Car: Lincoln Continental 4-Door Convertible
Year: 1964
What makes it special: Continental is a series of full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1939 as a personal vehicle of Edsel Ford, who commissioned a coachbuilt Lincoln-Zephyr convertible as a vacation vehicle to attract potential Lincoln buyers. In what would give the model line its name, the exterior was given European “continental” styling elements, including a rear-mounted spare tire. Produced for 55 years across nearly eight decades, there are ten generations of the Lincoln Continental.
What made it famous: For 1964, the Lincoln Continental underwent its first mid-cycle redesign. Alongside styling updates, several functional changes were focused towards increasing rear-seat space. The wheelbase was increased, shifting the rear seats backward. The roofline underwent several changes, with the adoption of flat side glass replacing curved window glass. To increase rear headroom, the rear roofline became additionally squared off, in a notchback style. In a slight exterior restyling, to eliminate the “electric shaver” appearance, the front fascia added vertical chrome accents to the grille; the rear grille was deleted altogether moving the fuel-filler door to the left-rear fender. The 4-door convertible was powered by a 320hp, 4-barrel 430 cu in V8, and weighed a staggering 5055 lbs.
Why I would want one: It has a “quiet cool” to it. It may be a large land-yacht, but it’s low-look and slab sides give it almost a “sinister-appeal.”
Fun fact: For the 2017 model year, the Continental was revived as the Lincoln flagship sedan model, replacing the Lincoln MKS.
