irishcar.com - Ford kills Lincoln Continental

On Friday, January 11, Ford Motor Company announced the chopping of its luxury car Lincoln Continental (above) as part of a restructuring plan to improve $9 billion in extra profits by the middle of the decade. The move came against a background of haemorrhaging losses, and 35,000 people will lose their jobs throughout the Ford empire.

But also lost is a part of the essential American dream, to do well enough to be able to afford a new Continental. Since 1940, it is the name which has been almost the ultimate icon of US automobile luxury, so much so that most US presidents have travelled in their own special bulletproof Lincoln Continentals.

It has also been part of moviedom, most remembered by this writer because it was the REAL treat in the Hitchcock movie ‘Marnie’, even if the 1963 sedan was only an accessory to the stars Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren. Connery must have got fond of them, because the slab-sided Lincolns also appeared in 'Goldfinger' in 1964 and 'Thunderball' in 1965.

Along the line from its World War II era birth, the Continental has both led and reflected some of the best and worst of US automobile design. In recent years it has been modified to almost European sizes and stylings, but most car buffs will identify the 60s and the 70s with the full gamut of the ‘real’ Continental.

The story of the Continental can be confusing, as the name disappeared from time to time and what were suffix labels to the model sometimes became models themselves. And luxury still lives on in the division under other smaller models with the Lincoln brand. But nothing will ever have the perceived cachet of the Continental name.

The Lincoln name itself was born in 1917 when one of the founders of Cadillac, Henry Leland, formed a new company after General Motors, to which he had sold Cadillac, refused to build Liberty aero engines. Out of a reverence for President Abraham Lincoln, the patriotic Leland called his new company Lincoln. When WW I ended, he turned the factory to the manufacture of luxury cars under the same name, and the first Lincoln that went into production was the 1921 Model L (below).

However, Leland didn’t have the finances to carry the business through, and sold the company on to Edsel Ford as part of the Ford Motor Company. Edsel made the Lincoln a division that became known for its refined vehicles, remembered by auto historians and fans as the K, KA, KB and Zephyr models.

In 1938, Edsel Ford ordered a personal convertible car to be built from a Lincoln Zephyr, and added a number of styling ideas which attracted much attention the following year when he drove it to Florida for his holidays. People offered open cheques to have versions of the car built for them, so in 1940 it went into regular production (above). It was powered by a 292 Cubic-inch V12 engine, outputting 110hp. Over 400 were produced, mostly convertibles.

For 1942, a big-fronted Continental was designed. A number were fitted with an early automatic transmission based on a fluid-drive system, but it wasn’t successful. Then, since the US was now at war, production stopped, and the Continental name didn’t roll out on the roads again until 1946, with the arrival of the Continental Coupe (Below).

By 1947, the car had 125hp pumping through its transmission. The styling remained more or less the same until the end of the decade, and the Continental shape actually remained the same until 1952.

A brand new Continental division was formed at Ford in that year to design a new car aimed at the very top end of the market. It was introduced in 2-door form in late 1955, with a Mk II suffix and was at the time the most expensive American car on the market. It had Hydramatic autotrans, and the only option available was airconditioning. (Below is a 1956 Mk II.)

But it was too expensive, and by 1957, only two years into its life, sales dwindled to just a few hundred cars. For the 1958 car, the company aimed to out-Cadillac Cadillac, and made their Continental longer and with more interior room than the vehicle which had established itself as the most popular US luxury car.

A 375hp engine powered all Lincolns in 1958, and the Continental provided a retractable electric rear window and not much else from its siblings except a few gadgets. Styling became quite bizarre over the next few years, and then in 1960 a Continental Town Car was produced by the addition of a formal padded roof.

Early the 60s, for simple engineering reasons, the Continental acquired the front-opening ‘suicide’ doors which actually had been a feature of the car in the late 40s. Throughout the next decade, this became the most distinguishing feature of the brand.

It was during the early 60s that Lincoln worked on a programme to build up a perception of high quality in its cars, and every vehicle coming off the line was driven on a 12-mile course and subjected to a much-hyped 189-point inspection. It also doubled the normal 12-month warranty. For whatever reasons, Lincolns sold exceptionally well from 1962 through to the end of the decade (the convertible above is a 1962 model, and note that it didn't have what became that other Continental trademark, the vertical spare wheel cover).

It’s an interesting fact that oil pressure and battery charging gauges only became part of the instruments setup in 1964 (though they were to disappear again in 1968). In 1965 the Lincoln became to first American luxury car to make front disc brakes a standard item. Cadillac didn’t follow this until three years later.

The last convertible Lincoln was produced in 1967, which didn’t really matter much as opentops had only accounted for some 10% of all sales through the 60s. A Mk III produced in 1969 ( the ‘Mk’ suffixes hadn’t been used for years, and now it became divorced from the Continental name) was to stay much the same until 1972, when the Mk IV was produced. The Mk III managed to sell more than 20,000 copies a year, very close to arch-rival of the the time, the Cadillac Eldorado.

The Mk IV was longer and lower, following a trend of the time, and it seemed to be a real success on success, because throughout its life to 1976 it managed average annual sales of 50,000.

Lincolns were now powered by 220hp V8s and capable of 120mph in a straight line. But in response to the fallout from the oil crises of the time, the Mk V introduced in 1977 was a smaller and less powerful car. In 1978 a special edition, the Diamond Jubilee Mk V, was produced to mark the 75th anniversary of the parent company.

In 1980, the Continental and Continental Mk VI (the names were again teamed) were leaner, lighter, and more fuel efficient thanks partly to the introduction of electronic fuel injection and an overdrive ratio in the automatic gearbox. Keyless entry and a digital dashboard also arrived on the scene. The opera windows went from oval to rectangular in the standard Continental, while the Mk VI retained the ovoids.

The early 80s were also noted for the linking of Lincoln’s image with world-class designers of the time - Gucci, Cartier and Givenchy. ‘Signature’ models, with the owner’s signature on a special plaque were also marketing aids. The Continental name disappeared briefly in favour of Town Car, and the 2-door version was discontinued. In 1982, the Continental name was put on the smallest car which Lincoln had ever produced up to then.

It only had 130hp, but did gain afterwards electronic air suspension. In 1985 the Continental received ABS and an extra 10bhp, but the lack of power destined sales to drop drastically. A mobile phone for the car cost an extra $3,000.

In 1988, the first FWD Continental was built on the Ford Taurus platform. It now had a 3.8-litre 140hp V6 and air suspension and it sold as many copies as could be delivered.

Through the 90s the Continental did rebuild its upper end luxury branding, though to most aficionados it never regained the looks that made it an icon in previous decades. The current car, now so abruptly given its death sentence, has a 4.6L DOHC 32-valve V8 engine that delivers 275hp and has Electronic All-Speed Traction Control. It still has a modern version of self-leveling rear air springs which first featured in the 80s.

Ironically, it was only a week ago, at the Los Angeles Motor Show, that Ford unveiled the latest Lincoln Continental Concept (right), which it described as the ‘ultimate expression of American Luxury’. A ‘powerful but understated executive car’ embraced features from Lincoln’s past, such as the centre-opening doors A 6.0-litre V12 engine (remember the 1940 configuration?) resides under the hood.

The ‘Mk’ suffix originally given birth by the Continental still lives on in the Lincoln Mk 9 coupe (right), which was unveiled at the 2001 New York Auto Show. But the 4-passenger, 4-door Lincoln Continental Concept sedan, with its aluminum and composite body-on-frame construction and composite outer skin is now not likely to ever be seen sporting what may well be the most famous name in Ford’s history.

Sad, isn’t it?

(NOTE: I am indebted to the comprehensive Lincoln history on ClassicLincolns.com for the detail background in the preparation of this article, and for a number of the original advertising illustrations. Thank you, Tim Childress - Brian Byrne)