I love driving mine it is truly effortless and a fantastic car handles great and is very fast… The quality of the materials is excellent even after all these years
The 430 was a fearsome racer in the lighter Thunderbird, it surprised me with its reputation for such a heavy engine. I had the Edsel 410 cid version, and it would shock you with its power. 4-barrel helped of course.
The MEL is highly underrated. The only upgrade you could get was the tri-power on all 430's unless you were a Thunderbird man, and in that case you might need to go to a Lincoln/Mercury parts counter. My favorite is the 383 MEL which was crazy oversquare, and as such, inherently racy, although in a very heavy block with .600 wall thickness between cylinders.
Thanks for uploading this filmstrip! I have a collection of filmstrips as well. I've uploaded a few to You Tube, though not all have the original soundtrack. Working on getting more transferred in the future.
I used to hate the design, but it's grown on me over the years, except for the 14' wheels. Crazy how they did that just to make it sit .500 in. lower on an already low car.
The crazy,, goota' love them' engineers, they had to be digging deep to come with a short stroke 430 c.i. with 4.30" bore and actually name it the 430 MEL. The 383 MEL had a bore of 4.30" and a stroke of 3.30", which is crazy for that time period.
@Google User GP, the Ford Thunderbird was also built at the Wixom plant from 1958 to 1979. There was NO other plant in Ford Motor Company's manufacturing apparatus that had so much attention paid to precision and quality.
@@johneddy908 Yes, I know, but that didn't say much as 1970s Ford quality (along with most of the other Big 4 back then) was horrid with Ford and Chrysler being among the worst.
The first time I saw one of these behemoths was how hideous they looked even by late 50s standards.But I have grown to love them just like 61 Plymouths and Dodges.What were they smoking back then?
Ford shuffled the product line a lot for 1958. The Continental Mark II for ‘56 and ‘57 was what would be called later - a personal luxury car. It didn’t sell well. The new for ‘58 4 passenger T’bird became a personal luxury car- at a much lower price and sold much better. The Continental name became the fanciest new full size model- in some respects more like the Eldorado hardtop . It still didn’t sell all that well, but it didn’t lose money for Ford like the earlier one did. I liked the 58-60 battleship style Lincoln/Continental, but I was in a small minority.
I loved these Cars!!❤️
The new heater/air conditioning contol was an engineering masterpiece.
I love driving mine it is truly effortless and a fantastic car handles great and is very fast… The quality of the materials is excellent even after all these years
I love watching these old videos, especially when they talk about the “look of stability” and “fine automobile”. It shows how the 50s were.
New drinking game. Every time the presenter says "fine car field/ automobile" take a drink. Bet you can't make it all the way through the vid. :)
The '58 Continental MK III, especially the 4 door hardtop and convertible, are elegant. Thanks for posting.
One of my favorite cars 🤩
Such a great year to buy 1 of these was in the 1950s
Whew! Were can I get one. I’m sold.
They weren't the most beautiful of the Lincoln and Continental family, but they were truly the finest.
The 430 was a fearsome racer in the lighter Thunderbird, it surprised me with its reputation for such a heavy engine.
I had the Edsel 410 cid version, and it would shock you with its power. 4-barrel helped of course.
The MEL is highly underrated.
The only upgrade you could get was the tri-power on all 430's unless you were a Thunderbird man, and in that case you might need to go to a Lincoln/Mercury parts counter.
My favorite is the 383 MEL which was crazy oversquare, and as such, inherently racy, although in a very heavy block with .600 wall thickness between cylinders.
104 Two-Tone combinations, holy cow!
I think they were trying harder than us, back in those days.
Thanks for uploading this filmstrip! I have a collection of filmstrips as well. I've uploaded a few to You Tube, though not all have the original soundtrack. Working on getting more transferred in the future.
I used to hate the design, but it's grown on me over the years, except for the 14' wheels.
Crazy how they did that just to make it sit .500 in. lower on an already low car.
Like piloting an aircraft carrier down the street
One question how much are docking fees ? And tug fees for tight areas? What does anchor weigh ,,, lmao 🤣
The crazy,, goota' love them' engineers, they had to be digging deep to come with a short stroke 430 c.i. with 4.30" bore and actually name it the 430 MEL.
The 383 MEL had a bore of 4.30" and a stroke of 3.30", which is crazy for that time period.
Soon as my ship comes in
Notice the cigarette smoke every few seconds from the bottom of the frame?
The “exclusive” new assembly plant mentioned is the Wixom, MI assembly plant which opened in 1957.
YES!!!
@Google User GP, the Ford Thunderbird was also built at the Wixom plant from 1958 to 1979. There was NO other plant in Ford Motor Company's manufacturing apparatus that had so much attention paid to precision and quality.
@@johneddy908 Yes, I know, but that didn't say much as 1970s Ford quality (along with most of the other Big 4 back then) was horrid with Ford and Chrysler being among the worst.
It was, and may still be, the largest unibody car ever built.
No suicide doors was a step backwards, in my book.
The first time I saw one of these behemoths was how hideous they looked even by late 50s standards.But I have grown to love them just like 61 Plymouths and Dodges.What were they smoking back then?
I want to know why that retractable rear window hasn't survived
I find it funny they try to sell this car as two 'distinct' models when is it quite obvious they are identical bar a few bits of add on chrome 🙂
Ford shuffled the product line a lot for 1958. The Continental Mark II for ‘56 and ‘57 was what would be called later - a personal luxury car. It didn’t sell well. The new for ‘58 4 passenger T’bird became a personal luxury car- at a much lower price and sold much better. The Continental name became the fanciest new full size model- in some respects more like the Eldorado hardtop . It still didn’t sell all that well, but it didn’t lose money for Ford like the earlier one did. I liked the 58-60 battleship style Lincoln/Continental, but I was in a small minority.