For The Brave: 1962 Lincoln Continental Project
Lincoln stayed in step with Cadillac in the 1950s, matching the GM brand’s enthusiasm for fins and chrome and even one-upping the General when Lincoln went with the cat’s eye look for a time. But the 1960s was a time where Lincoln went its own way and brought us cars such as the elegantly understated Continental. A 1962 Lincoln Continental is on auction on eBay in Hudson, Iowa with an opening bid of $850 and no reserve!
The roots of the slab sided Continental go back to 1958 when a similar design was proposed by Ford’s VP of Design Elwood Engel as a Thunderbird. It didn’t make the T-Bird cut but it was developed further as a replacement for the third generation Lincoln Continental. Gone were the canted headlights and tail fins of the previous Connie and in came more vertical lines and much less chrome embellishment. It was a beautiful car and remains so today.
This ’62 Continental on eBay has lived a tough life. It looks as though it has been outdoors for many years with algae stains and leaf matter showing up in the photos. The bottoms of the doors and fenders have quite a bit of rust through evident and the paint has cracked to the bare metal in some places. There is no mention of the condition of the trunk floor or interior floors but they both could need significant work, too.
The seller says that the interior is in decent shape and he’s not wrong about that. This Continental was built with fabric covered seats instead of leather and the upholstery doesn’t look bad at all. The carpets appear to have been covered over the years and they are in reasonable condition, too. I love the clean, futuristic dash design with real wood on the dashboard and door trim. The double cowl dash design would make a comeback in recent Lincoln models.
This is the only engine photo provided of what should be a 429 cubic inch V8 that produced 300 horsepower when it was new. A three-speed automatic transmission took care of gear-swapping duties. Being a high end car, this Lincoln had air conditioning, power steering and power four wheel drum brakes. Unusually, the Continental has hydraulic windshield wipers. You would be brave in taking on a project like this one and the best purpose for this Lincoln might be as parts for a better one. What do you think?
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Comments
Have you ever been faced with telling your best freind how beautiful there very ugly baby is. That’s this car born ugly and stayed that way. I would not want this car even if it were in mint condition. Some times things grow on you as you age this has not. JMO.
Be good if i could read the article GOOGLE ADS covering half the text
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Or the foolish….
I prefer the 3100 Chevrolet pickups
behind them personally but….
I hear these cars with a welder and metal make great Animal house tanks used against Dean Wormer..
Remember
“War’s over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter (Tim Matheson): [whispering] Germans?
Boon (Peter Riegert): Forget it, he’s rolling”
.
Yeah. I basically like the car. It needs a lot of TLV. But, really, let’s talk about the old pickups in background.
It’s an antique parts supplier. Sources old hard to find stuff, always in decent shape.I used to drive by about once a month to see what was new.
Hello. The Germans had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. It was the Japanish army.
LOL.
It might make a good parts car if the bidding doesn’t go too high.
Steve R
The motor is a 430 MEL bullet proof torque monster, with nearly 500 ft/lbs. Runs great on leaded high octane gas because of its 10.1 compression. The beauty of these cars is the quality of parts used. Most if not all options on this apparently un touched sled likley still work. The gauge of the steel is such that it probably is not overly rotted. The best news is this is a desired car and worth restoration, if it can be had for less than $5k.
Unique everything, hard to work on, and if you have to go into the dash to replace/repair most any components, it will require Serious Patience. Not to mention the vacuum system…
Must be old pics as I have never seen snow in Iowa in August. Maybe reverse global warming effect. I always liked those suicide doors.
Well, it has been warmer in upstate NY than in VA this summer….
That’d be a 430 under the hood.
Strictly a parts car . Unless one is very ambitious.
Own one now and have owned a few others too. Too bad they let it sit out in the elements…
I wonder how old the photos are, definitely not recent.
Late winter this year I would imagine.
Definitely a 430, the 429 was a Caddy motor around this time. Could be hope for this beast. So, how underneath look?
The 429 came out in the Cadillacs in 1964. The 1962 had the 390.
Forget this big land yacht, I was never a fan of the Lincoln Continental. Parts car at best maybe. I would be all over the ’54 GMC pic up in the back row. I restored one of these back in the early 80’s and wish I still had it now. The early short bed trucks of this year are far and few now.
WRONG! This car is beautiful. Not this car, but this series of Lincolns. Understated and elegant, and if you see one in restored condition, it’s awe-inspiring don’t cha know, eh?
That said, I wouldn’t touch this car as a resto project.
A lot of blow by oil on that oil filler tube . Poor girl rode hard and put away wet. Bruce.
Definately a well built car that will haul all your buddies, 430 MEL torque monster as mentioned. found one sitting in junk yard for over 20 years only one little hole in trunk where somebody spilled battery. shot of gas and hot wired, (no keys) and it fired up under one revolution and sat there and purred. Brother is owner now but has never done anything with it yet!
My Uncle had several Lincolns , including one like this , smooth ride and love the rear doors , now how about the Dodge pick up in the back ground
Unibody construction – rust is a killer. Interior was probably leather can cloth – what’s in it now is nothing Lincoln would release. The vacuum systems (especially the vacuum control on the dash) are a nightmare.
This Continental has been reupholstered. That is not the fabric, pattern or design used.
From 1961:
http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Lincoln/1961_Lincoln/1961_Lincoln_Continental_Brochure/1961%20Continental-04.html