The Continental has a bit of a confusing history, as the first generation cars were branded as and produced by Lincoln. But when the second generation was introduced for the 1956 model year, Ford came up with the moniker of Continental division, although it was short-lived and by the end of the decade Ford Motor Company began associating the Lincoln name again with the Continental. The third-generation cars were nearly 19 feet long, and in 1959 tipped the scales at over 5,000 pounds. If you’re into large luxurious droptops, this 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Convertible here on Craigslist might be one you’d enjoy being seen in. Its home is in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and the car comes $1 shy of a twenty-grand asking price.
Reader Gunter Kramer spotted this one and sent it our way, and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for the great tip! Although the seller doesn’t say exactly how long he’s had the Continental, he does mention that the person before him was its owner for 45 years and that the car is in mostly unrestored condition but has received one repaint a long time ago. The convertible is stated to be super solid with no rot, and a great candidate for restoration. The seller also still has the removed exterior trim pieces and all of the other missing parts.
A 430 cubic inch V8 was standard equipment in ’59, with an advertised horsepower rating of 350. There’s not any information given about what kind of work has been done to the motor in the past or if it’s ever had an overhaul, but the mileage is listed 17,432, which is claimed to be correct, and the seller says it runs awesome. New brakes and lines have recently been installed, along with a new battery and filters. No word on the state of the automatic transmission or rear end.
Some reupholstering and interior refreshing is going to be in store for the new owner, but overall things inside appear to be at a decent starting point plus there’s some cool gadgets in there too for the time period, such as power windows, power seat, power trunk release, a power antenna, and a Town & Country radio with a foot-activated station finder. These were well-equipped and impressive rides for the late fifties, and they’re still cool today especially if you like cars with a land yacht type presentation. What are your thoughts on this 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Convertible, and its asking price of $19,999?
Trashed seat, broken window, upside down engine pictures, trim probably in a pile in the garage, etc. What more could you ask for for $19K?
There was a guy in our neighborhood who had the
hardtop version of this.Very impressive car,& like my
old panel truck,it was so ugly it was cool.
Whenever one of these shows up, what I see is the (to me) bizarre, busy, overdone styling. Way to much “stuff” going on. Then to think, not very long later came the 1961 Lincoln, one of the most clean and understated big-car designs ever. It must have been a crazy time in the design studio.
How about the one behind it that’s probably got a 4 sale sign in it. The good one for the locals and this one foe the rest of us.
Hmm, I didn’t catch that. I wonder if the white car was a donor for the blue car and that is why the trim and door panels are removed. It seems to me though that the convertible would be the keeper though. BTW, how does a driver’s seat get so worn with just 17k miles?
“how does a driver’s seat get so worn with just 17k miles?”
That’s easy to explain — simply add another 100,000 miles to the odometer!
No underside photos? You’d think that would have been easy while they had the car upside down for the engine photo.
In my opinion, this would be one of the coolest restomods ever considered to go under the scalpel
unfortunately I cannot remember which one, but one of the car customizing shows on tv did a restomod on one of these, and it was BEAUTIFUL
I can only remember that the show, Kindig It Design, used the words ‘bitchin ride’ all the time, and the Lincoln convertible was a striking blue color.
Rust is a major enemy and killer of these
I have had both a 59 and a 60. I regret selling the 59 I had, a super nice car with front fender damage. I instead kept the 60 which” looked” better but a few years down the road began the sag into oblivion. I switched to Cadillacs of the same years and will say those are much easier to daily than these are. There are a HUGE amount of mechanical parts that are impossible to get. I still like these and grumpy Imperials just for their unique style.
I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t look like a 17k car to me. The pics presented would suggest that if you add a 1 to that number, it’ll make it more believable.
Looks like that bullet just grazed the top of the seat upholstery. That said? It’s such a crazy design, it’s beautiful.
Cash McCall got a ride to the airport in one of these.
Just watched the movie yesterday, Ms Wood looked beautiful in it!
Over and over again we see the “only 17K miles”. And over and over again it’s more likely the mileage is 117K miles. It’s possible if the original owner really drove this car, it could have rolled over in the first 4-5 years of use.
My wife would kill me and then I would be in hell for eternity. Stay with my 65 Merc Park Lane Convt!
I like these cars for so unknown reason…….Anyway more like 117,000
Being in the automobile business for 65 years I do not believe a vehicle with 17 thousand miles could look this bad. Why did the owner not just finish putting the vehicle back together before advertising it. Replace the glass, redo the seats, clean the damn thing up before putting it up for sale. Oh yes, the rest of the trim is in the garage, right where it belongs. Oh my. Just asking $20,000. If the owner finish it, he would get $20,000 for it. How do you pronounce i—-di—-ot.
Really??? The Mark IV was out in 1959? And the Mark V was out in the 70s?? That does seem a BIT wrong. Maybe??
Fomoco issued a unit bodied Mark III, IV, V in 58, 59, 60. The car body was not an engineering triumph. The 69 Mark III was issued as if the earlier cars did not exist.
Oh yeah a bit of quick research the Mark IV was sold between 1972 and 1976. Huh ✅
Kindig built one of these a few years ago, looked amazing
That front end, with no grill, reminded me of Grandma without her teeth in. $12K might be a somewhat outrageous offer for this incomplete vehicle, since doing the work yourself, another $24K would finish it up for a nice $30K car. The main factor being that these are just not as popular, since the WW II guys are passing, and their kids and grandkids don’t want them. not new and shiny enough.
Reminds me of the one that Eva Marie Saint drove in North By Northwest.
I’m pretty sure from the condition that it’s a 117,000 car. Too much wear and possible repaint?
I’m no expert, but I seem to remember that these were unibody cars and were poorly engineered. The convertibles had a reputation for sagging.
Heard the same thing. Most of them have cracked lexan speedometer covers…because the unibody flexes too much. So my question is: Can this vehicle be successfully framed…or sub-framed? Seems like there’d be plenty of space to do so.
They didn’t start to sag until the tin worm had done significant damage, and by then it’s a situation where the rust in the lower body areas has to be repaired first, then strengthened. If it’s a car from the dry southwest areas, the doors should still close OK.
The big problem was the size & weight of the ’58-’60 Lincoln was bigger than the technology really allowed in the 1950s. They had a tendency to twist the body on rough roads, and set up body twisting vibrations. These were finally lessened when the Lincoln engineers installed heavy cast iron weights suspended in spring steel arms. These weights were behind the outer ends of both front & rear bumpers on the convertibles thru 1968. If you have one with the weights, don’t take them off. If your car is missing them, they can be found.
My dad was an L-M (and Edsel by default) dealer in those days. Although he sold these Battlestar Galactica behemoths, he chose to drive his 57 Lincoln until the 61 Lincolns came out. Need I say more? They are full complex unibodies with welded fenders. Restorers beware $$$$$ if you really want one.
When Lincoln brought out the MK III in 1968, Ford all but erased the III, IV, and Vs of 58-60 from memory. Ford handed out a Lincoln history book with each 68-69 MK III that was sold. Lincolns from the 1920s to the 1960s were covered. The 1950s models were completed omitted with the exception of the 49/50 Cosmopolitan Presidential limousine and the Continental MK II.