CarBrandLogos archive · Lincoln · 1939

LincolnLincoln Continental

A one-off built for a boss's Florida holiday, which a museum later hung on its wall.

Photo: Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Lincoln history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Lincoln Continental, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Edsel Ford wanted a personal car for a spring trip to Florida in 1939, something European in feel rather than the upright American norm. He asked Bob Gregorie, Ford's chief stylist, to produce one. Gregorie took a Lincoln-Zephyr, sectioned four inches out of its height, lengthened the bonnet, cut down the body and mounted the spare wheel externally on the rear deck in the continental fashion. It was hand-built as a single car.

1959 Lincoln Continental · Jagvar · Public domain

Design and engineering

Edsel drove it in Florida and came back with several hundred enquiries. Production began the following year and the Continental, as it was named, was in showrooms for 1940 with the Zephyr's V12 underneath. Frank Lloyd Wright, who owned two, called it the most beautiful car in the world, and in 1951 the Museum of Modern Art selected it as one of eight cars exhibited as works of design.

1960 Lincoln Continental -- 10-02-2009 · IFCAR · Public domain

In production

What followed was a name that Lincoln kept reaching for whenever it needed prestige. The Continental Mark II of 1956 was a separate hand-finished coupe sold at a price that lost money on every example. The 1961 car, styled under Elwood Engel, went the other way: slab-sided, restrained to the point of severity, with rear doors hinged at the back, and offered as the only four-door convertible in American production. That generation is remembered both for its design and because a Presidential parade limousine built on it carried John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

1960 Lincoln Continental · JOHN LLOYD · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

Afterwards the name drifted. Continentals were downsized in 1982, went to front-wheel drive with a transverse engine in 1987, and became progressively less distinct until the model was dropped in 2002. A revival ran from 2017 to 2020, including an eightieth-anniversary edition with centre-opening doors that acknowledged the 1961 car directly. It sold slowly. The name has now covered six decades and four quite different ideas of what a luxury Lincoln should be.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1939–1942

Technical specification

The Lincoln Continental, in detail.

Production: 1939–1942; 1946–1948; 1956–2002; 2016–2020
Class: Full-size luxury car (1939–1980, 2017–2020); Mid-size luxury car (1982–2002)
Layout: Longitudinal, FR layout (1939–1987); Transverse Front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout (1987–2020); Transverse Front-engine, four-wheel-drive layout (2016–2020)
Manufacturer: Lincoln

Explore Lincoln Read the full reference ↗

Badge at launch