I had just turned five years old when our neighbor brought home a white '59 Lincoln Mark sedan or coupe. Needless to say my memory is foggy on technical details, but I couldn't help but be impressed by how proud neighbor Nauert was of this car. He was radiant. He bundled up his kids and me and took us out for a long, slow cruise through our small town. Other than riding in such a big, weird car, one of the reasons I vividly remember it was because Mr. Nauert could not keep his finger off the switch that rolled the "Breezeway" rear window up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Wow: A power rear window and slanted headlights! What more could a five-year old want?!
Adam, the reason that these are unibody vehicles is because Ford needed the Square Bird to be unibody, and Wixom was created to build them. Wixom assembly would not be profitable with only Thunderbird production, so a decision was made to switch the Lincolns to unibody construction so they could make Wixom assembly profitable. Interestingly, in '67 Thunderbird went back to body on frame construction while unibody Continentals were built in the same plant. And, like you, I think these cars are just so weirdly fascinating, with a lot of wonderful detail, and good interior quality.
All true, but there was also something else: Why even go unibody in the first place? Because even back then some knowledgeable engineers believed that unit-body construction would be the way of the future (don't ask me how they came up with *that* crazy idea!). The Ford engineers wanted to get a jump on the rest of the industry with that engineering concept, which was why the Wixom plant was approved for construction, and the subsequent T-Bird and Lincoln production there. They wanted to see how big unibody could get...and they sure did. They learned very quickly that a behemoth like the '58 Lincoln didn't really display any real advantages over the old-school body-on-frame construction, save for interior space in a low-slung shell...and certain problems directly attributable to the unibody did arise. But, they did learn lessons and made dramatic improvements to the Lincoln unibody for the following decade, improvements that were still relevant even when that much-smaller design grew in size. But back then they realized that unibody construction automatically meant higher production costs, and the Ford hierarchy wanted to see profits. I mean, yes, they did see profits, but they wanted to see *more* profits. That was why they ditched unibody on T-Birds starting in '67, and all Lincolns by '70. Ironically, they ended up having to go back to unibody eventually, because that prediction of the way of the future ended up being very true.
The separate frame cars have always been lighter and drove better. Check the curb weight of a 1936 Ford against the recently deceased Ford Ecosport. Or any other comparison you can find… The Unibody cars are just cheaper to make, until they get this big. The “Bullet Birds” had a bolt on doghouse and replaceable front fenders but were still considered a “unibody”.
The '58 - '60 Lincolns are by far my favorite style Lincolns of all time. I first fell in love with them after watching Eva Marie Saint drive off in that '58 or '59 Lincoln in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest. If I owned one, I would call her Eleanor. 😁
When I was in HS, one of these '58 convertibles, white on white, was for sale in someone's front yard in the tiny village of Coral, IL. It was just another tired used car to most people who passed by, as it sat for ages, but to me it was special even then.
Such a beautiful car. Thank you Adam, for featuring this stunning car. When I was a young boy, my first model car was a 1958 Lincoln Continental convertible. This brings back many memories to this 70 year old car enthusiast.
Ever since I was a teenager - I always loved the looks of these Lincoln Continental Mark III automobiles. By the time I had my driver's license, these Lincolns were already over 10 years old and they were beyond their prime here in Michigan. A woman who lived a couple blocks from my parents - had one in Coral Pink with a white convertible top. The interior had white leatherette seats with pink and white chrome door panels. It also had a continental kit spare tire on the rear bumper. That car was flashy and noticed as she drove it around. I always wondered what it would be like to drive one.
Adam, you mentioned that the Cruise-o-Matic was bullet proof. My family’s experience not so much. We had a beautiful 61 Thunderbird that had a major transmission failure at 40k miles. The Ford dealer said the aluminum transmission case had cracked and an internal web had broken away. My dad who was an engineer who spent the early fifties working in automatic transmissions for Ford, insisted that he get all the pieces to examine and photograph. After examining everything, the agreed-upon solution was to rebuild the transmission using a cast iron case from an earlier model Cruise-o-Matic. With the iron case, it lasted for all the remaining time with my family, including my aggressive driving as a teenager.
Mercury offered a tripower unit in 1958 on the 430 with 400 hp. Lincoln had the option but very few got it . only like a dozen of them. Oh and is what's even more amazing is that one could get a manual transmission with that super maruder 400 package on the mercury. There are a couple videos of one or two of these cars on you tube if anyone is interested . one even being drag raced.
I love the headlight design. The way the bumper integrates into the fender is interesting. The rear end is nice. And the dash is striking. I would love to feal that engine pulling down the road.
I saw the same Lincoln at the Detroit Concours yesterday. Beautiful car! Hilarious thing is I see myself in the background. LOL! I wish I turned around. I would have recognized you and said hello.
It difficult to judge the past by the present. Ostentatious for the most part worked in 1958. With regards to the number Continentals sold that year, keep in mind that my Dad bought a three bedroom house in 1958 for about the same price or maybe a little less than what this convertible sold for new.
I just went and checked the '58 Lincoln brochure and certainly there it says that these have 14" wheels. This one is unusual for a Continental in that it doesn't have a/c; almost all of them did. I agree with you that this car just screams luxury! I've always seen John Najjar as the main stylist for this with, of course, George Walker's approval.
A beast of a car, love the 58 front bumper and it's integration with the front fender sculpturing, if you were to take a hard curve at too high a speed with one of those, you'd be in a world of hurt, the car was meant to go cushy in a straight line, Beautiful? In the eye of the beholder but made a statement back then as it still does now...
I love these cars too, Adam. One tip - the clear instrument glass lens almost always cracks due to unibody flexing.....so if you find an NOS clear lens, don't install it!!!. The reason the 1969 coupe was re-started at Mark III was because Lincoln really didn't think ( in retrospect) these '58 to '60s were worthy of the Mark progression.
I think the 58's were so gorgeous in a decidedly 50's way! The headlight bezels were at their most dramatic in 58 as opposed to 59 and 60. Great piece of history!
Thank you for your review. I was at this concourse show in Detroit. Minor correction, the Cadillac 1974-1976 Series 75 sedan was the longest production car (sedan) ever made
There was a time I despised these. Now, they get more and more attractive to me every time I see one. I prefer the slightly more sedate front bumper for 1960, and the formal roofline on the sedans and lesser Lincolns (the roll down reverse slant windows on the Continental still look a little awkward to me). As far as 50s designs go, I think these are the most over the top and most unique. Looks especially good in black. Great example, thanks for showcasing this one. Nice to know you appreciate these too!
Years back I was at a vintage auto restoration facility looking at the cars they had for sale. I walked into the shop to have a look at the cars that would be coming up. In progress was one of these '58-'60 Lincoln's. I'd seen them in photos but never in real life. Standing next to it I was aghast at its size. I'd been a car guy since I was in diapers, and I was shocked by how huge it was. The trunk lid was closed and just looking at that it appeared as big as a good-sized dining table. A humorous thought was that a helicopter could land on it. For anyone that's never seen these cars in person, it would be worth it to seek one out at a car show. The pod style gauge unit was very advanced. I don't recall those turning up until the GM trucks from the late1980s. In this car it looks like it's floating right next to the remainder of the dashboard. Back in the day, you certainly had to be doing well to buy one of these with a base price in the area of $7K. My parents had bought our home for $8K in 1958.
58 through 60 Lincolns were magnificent in their OTT excessive chromed land YACHT configuration. Had a 78 Town Coupe which was once again returned to size close to these! MAGNIFICENT! Wish I had never let it go! Currently have a 2007 Signature Limited! Last of the GREAT AMERICAN Luxury Sedans!
I read somewhere that Lincoln was toying with putting the TeleTouch system in the 58 Lincolns, and that is why the steering hub and column are so large, in preparation for it.
I had a 66 coupe with the 462 MEL engine. It had leaf springs and a hell of a lot of torque. It didn’t take make to wind those springs up and lay dash lines of rubber. I still have dreams about that car. It had the hydraulic windshield wipers that would rip the rubber squeegees off the blade if the it rained and froze over night. I had it in the 80’s when gas octane was lower. It didn’t ping on tip-in; it rattled like a diesel. We had an airport nearby and a little AVGAS was a necessary additive. One day, I stopped by a customer’s house to collect a payment. When I started her back up the oil light didn’t go out. So my friend and I towed it with a little Ford Courier. Yes, a Ford Courier, LOL. It was in the middle of February and there was snow on the ground. I had to drop the antisway, jack the engine off its mounts, walk to oil pan off by turning the crank so the oil pan lip could get past each counterweight while it rained sleet and I had the flu. I had to do this at night so ai wouldn’t miss work. It was my only ride at the time. I think she got around 8mi/gal What had happened was a rock-hard piece of what looked like plastic jammed the gearotor oil pump turning the pencil drive shaft that couples the pump to the distributor drive gear into a pretzel. Wear did this little hard piece of an o-ringy thing come from? It turned out to be a valve guide seal that had hardened by heat and age that broke off and found it way into the pan. BTW, those 2 doors were so big and heavy that I used to joke that if the steering box ever let loose at highway speed I could steer the car by opening and closing the doors.
Hello Adam. I just wanted to drop in and make a rare comment on here since I have been enjoying your videos for months now and I am impressed with every video you have created so far on your channel-. I am reminded of how my Grandfather (who passed a long time ago now) always drove Lincolns and Cadillacs when someone was still "special" to be driving them. My Mother, who had me later in life, got to drive his fantastic Continental Mark II in 1957 for her prom. As you know, you had to be a celebrity or have some status in the world to drive a two-tone black and yellow Mark II at that time-. I loved the 1967 triple-black Cadillac Eldorado you showcased recently and would pay Top-Dollar in cash to any of your viewers who has one loaded with low miles in excellent condition! Have a wonderful week enjoying driving your cars that "they" just don't make them as they used to! - "Ryan".
Hey Adam, I am overwrought with ambivalence over the styling of the 58 - 60 Continentals!!!! Part of me thinks they are gorgeous & part of me thinks they are butt ugly!!! In any case I think that they were very good cars!!! Thanks for sharing this fun video!!! 👍👍🙂
Another great video, Adam. My mother had a '57 Lincoln Premiere Landau (4 door hardtop) in a peachy salmon with an off-white roof. My dad called it a glorified Ford. The 1958 Lincoln had the distinction of being the first car available with a factory FM radio. It was a separate unit mounted under the dash.
My dad had one when I was a kid in the sixty's in southern California big bad 4 door hardtop we use to call it the Cadillac killer what a beautiful car .
There was a ‘58 at Gilmore. I got a good glamour pic of it with those canted headlights filling the frame of the picture. Truly colossal cars to behold in person.
There was a factory service bulletin on that crack at the 55.. There were a few mods that were made to prevent that crack from happening so this one probably had that done...
I think you are wrong about the speedometer cover being glass. My grandfather bought a new 58 2dr Continental when I was 4 or 5. Even at that age I was a gearhead. I thought it was sooooo cool to see the little swirl marks the cigarette lighter made on that lens! I know I put several swirlies on there. The fact that I'm here today says a LOT about the patience of that man! Oh, and I also ran a little toy car across the metal molding where the "breezeway" rear window meets the back seat, putting tons of scratches in it. Oh, and that time I was playing "gas station" with the garden hose....
As a youngster, I recall these were pretty rare, even back when they were almost new. The last active one near here was a black-on-black 4dr, owned by the original buyer, an elderly widower who broke it out of the garage a couple times a month thru the late1980s.
My dad had a 1959 Mk4 but it caught fire and ended its life. I can still remember the flame leaping out of the engine compartment when the fire department fought the flames.
I have a '59 that I literally saved from the jaws of the crusher, and also a '58 Cadillac. The Lincoln is a superior car, from things like the welded front fenders, the two a/c condensers with the solidly mounted hoses/lines, and the driver/owner -focused features like that Directed Power diff and centralized lube system, and that huge engine. The Lincoln is broad shouldered masculinity and the Cad is soft rolled bosomy femininity. the Lincoln and Tbird were Fords unit body cars of the time, sharing some structure, and built on the same assembly line at Wixom. And my Lincoln has the infamous speedo crack!
When I was a little kid I thought the 58 Lincoln was absolutely beautiful. I bought my first Lincoln while I was in Highschool. I still have it. A 64 Continental Convertable . Did you know the 59 Edsel used the left over tail light lenses from the 58 Lincoln.
Goodday Adam, Absolutely gorgeous from every angle. Beautifully captured thank you for sharing. Your number 1 Fan in Australia Louis Kats from Melbourne Australia ☺ 👍 ❤
I saw one of these a month ago at a car cruise night, sitting next to a '58 Buick. This thing is a behemoth. It made the Buick look like an economy car and the Buick Special is a big car.
I wonder if the Mark III-V series was repeated by Lincoln because, technically, the 58-60 Marks were Continentals and not Lincolns, as Ford was trying to establish Continental as a separate brand?
As a kid sitting in the back seat of our 1964 Lincoln waiting for my mom to come out of a store, a sedan version of one of these parked next to us, and I couldn't believe when I saw the Continental badges on it. It had conventional opening doors, was very large, and not shaped like any Lincoln I'd ever seen. Yet it was only a few years old, so that's how unpopular they must have been. And I didn't notice another one for years.
Automatic headlight dimming was not named Autotronic eye, but AUTRONIC EYE! --Provided thru the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors. Eventually renamed GUIDE-MATIC in 1960.
Fascinating about the wheel size change. Going to smaller wheels and brakes to accomodate bigger white walls sounds like an example of how the cartoonish cars of the late fifties spent too much time in the hands of Stylists and not enough time in the Engineering Department.
I had a '59 convertible. Today I'd argue that although oversized, it LOOKS BETTER than a Caddy or Imperial of 1959 because the fins are not RIDICULOUSLY large like those cars...
I’m currently watching the third Season of Perry Mason which was filled in 1959-1960 and Perry drives a 1960 Continental convertible much like this. In the previous Season he had a ‘59 Cadillac Series 62 convertible. There are also a number of 1959 Buicks featured, it’s so fun seeing these giant, chrome festooned behemoths when they were brand new. It’s sad to me what we accept for transportation in the modern era.
@@usmale49 That was Season 1 filmed from 1957-1958. As with most programs from the era they updated the vehicles each Season to keep them up to date. Believe me, I can tell the difference between a ‘58 and a ‘59 Cadillac LOL.
Sorry, Adam. Put me in the company of your designer friends. This car reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer designs a car. Sitting next to the lovely 1956 Mark II, the word degenerate comes to mind.
It's great that this car exists just the way it does. Like a shape out of some fantasy realm. I remember looking at one like this as a youngster and it was simply satisfying that pretty much every detail about it was kinda dreamlike and unreal in size and shape. The front especially has a queen like character and the rear end is about as much "spaceship" as it can get.
Back in 1982 a friend’s grandma was selling her 1958 four door MarkIII hardtop for $50!! I didn’t buy it because I didn’t have a driveway, parallel parking this yacht in NYC didn’t seem appealing to me as a kid but I liked the Breezeway rear window! It wasn’t called a Lincoln then, later 60’s Mark’s were named Lincolns. That’s why they reused the numbers!
I owned a 1959 Lincoln sedan back in high school. You are right that the 430 V8 had lots of power. The trunk was big enough to put 4 pairs of skis inside. That positraction rear end didn’t help going up frozen Highway 2 to Stevens Pass. A snap spin had that car pointing the opposite direction and back home in just a second or two. I should have bought studded snow tires.. The spacious interior was a teenage dream for watching the submarine races. Plenty of room for your friends.
I always thought the canted headlight styling came from cat eye glasses people wore in the 50's that were so popular, I believe Marlyn Monroe drove one of these cars in one of her movies ..
I'm with your designer friends opinion of it. The 0-60 time is amazing for that, though. Did Exner like the slanted headlight thing? Some Chryco cars had that too, didn't they?
My favorite of the three years was the 60 Mark V as it had a cleaned up front end, rear end and a much nicer instrument panel. Seems the 1958 recession had an impact on power as some of the 59 cars came with less engine power choices than the 58's.
Design wise, like you, I like the 1960s the best of the three. However, from a performance standpoint, the 1960's only came with a 2 barrel carb which hurt power, 315 hp down from 375 in 1958. The 1958 models had such poor fuel mileage ( a paltry 7-8 MPG, bad even for the time!) that the decision was made to detune them slightly to up the MPG, which went up to about 10 MPG, still pretty bad, but closer to the average 14 MPG at the time. That said, the MEL engine was pretty much bulletproof reliability wise. It was hard for such big engines to haul around all that weight without poor mileage- with someone inside the car, the continental Mark III would have weighed close to three tons. The Mercury Maurader version of the MEL big block was the first production engine to breach 400 horsepower- that said, they are exceedingly rare.
It's a 4-wheel beauty. And to think that this car leads Lincoln(Ford)'s company forward after failing with Lincoln Continental Mark II sales, but I understood that it wasn't called Lincoln and wasn't a Mark model. They only called it Continental III, in sedan and coupe version. The Lincoln Continental Mark III was made in 1969 until 1971
A forerunner to the original “ Bat 🦇 Mobile “. Longer Lower Wider with a sinister stance was the theme for 58 Lincoln. Dash was reminiscent of console television 📺 set a nod to the up and coming entertainment fad of the fifty’s. I Love Lucy’s Fred Mertz could have styled that bad boy to great effect.
-AS to the two barrel carburetor: These actually worked. A torque engine versus a horsepower engine needs the intake velocity of a smaller carb. My dad had a '72 Ford LTD with the 402 2 barrel, and though it had trailer gearing, it still pulled a 26 foot Argosy [Airstream] trailer through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina like it wasn't even back there. Then dad decided to buy a pink Cadillac. Yes, it was "Bimini beige". Yes it was PINK! A 425 cubic inch Cadillac with a stupid Quadrajunk four barrel.I drove it to high school a few times and even a teacher commented on it; I raised my hand: "That's my mom's car". All eyes in the classroom in 1982 on me: "My dad wanted a Cadillac, and this one was cheap, and so he bought it." "This is one way that parents kinda abuse their kids, even if they are great parents. I don't like being seen in that thing...." Those of you with kids, think about this! Children know WAY more about cars than you do. They know what the other kids are being "chauffeured" around in and they are grateful for your efforts to take them from place to place. If their friend is getting to soccer practice via Bentley and they are getting there via Jetta they don't fucking care! They just want to play ball. But back in my day, the late 1970's, when my dad had the pink Cadillac? When we drove around I used to hide behind the "C" pillar so that nobody would see me in that horrid car!
Good comment. There's a book by some MIT engineer or something that covers carburetion and other things very well. Can't think of the author's name. But sometimes the 2 barrel is the better choice. You still in aviation? I remember the 747 videos.
Ok I have heard that argument. But you are splitting hairs and it was never marketed as such and if you go to the parts store and ask for an oil filter for a 402 LTD they would ask whether you were on drugs. My Kawasaki is a 650, but the engine is a 651 actually, same deal. I wouldn't go around and tell people my dad had a 651 Kaw.
I like lots of different cars, but just can't see the beauty in these models. The previous Mk 2 was stunning, and the later Continentals were so elegant. The '58-'60? Blah!
I own a 1960 mark V it is an absolutely effortless car to drive even with a two barrel carburetor is very fast… but terrible on gas,and has many unusual features,Any car show it instantly becomes the star ..
I had a '58 Edsel with the 410, a smaller MEL engine than the 430 here. I can attest it would show its taillights to a lot of embarrassed chevy boys.....yes it was shockingly powerful. However, some of them had a perpetually leaky rear main rope seal. I found the oil pump spring needed to be softened ( replaced ) to lower idle oil pressure to help stop the leak. So it was a powerful engine, but prone to running hot and not as leakproof as the great FE series.
These cars looked even longer in the brochure photos. It was apparently achieved by bending the film inside the camera which resulted in a "stretched" image. Which is the reason why sometimes the wheels in the brochures are not round but just a bit oval shaped. If I am not mistaken, these were mostly done by a company called Boulevard Photographic, a team of photographers who made many of these romantic, rich looking brochure shots. The technique was rather straightforward (bending the film over a piece of wood) but kept "a mystery" by adding additional, non functional adjuster wheels to the large format camera. I hope I remember this right, maybe someone out there knows :)
The negative views of designers is understandable. Oddly, recently the 58-60’s Lincoln’s have started to appear less ugly. I don’t know why. The quality of the materials in the interior is wonderful. No plastics. I enjoyed the peekaboo view of the Mark II as well (perhaps my favorite car design bar none.) Thanks for the great content!🙏🏽
It's a very misunderstood design. Put it next to modern architecture of the time & it looks perfect. Put a 58 Caddy in the same setting and it looks like a Model T.
Compared to many of the domestic cars of the mid-50s, this MkIII is “low-slung” and “wide-tracked” giving it a very futuristic look. As to the MkII, as the saying goes… “If I win the lottery!” There’s a Season 1 episode of Perry Mason where the MkII has a featured role. It was a handmade masterpiece priced at $10,000 in the fall of ‘56. That’s $108,888 in 2022 dollars!
That's a real beauty, but I prefer the 59 Mark IV. Toned down styling, slightly better fuel economy and the tail lights mimic the T V screen shape of the instrument cluster.
In regards to the Lincoln(s) and the Ford Thunderbird(s) constructed with the unitized body, they the wanted the cars ride as low as passable and have the lowest floor as passable, even if it called for a taller driveshaft tunnel. Look how the floor is way below the doorsills. 14" wheels where also popular at that time for lower ride height. Please reply. Dave...
PS--The Road & Track road test called this '58 convertible the "new Bugatti Royale". Also, switching in 1960 to leaf springs in the rear wasn't for money saving--it was because, as with every other brand, the air suspension for which the rear coils were designed, was cancelled and the car rode better with the leafs. This is just from my own reading of period literature.
@@RareClassicCars The fun thing is to watch the great Tom McCahill narrating a torture test of the 1958 big cars against the Torsion-Aire Chrysler products. I can remember that the '58 Lincoln following the undamaged Imperial had both rear shocks broken and one of the coil springs torn from its housing. Better than the '58 Cadillac, where the doors and the trunk lid flew up! It's here on CZcams for viewing.
This car reminds me of the ones characters Perry Mason and Paul Drake drove on the show, Masons Black and Drakes White, i remember the lights and wondered what make they were and now i know, nice looking automobile
Didn’t make it it to the Concours today, but I did got to the Milford Show. There were multiple flyovers today. Definitely an interesting Lincoln, the headlights remind me a lot of the ‘61 Chrysler’s headlights. Hopefully I’ll be able to go next year, but I had a blast at Milford today.
@@RareClassicCars You're right but in 58' I think it became "Twin Range Turbodrive" as it was a full time 3 speed unlike the 55' thru 57' 2 speed TurboDrive that only went to low when you floored it off the line... And I could easily be totally wrong..
I’m old enough to remember these cars from my childhood, and a couple of things struck me as I watched the video. The first was that this Mark III owner made a big mistake parking beside a Mark II. As you know, the Mark II was Ford’s response to the European luxury brands, and at $10,000, the hand-built Mark II was priced equal with a Rolls-Royce, and still Ford lost $1,000 on each unit they built. To make the Continental profitable, Ford reduced its purchase price by 40 percent and moved assembly to their new Wixom plant, where it would share a mass-production environment with the plus-sized Thunderbird. This meant going with a larger chassis, leaving behind the Mark II’s European GT compact form in favor of the “bigger is better” school of 1950s American auto design. That badge indicating the car had a limited-slip differential was probably put on the trunk to inform tow truck drivers of the lock-up rear axle, so they could take whatever precautions were necessary.
I had just turned five years old when our neighbor brought home a white '59 Lincoln Mark sedan or coupe. Needless to say my memory is foggy on technical details, but I couldn't help but be impressed by how proud neighbor Nauert was of this car. He was radiant.
He bundled up his kids and me and took us out for a long, slow cruise through our small town. Other than riding in such a big, weird car, one of the reasons I vividly remember it was because Mr. Nauert could not keep his finger off the switch that rolled the "Breezeway" rear window up and down. Up and down. Up and down.
Wow: A power rear window and slanted headlights! What more could a five-year old want?!
What a fun memory.
We had a 58 continental 4 door hardtop breezeway rear window a.k.a.the fart window
I was 0 yo
Adam, the reason that these are unibody vehicles is because Ford needed the Square Bird to be unibody, and Wixom was created to build them. Wixom assembly would not be profitable with only Thunderbird production, so a decision was made to switch the Lincolns to unibody construction so they could make Wixom assembly profitable. Interestingly, in '67 Thunderbird went back to body on frame construction while unibody Continentals were built in the same plant. And, like you, I think these cars are just so weirdly fascinating, with a lot of wonderful detail, and good interior quality.
All true, but there was also something else: Why even go unibody in the first place? Because even back then some knowledgeable engineers believed that unit-body construction would be the way of the future (don't ask me how they came up with *that* crazy idea!). The Ford engineers wanted to get a jump on the rest of the industry with that engineering concept, which was why the Wixom plant was approved for construction, and the subsequent T-Bird and Lincoln production there. They wanted to see how big unibody could get...and they sure did. They learned very quickly that a behemoth like the '58 Lincoln didn't really display any real advantages over the old-school body-on-frame construction, save for interior space in a low-slung shell...and certain problems directly attributable to the unibody did arise. But, they did learn lessons and made dramatic improvements to the Lincoln unibody for the following decade, improvements that were still relevant even when that much-smaller design grew in size.
But back then they realized that unibody construction automatically meant higher production costs, and the Ford hierarchy wanted to see profits. I mean, yes, they did see profits, but they wanted to see *more* profits. That was why they ditched unibody on T-Birds starting in '67, and all Lincolns by '70. Ironically, they ended up having to go back to unibody eventually, because that prediction of the way of the future ended up being very true.
It's a bit more complicated than that.
@@paulpeterson4311 easy to say that with no explanation. Enquiring minds would like to know
@@paulpeterson4311 Well, yes, but I didn't want to short out CZcams with too long an assessment. Besides, that's the small-and-skinny of it.
The separate frame cars have always been lighter and drove better. Check the curb weight of a 1936 Ford against the recently deceased Ford Ecosport.
Or any other comparison you can find…
The Unibody cars are just cheaper to make, until they get this big.
The “Bullet Birds” had a bolt on doghouse and replaceable front fenders but were still considered a “unibody”.
The '58 - '60 Lincolns are by far my favorite style Lincolns of all time. I first fell in love with them after watching Eva Marie Saint drive off in that '58 or '59 Lincoln in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest. If I owned one, I would call her Eleanor. 😁
It was a ‘58 model. 👍
There was a white Lincoln convertible on an episode of Andy Griffith. The episode when the big motion picture making company came to Mayberry. 😃
Yes, I always loved that particular scene from the movie...and it was a 1958! You have a good eye!!!
When I was in HS, one of these '58 convertibles, white on white, was for sale in someone's front yard in the tiny village of Coral, IL. It was just another tired used car to most people who passed by, as it sat for ages, but to me it was special even then.
Such a beautiful car. Thank you Adam, for featuring this stunning car. When I was a young boy, my first model car was a 1958 Lincoln Continental convertible. This brings back many memories to this 70 year old car enthusiast.
The '58 Continental Mark III is an amazing piece of engineering. America at its finest!
Love how the freestanding instrument pod foreshadows the OLED screens now.
Ever since I was a teenager - I always loved the looks of these Lincoln Continental Mark III automobiles. By the time I had my driver's license, these Lincolns were already over 10 years old and they were beyond their prime here in Michigan. A woman who lived a couple blocks from my parents - had one in Coral Pink with a white convertible top. The interior had white leatherette seats with pink and white chrome door panels. It also had a continental kit spare tire on the rear bumper. That car was flashy and noticed as she drove it around. I always wondered what it would be like to drive one.
Adam, you mentioned that the Cruise-o-Matic was bullet proof. My family’s experience not so much. We had a beautiful 61 Thunderbird that had a major transmission failure at 40k miles. The Ford dealer said the aluminum transmission case had cracked and an internal web had broken away. My dad who was an engineer who spent the early fifties working in automatic transmissions for Ford, insisted that he get all the pieces to examine and photograph. After examining everything, the agreed-upon solution was to rebuild the transmission using a cast iron case from an earlier model Cruise-o-Matic. With the iron case, it lasted for all the remaining time with my family, including my aggressive driving as a teenager.
Mercury offered a tripower unit in 1958 on the 430 with 400 hp. Lincoln had the option but very few got it . only like a dozen of them.
Oh and is what's even more amazing is that one could get a manual transmission with that super maruder 400 package on the mercury. There are a couple videos of one or two of these cars on you tube if anyone is interested . one even being drag raced.
I love the headlight design. The way the bumper integrates into the fender is interesting. The rear end is nice. And the dash is striking. I would love to feal that engine pulling down the road.
I saw the same Lincoln at the Detroit Concours yesterday. Beautiful car! Hilarious thing is I see myself in the background. LOL! I wish I turned around. I would have recognized you and said hello.
It difficult to judge the past by the present. Ostentatious for the most part worked in 1958. With regards to the number Continentals sold that year, keep in mind that my Dad bought a three bedroom house in 1958 for about the same price or maybe a little less than what this convertible sold for new.
I just went and checked the '58 Lincoln brochure and certainly there it says that these have 14" wheels. This one is unusual for a Continental in that it doesn't have a/c; almost all of them did. I agree with you that this car just screams luxury! I've always seen John Najjar as the main stylist for this with, of course, George Walker's approval.
A beast of a car, love the 58 front bumper and it's integration with the front fender sculpturing, if you were to take a hard curve at too high a speed with one of those, you'd be in a world of hurt, the car was meant to go cushy in a straight line, Beautiful? In the eye of the beholder but made a statement back then as it still does now...
I love these cars too, Adam.
One tip - the clear instrument glass lens almost always cracks due to unibody flexing.....so if you find an NOS clear lens, don't install it!!!.
The reason the 1969 coupe was re-started at Mark III was because Lincoln really didn't think ( in retrospect) these '58 to '60s were worthy of the Mark progression.
Some were seen occasionally on the road when I was a kid. This one is the first I've seen close up. Amazing!
I think the 58's were so gorgeous in a decidedly 50's way! The headlight bezels were at their most dramatic in 58 as opposed to 59 and 60. Great piece of history!
Thank you for your review. I was at this concourse show in Detroit. Minor correction, the Cadillac 1974-1976 Series 75 sedan was the longest production car (sedan) ever made
There was a time I despised these. Now, they get more and more attractive to me every time I see one. I prefer the slightly more sedate front bumper for 1960, and the formal roofline on the sedans and lesser Lincolns (the roll down reverse slant windows on the Continental still look a little awkward to me).
As far as 50s designs go, I think these are the most over the top and most unique. Looks especially good in black. Great example, thanks for showcasing this one. Nice to know you appreciate these too!
Years back I was at a vintage auto restoration facility looking at the cars they had for sale. I walked into the shop to have a look at the cars that would be coming up. In progress was one of these '58-'60 Lincoln's. I'd seen them in photos but never in real life. Standing next to it I was aghast at its size. I'd been a car guy since I was in diapers, and I was shocked by how huge it was. The trunk lid was closed and just looking at that it appeared as big as a good-sized dining table. A humorous thought was that a helicopter could land on it. For anyone that's never seen these cars in person, it would be worth it to seek one out at a car show.
The pod style gauge unit was very advanced. I don't recall those turning up until the GM trucks from the late1980s. In this car it looks like it's floating right next to the remainder of the dashboard.
Back in the day, you certainly had to be doing well to buy one of these with a base price in the area of $7K. My parents had bought our home for $8K in 1958.
I live in California and even by the early 70s these were quite the rare sight.
58 through 60 Lincolns were magnificent in their OTT excessive chromed land YACHT configuration. Had a 78 Town Coupe which was once again returned to size close to these! MAGNIFICENT! Wish I had never let it go! Currently have a 2007 Signature Limited! Last of the GREAT AMERICAN Luxury Sedans!
I read somewhere that Lincoln was toying with putting the TeleTouch system in the 58 Lincolns, and that is why the steering hub and column are so large, in preparation for it.
I had a 66 coupe with the 462 MEL engine. It had leaf springs and a hell of a lot of torque. It didn’t take make to wind those springs up and lay dash lines of rubber. I still have dreams about that car. It had the hydraulic windshield wipers that would rip the rubber squeegees off the blade if the it rained and froze over night. I had it in the 80’s when gas octane was lower. It didn’t ping on tip-in; it rattled like a diesel. We had an airport nearby and a little AVGAS was a necessary additive.
One day, I stopped by a customer’s house to collect a payment. When I started her back up the oil light didn’t go out. So my friend and I towed it with a little Ford Courier. Yes, a Ford Courier, LOL. It was in the middle of February and there was snow on the ground. I had to drop the antisway, jack the engine off its mounts, walk to oil pan off by turning the crank so the oil pan lip could get past each counterweight while it rained sleet and I had the flu. I had to do this at night so ai wouldn’t miss work. It was my only ride at the time. I think she got around 8mi/gal
What had happened was a rock-hard piece of what looked like plastic jammed the gearotor oil pump turning the pencil drive shaft that couples the pump to the distributor drive gear into a pretzel. Wear did this little hard piece of an o-ringy thing come from? It turned out to be a valve guide seal that had hardened by heat and age that broke off and found it way into the pan.
BTW, those 2 doors were so big and heavy that I used to joke that if the steering box ever let loose at highway speed I could steer the car by opening and closing the doors.
Hello Adam. I just wanted to drop in and make a rare comment on here since I have been enjoying your videos for months now and I am impressed with every video you have created so far on your channel-. I am reminded of how my Grandfather (who passed a long time ago now) always drove Lincolns and Cadillacs when someone was still "special" to be driving them. My Mother, who had me later in life, got to drive his fantastic Continental Mark II in 1957 for her prom. As you know, you had to be a celebrity or have some status in the world to drive a two-tone black and yellow Mark II at that time-. I loved the 1967 triple-black Cadillac Eldorado you showcased recently and would pay Top-Dollar in cash to any of your viewers who has one loaded with low miles in excellent condition! Have a wonderful week enjoying driving your cars that "they" just don't make them as they used to! - "Ryan".
I believe Perry Mason was seen driving one of these in a PM episode.
The '60 MK V gets my vote yet the 58's are the most dramatic.
Thanks for posting.
Hey Adam, I am overwrought with ambivalence over the styling of the 58 - 60 Continentals!!!! Part of me thinks they are gorgeous & part of me thinks they are butt ugly!!! In any case I think that they were very good cars!!! Thanks for sharing this fun video!!! 👍👍🙂
Another great video, Adam. My mother had a '57 Lincoln Premiere Landau (4 door hardtop) in a peachy salmon with an off-white roof. My dad called it a glorified Ford.
The 1958 Lincoln had the distinction of being the first car available with a factory FM radio. It was a separate unit mounted under the dash.
My dad had one when I was a kid in the sixty's in southern California big bad 4 door hardtop we use to call it the Cadillac killer what a beautiful car .
What a way to start my Monday morning, Adam and and a Mark III
There was a ‘58 at Gilmore. I got a good glamour pic of it with those canted headlights filling the frame of the picture. Truly colossal cars to behold in person.
I drove a 59 convertible Lincoln years back. It was the smoothest riding car I have ever driven.
There was a factory service bulletin on that crack at the 55.. There were a few mods that were made to prevent that crack from happening so this one probably had that done...
Really? Interesting!
@@RareClassicCars I learned that from Kris Trexler and he's a 58' Edsel-Lincoln guru..
I think you are wrong about the speedometer cover being glass. My grandfather bought a new 58 2dr Continental when I was 4 or 5. Even at that age I was a gearhead. I thought it was sooooo cool to see the little swirl marks the cigarette lighter made on that lens! I know I put several swirlies on there. The fact that I'm here today says a LOT about the patience of that man! Oh, and I also ran a little toy car across the metal molding where the "breezeway" rear window meets the back seat, putting tons of scratches in it. Oh, and that time I was playing "gas station" with the garden hose....
As a youngster, I recall these were pretty rare, even back when they were almost new. The last active one near here was a black-on-black 4dr, owned by the original buyer, an elderly widower who broke it out of the garage a couple times a month thru the late1980s.
Hi Adam
Those tail lamp lenses were shared with all 1959 Edsels and most 1962-63 Mercury Comets.
You can see the Virgil Exner influence for sure.
My dad had a 1959 Mk4 but it caught fire and ended its life. I can still remember the flame leaping out of the engine compartment when the fire department fought the flames.
I love the canted headlights! My dad had a '62 Chrysler with similar cant. I always liked the look.
Love those cars! The weirder the styling, the better I like it.
I have a '59 that I literally saved from the jaws of the crusher, and also a '58 Cadillac. The Lincoln is a superior car, from things like the welded front fenders, the two a/c condensers with the solidly mounted hoses/lines, and the driver/owner -focused features like that Directed Power diff and centralized lube system, and that huge engine. The Lincoln is broad shouldered masculinity and the Cad is soft rolled bosomy femininity. the Lincoln and Tbird were Fords unit body cars of the time, sharing some structure, and built on the same assembly line at Wixom.
And my Lincoln has the infamous speedo crack!
When I was a little kid I thought the 58 Lincoln was absolutely beautiful. I bought my first Lincoln while I was in Highschool. I still have it. A 64 Continental Convertable . Did you know the 59 Edsel used the left over tail light lenses from the 58 Lincoln.
Goodday Adam,
Absolutely gorgeous from every angle.
Beautifully captured thank you for sharing.
Your number 1 Fan in Australia
Louis Kats from Melbourne Australia ☺ 👍 ❤
When cars were actually INTERESTING. ❤
I saw one of these a month ago at a car cruise night, sitting next to a '58 Buick. This thing is a behemoth. It made the Buick look like an economy car and the Buick Special is a big car.
the 58 Buick Special was the smallest of the fleet. The Limited would have been a better comparison.
I wonder if the Mark III-V series was repeated by Lincoln because, technically, the 58-60 Marks were Continentals and not Lincolns, as Ford was trying to establish Continental as a separate brand?
Excellent point.
@@Primus54 thanks
You beat me to that comment. No Lincoln badge on this car.
Thank you for sharing Adam. A wealth of information. It is interesting how Lincoln went in another direction for 1961 and succeeded.
I saw one in North St Paul several years ago that had a $100k restoration, it was amazing.
"Guilty pleasure" ---- brilliantly stated!
As a kid sitting in the back seat of our 1964 Lincoln waiting for my mom to come out of a store, a sedan version of one of these parked next to us, and I couldn't believe when I saw the Continental badges on it. It had conventional opening doors, was very large, and not shaped like any Lincoln I'd ever seen. Yet it was only a few years old, so that's how unpopular they must have been. And I didn't notice another one for years.
Adam , thanks for sharing 😊
Land whale that achieves 0-60 in less than 8 seconds? I'm speechless. MEL power.
Very interesting video, I like your stuff.
Automatic headlight dimming was not named Autotronic eye, but AUTRONIC EYE! --Provided thru the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors. Eventually renamed GUIDE-MATIC in 1960.
I think this car is beautiful. I do prefer the 4 door hard top. But this car is awesome! Thanks for posting.
Fascinating about the wheel size change. Going to smaller wheels and brakes to accomodate bigger white walls sounds like an example of how the cartoonish cars of the late fifties spent too much time in the hands of Stylists and not enough time in the Engineering Department.
I had a '59 convertible. Today I'd argue that although oversized, it LOOKS BETTER than a Caddy or Imperial of 1959 because the fins are not RIDICULOUSLY large like those cars...
I'm an artsy type and always loved those, but it's GOT to be a 4dr. Though I prefer that Horsh or the Berline in the background.
I’m currently watching the third Season of Perry Mason which was filled in 1959-1960 and Perry drives a 1960 Continental convertible much like this. In the previous Season he had a ‘59 Cadillac Series 62 convertible. There are also a number of 1959 Buicks featured, it’s so fun seeing these giant, chrome festooned behemoths when they were brand new. It’s sad to me what we accept for transportation in the modern era.
I'm almost sure that the Cadillac you're referring to on Perry Mason was a 1958!
@@usmale49 That was Season 1 filmed from 1957-1958. As with most programs from the era they updated the vehicles each Season to keep them up to date. Believe me, I can tell the difference between a ‘58 and a ‘59 Cadillac LOL.
Sorry, Adam. Put me in the company of your designer friends. This car reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer designs a car. Sitting next to the lovely 1956 Mark II, the word degenerate comes to mind.
It's great that this car exists just the way it does. Like a shape out of some fantasy realm. I remember looking at one like this as a youngster and it was simply satisfying that pretty much every detail about it was kinda dreamlike and unreal in size and shape. The front especially has a queen like character and the rear end is about as much "spaceship" as it can get.
Back in 1982 a friend’s grandma was selling her 1958 four door MarkIII hardtop for $50!! I didn’t buy it because I didn’t have a driveway, parallel parking this yacht in NYC didn’t seem appealing to me as a kid but I liked the Breezeway rear window!
It wasn’t called a Lincoln then, later 60’s Mark’s were named Lincolns. That’s why they reused the numbers!
Mark II, Mark III: Beauty, Beast.
From what I read online, the Autronic Eye was used by both GM and Ford.
I owned a 1959 Lincoln sedan back in high school. You are right that the 430 V8 had lots of power. The trunk was big enough to put 4 pairs of skis inside. That positraction rear end didn’t help going up frozen Highway 2 to Stevens Pass. A snap spin had that car pointing the opposite direction and back home in just a second or two. I should have bought studded snow tires..
The spacious interior was a teenage dream for watching the submarine races. Plenty of room for your friends.
The tail lights were also used on the 59 Edsel Ranger and Corsair. Villagers used a similar tail light.
Thanks for the video. Very nice dash design.
I always thought the canted headlight styling came from cat eye glasses people wore in the 50's that were so popular, I believe Marlyn Monroe drove one of these cars in one of her movies ..
Those cats eye glasses were just hideous!
Interesting how the interior styling of recent vehicles with flat screen type interfaces mimics the styling of this 58 Lincoln.
I'm with your designer friends opinion of it.
The 0-60 time is amazing for that, though.
Did Exner like the slanted headlight thing? Some Chryco cars had that too, didn't they?
Desoto and Chrysler had canted headlights as well through 1962.
@@williamdixon1992 So did the 1959 BUICK!!! Would love to get my hands on one of those beauties!!!
My favorite of the three years was the 60 Mark V as it had a cleaned up front end, rear end and a much nicer instrument panel. Seems the 1958 recession had an impact on power as some of the 59 cars came with less engine power choices than the 58's.
Design wise, like you, I like the 1960s the best of the three. However, from a performance standpoint, the 1960's only came with a 2 barrel carb which hurt power, 315 hp down from 375 in 1958. The 1958 models had such poor fuel mileage ( a paltry 7-8 MPG, bad even for the time!) that the decision was made to detune them slightly to up the MPG, which went up to about 10 MPG, still pretty bad, but closer to the average 14 MPG at the time. That said, the MEL engine was pretty much bulletproof reliability wise. It was hard for such big engines to haul around all that weight without poor mileage- with someone inside the car, the continental Mark III would have weighed close to three tons. The Mercury Maurader version of the MEL big block was the first production engine to breach 400 horsepower- that said, they are exceedingly rare.
The leaf spring unibody Lincolns made terrific Demo Derby cars!
It's a 4-wheel beauty. And to think that this car leads Lincoln(Ford)'s company forward after failing with Lincoln Continental Mark II sales, but I understood that it wasn't called Lincoln and wasn't a Mark model. They only called it Continental III, in sedan and coupe version. The Lincoln Continental Mark III was made in 1969 until 1971
A forerunner to the original “ Bat 🦇 Mobile “.
Longer Lower Wider with a sinister stance was the theme for 58 Lincoln.
Dash was reminiscent of console television 📺 set a nod to the up and coming entertainment fad of the fifty’s. I Love Lucy’s Fred Mertz could have styled that bad boy to great effect.
-AS to the two barrel carburetor: These actually worked. A torque engine versus a horsepower engine needs the intake velocity of a smaller carb. My dad had a '72 Ford LTD with the 402 2 barrel, and though it had trailer gearing, it still pulled a 26 foot Argosy [Airstream] trailer through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina like it wasn't even back there. Then dad decided to buy a pink Cadillac. Yes, it was "Bimini beige". Yes it was PINK! A 425 cubic inch Cadillac with a stupid Quadrajunk four barrel.I drove it to high school a few times and even a teacher commented on it; I raised my hand: "That's my mom's car". All eyes in the classroom in 1982 on me:
"My dad wanted a Cadillac, and this one was cheap, and so he bought it."
"This is one way that parents kinda abuse their kids, even if they are great parents. I don't like being seen in that thing...."
Those of you with kids, think about this! Children know WAY more about cars than you do. They know what the other kids are being "chauffeured" around in and they are grateful for your efforts to take them from place to place. If their friend is getting to soccer practice via Bentley and they are getting there via Jetta they don't fucking care! They just want to play ball. But back in my day, the late 1970's, when my dad had the pink Cadillac? When we drove around I used to hide behind the "C" pillar so that nobody would see me in that horrid car!
Good comment. There's a book by some MIT engineer or something that covers carburetion and other things very well. Can't think of the author's name. But sometimes the 2 barrel is the better choice.
You still in aviation? I remember the 747 videos.
That might have been either a 400 or a 429 in 1972, AFAIK Ford never made a 402.
@@mikekokomomike Wrong. My dad owned a '72 Ford LTD with a two-barrel 402. It was marketed as a 400, but it was actually a 402.
@@johnz8210 Yes, flying 767's now for a small cargo carrier out of Memphis. I need to put some videos together one of these days.
Ok I have heard that argument. But you are splitting hairs and it was never marketed as such and if you go to the parts store and ask for an oil filter for a 402 LTD they would ask whether you were on drugs. My Kawasaki is a 650, but the engine is a 651 actually, same deal. I wouldn't go around and tell people my dad had a 651 Kaw.
I love these cars!
It's unreal how far inboard the wheels are to the bodywork. On modern cars they're pushed as far out as possible. How times have changed.
I like lots of different cars, but just can't see the beauty in these models. The previous Mk 2 was stunning, and the later Continentals were so elegant. The '58-'60? Blah!
I own a 1960 mark V it is an absolutely effortless car to drive even with a two barrel carburetor is very fast… but terrible on gas,and has many unusual features,Any car show it instantly becomes the star ..
I had a 1963 Lincoln. The mpg was horrible but it was a head turner.
I had a '58 Edsel with the 410, a smaller MEL engine than the 430 here.
I can attest it would show its taillights to a lot of embarrassed chevy boys.....yes it was shockingly powerful.
However, some of them had a perpetually leaky rear main rope seal.
I found the oil pump spring needed to be softened ( replaced ) to lower idle oil pressure to help stop the leak.
So it was a powerful engine, but prone to running hot and not as leakproof as the great FE series.
These cars looked even longer in the brochure photos. It was apparently achieved by bending the film inside the camera which resulted in a "stretched" image. Which is the reason why sometimes the wheels in the brochures are not round but just a bit oval shaped. If I am not mistaken, these were mostly done by a company called Boulevard Photographic, a team of photographers who made many of these romantic, rich looking brochure shots. The technique was rather straightforward (bending the film over a piece of wood) but kept "a mystery" by adding additional, non functional adjuster wheels to the large format camera. I hope I remember this right, maybe someone out there knows :)
The negative views of designers is understandable. Oddly, recently the 58-60’s Lincoln’s have started to appear less ugly. I don’t know why. The quality of the materials in the interior is wonderful. No plastics. I enjoyed the peekaboo view of the Mark II as well (perhaps my favorite car design bar none.) Thanks for the great content!🙏🏽
I know why...Cyberpunk. Nothing is as ugly. Azteks are beautiful in the context of Cybertruck.
It's a very misunderstood design.
Put it next to modern architecture of the time & it looks perfect.
Put a 58 Caddy in the same setting and it looks like a Model T.
Compared to many of the domestic cars of the mid-50s, this MkIII is “low-slung” and “wide-tracked” giving it a very futuristic look. As to the MkII, as the saying goes… “If I win the lottery!” There’s a Season 1 episode of Perry Mason where the MkII has a featured role. It was a handmade masterpiece priced at $10,000 in the fall of ‘56. That’s $108,888 in 2022 dollars!
@@Primus54 thanks for the tip RE perry mason episode🙏🏽
@@mcy1122 Season 1 Ep 9, “The Case of the Vagabond Vixen”. Appears around the 6 minute mark. 👍
I believe the heat and A/C was also channeled though the door to the back seat area.
CZcams was kind enough to remind me that Jay Leno has a video of the coupe.
That's a real beauty, but I prefer the 59 Mark IV. Toned down styling, slightly better fuel economy and the tail lights mimic the T V screen shape of the instrument cluster.
I love the car and it's exterior is beautiful, but man that instrument cluster would make a freight train take dirt road.
Thanks for sharing!
“Make a freight train take a dirt road”?
Were you a writer for Green Acres. “That makes me as happy as a hobo with a green tie”.
I love these!
God I always wanted one of these, I want a big hard top sedan of these, they’re just so out there and cool
In regards to the Lincoln(s) and the Ford Thunderbird(s) constructed with the unitized body, they the wanted the cars ride as low as passable and have the lowest floor as passable, even if it called for a taller driveshaft tunnel. Look how the floor is way below the doorsills. 14" wheels where also popular at that time for lower ride height. Please reply. Dave...
PS--The Road & Track road test called this '58 convertible the "new Bugatti Royale". Also, switching in 1960 to leaf springs in the rear wasn't for money saving--it was because, as with every other brand, the air suspension for which the rear coils were designed, was cancelled and the car rode better with the leafs. This is just from my own reading of period literature.
That was a generous take on it. It was a cost cutting move.
@@RareClassicCars The fun thing is to watch the great Tom McCahill narrating a torture test of the 1958 big cars against the Torsion-Aire Chrysler products. I can remember that the '58 Lincoln following the undamaged Imperial had both rear shocks broken and one of the coil springs torn from its housing. Better than the '58 Cadillac, where the doors and the trunk lid flew up! It's here on CZcams for viewing.
If you want to see this car in white, watch "North by Northwest." Eva Marie Saint roars off in it after she shoots Cary Grant.
This car reminds me of the ones characters Perry Mason and Paul Drake drove on the show, Masons Black and Drakes White, i remember the lights and wondered what make they were and now i know, nice looking automobile
Saw this amazing car yesterday! Not a big fan of these, but this one is amazing! That my friend’s car next to it.
I am a big fan of this car! 👍Interesting tricolor interior.
The 58-60 Lincoln styling is positively sedate when compared to the Cadillac and Imperial.
Didn’t make it it to the Concours today, but I did got to the Milford Show. There were multiple flyovers today.
Definitely an interesting Lincoln, the headlights remind me a lot of the ‘61 Chrysler’s headlights. Hopefully I’ll be able to go next year, but I had a blast at Milford today.
True, Chrysler adopted this headlight design starting in 1961!
My absolute favorite year for auto-oddities; in contrast, 66 for most desired.
Adam you said it had Cruisomatic but they had what they called Turbodrive transmissions and I'm pretty sure that was a different transmission...
I think they were called TurboDrive before the 1958 model year.
@@RareClassicCars You're right but in 58' I think it became "Twin Range Turbodrive" as it was a full time 3 speed unlike the 55' thru 57' 2 speed TurboDrive that only went to low when you floored it off the line...
And I could easily be totally wrong..
I’m old enough to remember these cars from my childhood, and a couple of things struck me as I watched the video. The first was that this Mark III owner made a big mistake parking beside a Mark II. As you know, the Mark II was Ford’s response to the European luxury brands, and at $10,000, the hand-built Mark II was priced equal with a Rolls-Royce, and still Ford lost $1,000 on each unit they built.
To make the Continental profitable, Ford reduced its purchase price by 40 percent and moved assembly to their new Wixom plant, where it would share a mass-production environment with the plus-sized Thunderbird. This meant going with a larger chassis, leaving behind the Mark II’s European GT compact form in favor of the “bigger is better” school of 1950s American auto design.
That badge indicating the car had a limited-slip differential was probably put on the trunk to inform tow truck drivers of the lock-up rear axle, so they could take whatever precautions were necessary.