'61 - '67 Lincoln Continental 4 door convertible Options

[Dr. Strangelove]

In 1961, the Continental was completely redesigned by Elwood Engel. For the first time, the names Lincoln and Continental would be paired on a car other than one in the Mark series. The design was originally intended to be the new 1961 Ford Thunderbird, but the concept was enlarged and slightly altered before being switched to the Lincoln line by Robert McNamara. One of the most striking features of the new Continental was its size. It was two feet shorter than its predecessor. So much smaller was this car, that advertising executives at Ford photographed a woman parallel parking a sedan for a magazine spread. The new Continental's most recognized trademark, front opening rear doors, was a purely practical decision. The new Continental was a unibody design, and there simply was not the structural strength to front-hang the heavy rear doors in the convertible model. To simplify production (in the beginning, anyway), all cars were to be four-door models, and only two body styles were offered, sedan or convertible. Therefore, the rear doors were hung from the rear and opened from the front. This "suicide door" style was to become the best-known feature of 1960s Lincolns. The 1961 model was the first car manufactured in America to be sold with a 24,000 miles (39,000 km) or 2-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Harold W. Johnson was head of Lincoln Continental division at the time. Efforts to find a new longer-life tire were conducted by Jacques Bajer at his asking.

The 1961 Lincoln Continental was really Engel's design masterpiece. Even the dashboard was his design. This may have been the last time a single individual was responsible for the complete design of a production car. The 1961 Lincoln's striking, understated elegance immediately won a major design award and was widely copied by other manufacturers -- note the similarity of the 1963 Cadillac and the 1963 Buick Electra.

[edit] Kennedy Limousine SS-100-X

For the Kennedy White House, the Secret Service purchased a convertible parade limousine custom built by Hess & Eisenhart of Cincinnati, Ohio from a 1961 Lincoln 4-door convertible. Code named the SS-100-X, it was in this car that JFK was assassinated in 1963. By that time, the front of the car had been updated with the grille/headlight/bumper assembly from the 1962 model. After the assassination, the limousine was returned to Hess & Eisenhart, where it was repaired and retrofitted with full armor and a fixed roof. It subsequently continued in service for the White House for many years. This world-famous car is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Also, its Johnny Drama's car in HBO'S Entourage, you see it in the opening credits. The second pic is LBJ driving his. Sorry for all the presidential stuff, but I had some trouble finding some good pics of this car. IMO one of the best cars to come out of America. This is in my lottery ticket garage. Ice cold IMO.

[moe]

The hardtop is ice cold. Is this the Lincoln from the Matrix? Because that's just one of the coolest luxury sedans ever, and easily the coolest car Lincoln has ever made.

[clarkma5]

Certainly one of the coolest, cleanest, and classiest looking american cars. A really underappreciated piece of our history, dropped from our collective conscience in favor of more loud and outrageous designs from that era. Its merits combined with its underdog status makes it frozen.

[Mitlov]

Uncool. It does nothing for me.

[fiber optic]

Is this the Lincoln from the Matrix?

Yes it is.

Colder than cold this one is.

[CarDesigner'09]

A neighbor of mine had one of these, it was in really bad condition though. All rusty, dents, one of the lights was broken, chunks or the back were missing, the exhaust was all crumpled up...really depressing stuff. In the 3 years I lived there, the car didn't move, and it had this sponge-like thing on the hood (I never figured out what it was). The owner said he was going to fix it up, but he was probably too lazy and sold it off.
But yea, the Continental was one of the most understated cars of it's time, and if it weren't for Kennedy (bless him) it would be even more understated. A true phaeton.
So, I was having some doubts about the scale..."sex with Marilyn Monroe" doesn't sound very appealing, seeing as to how she's dead, and the fact that she was before my time. But if that's my only choice, then that is my final answer Regis!

[Synesthesia]

I'm voting frozen for the hardtop (despite the title). What a beauty.

As an aside, are there any uncool cars with suicide doors (aside from the Element...)?

[redlinehappiness]

"VICTORY!"

[Razor]

I'm voting frozen for the hardtop (despite the title). What a beauty.

As an aside, are there any uncool cars with suicide doors (aside from the Element...)?

Anything with aftermarket suicide doors.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Pickup trucks and that saturn compact that had a suicide door.

[bing5500]

This is in my lottery ticket garage.

Why wait for a lotto ticket that will never come? '61-67 Continentals are not that expensive to collect...that link is to one of the higher priced ones I saw on collectorcartrader.com but the majority on there were under $20,000. Sure, you would have to put the work into making it look beautiful but that is part of the fun of collecting...

[pervert]

Car from the opening sequence of Entourage right?

If so then yes, pretty close to absolute zero.

[geroge08]

The picture car is very nice. It can do we have some picture car has very nice.

=================

george

Car Auctions

[Razor]

The picture car is very nice. It can do we have some picture car has very nice.

=================

george

Car Auctions

Way to fail to spell your own name in your username. Fail

[350Z]

They get the continental fixed up in entourage, thats pretty cool too.

[infinity]

The picture car is very nice. It can do we have some picture car has very nice.

=================

george

Car Auctions

...what?

[clarkma5]

Spammer. He's banned.

[infinity]

Incoherent spammers...how effective.

[TopGearFan]

i think that lincoln looks like a dictators car