Having somewhat over 46,000 miles on it, this 1973 Lincoln Continental is barely broken in and it looks almost like new. There’s a lot of Mercury Marquis in this car, at least they look very similar from some angles. This gorgeous time capsule can be found here on craigslist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The seller is asking $5,250 and it would be a car that you could live in if you had to. Like, say you bought it and your wife kicked you out, or something theoretical like that…
I could easily see myself buying this car which is scary. It’s something that I don’t need right now, but I still want it. I prefer the fifth-generation Continentals after 1977 with the smaller grille, but I would not be sorry to own this one. It’s even longer than my former 1966 Lincoln Continental Coupe was, by almost 12-inches, at over 19-feet in length. As I mentioned earlier, it sure does have a lot of Mercury Marquis in it. You can see the new-for-1973 required 5-mph bumper that was required on the front.
You can see the nicely-integrated rear bumper that would grow the following year in 1974 in order to meet federal safety regulations. Purists may like the 1972 Lincoln Continental with tight bumpers on both ends. The headlight doors appear to be working, sometimes you’ll get a winker. This one is underpriced in my opinion, and Hagerty also thinks that it’s worth $6,300 – their #3 good condition value – so this could be a good deal. They’re at $12,700 for a #2 excellent condition car and it wouldn’t take much to bring this one up a notch.
The interior looks almost like new and I can almost hear, or not hear, how quiet this car would be rolling down the road. The back seat would fit almost anyone and even though you’d think the trunk should be huge, it really isn’t that big. It’s a lot like my ’66 Lincoln trunk was with the huge spare tire taking up a lot of room and all of the padding.
This photo shows what a low-mile engine should look like. The seller says that this beauty has 46,380 miles on it but the odometer shows 46,815 miles – either way, it has incredibly low miles. The engine is Ford’s 385-series 460 cubic-inch V8 with around 220 hp and 360 ft-lb of torque. It has a slight exhaust leak (all of us just heard that sound in our minds) but other than that, everything works including the AC, which blows cool. Have any of you owned a fifth-generation Lincoln Continental?
Wow if the timing were a little better I’d go down there and buy this car. It will sell muy pronto.
are those soup cans in the engine bay?
Nope, Hi-C cans.
Ford used them and smaller versions for years
What was their purpose anyway?
Vacuum system ??
Nice one, Scotty! In a different color scheme I could be a buyer on this one. The price is great for what you’re getting. I’m thinking my next purchase will be a land schooner of some sort, and this one checks many boxes. One of the TV shows took a 460 of this vintage and just did higher compression pistons, intake, headers (same heads) and pulled something like 360 HP and mountains of torque. Do that, carb-style EFI, 3.73s and a gear-vendors overdrive, and you’re set to out-gun just about any full-sized SUV with 9x the style. It’s 800 lb lighter than an Escalade for example.
I’ve followed the Consumer Reports reliability guides since I was a car nut kid (my parents subscribed). I remember the full sized Ford cars of ’73 being the pinnacle, the beginning of Toyota/Lexus like reliability. This looks like a legit 43K miles, making it a lot of car for the money and probably one of the smoothest riding and quietest barges ever.
Sweet looking Continental. My cousin had one like this back in the early 80s. I was too young to drive at the time, but I remember finding it more attractive than anything offered by Lincoln before or since.
I have one just like this with a black roof and black leather interior, similar shape and mileage. Everything works including the cruise control. A really smooth running engine and of course a quiet and smooth ride!
He definitely scrubbed the ashtray before the pic. All the owners of these smoked back then
I need to go look at this one..
Mom had two later 70s models. They were glorious to drive.
I parked next to a late model Lincoln MK somethingorother at Kroger’s the other day and lamented that the humpback styling didn’t look like a Lincoln to me.
This car looks like a Lincoln.
Way underpriced for the boomer who desires to drive off into oblivion in style.
I agree with most you guys. Good deal but the color combos are nauseating!!
My father had a I believe a 78 Town Car.
It was fkn gorgeous!
But it was a real classy tasteful color combo. (like a limo should be)
It was black outside, white pinstripe down the sides, big alum wheels, The all so classy rear oval “opera” window, black vinyl rear roof section, power moon roof in the front area, Then inside was jade green velvet seating!!
Best classy car I’ve ever seen! Let’s not forget the rear fold down “bar” behind each front seat.
Many a girlfriends loved to ride in that car!!
Wish I knew where it is now. I would def. buy it back if it’s in any kind of decent shape nowadays.
It was a special edition last I knew. It had a larger front grill then all the rest.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a car as underpriced as this one. Now, if I could just find an equivalent deal on something I actually want to own.
True story , My uncle needed a ride down to the Lincoln Mercury dealer to pick up his new Lincoln. We arrived at the dealership and were told his car was in the show room , as we entered the show room and started admiring his new Lincoln. The salesman came over and stated that my uncles car was on the other side of the show room and the car we thought was his was a Mercury marquis !These Lincolns were a great car , and this one is a nice example !
Boy would I love this. Perfect for an old fart like me. Thanks to the Arabs/Russians and the Virus, gas is only about 60 cents a litre. All that and no where to go. With this lock down , how would you even get the car home?????? Such first world problems. However I might have enough toilet paper squared maybe a trade.
s o l d
Its been taken off of Craigslist. Must have sold it already. Nice looking car. Being in Florida with the vinlyn roof. I,d check it out good. They ONLY 3 things i DO NOT LIKE ABOUT IT IS. The vinlyn roof–color and its NOT MINE. This IS a car. Ride in it all day in style and comfort. If you can afford it–you can afford the gas. A friend of mine bought one from a funeral home. He,d party half the night and sleep in it. Lots of room and alot of fun has happened in them.hahaha Someone forgot to hook the air noozle back up on the air cleaner.
I believe those V-8 cans were used to store vacuum, so that certain vacuum-operated accessories (door locks is the only one I can think of) would operate with the engine off.
What is with those little ‘grilles’ on the headlamp doors? The doors are a little crooked but the grilles are way crooked. Is this an example of sloppy US car mfg in the 70’s?
With the 1969 Mercury, Ford was working to make that model more like a Lincoln, enhancing its position in the medium/upper-medium price class.