Parked Since ’70: 1956 Lincoln Premiere
When I first saw the listing for this 1956 Lincoln Premier, which is mislabeled as a 1956 Lincoln Continental, I thought, “OK, another Continental Mark II.” Nope, this one’s a Premiere four-door sedan, one of 19K assembled 68 long years ago. Claimed to have been in a climate-controlled garage since 1970, this oh-so spot-on fifties representative, fins and all, is now available, here on Facebook Marketplace for $2,500. Thanks are due to Ted for finding this Willoughby Hills, Ohio listing!
Besides the aforementioned Mark II, Lincoln’s ’56 lineup included two trim levels: the Premiere, which is similar to our subject car, and the Capri. Body styles included two- and four-door sedans and, in the case of the Premier, a convertible. Lincoln managed a fourteenth-place finish in the 1956 domestic production race with 50K copies—far behind Cadillac’s ninth-place achievement and 154K units of output.
I don’t know about you all, but that first image doesn’t look like climate-controlled storage to me. While the body of this 4,400 lb. luxury sedan appears to be sound, the floors are another matter. Much of the stainless trim has been removed and some of it may be in the trunk with other detritus. And speaking of the trunk, its pan is looking pretty shaky. Fortunately, the ouvert bumpers still show fairly well. The luster I gone but rust takeover hasn’t commenced.
I would suggest that the interior is finished off in three different hues, including black or very dark brown (the seats), creme, (the door panels and headliner), and tan (also the door panels). While the upholstery is in better condition than I would have thought, the floor & carpeting have been overtaken by the crumblies – which is likely floor pan deterioration. The big news here is the A/C system – note the clear plastic air passage tubes that extend from the package tray into the headliner.
Lincoln power in ’56 meant a 275 gross HP, 368 CI V8 engine tethered to a Borg-Warner Turbo-Drive three-speed automatic transmission. The listing claims, “Driven 26,000 miles” but I imagine that really means that the odometer reads 26K miles. Whatever the case, the big Y-block engine, while looking complete, has likely been silent for a long, long time. The engine does, however, turnover, so there’s a bright spot.
The seller tells us, “It’s got to go… I hvnt messed with other then to turn it over. I don’t have the experience under my belt . So I’m passing it on..” For only $2,500, someone’s going to pick this Lincoln up and try their hand at it, wouldn’t you agree?
Comments
Even with what seems to be a low asking price of $2,500 there isn’t a lot of interest. Cars with a strong following don’t sit on Facebook unsold for over a year.
Steve R
These are just so ugly. It was remarkable the styling turn around Lincoln had just a few years later.
I always loved 1956 Lincoln thought they were most beautiful cars at the time guy down the street from us had a new one like this one but black liked it much better than our new 1956 Ford Fairlane
That just goes to show ya that no two people see things the same way. I first glimpsed the 56 Lincoln back in 56 when my room mate’s father showed up at military school in a big black 56 Lincoln Premiere. It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen and was my favorite car for decades after. That was Steve Wynn’s father who had arrived to take us to their home in Utica NY for the weekend.We had a great time skiing up there. That Lincoln was so sleek and long, a real change from the cars up to that point. We had jet planes by then and all the cars were being designed like a jet or a rocket. Really neat for a young kid from the woods.
Ran when parked :-)
That 368 should run fine off a Jerry can, but you’re gonna have to hand choke it in order to make it run so you
can assess the health of the engine.
But for God’s sake watch out for the
A possibility of a backfire through the
carb. That’s one good way to lose the
skin and hair on your arms and face if
you’re not fast enough to get out of the way when you have a 2-foot tongue of fire coming at you from the
carb while your buddy’s inside trying to kick the engine over and can’t see
what you see because the hood is
blocking his vision. Saw it happen to
an acquaintance of mine who tried to
start a 283 Chevy that was 180 degrees out of time. That thing belched a tongue of fire into his face
and arms that singed the hair off of
both parts of his body. He should’ve
listened to me and adjusted the vacuum advance BEFORE he tried to
start it! Suffice it to say, he did get it going well enough for my neighbor’s
daughter to try and drive it home. On
the way there, the car caught fire and
burned to the ground! She wasn’t hurt
but she lost the car and the money
she paid for it. I felt sorry for that poor girl too. The young lady had to save up to buy a car again and junk the one she just bought. Went with her next time and she came home with a ’71 Olds Delta 88 4-door hardtop. Just sayin’…
The Mark II was not a Lincoln. It was a Continental. Ford offered both in ’56-57 as different makes. I think this Lincoln looked better than its competition, the Cadillac. They certainly had more “flash”. Restored, these are real eye-poppers.
1956 Lincoln? 1956 Cadillac. Hmmmm.
Cadillac had Dagmars and “fins” (the taillights)
Lincoln had sophistication.
Can I have both?
I love my Cadillacs but there is something to say about a Lincoln.
And let’s throw an Imperial in there just for competition.
Morning Angel! Just getting ready to
take my niece to work and then dash with Sis most of the day. And you’re
right, Lincolns of this era are often
overlooked by luxury car fans who’ve
been led to believe that Cadillac was the only game in town when it came to being wrapped in unbridled luxury
back then. These were indeed great
cars for those who dared to be different. And you gotta give Chrysler
points for engineering as their cars were very reliable and soundly built.
Seems that every large car fits the
Land Yacht definition and it’s all a
matter of taste to those of us who love these yank tank barges and still
believe in the mantra that bigger is
better. Just stopped by my store to
have breakfast and check on my kids,
and now it’s time to go to work.
The 56 Continental Mark II was NOT a Lincoln.Continental was a stand-alone brand in 56 and 57 and their only model was the Mk.II for those two years.
Terrry beat you to the comment!
JO