The Continental dominated Lincoln production for 55 years – until 2020 when the company decided to focus exclusively on crossovers and SUVs. The car’s fifth-generation was built between 1970-79, including this ’77 edition which has been off the road for the better part of 40 years. It has recently been revived and appears to perform well, although the buyer should do further scrutiny before taking any long trips. Located in Bogata, Texas, this nice land yacht from a bygone era is available here on eBay where the bidding stands at $6,105.
Lincoln built more than 191,000 automobiles in 1977, of which the Continental represented half of that production. More than 68,000 of the Continentals would be 4-door luxury sedans like the seller’s burgundy machine. As the story goes, this car was owned by an elderly gentleman who got too old and physically unable to drive and it was simply parked with an incredible 9,000 miles on the odometer. That was in 1983 when the machine was only six years old.
The seller brought the vehicle back to their shop to begin to process of awakening the sleeping beauty. After changing all the fluids and doing a tune-up, the old car was coaxed into starting up and seems to run just fine. Then the process of changing things like the brakes and tires began so it would be trustworthy outside of the shop perimeter. The date codes on the old tires suggest they were original to the Continental.
In the process of doing a thorough inspection, not everything was found to be peaches and cream. The underbelly of the car is a bit rough for the few amount of miles on the car. And it was in a frontal accident at some point and the resulting repaint has some flaws compared to the rest of the vehicle. However, the parts of the car wearing original paint have shined up well, but you’ll find the customary door dings and missing paint chips in a few places. But rust doesn’t seem to be an issue. The interior of this massive machine responded well to vacuuming and shampooing.
These cars were equipped with the largest factory engine offered by Ford, a 460 cubic inch V8. Both the motor and automatic transmission perform as they should with the limited test drives the seller has made. The only thing that isn’t working is the air conditioning which is missing a belt and that might signal bigger issues than a lack of freon.
Although the seller paints a mostly positive picture, he/she recommends towing the car home until you’ve had a chance to be sure there are no lingering effects from its long-time hibernation. We’re provided with a video of the proud Lincoln in both before-and-after-condition so you can view the step-by-step transition. If you’re fond of big, luxurious cars like this one and don’t mind frequent stops at the gas pump to keep it fed, then this one could be hard to pass up. Thanks for this interesting tip, Frank Muellersman.
it’s always something more than a lack of freon.
I’m waiting for a seller to say they took the belt off the AC compressor to increase horsepower. The “just needs freon” comment is getting old.
Back in the day every self respecting realtor in our town had a Lincoln Town Car…every model was represented including the designer series.
Funny, it seems to be the ebay thing….”play dumb” it will need more than that.
I am looking to buy a electronic item and the “play dumb” is horrible! “Worked when last used” is my favorite!
They do not know what is wrong with it, but they sure do want top money!
@Fran: at least we weren’t subjected to the “Craigs List Finger of Paranoia” blocking out the license plate, there’s that.
A solid and beautiful car – however I’m not buying the 9K mileage.
Well, if the date codes say the tires are original, I’m buying it. A car can deteriorate without driving a mile, just sitting outside. Just ask the bidders at the Lambrett Chevrolet auction, where cars with 100 miles looked like they had been driven hard and put away wet.
Guzzle, guzzle, guzzle.
You know what’s bad when the Vega is bid higher.
FWIW, this 5,100 pound ’70s beast gets 10.2 MPG. With its 24.2 gallon tank, you’ll spend about $120 to fill her up, to travel about 245 miles. LOL!! That’s about 30 fewer miles than the lowest range Tesla.
Yes, but you can refuel this in a matter of minutes. :)
Why would you put away a three year old car that is almost like brand new? Fishy story, or who knows. Why can’t someone here find these back stories and repeat them here? Okay, Grandpa bought a new car and stroked out, or checked out. I can see putting it in a shed, for a while. But 4 decades? This car in those days was a solid economic asset, so why not sell it then? I am afraid what we have here is a sad story, or a fake one.
In 1980, this guzzler was anything but a solid economic asset! All Lincolns had been significantly downsized by then and people were physically fighting at VW dealerships over diesel Rabbits. Interest rates were about 18% and the economy was completely in the toilet. I think gas was today’s equivalent of about…well, what it is now.
I’m not saying you are wrong to be cynical. You always should be. But I could definitely see something like this happening, especially if, as you said, an elderly owner died and the family decided to wait for a better day to sell it. Then maybe life got in the way and that day just never happened. I mean, up until recently, these cars had had pretty low values, so it would have scarcely been worth the trouble.
Our grandpa bought one of these type of boats back in the 70’s. Since he was retired, he didn’t have to drive it everyday commuting. It saw less and less time on the road as he became more of a homebody. He passed away and it became grandma’s car. She only used it for emergencies. 95% of the time, mom would drive grandma around.
That’s how you get super low mile boats like this.
Fred,
I owned an antique car restoration shop in the Baltimore/Washington area for almost 40 years. I was contacted multiple times by estate attorneys or family members wanting to sell off an older vehicle that had sat for multiple decades. As the primary “antique car shop” listing in the Yellow Pages, I was usually the first person they called.
In many cases, the vehicle’s owner had medical situations that made driving the car impossible. It’s human nature when faced with situations like this, to hold onto the car in the hopes or beliefs that someday the owner will be able to drive again. Owners often find it near impossible to sell the one item that they might need to regain mobility, hence the car is not sold.
Cars that I acquired as a result of these calls [with mileage noted] include:
1950 Packard Custom Super Eight, 1,100 miles.
1965 Imperial Ghia limo, 5,700 miles.
1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 60s, 3,500 miles.
1963 Studebaker Lark Wagonaire, 8,200 miles.
All 4 of the above cars were in garages and near mint condition after cleaning, and minor repairs & servicing.
I also bought numerous cars with low mileage, that were sadly left to rot outdoors, or in open and/or leaky sheds. Those cars included [but not limited to]:
1935 Rolls-Royce 20/25 James Young limousine, about 11,000 miles.
1950 Chrysler Town & Country hardtop, about 4,000 miles.
1952 Packard Convertible, about 6,000 miles.
1955 Buick Roadmaster sedan with A/C, about 8,000 miles.
The last 3 were parked together in a rickety shed on a big farm, side by side. The elderly lady drove the Chrysler for 2 years, parked it and drove the Packard for 3 years, parked it and drove the Buick until 1959, based on the ’59 plates on the car. I bought them from the grandson who was developing the property in 1976, and wanted them gone. Paid $300 for all 3 cars.
The Rolls-Royce was bought on a whim by an American tourist in London back in 1985 when cars like that were not expensive in the UK, and the British Pound had dropped to about the same value as the US Dollar. He brought this beautiful [I saw the photos] car back to Silver Spring, MD, parked it alongside his house, never had a garage constructed or even drove it again, and let the car fall to pieces [roof collapsed in and the doors fell off the car]. His kids used it to play in it as well! Paid $500 for the car about 1995, and it included the UK title and import papers. .
These things happen. My parents had a 56 Ford Fairlane they bought for my brother in 1962. He drove it for about three years, then Pop bought him a 1964 Ford Galaxie. I also drove a 1964 Ford Galaxie that Pop bought for me in 1966. Pop had a IH pickup that he drove and mom ended up with the 1956 Ford for a couple of years. We lived in a small (1200 population) town and mom didn’t drive much. Pop bought her a sweet 1966 Ford Fairlane and the 1956 Ford ended up in the barn. Stayed there for about 20 years, Pop started it up once in a while, but didn’t drive it. He finally sold it one day to make room. Was gone before I knew about it leaving. Would have liked to have kept it. That’s why the name of this site is Barn Finds.
The current owner has a YouTube channel. There is about an hour long video on this car.
Here is the YouTube video on the car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZvb0AFh4P0
109,000 is more realistic but its still a gas guzzling land yacht
There’s no mention of the old guy dying, at least not back when the car was put away. Sure, he took it off the road, but nobody wanted to tell grandpa that they were selling his car. He could have lived another 20 years, for all we know.
Just sayin.
I have never seen a 9K engine with that much oil crud on the valve covers before. But, I guess it doesn’t really matter how many miles are on it. It will be a fun car for someone.
@Psychofish2
Haha, you made me laugh! YES, the “Finger of paranoia” LOL I always wondered what to call that!!! What would you call the sheet or towel over the plate? “Ghost Plate”?
looks like 109,000
clearly is not a 9,000 mile car
no way, no how!
One of the best highway cruisers ever. That said, 8 to 12 mpg, time to add a throttle body FI to improve MPG and drivability. Good luck to the next owner, I hope they changed the rear end lube. Also, wheel bearings would need attention after 45 years. Seal leaks in engine and tranny would be a major concern. Plan to spend at least $3,000+ above purchase price, to make it a daily driver. A/C fix or conversion to 134R is not going to be cheap.
DD with 5 buck a gallon gas? Buy a 49cc scooter.
Nice looking Lincoln. Better looking and price , Then the junk put out now days. At least when you get to your destination. Your not beat to death and wore out. Like some little car. This is for the person who can afford the gas and likes style and comfort. Plus alot better deal then some rusted out Charger. That has no running gears ,no windows and a complete rusted out body. Thia Lincoln is alot better deal. You can drive it. You don,t have to haul it off on a roll back.
DD with 5 buck a gallon gas? Buy a 49cc scooter.
Cheap going in, no computer BS, cheap registration, cheaper insurance, off the shelf Ford parts and the motors will easily go 300K . Bottom line calcs say, this is an economical car purchase regardless of fuel price fluctuations.
There is no such thing as a $36,000 to $75,000 “economy car”.
Elon knows this.
I had a 77 Mercury Marquis in 2000 with 8,163 original miles. Car was new in every way. Even original tires. I was absolutely afraid to drive it for fear of something happening to it. I needed money and ended up selling it for what I paid for it…$3000. I wish I had kept it. Would be worth a lot more today.
SOLD for $6,906.03.
Where do bidders come up with these strange amounts?
I do find the story believable. A couple years ago I bought my 76 Continental. Story was that it was an old man’s car and was parked after he could no longer buy it. It was then in the family’s care until they decided to part with it. They claimed it had 34K miles on it and I have no reason to doubt it. Mine still had the original Michelin tires on it, but obviously I put new tires on it so I can use it. I kept the original tires, however for posterity sake. I do agree that this one appears to have been improperly stored for part of its existence, but who knows.
This are well built cars that have an incredible feeling of substantiality when driving them. In proper tune, and in light of what one is moving, fuel economy is acceptable. Mine will return 11 to 14 mpg for moderate speed highway trips. Around town driving I’m running between 9 to 10. After driving one of these you realize just how well built these cars were, with a total feeling of isolation from the outside world. Nothing built like it anymore, unfortunately.