1966 Lincoln Continental Convertible Black on Black on Black $65,000.00

[alsancle]

I know you guys have schooled me on these, but I forget which is the most popular year.   I dig the triple black.

 

https://www.dragoneclassic.com/inventory/p/1966-lincoln-continental-convertible

 

Offered here is an amazing low mileage, triple black 1966 Continental convertible that is originally from California with just 57,000 original miles. It is the ultimate when it comes to this era of the Continental. Just out of a 20 year ownership this is an original black car with a black top and black upholstery and was still in California until its last owner acquired it and brought it here to Connecticut. Being a California car, it has never had any rust and has a perfect dashboard and perfect original black leather interior. It is also equipped with factory air conditioning which is in working condition and it’s also equipped with factory bucket seats with a console which is a rare option. We have just treated the car to a mechanical service as well as a cosmetic detail which really shows how straight and original this car really is. The paint is in beautiful condition as is the brightwork. The top and windows also work as they should. Mechanically it runs and drives great and is ready for top down driving this spring and summer. Contact us for more information.

 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by alsancle (see edit history)

[Gearheadengineer]

Nice car. I am biased but I think the general consensus is that ‘61-‘65 cars are preferred. I personally like the ‘64 best. 
 

1966 was first year for C6 transmission if I remember right. Also first year for the 462 engine - still an MEL, just more!

 

This car looks very nice. Well detailed. I see a few nits. Window sweep weatherstripping is bad in some areas. Looks like some small rubber pieces missing on the door ends, where the window slots end. Roof rail weatherstripping looks old. But the repros aren’t great so I probably would just leave them. I might see orange peel on the driver’s door jamb. Wouldn’t expect that with factory paint. But could just be the pic. 
 

Working AC is nice. Working top and windows is very nice. I am not sure if the Ford blue engine items are correct. The earlier years had black but I don’t know about ‘66 and up. The “bucket” seats and console are rare-ish and a plus for many. (I personally prefer to have my honey by my side.)

 

Might be more to say, but I’m viewing the pics on my phone screen. 
 

Overall a great looking car. Check for exhaust manifold leaks (they crack).  Need to check underneath very well because unibody convertible. 
 

Values for these have been strong for a while now, so they might get that $65 or close to it. 

[John_S_in_Penna]

From what I have heard, these Lincoln convertibles

are complicated cars that can be problematic.  For 

example, when one opens a rear door, the rear window

in that door automatically goes down a few inches to

clear the convertible top.

 

Such things have scared me away, somewhat, from these.

I'd much rather have a 4-door sedan, which today would be

much harder to find than these beautiful but now-common 

convertibles.

[EmTee]

I had a '67 4-door sedan and it was a nice, solid car.  It would devour Interstate highway miles (and gas...).

[Steve_Mack_CT]

A lot has been covered before on these.  I think 66, 67 loses the Elwood Engle (sp?  Too early in the AM to look that one up guys..) lines, he would have moved on I think to Chrysler before this facelift/redesign.

 

I do recall an article in Old Cars Weekly from around 1978 (these cars were already getting collector attention) stating the build process for a contemporary Caddy was a couple hours, same as a Chevy or whatever, while Lincoln took 2 days to complete the process.  

 

Give me a black over red '61 - '63.  In fact, such a car, a sedan, surfaced about 3 weeks ago out of New Hampshire, didn't put it here, because I was thinking about taking a look.  Gone in a couple days.  Pretty good car from what I could tell, 12k and change.  Good cars priced fairly are selling...

[58L-Y8]

A.B. 'Buzz' Grissinger headed-up Lincoln-Mercury styling when these 1966-'69 Lincolns were done.  Elwood Engel was tapped by Chrysler in 1961 to succeed Virgil Exner.  Under Grissinger was Holden Koto who contributed significantly to the design.  Here are two images from a 'Special Interest Autos' Holden Koto career article which shows the overall direction and details most of which make it to production.  The 'power dome' hood and grille hadn't appeared yet.   The front configuration is a reiteration of the 1961 Lincoln grille with hidden headlights, which is more interesting than what was ultimately produced.  With a 'power dome' added, it became the 1969 Mercury Marquis front styling.

[B Jake Moran]

Being a dealer car, their mark up is about $25,000 right there.  It seems dealers generally pick cars that are unique in their category, so in this case, triple black and bucket seats console.  This may be one of the nicest and best equipped 66 Continental convertibles left.  

[Steve_Mack_CT]

@58L-Y8 Engel's design was groundbreaking and must have made Chrysler & Caddy look ancient overnight. 

Not to offend anyone with a 66 or 67, clean enough but the main thing of interest about the subject car is it is a 4 door convertible in great shape, not a jaw dropping design IMHO.  Probably priced about dealer right for this year vs. an earlier one

(Sorry Alex, no doubt you will sell it soon regardless of my opinion.. 😉 )

[Steve_Mack_CT]

To John's point about sedans being harder to find for these cars, if anyone follows a couple of "slab side" groups on fb you know a good percentage of these cars, sedan and convertible, are being "bagged & murdered out" terms used to describe heavy mods.  Seems a lot of the people doing that have a big budget. Unfortunately a lot of these cars are being lost to that movement, a victim of their unique design.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[31nash880]

Just have to tell this story. Time frame,40+ years ago, am young and new to bodywork, boss says just fix it. 

Interesting detail about these cars is sedan has a frame, convertible is unitized body.

Car comes in with doors pinched shut on passenger side. Find whole rail is rotted out. How to fix? Drop front suspension and bumper and drive a 3x3 piece of tubing through what was left full length of car. Weld what l could and undercoat. Sat it down and all was good.

A reminder, not old cars were repaired to high standards.

Did improve my skills over the years and had some great mentors. But boy some of the things I have done and seen.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Buddy spent one summer basically splicing together 2 gen one mustangs, he was on a schedule and shot it in resale red while it was misting outside (bosses orders, sh**house garage he was working a summer job there), been a long time, I think it was a vert.  Anyway the "restored" mustang sold pretty quick... 🤔😯

[58L-Y8]

3 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

"Engel's design was groundbreaking and must have made Chrysler & Caddy look ancient overnight." 

The moment the 1961 Lincoln Continental was introduced, November 17, 1960, it broke the miasma of overwrought, over-sculpted, chrome-plastered cars that were so dear to Harley Earl's heart.   I'll never forget the cold November day I first laid eyes on the two 1961 Lincolns, a dark blue sedan and a metallic silver-gray, red interior, black top convertible.   They were 'hidden' in the new car storage building behind Arkport Motors, Lincoln-Mercury-Comet, Arkport, New York.  This was before they had been publicly introduced.  I bugged my folks every trip through that town to swing in so I could see the Lincolns they had on the lot.   My father's response to my amazement of the idea of a four-door convertible was "Oh yeah they built those before the war."  It was no big deal to him, but I was smitten!    I was eight years old, what did I know?

Edited February 24, 2022 by 58L-Y8
edit for clarity (see edit history)

[ericmac]

I agree that the styling of this era Lincoln is not as strong as the 61-63 cars but as a road car they are hard to beat. If this car is as nice as it looks the price is probably reasonable.  I definitely sold off my '62 Convertible too soon!

[58L-Y8]

3 hours ago, ericmac said:

 I definitely sold off my '62 Convertible too soon!

Eric: 

 

I had a '63 Convertible that I sold twenty years ago.  It was the typical rather well-used example that ran and drove decently but needed everything to restore it to factory condition.  I enjoyed it for a few seasons, then stored it while other things took priority and interests evolved.   After I watched it disappear down the road on a transport truck, I noticed the collector demand for these 'JFK' Lincolns seemed to improve in price.  Apparently, they became the car to feature as props in music videos, drove the prices up of even run-down or mediocre cars. 

 

Oddly enough, these '60's Lincolns now seem to be found either in terrible rundown condition for unrealistic prices or extremely good like this '66 convertible with generally high prices.  One or the other condition, nothing much in between.  Ironically, it's easier to find a '64-'66 Imperial in good condition for a reasonable price.

 

Steve

[trimacar]

I've owned one. 

 

If one is truly interested in owning one, and they're fabulous cars, find one that fully restored and absolutely perfect with nothing wrong with it.

 

Take out a loan to buy it if you have to, pay the bank monthly, not the bills to "fix a few issues".

 

I love these cars, but the only way I'd own another is to have one that's been restored by a specialist, and he's out there.  Oh, and having won the lottery helps too....

[alsancle]

4 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

The moment the 1961 Lincoln Continental was introduced, November 17, 1960, it broke the miasma of overwrought, over-sculpted, chrome-plastered cars that were so dear to Harley Earl's heart.   I'll never forget the cold November day I first laid eyes on the two 1961 Lincolns, a dark blue sedan and a metallic silver-gray, red interior, black top convertible.   They were 'hidden' in the new car storage building behind Arkport Motors, Lincoln-Mercury-Comet, Arkport, New York.  This was before they had been publicly introduced.  I bugged my folks every trip through that town to swing in so I could see the Lincolns they had on the lot.   My father's response to my amazement of the idea of a four-door convertible was "Oh yeah they built those before the war."  It was no big deal to him, but I was smitten!    I was eight years old, what did I know?

 

So congrats Steve, you made me google "Arkport NY".   Seems to be at least 100 miles from anything?   Did they really have their own Lincoln/Mercury dealership?

[JamesR]

Very cool Lincoln. Love the black.

 

9 hours ago, 31nash880 said:

 

Interesting detail about these cars is sedan has a frame, convertible is unitized body.

Car comes in with doors pinched shut on passenger side. Find whole rail is rotted out. How to fix? Drop front suspension and bumper and drive a 3x3 piece of tubing through what was left full length of car. Weld what l could and undercoat. Sat it down and all was good.

 

Thanks for the education, 31nash880. That may answer a question I had - at least in part: Why couldn't they make the "solid roofed" four doors pillar-less like the convertibles? I understand that you don't want a pillar between the doors on a convertible for when the top is down, but it seems to me if the added rigidity of a roof would make that more possible than the convertible. Same with the '67-71 Thunderbirds. Could've made those cars look cooler.

[58L-Y8]

18 minutes ago, alsancle said:

 

So congrats Steve, you made me google "Arkport NY".   Seems to be at least 100 miles from anything?   Did they really have their own Lincoln/Mercury dealership?

AJ:

Oh yes, it was a typical small-town dealership, back when they'd grant one to get market coverage.  The next town three miles away is Hornell, NY which was a major division point on the Erie Railroad with locomotive and car shops plus passenger operations.  A city of 32K in the 1950's, half that population now, still with transit car remanufacture owned by Alstom.  Hornell had dealerships for every make of car in that era when it was a prosperous city.   If you check the Google Street view, Arkport Motors building is now Cy's Shopwise Sure-fine grocery store.  The long storage building behind is where the new cars were 'hidden' before introduction. 

 

Arkport Motors was owned by Duffy Eisenheimer who also had the Edsel dealership in Hornell for 1958, integrated into the Arkport operation for 1959-'60.  They closed the Lincoln-Mercury dealership after 1966 when the Mercury franchise went to the Hornell Ford dealer.  Oddly enough when Arkport Motors was in operation, there were a Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in Dansville, NY (11 miles); both Bath, NY and Wellsville, NY (each 25 miles distant).  All lived on Mercury and Comet sales, Lincolns weren't major sellers by the few seen on the streets. 

 

Eisenheimer got a Chevrolet dealership in 1963, which I recall because he took over the then-modern former Hooker Studebaker building when that dealer closed.  His Chevy dealership lasted into the early 2000's until they got hit by the double whammy of depressed local economy and intrusion of one of the multi-make super-store regional chain dealers. 

Steve

[58L-Y8]

8 minutes ago, JamesR said:

Very cool Lincoln. Love the black.

 

Thanks for the education, 31nash880. That may answer a question I had - at least in part: Why couldn't they make the "solid roofed" four doors pillar-less like the convertibles? I understand that you don't want a pillar between the doors on a convertible for when the top is down, but it seems to me if the added rigidity of a roof would make that more possible than the convertible. Same with the '67-71 Thunderbirds. Could've made those cars look cooler.

All 1961-'69 Lincoln Continental four door 'pillared-hardtop' sedans, four door convertibles and 1966-'69 two door hardtops are unibodies, no frame under any.

 

To answer the 'why no pillarless four door sedans":  Lincoln prototyped four such 1961 four door hardtop-sedans but decided to drop those from the available models by introduction.   The reason given was it would have required those cars to have been equipped with the same electrics and mechanisms as the convertible to retract the rear door window when the door handle was operated, then return the window up and forward to close the B-pillar space upon the door latching closed.  The additional wiring, knife-switches, relays and ancillary components not only would have added to the factory price of the sedan but was considered not worth extra labor, trouble and bother for what was unlikely to result in any major sales benefit. 

[JamesR]

Thanks for the education and explanation, 58L-Y8. That actually makes sense. Why add the expense when customers for four door Lincolns probably didn't care that much?

[Gearheadengineer]

Great info here. I will add that in recent years one or two sedans have been converted to pillarless hardtops using convertible parts. If you search the internet you can find threads showing the builds. It is doable but not a weekend project. 

trimacar’s advice is sound, and it probably applies to any vintage car. That said, these aren’t impossible to understand and repair or maintain. It helps to have the original manuals and a methodical approach. 

 

[31nash880]

Sorry of I was wrong about frames. Remembered reading that and always found it strange.

Going back to my story, convertibles have counter weights in the front that look like coffee cans. Thought they were vacuum canisters. Took the last bolt out and almost broke my hand. Filled with lead or concrete. 

Oh the memories 

[Gearheadengineer]

1 hour ago, 31nash880 said:

convertibles have counter weights in the front that look like coffee cans. Thought they were vacuum canisters.

Those weights are heavy!  Mine were off the car when I got it, so thankfully I avoided your experience!  
 

My challenge was figuring out where they were supposed to go. Same with the vacuum canisters. And so much more. Fun part of buying someone else’s project. 

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, 31nash880 said:

Sorry of I was wrong about frames. Remembered reading that and always found it strange.

Going back to my story, convertibles have counter weights in the front that look like coffee cans. Thought they were vacuum canisters. Took the last bolt out and almost broke my hand. Filled with lead or concrete. 

Oh the memories 

Those counterweights were fitted to the convertibles only.  They were engineered to cancel out periods of harmonic vibrations which the open body would develop on rough surfaces.  It was an old trick, many pre-war convertibles were fitted with them.

[JamesR]

2 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Those counterweights were fitted to the convertibles only.  They were engineered to cancel out periods of harmonic vibrations which the open body would develop on rough surfaces.  It was an old trick, many pre-war convertibles were fitted with them.

Is this what you're talking about?

 

 

LINCOLN CONTINENTAL CONVERTIBLE WEIGHT DAMPER BRACKET 62-64 1962-1964 FORD OEM | eBay

 

 

[Gearheadengineer]

48 minutes ago, JamesR said:

Is this what you're talking about?

The ones on my ‘64 are actually bigger than that. In a metal housing. If I get a chance I’ll snap a pic this weekend. 
 

The pictured ones might be correct for the ‘61-‘63 Lincolns. Lincoln stretched the wheelbase by 3” for 1964, which may have required the larger (and probably heavier) weights. 

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, JamesR said:

Is this what you're talking about?

Yes, those are the items.  They are engineered to oscillate on the spring steel to cancel out the periods of harmonic vibrations set up by rough road surfaces.

[31nash880]

The ones I encountered looked like an old tin coffee can and were mounted just behind the front bumper.

[John_S_in_Penna]

On 2/24/2022 at 10:14 AM, Steve_Mack_CT said:

To John's point about sedans being harder to find for these cars...  

Some data to back up my observation:

 

A few years ago, I wrote an editorial for our regional

AACA newsletter:  "When the Rare Become Common,

and the Common Rare."

 

At that point in time, Hemmings had 10 Lincoln sedans

of the 1961-67 style for sale;  most were rough.  They

also had 36 Lincoln convertibles 1961-67 for sale, mostly

in beautiful condition.  But back when these cars were

made and in ordinary use, there were instead

10 sedans for every lonely convertible.

 

If the original production ratio had held up, the 10 sedans

currently for sale would be accompanied by only ONE

convertible, not 36.  The popularity of the convertibles

has created a 36-fold distortion of the original numbers!

These beautiful convertibles are, today, commonplace,

while nice sedans are a challenge to find.

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[ericmac]

I am a living case in point to illustrate John's observations.  Over the years I have owned twelve of these cars. Of the twelve I have had eleven convertibles but only one sedan. I have said many times I'll never own another but admit they are a car I lust after every time I see one.

[Gearheadengineer]

It costs pretty much the same $ to repair or restore a sedan. Paint, mechanical, etc. But we’ve all heard the adage “if the top goes down, the price goes up.”  So not surprising that more convertibles have survived. Same deal as many makes and models. 
 

Eric, your last sentence is similar to the thoughts that come in my head every year after I’ve decided to sell mine.  As soon as I go out to clean it up for spring or take a short ride, I realize that I just like it too much. 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I know the convertibles were considered collectible as early as mid 70s.  When I was a kid a friend's dad had a Continental Mark II, and a couple Lincoln Continental converts, and at least one sedan., a 65 I think.