1956 Lincoln Mark Ii Factory Ac Car! Runs And Lot Drives! on 2040-cars

     Offered here is a rare 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II.  Only about 3,000 of these cars were made in their two year production run. At the time they were the world’s finest horrendously expensive supercar, owned by heads of state, Hollywood moguls, and megastars. Cartier designed the dash, for crying out loud. These cars cost over $10,000, at a time when an average house cost about $11,000, and median income was $4500 per year.  In today’s terms, this car would cost over $100.000. It maintained its exalted position until 1958, when that crowd traded in their Mark IIs for a Cadillac Eldorado Brougham ($13,000).  Elizabeth Taylor had one, painted to match her eyes.  Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater, Cecil B. DeMille, R.J. Reynolds, Bill Harrah, Frank Sinatra had one.  Jack Warner (as in Warner Bros Pictures) had one. Even Elvis had one.

     The Mark II was so ritzy that it had only one option, air conditioning, and that cost almost $600.00, two months of the average man’s pay. The car had a  285 horsepower 365 c.i. Lincoln (only) overhead valve V-8, with the infamous Holley Peapot Carb. It came with power steering, power brakes, power seat, power windows, power vent windows, four ash trays, day/nite mirror AND a windshield washer (the red capped canister thing in the pics).  The coolest thing about the car is that the AC vents are round and in the ceiling!  Well, that and the missile silo style levers working the heater.  And the micro outside rear view mirror, about 6 square inches.  You don’t want to see too much of the Cadillac, Packard, Mercedes and Rolls Royce riff raff you have left behind!

     This car was built in December of 1955, and is car number 2223.  It was originally delivered to Missouri.  It made its way to Tennessee, and was driven to Virginia from there about 15 years agowiht about 84,000 miles on the title.  It was owned by a local attorney, who obsessed over it.  It went into the shop for a malfunctioning passenger side vent window, and the passenger door skin was taken off and the wiring guts of the windows dismounted.  The shop guy had a medical catastrophe shortly after he disassembled the passenger side door, and died. Then the owner died.  It sat in the shop from 2004 until January of 2014, when the building was sold and the car moved. I stuffed the window wiring back into the door but did not fix it because is WAY beyond my ability.  The window hardware is in the trunk.  I’m selling the car for the current owner. The odometer shows a little over 11,000 miles now, but that will be about 111,000 miles.

The car is complete, from the headlight rings to the rare turbine wheel covers. It has the original two leg giant screw jack , WITH the bag it came in.  It has the spare tire cover. The outside is yellow, and the inside is maroon broadcloth with off white broadcloth and brown leather.  The interior is not as good as it looks in the pics.  

The BAD:

Not sure about gas gauge; we only put 5 gallons in it.

Not sure about gas tank; probably holy on top from sitting, but it runs on the tank

Has painted over bubbles at rear of passenger lower door and in rear fender near it

Leather is deteriorating inside, viz cracking, coming off in places, esp. driver rear sail panel area; worn in other areas

Has a water leak at the driver’s side door seal at the front; it’s not the windshield, it’s the door seal; water flows down the door skin and puddles in driver floorboard

Both driver and pass front floors have  soft spots; have not investigated beyond that; look small from underneath

No brakes; we’ve been moving it on the emergency brake-booster seems ok, probably just needs bleeding

As usual, the clock does not work

Day/nite mirror silvering is deteriorated

Tires are Michelins and were replaced abt. 2000

Hood weighs a ton- USE THE PROP ROD!

Glass has fallen out of the outside mirror; its not broken, just fell out, and the glass comes with the car

Cardboard ac equipment covers in the trunk have collapsed over time

THE GOOD

Engine runs great

Peapot carburetor actually works as designed

Does not smoke

Tranny shifts fine and has all gears

AC blows cool

Speedo works

Power seat works

Driver power window works

Temp gauge works

Tach works

Amp gauge works

Heater blower works

Wipers work

AC works

Radiator cleaned and fixed

Whole car already compounded

Chrome already polished

Trunk is solid,  frame cowbellies are solid

Headliner is good

Has the stone guards (plate welded in around the front of the rear spring anchor)

Exhaust solid, still goes thru bumpers, which are not rusted out

Cool chrome emergency brake handle

Comes with a whole folder of receipts

Clear title in hand

The Continental Mark II is such a rare beauty that it has its own club and form on the internet, with mountains of information on these cars, and even this one in particular.  They can also direct you to parts suppliers; I’d encourage the happy buyer to join because there is almost no question they can’t answer.  For more information, search on Lincoln Continental Mark II Hemmings- they have a great article about them.

TERMS OF SALE:  A $500.00 nonrefundable earnest money deposit due within 48 hours of sale to cover advertising and listing costs.  This car is sold AS IS with all faults.  The car is offered for sale locally and so we reserve the right to end the auction early. Car is located in Blairs Virginia, near Danville.  Closest Airport is Greensboro or Raleigh-Durham.  You will need to transport the car, which weighs almost three tons.(!)  Buyer must arrange the shipping. Title signed over when payment in full received by cash, certified check or wire transfer.