I’ve always wanted to own a Continental Mark II, one of the prettiest and best-built American cars ever. These exclusive vehicles cost $10,000 new and were virtually hand assembled. Reportedly, Ford lost $1,000 on every one. Not many Mark IIs were sold due to the prohibitive price, and there were only two model years. This is the second, 1957. The Mark II is on eBay in Wheeler, Texas. So far, it’s up to $22,000 with just three bids.

The owner is terse. “This 1957 Mark II was part of the J.C. Daniels collection in Pampa, Texas. It was sold by RM Auctions in 2007. My grandfather was the buyer, and I was with him at the time. He worked for Mr. Daniels in the 1940s at the latter’s Lincoln dealership. I have the RM paperwork and other documents from the auction that come with the car. I drove the car home that day and it has been stored inside our old Ford dealership since then.”There are only three photos, and they cover the bare essentials: exterior, interior and engine. The exterior shot makes plain that the car has, indeed, been sitting in a closed showroom on a main street. There’s a ton of unanswered questions. Has it moved since 2007? Was it started regularly? About all you can see is that the paint is either dulled or just very dusty, the interior appears very good and original, as that kind of two-tone upholstery was standard. The engine is, well, there.

The owner might have unreasonable expectations about what Mark IIs are worth in this highly unknown condition. Hagerty says $41,600 in “good” condition, but without more information this one is less than that. Chances are it’s going to need at least a mechanical restoration.

The Mark II was the successor of the long-lived Lincoln Continental that spanned World War II from 1939 to 1948. The new model was only available as a two-door hardtop, with a 368-cubic-inch Y-block V-8 engine. The competition was from Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but people weren’t used to paying big money for Ford-related product. For 1958, the Continental became a Lincoln again, and was gawd-awful ugly. You may differ. The Allen Park Body and Assembly plant in Michigan that produced the Mark II was later repurposed to build Edsels. From the sublime to the ridiculous!

Ford probably thought there was a market for the Mark II, even at that price, since Americans were buying expensive Cadillac Eldorados, Buick Skylarks, Olds 98 Fiestas, Chrysler letter cars and other rarefied fare. Packard had its multi-toned Caribbean.

The Continental division was created in 1955, with the plan to eventually build a retractable-top convertible version (as offered by Ford on the contemporary Skyliner) and a four-door. Ford set out these principles: “1. The new Continental was to have distinctive styling. The styling was to be based upon clean, classic lines, rather than modernistic innovations. 2. The new car was to include technological advancements and special features which would enhance its value to the customer in terms of comfort, durability, safety, performance, and prestige. 3. The overall height of the car was not to exceed 58 in. 4. There was to be maximum interchangeability of chassis parts with Lincoln, including engine, transmission, rear axle, and suspension.” All this was achieved, but consumers had to buy them. And they didn’t.

The original base price was $9,966, making it the most expensive U.S.-made car at that time. The only option was air conditioning ($595). With a three-speed Turbo-Drive automatic, the Mark II produced 300 horsepower in 1957. Popular Mechanics got 16.7 mpg out of one, not bad for a heavy V-8 car of that period.

This Mark II could turn out to be a bargain, as it is unlikely to have major rust problems and the odometer reads a mere 54,000 miles. Or it could need a costly resurrection that would put the buyer underwater. Owners might want to be more forthcoming on details.