Here on craigslist is this benchmark 1946 Lincoln Continental convertible project car, with an asking price of $10,000. The ad is running in Reno and the seller mentions that the car was purchased from a probate court in Nevada. A stack of court documents justifying the transfer of ownership is with the car, but Nevada DMV has not granted a title. So the buyer will need to tangle with DMV at some point – or the car could become a donor. Thanks to Bellingham Fred (who also reminded me that Blaine is on the border!) for this great tip.
The Lincoln Continental enjoyed solid success at the pinnacle of the luxury market in the pre-war period. Conceived by Edsel Ford and designed by Eugene “Bob” Gregorie, the lines of the Lincoln echoed Gregorie’s first love – ships. With a distinct “prow” in the front and a squared-off trunk, the car was certainly evocative of a boat – albeit with fenders. Its ponderous presence was all the rage up to about 1942. But after the war, customers were gravitating to Cadillacs, now awash with chrome.
The celebratory post-war sentiment called for new styling, and the 1946 Lincoln delivered, in the form of an elaborate grille. Sales experienced a brief boost but Edsel, the guiding light of Lincoln, had passed away in 1943, and a corporate reorganization saw Gregorie leave in 1946. Despite Raymond Loewy’s involvement at Lincoln, the model was abandoned in 1948 – though not for long as it turned out.
That majestic, eight-piece grille could be a nightmare to restore. Chrome plating costs have skyrocketed, with regulations putting many shops out of business. The bumper leads the car by several inches; tapping the back wall of the garage can put the bumper into the grille, bending the slats. Grille parts are virtually impossible to find. Miraculously, this one looks straight and complete – even the optional amber fog lights are present. A few signal lights have gone missing, though.
An aftermarket vintage Edelbrock dual-carb manifold adorns the 305 cu. in. V12 engine. Forum participants are generally bullish about these, and vintage speed equipment has carved its own collectible niche over the last couple of decades, so this bit of kit makes our subject car interesting. Someone obviously wanted more motivation than the 130 hp from the factory, and with 4,000 pounds to push around, I don’t blame him. The transmission should be a three-speed manual. The seller notes that the car is stuck on its front suspension, but at least the engine turns.
Looks like the spare tire cover is hiding in the passenger’s footwell. The top frames are rusted, but at least they’re intact, along with the gauges, steering wheel, and interior handles and trim. No doubt an inspection will turn up a few missing pieces, but despite long storage, this car hasn’t been ravaged for its parts. The market is not excited about these cars. Decent convertibles have failed to sell near the $20k mark lately, so I’m not too optimistic about this price. What do you think?
The ask is about 2x of what’d meet market, a huge plus to me is its not black or white! But about the only thing most collectors would want less than a war bird era Continental is a red one, even if it is closer to pink! As an open car it’d make a great parade vehicle for AOC in a sympathetic setting like Venezuela!
AOC should be paraded in the back
of a well-used dump truck ?!!
No profanity, politics, or personal attacks. Thanks.
This is a 1942, not a 46….
I sold this vehicle in the late 80s to a man in LA …..
It was Vic Edelbrock Sr’s car and the intake is one of 3 or 4 ever cast.
Vic converted the grille and other trim to update it to a 46.
The car is blue under the faded Chev orange paint and the blue leather was painted red.
I have pictures, video and the Car Craft magazine when I bought it in Michigan.
This is one of 142 made, and is a very rare vehicle.
It’s good to see the V-12 still intact, a lot of them were swapped out for V-8’s. Some ended up with Y-blocks or small block Chevys. Did Lincolns from this era offer an automatic trans., I don’t think I have ever seen one? I know some from the early 50’s came with GM Hydramatics. It seems surprising that Ford was late to the game in that department. It seams Cadillac really pushed the automatics after the war.
I don’t think there was ever an automatic, at least I didn’t find one in my research. I think they brought out the Ford-O-Matic in the early 50s, by Borg Warner.
The Hudson sisters went from a Duesenberg to a ’48 Continental convertible. I’m sure they could have afforded an automatic, but Baby Jane is seen shifting from first to second while going down the driveway.
Ford was late to a lot of parties. Juice brakes, overhead valves, IFS, automatic transmissions come to mind
While I certainly have no interest in a car like this, I can’t help but think, looking at it in its dilapidated condition, what a beautiful car this once was. It was a V12 Lincoln convertible. In 1946,,very, VERY few people drove V12 Lincoln convertibles. Hollywood or Vegas, and who knows who might have owned this car. I read, a 1946 Lincoln convertible was the Indy 500 pace car that year with Henry Ford ll driving. It cost a whopping $4,400 new( when a basic Ford sedan was $1800) the most expensive car in 1946 and with only 265 made, it wasn’t for the returning GIs, that’s for sure. Not sure what to do with this grand old gal. I’d say restore it, but why? It will never again garner the glitz it once had, the motor its only real asset now destined for who knows what. A shame.
We see many cars here like this, not for you Howard or for me, but clearly a fallen beauty from another era. One of the reasons I return.
this is great (just the i8 would make it better 4 me) as my favs are the 1st gen, 2nd (short stuff) & 4th (the Kennedym0bile). Just undecided on the vert (of any generation in that car). But certain on my fav engine (any) i8…
An American classic (mid/late ’30s – very early 50s) seen here. Love to bring it back (all but body work). Great to keep the color too (red on red).
WTF is an i8 ?? Are you referring to a straight 8. ??
From my days in the auto industry I remember the older men I worked with telling me how Henry Ford the First disliked Henry Leyland and after buying the Lincoln Motor Car Company from Leyland he refused the now Lincoln Division to have an engineering department. Not until after Ford’s death did Lincoln then expand and allow Lincoln cars to catch up and also start looking different from the Fords and Mercurys. We used to still laugh at Henry Ford’s joke about his different colors: “light black, medium black and dark black, the three color choices on Model T’s
First car I have seen with what could be confused as a turbocharger for the cabin hot air system.
Note also it has what looks like a ‘straight through’ sports muffler in the centre of the ducting tube. It is a silencer to reduce the fan motor noise for the cabin occupants.
Talk about unobtainium, try to find decent trim parts for these cars. I have a 47 Zephyr coupe, one of the trim pieces I looked for at least two years before I found a decent one. Mine is a mild street rod, Ford powered, the original power train were long mia when I got it. The Connie shares trim with the Zephyr except for the dash which is different. Aftermarket parts other than rubber products and some glass is non existent for the most part. It would cost a small fortune to rechrome just the heavy pot metal grilles, so mine are painted a satin silver. This is one of those cars where it is cheaper to resto mod it than try to restore it.
What do I think of the price? Depends on the merchandise being weighed: 20k of one thing has a different street value from 20k (or even 10k) of another thing. So, what are we dealing…?
I’m surprised the engine turns. In fact, I’m surprised this car even still has the 305 variant in it! Those engines became quickly notorious for self-destruction, even before war production shut down commercial production, due to too much bore in too small a block. Because of that, Lincoln engineers during 1946 production hurriedly resorted back to the 1941 specs, of 292 cid and 120 HP (though changes in ’47 would add 5 more horses to the output through the same size). This baby is clearly one of the early-’46 models; and as already noted, I’m surprised it had not blown its engine apart through those too-thin cylinder walls.
Honestly, I find it laughable that so many nowadays think of 4,000 lbs. as “heavy.” Those of us with real backgrounds in cars know better. But, it is what it is.
Many will argue that this car was THE most important model Lincoln would ever release, and I for one would not presume to debate them. Though it was never intended to be a production model, it became so at a time when Lincoln needed to fill a void with the extinction of its super-luxury cruiser, the Model K. At the time the only other model Lincoln offered was the Zephyr, which was luxury only in its badging. Had it not been for Edsel’s personal car drawing so much attention in Florida in the winter of 1939, Lincoln may very well have not survived the Depression which killed off all other luxury badges except for Cadillac and Packard (the latter of which would still go extinct anyway, 17 years later). This car deserves TLC from someone who knows how to TLC these cars…and as an added bonus, has enough cartel connections to cover the many more k’s needed to properly restore it.
If you saw the previous comments, I identified this particular car from previous ownership….it is a 1942 model and further it was driven as late as 1962. It has passed from CA. to TX. to PA. to MI. back to CA. and now NV. …it appears, it is coming back to MI. and will be done flawlessly. This car was owned by the late Vic Edelbrock Sr. and has one of only 3or 4 multiple carb intake manifolds ever cast from Edelbrock….Vic Sr. only made several for this car.