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John: Some answer might be found in this Curbside Classics article: Panther Finale: 1981 Town Coupe In Pine Opalescent – The eBay CC Effect | Curbside Classic I recall reading in "Continental Comments", the LCOC club publication, that the 1980-'81 Continental town coupe sales dropped to less than half of what they were for the last years of the 1970's Continental Town Coupes. The 1977-79 Continental Mark V which had been wildly popular with 75K-80K annual sales; the market rejected the downsized Mark Vi coupes to approximately 20K annual sales. Fielding two similar Panther-platform two door Lincolns, both with comparatively dismal sales returns, couldn't be justified, so the better selling Mark VI got the nod. Steve

Steve: Whereas the Duetsch of Cologne cabriolet is a very integrated, Teutonic design, the factory club cabriolet is largely a minor reconfiguration of the convertible coupe to accommodate the former rumble seat passengers inside under the top. Although initially viewed as upscale, with the addition of quarter windows, it became the standard configuration for the 'convertible coupe'. Steve

Thanks for the thoughtful insights into these intriguing engines. If SAE engineering papers on the Oakland-Pontiac V8 are available in the archives, they may provide answers to some of the questions. One possible rationale for going to a straight eight was the in-line cylinder boring machines were already in place from six-cylinder engine production. The V8 engine machining equipment with angled boring heads may have been more costly and less available at the time, pure conjecture on my part. My comment that the design was somewhat a quasi-ohv was based on the valves being at an oblique angle to the cylinders whereas in the wedge combustion chambers the valves were at an acute angle to the cylinders. I'll be interested to read your analysis of these ideas.

For Sale: 1957 Studebaker Commander Deluxe 2dr Sedan, 259 V8, 78K miles - $7,500 - Brighton, MI 57 studebaker commander deluxe - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org) Seller's Description: Good condition Studebaker. Runs and drives. 259 V8, Automatic, Extra rims, heads and tires. Interior looks great. odometer: 78000, Contact: no phone listed. Copy and paste in your email: d824f0551e553db0afd46ecb8cfc81f4@sale.craigslist.org I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1957 Studebaker Commander Deluxe 2dr Sedan. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975, Edited by John Gunnell states 2,072 1957 Studebaker Commander Deluxe 2dr Sedans built. Note: The 1953-1958 Studebaker sedans and wagons, while possessing many of the same good qualities of their C-K-Hawk line-mates, are in far less demand and commensurately much lower priced. The club, parts and service advice is excellent through the Studebaker Drivers Club. Rust is always an issue with Studebakers including the frames so interested persons should inspect the car carefully and fully in person before purchasing.

To focus again on the initial topic of this thread, the 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 LTD and 1966 Chevrolet Caprice:

For Sale: 1980 Lincoln Continental Coupe - Project - $3,800 - Cordova, IL Lincoln continental coupe - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org) Seller's Description: Lincoln Continental 2 dr coupe /66D, 8 cycl 5.0 L electron fuel injection 302 cid engine automatic 4 speedOne owner, 78,000 original mi., chamois metallic paint- moon dust with caramel roof coach and leather interior. Lacy spoke aluminum rims, loaded - see original window sticker for more details. Always been garaged. Been stored last 22 yrs. started up 6 yrs ago and replaced fuel tank, fuel pump, fuel filter, battery, chgd oil and oil filter. Engine turned right over after sitting 16 yrs and again after sitting 4 yrs. needs tires. Asking $3,800.00. Currant Nada price guide has low retail $5,629 and average $14,950. Contact: Dawn call: (309) six-5-4-2-one-2-3 Copy and paste in your email: 135d81acc51d32adaa6b2497dec62fe5@sale.craigslist.org I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1980 Lincoln Continental Coupe - Project

Still Available, Price Reduced to $9,800: 11-30-2022: 1927 dodge coupe - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale (craigslist.org) Contact: Raymond Tanski, call: (218) 2-0-six-8-four-5-one Copy and paste in your email: fec451c321ca37d98421be1afb1b251c@sale.craigslist.org

Here is as good as I can get them, sharpness of the original image makes the difference how well they turn out.

The pictures answer the question. Fender skirts are intended to enhance the visual sweep of the rear quarters therefore should not be defined or noticeable. The stamped-in flares negate that.

Bringing that 1904 Ford Model B and proud family out of the fade fog:

As the 1959 crash program was being developed during 1956-'57, Buick was the better seller over Pontiac and Oldsmobile so the overall body platform was sized for Buick, even its door sets were the default units. Since 'bigger was better', Chevrolet buyers would be offered the largest, most spacious cars ever. For Cadillac, some adjustments would be made in the rear cowl to allow more interior space, though years of sharing C-Bodies with Buick would be viewed as normal and acceptable even in this case. The overall impressive lengths and width mask any relative shortcomings of one body platform.

One wonders if this was where the Ford body engineers got the idea to apply that method to Ford components to make the Mercury. The rushed all-new 1959 GM full-size program truncated the tradition A-B-C body program to essentially a B-size body for all makes.

Here is the wonderful Custom Salon 1927 Lincoln L Sport Phaeton by Dietrich. He was giving us a first look at his mastery of the V-windshield and clean, sporting design.

Dismiss the distracting colors...fully enjoy the design!

My step-grandfather won a 1950 Ford six-cylinder four door sedan at the Fillmore, NY fireman's field days/carnival. Generally, a "Sheevvy" man, he drove the 1950 until it was traded for a black and white 1956 Ford Customline two door hardtop, also a six-cylinder with stick shift.

Here's evidence of how Mercury styling was handed off the Ford stampings then had to add to or modify them to style the Mercury: 1963 and 1964 models applied the upper door cap to the Ford door stampings to create the upper surface development.

That would be a reasonable compromise approach, though something of a quasi-OHV design. It likely increased volumetric efficiency to a degree but still not as well as a fully-OHV design would have.

In the context of the 1960's when the medium-priced makes were still each regarded as distinct from their corporate siblings, my Western New York area was rife with dealerships for those makes. In addition to being dualled such as Pontiac-Buick, Olds-Cadillac, Lincoln-Mercury, Ford-Mercury, DeSoto-Plymouth, Dodge-Plymouth and Chrysler-Plymouth, there were stand-alone dealers for Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Dodge and Mercury. Unique to Dodge, a number had been Dodge dealerships even before the Chrysler buyout in 1928, never took a Plymouth or DeSoto franchise. There were even a few stand-alone Mercury dealerships, though they seem to have come about when, in the mid-1950's as Studebaker sales faltered, Mercury district sales representative 'head-hunted' the better Studebaker dealers to switch to selling Mercury.

The medium-price marques depended on brand loyalty, which was based on the perception of superiority, particularly of major components such as the engine and overall craftsmanship. When it was revealed, GM built Buicks with Chevrolet engines, the perception of Buick superiority was undermined. In conjunction with downsizing and the homogenization of designs and features, the reasons to buy a medium-priced car largely dissipated by the 1980's.

At Ford, it was always primarily about Ford. Mercury, whenever it was developed more into an entry-level Lincoln but didn't immediately succeed versus its GM rivals, was yanked back to become a fancier Ford again. Consider how when the concept of a four-passenger personal luxury hardtop coupe and convertible were in development, they weren't awarded to the Mercury Division...

Upscale model proliferation and escalation throughout the 1950's and 1960's, among the traditional "low-priced three", eventually negated the reasons to buy a medium-priced car. Consider in 1950, the size, virtually none of the luxury features and certainly nowhere near the horsepower of a Cadillac was available at the Chevrolet dealership. By 1960, not only were all those available in the Chevrolet, even the interior space was nearly the same, for considerably less money than a Pontiac/Olds/Buick.

Bringing that handsome White bus out of the 'sepia fog' and the mired limousine:

A better look at that snazzy Oakland roadster and the serious gentlemen on their cold weather tour ready for mud or snow.

The large four door convertible sedan is a 1929-'31 Cadillac Fleetwood All-Weather Phaeton. To its right are a late 1920's Lincoln L and a 1930-'31 Packard dual cowl sport phaeton, either Custom or Deluxe Eight, with both its hood and rear cowl folded up.