Lincoln Continental 2. Generation Mark II
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Car producer : |
Lincoln |
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Model: |
Continental 2. Generation Mark II |
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Year: |
1956-1957 |
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Type: |
Coupe |
The Continental name was revived in late 1955 as a separate marque, produced by a separate division of Ford Motor Company, with its sole model being the Continental Mark II. Ford made it very clear that this Continental was not a Lincoln. This version was a unique design with the highest quality control ever seen in the automobile industry. High-class luxury abounded in the new Continental, and with very limited availability, it appeared even more exclusive than the original.
Continentals for 1956 were among the most expensive cars in the world — with a cost of $10,000 at a time when a regular Ford could be had for less than $2000 it rivaled Rolls-Royce. Ford believed that its price point would elevate the car's status among those who could afford the very best. Despite its astronomical price tag, Ford Motors lost money on each one sold. On a side note, Cadillac suffered a similar financial loss with its own Continental rival, the four-door Eldorado Brougham. Vehicles such as these were image builders for the two companies, as well as test beds for new ideas and concepts. The Continental Mark II was sold for just two model years. Between the tales of dealers turning potential buyers away because they were not deemed to be the right kind of people to own a Continental, and its sticker price found affordable by only the world's wealthiest, the Continental became almost mythical. Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the Shah of Iran, Nelson Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger were part of the Continental owners circle. Warner Brothers Studios gave Elizabeth Taylor a custom-built 1956 Mark II, which was painted to match her eye color.
Total production equaled 2,996 including two prototype convertibles. While on later models it was purely for decoration the Mark II did in fact carry the spare under the trunk lid's stamped-in tire cover.
