1956 Lincoln Continental Mark Ii No Reserve on 2040-cars

About 1,300 were sold in the last quarter of 1955 after the car's October debut at the Paris Motor Show; another 1,300 or so in 1956; and 444 in 1957, some with factory-installed air conditioning. Initially, Ford accepted losses on the Mark II in return for the prestige with which it endowed its entire product line; but after going public, tolerance for such losses fell.

Famous owners included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, the Shah of Iran, and a cross section of the richest men in America. Taylor's car was a gift from Warner Bros. studio, and was painted a custom color to match her distinctive eye color.^[7]

The car was featured in the 1956 film High Society, starring Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Louis Armstrong

Having considered using an outside design team, Ford turned inside to their own Special Products Division. In Fall 1952, they designated John Reinhart as chief stylist; Gordon Buehrig as the chief body engineer, assisted byRobert McGuffey Thomas; and Harley Copp as chief engineer.^[2]

Ford had wanted to use unibody technology, but Copp argued against such a choice for a high-brand/low volume model, which was required to be delivered into sale in a short time scale.^[3]

What emerged was something quite unlike other American cars of the period. While other makes experimented with flamboyant chrome-laden styling, the Continental Mark II was almost European in its simplicity of line and understated grace.

There was something of the style of the early Ford Thunderbird at the front, with a tasteful egg-crate grille; a long, curving hood; and straight fenders to the headlights. The fender line went back to behind the doors, at which point the line kicked up a little before curving back down to the taillights.

Little chrome was used compared to other vehicles of the time, and the only two-tone paint combinations offered were limited to roofs being contrasted with bodies. The car had power steering, power brakes, power windows, power seats, power vent windows, and a tachometer.^[1] The vanes on the wheel covers were individually bolted inside the frame of the cover. It sported a high greenhouse and a wraparound windscreen. Fueling was accomplished via a swingaway left taillight. The Continental Mark II had only one option, air conditioning, for $595.^[1] Cars with A/C had different body parts.^[4]

Most of the car was hand-built to an exacting standard, including the application of multiple coats of paint, hand sanding, double lacquering, and polishing to perfection.

For power, the Mark II featured the newly offered 368-cubic-inch (6.03 L) Lincoln V8. Standard equipment in the Lincoln line, the engines selected for the Mark II were effectively factory blueprinted, assembled from the closest-to-specifications parts available. Turning out 285 hp (213 kW) in 1956, the engine was tuned to produce 300 hp (224 kW) in 1957. The engine was mated to a three-speed Lincoln automatic, and both engine and transmission were subject to extensive pre-release testing. In a 1956 report from Popular Mechanics, the Mark ll got 16.7 mpg at 50 mph.^[4]

Its perimeter frame was of ladder form with a central spine between the transmission and the crossmember at the kick-up ahead of the rear wheels. The crossmember under the front seat was of box form, but all the other six, unusually, were made of tubing (with that at the transmission augmented by box members). A Mark II chassis was used to create the Lincoln Futura concept car.

ok so there you have the history of this magnificant machine....now we will tell you what we can in regards to this particular one...it was built to be a promotional car for ford to show in canada...that is where car started its life...not much else is known on my end except that car was purchased in late 70's in palm springs and then driven back to new york where it sat garaged until 2006...then car was started to be restored....car was stripped down to bare metal ...there was NO rot or rust really on the car at all...engine was completely rebuilt including everything and i mean everything...valves,lifters,pushrods,rings,and too much other stuff to mention....gas tank and radiator reconditioned...entire chassis blasted and re painted in chassis black...all suspenion and brakes components were replaced..car was treated to a fiberglass primer and painted and cleared...and then car sat for the next 6 years....interior is all original and still is the factory leather from  europe...interior carpet is the original shag style...

the good...car runs and drives perfectly...engine purrs like a kitten and transmission shifts perfect...the bad...paintwork is starting to bubble in a couple of little spots..bumpers are missing and so are the hubcaps...we sent them out to be rechromed and somewhere along the lines they have gotten lost....

whatever trim we have will be also included...car is missing the door tag so we took pix of vin on chassis...also lost paperwork from car so it will be sold with a bill of sale...any questions call 631 831 2354...the mileage is also correct as far as we know ...car doesn't look like it had done much road use mostly sat garaged