Exactly. I think in '66 to '69 they went downhill with that too-prominent center. It makes me wonder if Lincoln considered hidden headlights for the late '60s
The mind-boggling complicity of the convertible top operating/actuating systems on these cars is worth a video all it's own. Thanks for your well-done presentations.
I think Jay Leno said if you ever own one of these, you need to have the phone number of a 'that guy' who specializes in these Lincoln convertible systems. You're correct....very complex.
My Uncle owned a 1969 LC Sedan in Dark Orchid with Silver Leather interior. It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen. Eventually I bought a Black on Black 1969 in 1995. These cars drove beautifully - much smaller than they actually were. It was the final of four suicide door Continentals that were restored for daily driving.
Adam, you should do an episode on the 1970 through 79 Lincoln Town Coupes and Town Cars, primarily the 70-73s. I think those along with the Mercury Marquis of that era were very nicely styled inside and out
I was offered to purchase a '66 buy the son of the original owner in 1980. I couldn't wrap my head around it and didn't purchase it. Later I did buy a '63, which I consider the best of those first three years. I have seen grown to appreciate the '66 and consider it the best of the whole series. I agree that, while not a sales success, the 1970 is spectacular. Thanks, Adam
I thoroughly enjoy these historical videos, but I’m really looking forward to seeing more of your personal collection now that winter is in our rear view mirror. Thanks, Adam. 👍👍👍
I believe that color is Emberglo. My dad had a 1966 Continental four door in Emberglo with Black vinyl top and Black leather interior. I loved the vertical pleated seats and fold down center armrests.
When I was 5 years old in 1966 I found out I had $100 in my savings account. I clearly remember exclaiming with joy that I had enough money to buy a Lincoln Continental. My dad gave me the bad news that I only had enough money for a couple of tires. These have always been my favorite car.
Many mechanics will tell you some flex still took place when the cars were on a service lift. Remember, the 1958 to 1960 Lincolns and Continentals were also unibody ....and I think many welded-in reinforcements were needed to prevent exactly what you said for those cars too. ( The penalty of those reinforcements is of course added weight that you always hope a unibody can avoid ) So to your comment - my guess is by 1961 Lincoln had almost perfected the best ways to reinforce the new car, as learned from the '58 to '60 cars.
I've owned a 61 LC convertible since 1984. The bodies are incredible strong & rigid. They only put two additional engine bay braces in the convertible & added some ballist weights to reduce vibrations at highway speeds. Almost zero difference between the sedan body & the conv. body. The body flexing stories I really think are just an urban legend.
Growing up my father had a '64 Continental. It was an amazingly good car, he ended driving it over 300,000 miles. It never wore out, but by the mid to late 70's he wanted a smaller car. The construction of that Lincoln was unlike any other domestic car I've ever worked on. As an example, the door panels were screwed, not clipped, to the door structure. Screws were chrome plated with chrome washers but were hidden when the door was closed. Removing the panel was thus easy. Ditto on the carpeted kick panels, etc. Interior trim was well done as well, from the stitched door panels to the wool cut pile carpeting. There was nothing quite like it pulling up to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and having the doorman open the front and rear 'suicide' doors. I've never seen as well a made car since then, and that includes our MB E350....not even close and no where near as reliable as the Lincoln was.
Thanks for this great article! My Dad bought a new black 1969 Lincoln Continental four door sedan with a red leather interior. I always thought that the 1969 with the coach doors, was a very classic and distinctive design. The last 1969 Lincoln Continental US Presidential Limousine was adorned with the distinctive, 1969 Lincoln Continental trim. Again, I’m very appreciative of the automobiles you’re inspired to write about! 💟😎
Love the looks of the older Lincoln Continentals... They really were luxurious land yachts and oh so beautiful. Thanks for posting this wonderful video.
Great review as always!! Another first in 1966 was the 8 Track tape player which was only available in the Lincoln, Thunderbird, and Mustang for any car in the US. I have an orginal 1966 Mustang that my dad bought in 1966 and I made sure that the AM radio/8 Track tape player was on the option list. It actually still functions even though I have very few 8 track tapes. I was only 12 years old but loved cars even though my dad didn't so had to assist him in optioning the car. 😂
These Lincolns are the true touchstone of understated elegance. The fact that these designs still hold up today, confirms this. What happened Lincoln? Not even close to the SUV’s you are producing today.
Your videos are very well done. My brother still has the marble paperweight with the hood star, and my grandfather's name engraved on a small plate that is stuck to the base. My grandparents gave it to him (he was 8) when they bought the '69 L-C. It had an AM/FM stereo. There was a separate control unit mounted on the "hump" that had the bass, treble, balance and fader controls. That might seem lame now, but it was a big deal then.
My first ride in a US car as a kid, was in the back seat of a black 1965 Lincoln Continental with tuxedo black and white interior. What a car! Always loved the 1966 and 1967 sedans. The 1972 sedan in black without vinyl roof was a big hit for me for many years. Still like it a lot. I favour the 1978 and 1979 sedans as well and take a break till 1990, before they are a hit with me again. As for the Marks, I favour the Continental Mark IV and have driven a 1975 since 2002.
A good friends dad had a 66 white on black with the 462. He revived it when we were in high school probably 2002 or 3. It really came back to life pretty easy and was a smooth running rig. The 462 looked small in the engine compartment I remember lol
I loved the 66-69 Lincolns the best … especially the coupe’. My favorite feature back when I was a kid was that deep dish hubcap. Everything was perfection.
A friend of mine had one of those desktop hood ornaments mounted on black marble. He was proudly showing me his new Baldwin concert grand piano and asked me how I liked it. I plucked that Continental star off the coffee table and plopped it on the front of that immense slab of shiny black lacquer and said, "Now it's perfect!" We laughed about it for years.
Fabulous review. The 66 to 69. Continentals are among my favorites as well. Mid century styling, clean uncluttered lines and pure elegance. Thanks again for this video. Nice job.!
Great presentation of a landmark automobile. On top of that, as a Canadian viewer that spent my childhood in the province of Québec, your explanation of the "accent aigu" is something that I would never expect to encounter in a car video!
Two guys in my hometown had the late-'60s Continental Coupe'. Because of the long quarter panels, they appeared even more gargantuan than the 4-doors. Magnificent cars, though.
Yep Adam, the Lincoln Continental from 1961 thru to 1969 were so Iconic and just gorgeous to look at....U wud think Henry Ford Senior wud have loved the design. Cheers fm Damo😊👏
This is an excellent chronology and history of this era of Continentals. I was a young 12 year old who loved cars and loved to clean them for $. Our summer house, in upstate New York, neighbors had several Lincolns. I remember cleaning the exterior and interior of their 68 Lincoln in their driveway. Fabulous piece if art. The carpets (super plush) alone was were worth the price of admission. A fabulous piece of design and engineering in its day. I made $6 for three hours of work and walked away happy.
I will try this forum to answer a question that has always been top of mind. For the 1961 - 1969 Continental, notice how the windshield wipers rest to the left and sweep to the right. This position is common for right hand drive vehicles when vehicles have parallel sweeping wipers. This is the only American, left hand drive car that has ever had them, all others rest to the right and sweep to the left. Dying to know why Ford did this on the Lincoln Continental (only).
I enjoy each and every old car installment that you bring to us, but I must say I did especially enjoy this particular one. Over the years, I've owned 2 1968 Lincoln Continental 4 door sedans, one with the 462 CID engine (an early production model) and the other with the new 460 CID engine. The both performed equally well; with lots of power and effortlessness when called to task, and were a real pleasure to drive. In summer these were my daily drivers. Sadly, I no longer have these, but one day, I'm hoping to find a nice Mark V. Thank you very much Adam for the trip down memory lane, and for all that you bring to us!
My dad had a '62 Lincoln Continental in Sultana White with Parchment Interior and a '66 in Emberglo with Black vinyl top and interior. The 462 cu. in. V8 in the '66 weighed 750 lbs and had 340 hp and 480 lb. ft. of torque and could cruise 80 mph easily. Both beautfully made cars built at the unibody factory in Wixom, MI with the Thunderbirds. The quality control on these cars was exceptional!
Adam- Thank you for the best classic car video channel! It’s always such a joy to watch your productions. When you feature designers you engage them in the best interviews I’ve seen in any media. I owned a 1968 Lincoln Continental sedan for a couple of years in the early 80s, only to sell it when I found a Buick Centurion convertible to buy back. Thank you so much for sharing your collection. Please know that I look forward to each of your productions and share them with fellow enthusiasts.
We had a 1968 4 door with a tan body and black leather interior and a black roof. The car was just elegant. I still remember my dad filling up the gas tank for the first time and being astonished that the gas tank held 20 + gallons of gas IIRC. The 460 V8 got about 10 MPGs on the highway and about 4-5 around town. The car had a dash board that looked like it had 2 radios. The one on the left of the steering wheel was the temperature control, where you set the temp you wanted and the thermostat kept the car at that temperature. On the right side of the steering wheel was the radio with a power antenna that did not go up automatically when you turned on the radio. You had to raise the antenna in addition to turning on the radio. The windows were electric, even the corner windows, and could be used without the key by pressing a by-pass switch and then the windows would operate. The power door locks were hydraulic, and once the car was off, you could raise and lower the locks a couple of times before they ran out of air and you had to raise them by hand. The trunk lid was huge and required a fairly tall person to close the lid. The trunk was huge with a well in the center that could hold a ton of luggage plus a full size spare. That year lLincoln offered shoulder belts that were separate from the lap belt. So the driver and front passenger both had a lap belt and could choose to use the shoulder belt. Of course the car had bench seats in the front so six people could rid comfortably. The car had 2 resonators and 2 mufflers and was whisper quiet. The car was just luxury to the max, and had the price and availability of gas not gone crazy in 1973 I think that car would have been with us a long time. By 1974 the trade in offer was $300.00 for a $7,800 car with just under 40,000 miles on it. It was the epitome of luxury. We had many Lincolns over the years and there was never a car in my opinion from the ‘60’s as beautiful as the 1968.
Thank you Adam. They took the 1961 design and kept upgrading it through the 1960's. They did that at Lincoln through the 1970's , 1980's and 1990's. I see how Mercury was influenced by Lincoln as well. They changed with the times. I like the interior door handles as well. This car was so famous for all the films and television shows it was used. People associate this car with the United States presidency. That is interesting how hood ornaments left and came back and left again as they are on the grille today. You can see how Mark III was influenced by this car. I liked hearing about the Lincoln Town car was a trim level and as we know it became its own car.
Excellent review! My folks had a 1967 4 door and I really loved that car so much. The rear hinged rear doors made it look so elegant. Love all of your reviews Adam!
The power steering pump also ran the windshield wiper motor on these if I'm not mistaken. Variable speed wipers were like turning up the volume on the radio. The 66 is by far the pinnacle for these cars in my opinion, not vulgar, but tastefully done. Restoring one of these elegant ladies properly, especially a convertible, is not for the faint of heart. Very complex vehicles for their time. I believe that there was a difference between Cadillac, Lincoln, and Imperial owners back in the day. Cadillac, "look at me". New money. Imperial, "I just love Engineering". Total gear head. Lincoln, " a 'hem". Old money.
Jay Leno has a video on a convertible, where he had the foremost expert in Continental convertible tops get his car's top working. I remember the guy saying how many motors, switches, and relays there are in one, and it was a lot! The video was originally well over an hour, but Jay pared it down some, a few weeks or months later.
I have notes that the "61", "62", & "63" Continentals and Thunderbird share the same headlight bezzle. I enjoy Adames detailed review and I always learn more about the particular history.
I have a 1965 that I have known from new. Am its 3 care giver got it from second owner in Feb 1978. Have copy of window sticker and selling paper work. It has a 110,000 miles. Is now resting in dry dark storage. great car. It is till death do we part.
Great cars. I have a mint 66 sedan. I prefer the 61 style wise but love the 66 also. I had a 67 coupe years ago but wanted a suicide door sedan , so sold it. I am less of a fan of the 1969 model. I felt it was getting tired by then. I also love the 70 (which I have too). Front disc brakes were standard in 1965 btw. 👍
I think those 61 to 69 Lincoln Continentals were the most clean and graceful body style of the 1960s, there not overly loud like some other luxury cars of the day.
I have a 61 Continental currently undergoing a full restoration. Though most of my collection is European l find this model to be one of the most stylish mid-century icons. The cost of it's restoration will far exceed any future value this car will achieve but that's not why l'm doing it. I just love the way it looks.
Great video Adam! I particularly LOVE your green 71 Marquis. Just something so gorgeous about it. I’d love to own one like it. A great looking and quality automobile IMO
Another excellent production! The ‘69 grille harkened back to the ‘63 grille, which for me, was the best styled Lincoln of the ‘60s, both because of the exterior, with the aforementioned grille, but also it’s high-quality rear “grille” that mirrored the front (I say high quality because many times the auto mfr.s cheap out as Lincoln did in ‘62, and they don’t age well). But the other reason for the ‘63’s best styling was the dash…just an excellent execution of the double-coved dash, with high-dollar materials such as genuine wood, heavy chromed metal surfaces/knobs, the very unique a/c vents, etc.
You have been hitting on all cylinders of late. The AMC Cavalier was especially great. I am a huge AMC guy and I learned a lot from that video. And this video on the unibody Lincolns was informative too. I’ve owned 1963 and 1965 sedans over the years. If I have any criticisms of your videos, and it’s a minor and probably unavoidable issue, is when you picture 1962 and newer cars, they are shown with wide whitewalls. To my eye, they simply look “off” to me. I think you would be ether served using press kit or factory photos. That being said, if I am ever able to get financial backing and support for my postwar print magazine, Ignition, you will be one of the first people I will call to be a contributor.
Again, your details make your channel my go to, even when you feature vehicles that are not on my hits list. For me, any & every thing Detroit. Your knowledge, research; 👍🏾. For the 'slab sides' was a great looker, I remember my mom ooowe when she saw the 61-63s. Towards the end of the sixties, the Continental resembled Mercury too much. A lot of quality was put into that front end structure, and then came the 70. Great look, but not the same car.💯🇺🇸
To my eyes the '66 to '69 Continentals are the best looking of the '60s Lincolns. The extra design details made them a bit more elegant than the '61 to '65 Lincolns. (That said, the '61 to '65 Lincolns are certainly beautiful.) The '70 redesign is not too bad, but certainly not as distinctive. For my taste, the '70s Lincolns became just another American land yacht, and eventually became ugly for the last half of the '70s, similar to the '58 to '60 Lincolns. It's nice to see a video that appreciates these cars, so thanks for this and for many of your other videos.
These era Lincolns all have a majestic look about them that made them look and feel a little more high end than Cadillacs. IMHO. Maybe the suicide doors put them in that category as these doors seemed higher class on vehicles; at least for rear seat passengers getting in. Great video.
I had a 1966 Coupe, Dark gray no vinyl top, blk interior it was beautiful the dash and interior trim were brushed aluminum and chrome, very tastefully done, very rich. I also had a 68 2 door green with dark green vinyl top and matching dark green leather interior. Ford replaced the brushed aluminum with a fake wood stick on. It look good but I liked the other better. 68 had a built in 8 track player. Very cool. My power steering when out on the 1968 and I drove a year without it as it was too expensive to fix, you had the take the whole front of the engine off to get to it. But both rode fantastic and seemed better made than my 67/69/70 Cads. But I still loved my Caddy's. Great video and great info!
That window on the coupe model reminds me of the 1963 Grand Prix, which would be ironic that they were inspired after Grand Prix since the Grand Prix clean design was inspired after the Continental.
Double sided key cuts were introduced for all Ford products for the 1965 model year. That was also the year that Ford began using the slogan, Ford has a better idea. The double sided key cut was one of them.
Lincolns and Continentals were, in my opinion, the epitome of American luxury automobiles second to NONE! Having witnessed every model from the early 60's , there isn't one I would turn down!
At the 10:00 mark you can see the hydraulic hoses that are used to power the windshield wipers. Just behind the air cleaner, and centered on the firewall, the power steering pump fed both the steering box and the wiper motor. T-Birds used the same feature for a few years, too. IMO, the 61-63 body design was best. I hated the straight glass windows of 64-65, and the 66-69 had the curved glass, but way less tumblehome. Still, I love them all!
It is important to note that the '66 was actually the culmination of a three year transition away from the original '61-'63 design: The dash became more horizontally themed in 1964, with chrome brightwork running the full width of the dash. It also marked the introduction of the "thermometer" speedo. 1964 had a 4v carb. 1965 had the 462 4v and front discs. The '65 grille was actually panned by reviewers as being too similar to the grilles on Mercury full-size cars of that year.
MEL's had a 4.90 bore spacing. .600 wall thickness on all except the 462's. I always wondered if it was by choice that the engineers came up with a 4.30 bore, then configured the stroke to make everything equal 430 cubic inches once all added up. The 383 MEL's of the Mercury line, had an extremely short stroke and were used as high reving (7500 RPM) stock car engines in 1958.
This is a beautiful car. Any of the years were good, far as I was concerned. Seems like Cadillac got more attention, but the Lincolns were arguably better looking and more contemporary in their styling. Very nice presentation, Adam.
Excellent article about a classic model series! Many years ago I owned all those luxury cars. Cadillac Continental, Imperial, hardtop, convertible, but if I could have one of them back it would be the '64 Lincoln Continental convertible. What a nice ride! There's just something timelessly endearing about those earlier Continentals with their understated clean linest I just can't get out of my head.
Robert Mcnamara cost cutting still lives on in the Ford Motor Company. If i could have my Explorer would have an optional V6. It bothers me that we cannot check boxes like we once could.
Also: the '66-'69 Contis consisted of two subseries. The '66-67 Contis were virtually identical in a respects, with the following exceptions: Spring loaded hood ornament in '67. The leather used for the upholstery was thinner, and the pattern was a tufted texture instead of the ribbed texture in '66. This made the upholstery more supple, but the driver's seat would develop a hole worn through the upholstery in the bottom left corner of the driver's seat back. The '67 had a padded steering wheel hub common to all Ford passenger vehicles of that year. Headrests were introduced in '67. '68-'69 were also almost identical: Shoulder seat belts were introduced in '69. These were mounted to the roof and were stored with an elastic loop hanging on a hook in the front seating area, and required a separate buckle. As a result, the front seat had four seat belt buckles. Suspension parts were common to the '64-69 model years. The narrator notes that taillights moved back to the bumper in '69. This is incorrect; the taillights were always in the bumper from '66-69. The lenses in the front and rear quarters were merely reflectors; there was no lighting behind them. The '68-'69 Contis were similarly identical after the midyear '68 introduction of the 460. The only real differences were the taillight grilles, the nose, and the steering wheel hub.
I drove a '67 sedan (light yellow outside, black interior) from 1978 to 1984. It was unwieldy on curved roads and hard to park Anywhere, but quite a ride. Eventually it needed some work I wasn't able to do myself, nor could I afford to have someone else do it. I really miss that car.
