1957 Continental Mark II- $4500, Pawtucket, RI (not mine)

[cjmarzoli]

The engine is seized and is the wrong one. The hood has been removed but is part of the sale. The car has been stored in a heated garage.

Has all of the air conditioning components.

I have too many projects and not enough time. Please come get this winter project car.

Sold AS-IS, WHERE-IS on a bill of sale.

 

https://providence.craigslist.org/cto/d/pawtucket-1957-continental/7710100125.html

[JamesR]

This is the only example of one of these beautiful cars that I could ever afford, but the lack of a title is probably a big part of why the price is so low. Like many old car folks nowadays, I see the path forward on such a project as very daunting, but, it'd be great to see someone with the money, know-how and drive tackle it. It looks like it might be a structurally solid car, but I admit that I know nothing about Mark II's. 

[jensenracing77]

There is one of these down the road from me in a barn. Has 45,000 miles. It is actually a very solid car and runs and drives still. They want far to much for it though. 

 

Edited January 22 by jensenracing77 (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

I love those cars, at one time one of my favorites. They look like a T bird on steroids to me. Good project but got enough of those right now!

[Terry Y]

The subject car looks like it has a later 1970's early 1980's Ford V-8. I would look for a large fuel injected Ford V-8 to pull this Continental down the road.

IT WOULD NEVER pay to 100% restore this Lincoln, but it is a worthy project.  The interior looks like a big clean up, new carpet and a repaint of the band at the bottom of the windshield  would make a vast improvement.  The center of the firewall looks rough to my eye 

Although not economically smart,  the car should be saved, IF the bottom is in great shape. As a hobbyist you could paint the car a little at a time.  

Best of all, it is very cheap and who knows, you might get it for something silly, like $2,500.00 AND if you make it drive and look decent NOBODY is going to pull up next to you at Dairy Queen with 1956/1957 Continental 

[58L-Y8]

Beware: the most expensive project you can buy is a cheap rusty, rundown luxury car.  Continental Mark II's are notoriously costly to restore properly.

[Matt Harwood]

13 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Beware: the most expensive project you can buy is a cheap rusty, rundown luxury car.  Continental Mark II's are notoriously costly to restore properly.

 

I feel that this warning doesn't adequately convey the gravity of the situation.

[58L-Y8]

22 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

I feel that this warning doesn't adequately convey the gravity of the situation.

Matt:

Can we infer you've had an unfortunate experience with a Continental Mark II or does this also include "the car that shall not be named?".

[Matt Harwood]

I actually don't have any direct personal experience with a Mark II beyond a good client and friend whom I've known for many years. He owned and restored one of the handful of two-tone Mark IIs and won all the big awards with it. I recall that he said he spent $3500 per hubcap just to get a set and had to buy two additional running and driving cars to find all the parts he needed to finish his (in fact, I sold one of the picked-over parts cars to someone overseas for like $3500). We sold the restored car for something like $48,000, which was good money 15 years ago, but even at that time I think he said it was 10% of what he had invested (and the restoration was done in the 1990s).

 

There are few cars more expensive to restore than one of these Mark IIs. I know they're tempting simply because they're "just big Fords full of mass-produced parts" but that doesn't even come close to conveying the magnitude of the job. 

[58L-Y8]

24 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

I actually don't have any direct personal experience with a Mark II beyond a good client and friend whom I've known for many years. He owned and restored one of the handful of two-tone Mark IIs and won all the big awards with it. I recall that he said he spent $3500 per hubcap just to get a set and had to buy two additional running and driving cars to find all the parts he needed to finish his (in fact, I sold one of the picked-over parts cars to someone overseas for like $3500). We sold the restored car for something like $48,000, which was good money 15 years ago, but even at that time I think he said it was 10% of what he had invested (and the restoration was done in the 1990s).

 

There are few cars more expensive to restore than one of these Mark IIs. I know they're tempting simply because they're "just big Fords full of mass-produced parts" but that doesn't even come close to conveying the magnitude of the job. 

Matt:

You've described the very crux of the problem: every part of these Continental Mark II's is specific to only the Mark II's, nothing is shared with the concurrent Lincolns except the basic powertrain components and even then, they were specially selected and built to higher spec's.  The only source of body and trim parts are other Mark II's like this rundown example.  Forget about any NOS parts, those dried up decades ago.  Of the 3,012 built for 1956-'57, about 1,200 are estimated to still be extant.  In spite of their initial high built quality, they still suffered rust problems just like any other 1950's car.  Being expensive new, a high percentage were sold in urban areas that if in the Northeast were subject to heavily road salted highways. 

Collectors were picking Mark II's up in the 1960's for daily drivers when they could be had for $1,000-$1,500.  As a car-crazed youth, I watched the Buffalo Evening News Antique and Classic Want Ads for Mark II's, dreaming about owning one.   What few I actually saw were Buffalo-area city cars, it's a good thing I never got my hands on one, they were rough.

Steve

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Cool cars but not so sure on subject car.

 

I recall a friend's dad buying one of these around 74 or 75.  Doors about a foot thick and, even at around age 12, I liked it because as a 50s car it relied on great lines vs. Chrome, fins and gaudy color combos.  Must have been so different when new.

 

His was a silver grey over maroon or deep red interior IIRC.  He bought a brand new Mark IV to match it.

[B Jake Moran]

I was active on the Mark II forum for several years before they made it more difficult to browse and communicate.  I came close to buying a couple of these.  
 

I am always fascinated by provenance. That group has a great historian who documented original owners of which we all know that Sinatra had one, Elizabeth Taylor etc.  

 

Most were owned by titans of industry. CEOs and one owner I remember died in a plane crash and I was looking at his car.  Another car I was looking at was owned by a Moran, my last name, although not a relative.  It was a cool Polo Green color and was ordered with thick wool carpeting. 
 

I won’t restore one. When I was looking 15 years ago, projects - with all of their Mark II parts were $5,000 to $7,000.  
 

Barry Wolk used to be active here on the AACA forum is the head moderator on their forum and he owns 1 of 2 authorized Mark II convertibles.  
 

I personally can’t stand white on these cars. They need a darker color to pop, again my opinion.  Yet many were made in white or of course black.  Turquoise looks nice, a great mid century modern shade.  
 

This one being a 1957, if verified, does make it “rarer”. I think they made 305 or so 1957s.  

[m-mman]

4 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said:

I personally can’t stand white on these cars. They need a darker color to pop, again my opinion.  Yet many were made in white or of course black.

49% were white, 49% were black.  Only 2% were “other colors” hence the reason you see these two colors in the survivors.  
 

7 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said:

This one being a 1957, if verified, does make it “rarer”. I think they made 305 or so 1957s

Think about all the carmakers that tried to end the concept of “model years”.  If they got their car right why should they make unnecessary changes just because the calendar turned over? (I’m looking at you Packard)

The Mark II was the same idea. It’s perfect just the way it is. Why should we make any changes?  We don’t want to identify it with a specific year, we will let it be a “generation”. 
 

Problem is, that’s not how the marketplace works.  Finance companies want a year model (to calculate depreciation)

. Insurance companies want a year model to calculate premiums and claims. 

Ford never really stated a year model or a separation between 1956 and 1957. It took a lawsuit from an owner who was dealing with either a bank or insurance company about value to force Ford to declare a specific serial number that ended the 1956 version and started the 1957 version.  
 

The differences were in the mechanics.  The 56 used an air cooled transmission the 57 was water cooled. There was a carburetor change and air intake for the A/C. But these were changes that came from regular Lincoln production. 
 

Today I see no difference in value and except for an ultra-connoisseur I don’t think many people would care between having a 56 or a 57.  

[Lee H]

14 hours ago, Terry Y said:

The subject car looks like it has a later 1970's early 1980's Ford V-8

It may not be a 368, but definitely looks like a Lincoln Y block, based on the valve cover studs you can see.

 

oops! I see now I was commenting on jensenracing77’s picture. Never mind!

Edited January 23 by Lee H (see edit history)

[B Jake Moran]

2 hours ago, m-mman said:

49% were white, 49% were black.  Only 2% were “other colors” hence the reason you see these two colors in the survivors.  
 

Think about all the carmakers that tried to end the concept of “model years”.  If they got their car right why should they make unnecessary changes just because the calendar turned over? (I’m looking at you Packard)

The Mark II was the same idea. It’s perfect just the way it is. Why should we make any changes?  We don’t want to identify it with a specific year, we will let it be a “generation”. 

Agree, not a big deal 56 or 57, but another reason there was no change is the extensive tooling, set aside plant for the Continental.  Ford lost a crap load on these cars for sure.  This was a bad era for Ford, like it or not.  Continental was almost killed from the start, we know Edsel was, 2 seat T Bird, the halo car to fight the Corvette, 3 years.  Instead McNamara square took over.  

[Leif in Calif]

2 hours ago, m-mman said:

49% were white, 49% were black.  Only 2% were “other colors” hence the reason you see these two colors in the survivors.  
 

Think about all the carmakers that tried to end the concept of “model years”.  If they got their car right why should they make unnecessary changes just because the calendar turned over? (I’m looking at you Packard)

The Mark II was the same idea. It’s perfect just the way it is. Why should we make any changes?  We don’t want to identify it with a specific year, we will let it be a “generation”. 
 

Problem is, that’s not how the marketplace works.  Finance companies want a year model (to calculate depreciation)

. Insurance companies want a year model to calculate premiums and claims. 

Ford never really stated a year model or a separation between 1956 and 1957. It took a lawsuit from an owner who was dealing with either a bank or insurance company about value to force Ford to declare a specific serial number that ended the 1956 version and started the 1957 version.  
 

The differences were in the mechanics.  The 56 used an air cooled transmission the 57 was water cooled. There was a carburetor change and air intake for the A/C. But these were changes that came from regular Lincoln production. 
 

Today I see no difference in value and except for an ultra-connoisseur I don’t think many people would care between having a 56 or a 57.  

I remember going to look at a new Jaguar with my dad in the early 1962. My dad asked the sales guy if the car we were looking at was a '62 model. The sales guy said "Yes, it became one at midnight on December 31st". 

This interaction is frozen in my mind because at the end of that exchange, the first XKE I ever saw appeared in the dealer's driveway and my 12 year old brain was flooded with car loving hormones ! 

[Gary_Ash]

It's 30 miles away from me, I have an enclosed car trailer with an electric winch, I could scoop it up in a flash.  A guy who lived across the alley from me in Baltimore bought one new when I was a kid and I was in awe of the car, have always wanted one.  Alas, no garage space for it!

[63RedBrier]

3 hours ago, Gary_Ash said:

It's 30 miles away from me, I have an enclosed car trailer with an electric winch, I could scoop it up in a flash.  A guy who lived across the alley from me in Baltimore bought one new when I was a kid and I was in awe of the car, have always wanted one.  Alas, no garage space for it!

No garage space, Gary?  Just store it in your enclosed trailer!

[m-mman]

19 hours ago, Terry Y said:

The subject car looks like it has a later 1970's early 1980's Ford V-8.

It’s a 70s 429-460 engine. 

[classiclines]

This posting has been deleted by its author.

[Rivguy]

This is the kind of car that a guy might buy and just let it sit in the garage.  Just going out and looking and sitting in it would be pretty gratifying. A lack of title would be a huge hassle, but I imagine that there is a process to secure a title, even if it's a lot of work. Something like this might be resurrected as a resto mod. 

[58L-Y8]

Someone bought himself a Continental Mark II parts car to scavenge for the needed expensive parts for his good one currently under restoration. 

[oxsleyscot]

I like that these are still in the market