Made for only a handful of model years, 1956 to 1960, the Lincoln Premier was the middle child in Lincoln’s lineup, if you consider the Continental Mark II a Lincoln. The seller has this gorgeous 1956 Lincoln Premier sedan listed here on eBay in one of the great cities of America: Cincinnati, Ohio. There is no reserve and the current bid price is $4,745. Thanks to T.J. for sending in this tip!
If you lived in Palm Springs, California in the mid-1950s, this Lincoln Premier would fit right in as it’s parked in front of your midcentury modern low-and-lean house there. A little darker color, Taos Turquois, would be my first choice but I wouldn’t be afraid to own or drive this car because of its color. The seller refers to this car as being “Island Coral”, so maybe it’s faded over the decades and really is Coral and not Amethyst as I originally thought. The seller says that it’s “95% rust-free” with some corrosion being on the rocker panels and that’s it.
The Lincoln Premier was made from 1955 for the 1956 model year until the end of the 1960 model year and they’re an incredibly elegant design with either two doors or four doors. There appears to be some fading on the right-rear door but the driver’s side paint looks almost perfect. It’s hard to believe that this design lasted until the crazy-modern 1961 Lincoln suicide-door Continental sedans of 1961. Talk about flying to the moon compared to flying a kite. Still, I think I would prefer a Premier, but that’s just me.
The interior appears to be in really nice condition overall, other than some wear on the brocade seat insert fabric on the front seats, especially on the driver’s side, and the driver’s side bolster which needs to be repaired, too. The back seat looks almost like new and the size of the trunk would make any 1950s gangster happy.
The 368 cubic-inch V8 would have been factory-rated at 275 horsepower and 401 lb-ft of torque. The transmission should be a Borg-Warner-sourced three-speed automatic and the seller doesn’t mention how it shifts but they say that the car starts, runs, and drives although it smokes a little upon starting. With just 46,500 miles, this one is barely broken in but likely needs some maintenance after so many decades. Hagerty is at $12,900 for a #4 fair condition car and $19,700 for a #3 good condition car. It’s a gutsy move to list this beauty with no reserve, in my opinion. Any thoughts on this gorgeous Lincoln Premier?
loving the color and interior. What an automobile!!!
loving the color and interior. What an automobile!!!
Shame that each panel seems to be a different shade of coral but it seems like an honest car that would be a pleasure to own.
The `56 all-new styling on Lincolns was a show-stopper when they debuted. Long and low, these exuded class and luxury. Then Ford got the regrettable idea to ruin the design by `57, by tacking on enormous fins, and stacking dual headlamps in a cavity where they shouldn’t have. The end result was a very heavy-looking design that lasted only one year, thankfully. This Island coral sedan is beautiful, and I myself would be proud to have this in my garage!
I like the ’57 more than the ’56! The fins are perfect and in my opinion the stacked headlights were the best looking Ford ever did. Hated their mid-60s ones. But the ’56 was still a great looking car. Too bad the ’58s went and ruined everything..
Mary Kay’s first car
At the Pebble Beach concours a few days ago, there was a turquoise convertible version of this. Six men were riding in the car, each with a cowboy hat! They made quite an entrance to the show-
Love the car..not sure about the praise for that Ohio city though! I love the colour and would really enjoy this..as said a risk without a reserve but I’ll be watching thos..it would look cool in Palm Springs..but also here in Sonoma!
Beautiful car but if I understand my math right, 18.5 feet of length. I have a 20 foot garage but no room for error with this large vehicle. So pretty and certainly would not cause me any problems driving around town. Too sad it isn’t near plus I would need to get rid of my 68 beetle which does not take up 18.5 feet.
Owned a few of these, really eye-catching cars. Comments below are based on actual experience (more than once).
Two items here that MUST be addressed by potential buyers.
1. Heater core has been bypassed. A not-uncommon item because (most Ford products) of this era had leaking cores, and they all leaked down under the carpet into the passenger foot well. The floor under the passengers feet must be inspected for corrosion (and they are a bitch to change).
2. This car has the “automatic” chassis luber. It uses a vacuum operated pump to push “grease” (actually light oil) into all the front suspension parts that are normally greased. It was operated by a button on the dash (shown on the left side at the top edge of the painted part) which was “supposed” to be pressed by the driver every 50 MILES until a dash lite came on. I have seen cars with less than 10k miles with no ball joints left, because the owner never read the manual and NEVER pushed the button.
Still, it’s an impressive looking car and would tempt me if my ’60 ‘Bird wagon wasn’t too deep into my checkbook.
Good luck to the new keeper.
Beautiful car cer.tainly worth considering compared to that 59 caddy
Is this the brother from Christine? A charming car but as other
here mentioned, too big for any garage box.
Auction update: this one ended “because it was no longer available”, which may mean that someone made an offer or it wasn’t going to bring the price that they wanted and they ended the auction early. Any guesses which one?
Sold a 57 Lincoln Premiere identical to this one about 8 years ago while working for a classic auto consignment shop in Palm Springs California. Can’t quite remember but think it was shipped to Albequrque New Mexico. She drove like you were floating on air.