrible to deal with. So I reluctantly gave up and let it go. It's still not on the road after some years, even with a new owner who can weld etc. What a magnificent car, wish I had it back, mint. Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it!
I'd still prefer going on a cross country road trip in the black four door (0:48) than the computerized crap they put out now - what an adventure that would be!
Amen!!! I went from Illinois to west coast and back, in 55 chev as a boy, then later, in 1965Chrysler Newport twice.
Especially when it breaks down and no mechanic knows how to fix it. Good Luck!!
This is truly a beautiful and UNDERRATED automobile. My advice, find one that's at least pretty close to restored as parts are really scarce for this particular model... But definitely a Gem if found in decent, drivable condition.
Thanks for adding some value via historical context for these cars, under appreciated by many including me!
Had a '59 as a daily driver in the early '70s. Wonderful. All the controls being in that "pod" in front of the driver, meant the front passenger legroom was enormous -- could ride with your legs crossed in front of you and still install a small jukebox. The dash was set way back.
Beautiful car tho none the less. The front face of these cars is to me QUINTESSENTIAL 1950s auto styling. One of my relatives had one of these long before I was born as a used car. Apparently it was legendary 🤷🏻♂️. These cars as I understand were very undervalued for several years. Good to see them in the spotlight. Your videos are consistently excellent.
Lincoln actually had a technical service bulletin on the 55 mph crack and a procedure to remedy it that if followed would prevent the crack..
I'd love to read that TSB. Perhaps it enlarged the holes at its mounting points To allow it to expand
@@richceglinski7543 I don't know if you've ever heard of Kris Trexler but he's a 58' Lincoln-FoMoCo guru and I know he has the tsb and has performed it...
What a big, beautiful, beast of a car! Thank you for sharing that with us! I never knew that they were unibody cars! That is a very interesting point!
Along about 1970, when I was 10, my Grandfather came home with a used 1966 Chrysler 300. I was in the car checking it out, when I asked him what that little button was on the inside of the door. He just told me to push it down, and there went the window! Went down all by itself, no cranking! I had never seen that before! I felt like I was in a Rolls Royce! Lol.
My grandfather had a white 4 door '59 Continental-we were amazed at the size of that car! Thanks for this video!
The definition of “so ugly, it’s beautiful!”
I call it "aggressively ugly" when referencing muscle cars!
At the end of the video there is a beautiful yellow convertible. The cool factor here is the the rear window went up and down, just like in the hardtops. I often wondered how they did that, until I recently watched a video of a 58 with the top going up and down. I can't describe it, but if you look up 58 Lincoln Convertible, you might find it and watching it in action is almost equal to watching a 57-59 Ford retractable. I made $10 betting my uncle that the convert window did indeed raise and lower. The L-M dealer up the street had one on their lot. (This was in the late 60s).
I rode in one of these convertibles in Ausin, TX with friends. Can't remember the guy who owned it, but is was such a strange vehicle! Wished you had shown the unique convertible, where the back cantilevered window sank under the back seat while a panel rose and took in the convertible top. Also, there were vacuum powered rivets at the top of the windshield that made an incredible "whirring" sound as the roof came down and was literally bolted in. More interior details would be great if you ever run it again, Adam.
I like those Lincolns and Continentals of that body style a lot. I've seen a handful of them at car shows and on roadsides over the years.
My parents had a 59 Ford with a cruise-o-matic with the same shift pattern. When my mother wasn’t looking, my older brothers us to sneak and move the shifter to the D1 position just to watch the car take off quicker than she expected.😂.
😂
My dad always talked about how he regretted not getting one of these because the rear window didn't need to be scraped in winter.
I'm impressed that you remembered (and found a picture of) the Packard Balboa. To my knowledge only 1 Balboa was ever made. This was an excellent and obviously knowledgeable and well researched presentation. 👍
My 1959 Lincoln was perfect for a young high school student. I could fit a handful of beautiful young women inside and in comfort. The trunk would hold all our skis and poles securely for a trip to the mountains. That 430 V8 was very powerful and 100+ mph speeds felt like you were about to take flight. Good times!
Have been following new cars since 1958 and one tends to forget how big they were. (Don't follow the newer models anymore. Ho-hum, I'd rather fold my socks.)
Isn't that the truth - could'nt have said it better myself!
Depressing isn’t it? I used to look forward to the annual car shows so much! Now? Who cares?
Haha. Boomers missing days of points and injuries from Minor fender benders.....yet you are all using today's technology to watch this.
Your generation is a joke.
Studebakers had a really cool emblem on the trunk lid if you had limited slip. Twin circles spinning with a T on each for twin traction.. or something like that!
The older MK II is an absolute class act.
Agreed; that was *the* finest-looking car to come out of the 1950s.
Always liked the Lincoln Premiere from about 55-57.
Without a doubt the Mark II made in 1956 and '57 were the finest American cars ever made. And they were outrageously expensive for their time!
@@johnscanlan9335Without a doubt; $10g's was the going price for a Rolls-Royce back then. And there's an irony to that: They charged $10g's for a car that cost them $11g's to build. They lost $1,000 on every car they sold at the MSRP.
@@aloysiusbelisarius9992 Nelson Rockefeller had one!
The front fender sculpturing going into the door (if vertical where it curves instead) actually previewed the sculpture along the sides of the '64-'68 Mustang.
Lincolns and Thunderbirds had unibody construction throughout the 1960's. Those 1958-60 Lincolns were the longest cars ever produced by Ford WITHOUT 5 mph bumpers. The 1961 Lincolns still used unibody construction and were famous for the "suicide doors" that latched in the middle. The reason for that wasn't for style; there wasn't enough body strength to front-hang the doors. Thunderbirds used unit construction until 1966; 1967 went back to body-on-frame. Lincolns used unit construction until 1969; 1970 went to BOF. My uncle had one of these that was a 4-door hardtop; the body would flex so much the rear doors would sometimes pop open. Good ol' Earl McPherson; he brought us the McPherson strut. GREAT VIDEO!
The very excellent Lincoln and Continental - the Postwar Years book by Paul Woudenberg (corrected) calls these Misunderstood Giants. An apt term. I drove a 1959 Convertible Mark IV and it was the best riding car I have ever driven. They used to be cheap but have climbed a lot in recent years like most other old cars.
Witzenberg
@@ohok3608 Actually it is Paul Woudenberg. 👍
In high school I had the coolest ride in 1975, it was a 1964 Black Mercury Monterey! It was the envy of many with its electric rear , roll down window..My buddies called it the “Batmobile”
👍🏼😎
Adam, that four-spoke steering wheel reminds me of your 66 Toronado.
I have a 59 Lincoln, im 28 and I've had it since I was 19. Hands down the worst feature of the car is the reverse opening hood,it makes it very annoying to work on. Does look cool tho
All Ford products had the reverse hood in the late 1950s and Lincoln continued it in 1961.
My friend has a 59 Lincoln continental ragtop and it took him years to restore it. Not many donor vehicles left and lot of the parts are harder to find now and more so in the future. With the ragtop you also have hinges for the top to fold over that usually are in a very bad shape(aka whammy'd and smashed). Another thing is the floors on these if the car has been sitting on the field for decades, are just super rusty. I did manage to drive the restored vehicle once it was done and the experience was over whelming. My friend did upgrade the the brakes cause the origial setup is just too dodgy and unsafe for the road.
Those cat eye headlights are pretty cool there were also glasses like this that were very popular back then, I think they were the inspiration.
1959 Buicks and 1962 Chryslers also had those canted headlights.
My grandfather had one of these- not sure if it was a 58 or 59. He lived on a farm and had to drive about 9 miles before arriving at pavement. His two main complaints were that it didn’t have adequate clearance for the rough country roads and they could never get the trunk to seal well enough to keep out the dust. It was a very comfortable car and the power seats were adjustable to fit his rather tall over 6’ frame as well as my grandmother’s short legs.
Excellent video as always!
One note, 1957-58 Packards had a special decklid logo badge for their Twin Traction rear differential option.
The D2 position in the shift quadrant, as you mentioned, started out in second gear. This was a big advantage in snow country at a time when virtually all domestic cars were rear drive only.
There was a 58 for sale a few years ago on my way home from work. It was black but fairly rusted. The old man only wanted $1500 for it. I debated on it but by the time I went back the next day it was gone. I have no idea where I would have put it, I’m pretty sure it was longer than my garage.
Very nice, except for one minor correction. It's just that parts for the old TredleVac braking systems are readily available from Kanter Auto Supply. The major flaw with the TredleVac system is that if you let a car with it set for any length of time without having a weight holding down the brake pedal, a valve inside the master cylinder will stick. This will cause the brakes to not work properly until you tear the master cylinder down to unstick the valve. The master cylinder bolts to the vacuum booster from inside the vacuum booster, which means that you have to tear down the vacuum booster to unbolt the master cylinder. It's a crazy setup, and I had to learn to work on mine myself because professional mechanics won't touch it.
That 59 is a sharp looking car specially in that color but that I/C is so 1940's ! What cracks the lense cover is drivers using the steering wheel to get in and out of the car !
One of my high school friends in the mid '70s had a 1964 Mercury Park Lane as his first car. The '64 echoed some of the styling of the Continental in this video, right down to the reverse slant "breezeway" rear glass. It was a huge barge of grandpa car, but far from making fun of it and him, he was the first in our gang to have wheels so we had no complaints. It was very roomy to say the least, it rode very well, and the reverse slant power rear window was fun and unique.
Another friend got a '68 Park Lane as his first car shortly thereafter, but the '68s had lost the '64's quirkiness and were far more conventional.
My father owned one of these, bought used in 1962. A four door in the blue color featured in your video, it did not have the differential option. One feature I recall that is now unusual for me, is that the windshield wipers were operated by a wire cable that wound/unwound as opposed to a connected rod/linkage mechanism.
Can you imagine the poor body repairman that had to replace the rear quarter panel.on one of these 2-doors? Just that sheetmetal part is gigantic! Imagine the logistics of distributing that one sheetmetal part to the various dealers and them having to keep them in their parts inventory. It boggles the mind. Yikes!
Excellent coverage on cars that are truly fascinating and rarely written about. The thing to keep in mind about Lincoln in the 1950s and '60s is that Cadillac sold 4-5 times as many cars as Lincoln. Lincoln management was desperate to change that. The '50s Lincolns were smaller and more performance oriented than Cadillacs (they performed well in the grueling annual Mexican road races.) When that didn't work they decided to see if making the cars bigger would do the trick. (Spoiler alert: it didn't.) Some of the engineering was pretty wild though. Like most upper level GM cars Lincoln planned to offer optional air suspension which is why the '58 and '59 Lincolns had coil rear springs (which could even pop out from a really bad pot hole); the '60 switched back to leaf springs. The single combination HVAC control was also, I believe, offered on the senior '58 Edsels. The automatic headlight dimmer was sourced from GM. Lincoln also offered an optional extra FM tuner that was mounted separately from the in dash AM radio. The in-block power steering pump added hydraulic windshield wiper power but I believe that was in 1961.
One of my uncles, who was a doctor, had a white 1958 Continental Mark III with the retractable rear window. which he loved, especially driving it between home here in Illinois and Miami Beach. Although I was only about 3 years old, I have vague memories of that huge car, which is perhaps why I still love Lincolns.
I always loved these Land yachts
Definitely a jet inspired rear look; love the amount of chrome back there !!
My great Uncle had a 1958 and he was always calling it the bloated Edsel. He had the car until around the 110,000 mile mark and went with a 1969 Cadillac Fleetwood.
I like the '58 better. There's just something more pure [and more over the top...] in it's design.
I saw one of these at a car show, and the hood was opened. The firewall is so far back that most of the bellhousing is visible behind the engine, kind of a strange design.
Great video!
My dad had one, a black 4 door. I remember the center of the steering wheel seemed very very large, much larger than a regular steering wheel hub, maybe the diameter of a saucer for a tea cup, but I was very young and may remember incorrectly. The instrument panel was a big boxy slab. I don't remember any bumps while riding in it, and I think it was very quiet. I was probably 6 or 7, looking over my dad's shoulder at that giant tombstone instrument panel, and that flying saucer sized steering hub.
Just going by vague memories, I seem to recall a Ford designer working at Packard in the early 1950s. Was it John Reinhardt?
He was largely responsible for the beautiful 51-54 Packards. At any rate, he went back to Ford in the mid-50s, taking with him many of the styling themes that were to have been incorporated in the proposed 1957 Packards. The public’s reaction to the 58-59-60 Lincolns seems to prove to me, that if Packard HAD got funding for the big 1957 cars, they would almost certainly have been a flop. I am offbeat enough that I think this squared styling is absolutely gorgeous, but I may be one of the few.
From 1958 on big luxury cars were out of date and did not sell, at first compact cars were the new hot thing, then came the pony car and muscle car era followed by the gas crisis malaise era. Of course there was always a limited market for Cadillacs etc but they were never as popular as they had been in the fifties.
I suspect Packard was doomed no matter what they did. DeSoto, Nash, Hudson, Edsel, also fell by the wayside, all medium priced and high priced cars.
As a 14 year old young boy, as wild and outrages as the 1959 Cadillac was, I always thought the Lincoln Continental was a more attractive car and actually classier looking. When I grew up later on in life, I owned two Cadillac Sevilles and two Lincolns, a Mark VII and a Continental Signature Series.
There was a company back in the day whose name escapes me at the moment - but they would convert these cars into limousines. One feature of their conversions was a dome that fit over the back window area and, together with a padded vinyl top and small "privacy" back window.... gave the car a much more contemporary roofline. They also sold this dome as a bespoke kit for people who loved their Lincolns, but didn't love the kitschy breezeway back window. I've seen one of these conversions in person, with the big padded vinyl top and I can say it only made a good thing BETTER. The car was a 1960 model and also triple black! Had a very "gangster" vibe to it.
The reverse-rake rear window was another feature that made its way to Europe, both on Ford Consul Classic, no work of art, and on the Citroen AMI 6, a car that was stunningly ugly. But, as far as I know, neither of these windows opened.
The Lincoln limousine conversions were made by Hess and Eisenhardt.
@@jazzfan6 That sounds about right. I knew it wasn't any of the "usual" coach builders.
I tried to restore a 58 Continental Convertible, unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish it. I loved that car!
I was watching an old movie last night n 1 of the characters was driving a convertible model of these. Beautiful car man! I really dig the late 50's early 60's cars👌
It was probably North by Northwest in the Mt Rushmore part of the story. Eva Marie Saint stomps on the throttle in a huge white convertible after fake shooting Cary Grant at the visitor center. :)
I believe these were hand built until 1960. These were so nice, I used to sit in one (a 1959) at the Flying A gas station in my hometown here in Ca.. It was there for a long time this was about 1968. The guy brought it in to be fixed but couldn't pay the bill so he gave it to them for payment. They wanted $300-$400. for it just the price of the bill. I couldn't get my Dad to buy it and save it for me until I turned 15 but I tried for weeks! But I do remember even then it was only 9 years old but look much older/dated. We had a 1962 Continental it was much more modern in and out. Great info as always, love this channel!
Actually, no. The Mark IIs were mostly hand-built. The IIIs thru Vs that immediately followed were machine-built...and those machines were giving some significant troubles, at least with the '58s.
@@aloysiusbelisarius9992 Ford built an entirely new factory to make the 1958 unit body Lincolns and Thunderbirds. It was torn down a few years ago.
Great video, being an owner of a immaculate 1957 Nash Ambassador, I can vouch that its an extremely comfortable riding car despite being unit-body. By 57 AMC had about 8 years of unit-body experience. The Nash even rides better than my 59 Imperial.
Interesting. About a week ago I watched the movie “The Help” and one of the female characters was shown arriving at another’s house in a beautiful red sedan with an oddly sloped rear window. I couldn’t place the model for the life of me… it was THIS! Thanks for solving the mystery 🙏
my favorite "feature" of that era of Ford products was the pneumatic windshield wipers. When you accelerated the vacuum went down and the wipers just stopped. Great fun in a driving rainstorm.
9:00 The driver viewed the shift quadrant through a prism perched on the column. When I saw that as a kid, I thought it was the coolest.
i got a 58 continental and love this car it looks great and rides real smooth down the road
The "one knob' controlled HVAC system was also used on the 1959-1960 Mercurys that had A/C. The A/C outlet was a large rectangle in the center of the dash, period. All controls(as far as I can tell) were operated by vacuum motors that pulled panels back and forth to change temperature and direction of air flow. The knob moved a 'maze' that connected/disconnected various motors to effect the mode desired. It worked, but once the vacuum lines hardened and started to crack, the operation became very 'iffy'. Dad bought a Colony Park 4-door hardtop station wagon that got 12mpg. Go 70, 12mpg. drive in stop and go traffic, 12mpg. Not too sure why it was so consistent, but the 430 sure liked to eat gas. Going down the partially built Interstate system on the way to FL, you did not steer it so much as 'aimed' it. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by outside force', and that was certainly true. Boy did it have torque with a capital T.
Most think these were baroque. Preceded by the '56 with very clean styling, and the '57 with excess fender re-design, and followed by the simplistic style of the 1961 slab side Continentals, the 58-59-60 were in a 'class' all to them self.
As a small child when these were new I thought they were cool but as an adult I prefer the 61 thru 69 Lincoln Continental. I don't hate the 58 thru 60 Lincoln I just don't like them as much but they are unique.
Yes, that is how the HVAC system worked. The 1961 Lincolns had a completely different system that also worked that way, with only a center AC vent because instead of two evaporators it had two heater cores and the AC unit only recirculated like a hang-on one even though the controls were integrated into one knob. I didn't know the Mercury was similar, but the 1957-58 Mercurys also had a unique but different integrated AC (shared with upper model 1958 Edsels which used the Mercury body).
Hey Adam thanks for this review of the 1959 Lincoln Continental. Maybe it's because I'm a total Ford man, or maybe not. Ever since I was a little kid in the 60s, I have been attracted to these Lincoln model years. I really like the canted headlights, and the rear taillight arrangement. I think they get a pretty bad rap from most people. Yes they are huge and they're styling may not be for everybody, and they're size may have pushed what was considered normal for the times, I respect Ford for pushing the limits of normal car design. And to that I say that doesn't so be it. They do hold a special place in automotive history that no other brand can compete with. By the late 50s all the other brands pushed the limits in their own way, and there was no way to sustain that. In 1958 cars projected the image of what America was. The American people were living large, and had good reason to be. Those same people had lived through 2 world wars and came out it as the winners in both. People were proud to be Americans. Our technology had become a world wide leader in every way. Those Lincolns were an icon of what America could do, and so we did. I love, American cars and I'll go so far to include General Motors, even they seem to make so many bad decisions that effect all of their brands. I always blame the oil crisis of 1973 for changing every thing. Until then no body cared about good gas mileage, we didn't have to. While it's true we needed to make more efficient cars, but we lost everything else that made American cars so great. That crisis was responsible for killing the American auto industry and all the other supporting industries that supported the American auto industry. For the most part America recovered from that horrible crisis, but we're living in an all normal. In any event, I appreciate your car reviews because it allows us relive those great American icons for what they were.
I like these, especially the '58 edition which had the most fidelity to what must have been stylist John Najjar's original vision (and which also had the 'wildest' headlight/grill/side scallop configuration). I remember Road & Track testing one of these at the time and expressing amazement at the 9 second 0-60 acceleration time (their math said it wasn't possible given the horsepower and the gear ratios, but their actual testing confirmed it). I also remember an episode of "Father Knows Best" where Margaret Anderson wins a similar '58 Lincoln Premier coupe in an orphanage raffle; ultimately the family decides to trade it for a pair of Ford wagons, one of which they donate to the orphanage.
Another great one with all sorts of interesting minutiae! There is only one item missing, how long was the '59-60 Cadillac compared to this?
I wonder if these had hydraulic wipers, which would explain the crankshaft steering pump...
That trunk lid is just insane, just as the way Lincoln boxed the engines in all the way through '69.
Adam did mention in the video these cars had vacuum operated wipers.
@@MarinCipollina No, he said he "believed" that they still had vacuum wipers... Perhaps Ford was testing it for the next decade of variable-speed hydraulic wipers, but there's really no reason to have a beltless steering pump unless you're using it for something crucial like windshield wipers.
Kinda' makes me wonder what happened if a belt broke on those later 4-wheel-disc cars with Hydra-Boost.
I am embarrassed to admit that my teenage self did not appreciate these beauties when new, now I do. The price, over $5,000 in real Eisenhower dollars, could have bought you a modest home.
These are beautiful cars. One flaw that probably made a lot of people not buy them and many owners trade them in early was the rear trunk not opening up enough for a car its size.
I see a lot of design cues from the 1958-1960 Thunderbird.
Outside of the rear trunk flaw, I find these huge Continentals more attractive than the 1975-1979 models.
My family had a mk4 as a family car, it gave us good service, and the roll down rear window was a excellent feature, replaced with a 67 Lincoln continental, many many years later I have a 98 mk8 as a spare car.
I hope that it isn't rude to mention that Jay Leno has one of these cars and has published a video on it, including a drive, If anyone would like to see more of this fine automobile.
Saw one of these last night while watching Svengoolie's feature presentation. I believe it was 1958's "How to Make a Monster." A character was murdered in the front seat of a convertible model, just after having parked it in his garage. The murderer appeared to have had an eyeball that was coming from its socket.
I think that was the "Teenage Frankenstein" make-up that one of the drugged or hypnotized actors wore when doing the disgruntled make-up man's bidding.
As a child, I can recall the rear window "sliding down".
Beautiful car...rode in one at the Ford Rotunda's "Roads of the World" test track. Neighbor had the Continental's 'sister', the Lincoln. Similar appearance to the Continental except no 'breezeway' rear window. The window sloped outward.
Definitely an interesting car!! I'd love to find a low mile original one to try!
My dad was an insurance adjuster back in that era. I remember him telling me how complicated a write-up would be on ornately-trimmed cars like those. Probably today its not that much different except now all the unique trim bits have been replaced with electronic hardware and doodads...😎
I rather like the canted headlights - it doesn't look bad at all to me. But the rest of the car is a more acquired taste.
Nice Ford Dentside truck @5:43!
Those 'Dolly Partons' are a little much on the '58...
WOW, I always thought that power steering pump was just a MEL thing! So you're saying that it found its way onto 385 series engines?
385 series 460 engines in 1968 and 1969 had power steering pumps on the front of the crankshaft.
Discontinued in favor of a belt-driven pump for the 1970 model year there was a spacer used that fit over the end of the crankshaft, the harmonic balancer and accessory drive pulleys were positioned in front of that.
My late mom had a 1960 Mark V 2 dr hardtop - it was her very favorite car in her whole lifetime.
Watching this fabulous video it hit me. Continental was a separate division at the same time as Edsel. That meant that FoMoCo had a FIVE tier product line (Ford, Edsel, Mercury, Continental and Lincoln) to compete with GM's five divisions.
My father had a similar '58 Lincoln Premiere in the early-mid 60's, a truly mammoth and heavy car. The only problem I remember him having with it, was the rear spring mounts kept breaking.
Great summary on the Mark Continentals, portions of which were designed and styled by John Orfe in the Elwood Engel studio. JO4
P.S., thanks again for your help, time, research, and the work involved in the videos period.
Yes, spot on observation ! These were never my favorites and personally I think Lincoln's design team was off their stride during this period when compared to what they were building just a few years earlier with the Capri's ! A bit softer lines would have helped a lot here. They missed the mark again later with '79 model which was huge and boxy and of course at the present time no luxury sedan offering whatsoever which to my mind discards completely their rich history as a luxury badge.
My dad’s best friend bought a 1960 Lincoln Premier 2 door hardtop brand new in 1961. I was to understand that the dealership still had a few unsold 1960 Lincoln’s well into 1961, so they were available for some aggressive discounts. Nice, smooth massive car.
Outstanding review. These Continental’s are rolling artworks.
I had a baby blue 1959 4-door hardtop. I was only around 20 years old but had already developed a taste for luxury cars rather than the noisy muscle cars my friends aspired to. So it was about eight years old at the time but pristine and loaded, with A/C and all seven power windows (the power vent windows were optional). One quirk you didn't mention that my car had (may have been an option) was - believe it or not - a button to lube the chassis and a light on the dash that confirmed it was complete. I suspect the previous owner did not use it as recommended, because the one major failure I had with the car was when the right front suspension simply collapsed when I turned a corner. Ball joint, if I remember correctly.
And a funny story: I had one friend that had the same taste; loved my car and bought one himself, in a different color. So we occasionally traded off, picking up a girl for a second date in a different color Lincoln! Then we took it a step further and got a chauffer's cap someplace so we could pick her up not only in a different Lincoln, but with a chauffer. Don't remember if we ever actually got to pull that off.
Always loved this rig
I saw one of these cars, it was a 1960 model, being restored on the show "FantomWorks" on the History Channel a few years ago. These are oddly beautiful old cars. On the show, it seemed they fought greatly with this car's restoration, especially with the power steering unit which you mentioned that ALWAYS seemed to leak. It seems that parts for these cars are also extremely hard to get. Thanks for the video, very informative!! (Though I like the '69 Lincoln you mentioned that YOU have much better!!)
Bitchun rides out in Salt lake city also did one up,seen em both.