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Hidden Gold: 1966 Lincoln Continental

My ’66 Lincoln coupe was green but this gold 1966 Lincoln Continental reminds me so much of it, other than having two extra doors. This 18.5-foot-long gold Lincoln can be found here on craigslist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The seller has a price of $5,500 or offer listed.

These are big cars, so big that mine wouldn’t fit in our garage and I had to pay $200 a month for a double storage unit which wasn’t ideal. Like my recent black Seville purchase, I feel like I almost literally stole my ’66 Lincoln Continental Coupe, paying a few hundred less than what the seller is asking for this gold four-door sedan. Suicide doors are about as cool as it gets but, as with a convertible, a two-door car is almost always more valuable in the marketplace.

We don’t see the passenger side at all which is always disappointing, but what we do see of this car looks solid and nice. They say that it was repainted gold in the 60s or early-70s. The seller has owned this Lincoln for the last two decades and they were told that it was in storage for 15-20 years prior to them purchasing it.

Unfortunately, there are no engine photos and it’s one big, powerful engine in these cars: a 340-hp 462 cubic-inch V8, just a monster. But, even more unfortunate, this one has been sitting for 7 years and isn’t running and they say that it probably needs to be rebuilt. The interior looks good from what is shown but the engine will not be inexpensive to fix. Hagerty is at $6,900 for a #4 fair condition car, what’s your best price on this ’66 Continental?

Comments

  1. Avatar TimS

    One thing’s for sure. Get this done and few people will be able to out-class you. Limo companies would be jealous.

    Like 3
  2. Avatar TimM

    The four door Lincolns were the bomb in the day!! Still could be a nice daily driver!!

    Like 5
    • Avatar Mountainwoodie

      I had a ’63 and being a two door guy by nature with a few exceptions….this may be one of them. I’ve always thought that the 2 door Lincoln ’61 – on was awkward looking (sorry Scotty :) ) .

      There is just something about the suicide doors……so stately. My favorites of course were the ’61-’63. The Enwood Engel design was just more referential to past design cues than the later, more angular ’64-’68’s.

      But gold is a great color for this tank!

      Like 2
  3. Avatar Bob McK

    I believe the engine parts are hard to come by and expensive. Am I correct?

    Like 3
    • Avatar Bill Hall

      Depends on what you need and where you look.

      Like 1
    • Avatar Mark

      I have 1974 lincoln coupe
      With 40000 miles
      Unbelievable ride and classic

      Like 1
  4. HoA Rube Goldberg Member

    I took my road test on a car like this in the winter of ’71. The old man had a ’68 just like this. I think the examiner was impressed, passed no problem, it actually was an easy car to drive. Not too fast, as it weighed 5000 pounds, but what a cruiser. Tank would be more accurate.

    Like 5
  5. Avatar RichieRich

    This may be the one exception to the value difference between 2 doors and convertibles versus four doors. Those rear suicide doors are fairly unique and a major reason for the interest. GLWTA!

    Like 10
  6. Avatar David Furney

    I have a 67 Continental Sedan. I love these cars. Mine has a town car subframe and mustang rear end, and not nearly as original as this beautiful example.

    Like 2
  7. Avatar Bob McK

    Agree. I would never buy a 2 door Lincoln over a suicide door Lincoln.

    Like 7
  8. Avatar TJohnson

    Why would it need a paint job when it was 3-5 years old?

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Gary Haas

    Only car I ever built as a model. The styling symmetry is perfection! Restoration would be a challenge regarding electricals IMO, but damn…what a car!

    Like 2
  10. Avatar Will D

    Ad is gone

    Like 1
  11. Avatar Wayne

    These have almost as much “bluff quotient” as a semi truck. Especially if driven aggressively and has a few dents and scratches.
    Yes tank is a correct term. And they are cool. But who could afford one as a daily driver? Unless you own a filling station. My boss when I was in high school (I worked at a Napa store) had one of these. He claimed an average of 6 miles to the gallon. (He was an aggressive driver also.)

    Like 2
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Wayne,
      I’ve owned a few of these 4-door Continentals, both sedan and convertible. I was never able to coax more than about 8mpg when cruising on the interstate, and in-town mileage was often under 4mpg.

      I have friends in England who own a 1965 convertible, and at about $8 per gallon, they can no longer afford to take the car to most car shows.

      Like 2
      • Avatar rod444

        Meh, that’s why you trailer ’em and pull it to the shows with your Eco Diesel.

        Like 0
    • Avatar Steve H.

      Yep the mileage numbers for these is terrible. MPG?

      More like BPG… BLOCKS per gallon.

      Like 1
  12. Avatar Gay Car Nut

    Lovely looking Continental. I’m too young to remember the 60s, but I’ve always loved American cars of the 1950s through to the 80s.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    Just a quick message of safety –

    Center-opening door Continentals have a habit of popping into reverse as the car is idling. This is due to a white nylon part in the shifter that provide detents to keep the shifter in the gear you want. Problem is, this piece quickly wore out and the detent preventing the car from popping out of park & into reverse is no longer effective.

    ALWAYS use the parking brake on these cars, especially if the car is idling in park. I’ve seen 2 owner’s cars that shifted into reverse, and backed thru a gas station’s closed overhead door, and another convertible that backed into a beautiful 36 Olds at a car show.

    This also happens to other high-mileage Ford products too, but the Continental is especially prone to the problem due to the weight of the car pressing on that vinyl part while in park gear, especially on hills

    Like 3
  14. Avatar JimmyinTEXAS

    And the ad is gone. Someone took this beauty home.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Eldorado213

      Of course they did. If this was a halfway way decent car it was under priced by at least two grand!

      Like 0
  15. Avatar Del

    I suspect this engine just needs a little coaxing to run again.

    Always amazed at what people ask for non runners.

    Just cause the advert has ended does not mean it sold.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Bill W

    No 2 door Continentals in 1961-65. The Continental was restyled for 1966 and Lincoln took the opportunity to come up with a 2 door hardtop. The major changes for 1964 were replacing the curved side glass with flat glass and increasing the wheelbase from 123″ to 126″ – all in the rear doors.

    The last Lincoln convertible was built in 1968 and the last year for the unibody 1961 Continental was 1969.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar gene

    This was my Mom’s car when I was growing up…even down to the color combo.
    One of my favorites, except the Mark III she traded it in on.

    Like 1
  18. Avatar Wayne

    Bill McCoskey,
    I wonder what the fuel economy increase would be with an aftermarket throttle body injection system. I know, no longer original, but it would be reversible. It has to be somewhere in the 12 to 14 mpg area. Which means that you could afford to drive it more. Old Holleys and Autolights were never known for fuel efficiency. And it may even pick up some horse power to boot!

    Like 0
    • Avatar David Furney

      Not sure, mine is getting a 4.6 modular and has a crown Victoria subframe and mustang 8.8 differential. The guy I bought mine from has a 62 sedan with a similar setup and he claims he got 30ish mpg from it.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Wayne,
      I’m sure it would provide increased fuel economy, but 12 to 14 mpg? These convertibles were around 3 tons fully loaded. hard to get that kind of mileage when it has a non-lockup torque-converter trans and 460 CU IN.

      Like 0
  19. Avatar Johnmloghry

    I owned two different 65 4 door Continentals. Mine were both baby blue with blue vinyl tops. I loved those cars. The transmission went bad on one, took it to Aamco, big mistake, it never worked right again. After 7 times having it towed back they refused to work on it. The other one only had two problems; the radio never worked right, and the power steering sprung a hose leak. Drove them both for several years. Don’t remember getting such bad gas mileage.
    God bless America

    Like 0
  20. Avatar Wayne

    Bill, I agree that it is a stretch. But also remember that they have no cat. converter, ( which requires additional fuel to keep it fired off) no EGR system which on it’s best day provides unequal fuel distribution on carbureted and throttle body injection systems. And real highway gears with low rpm lock up converters. Yes, in town fuel economy would only improve by a small margin. But highway MPG should see a large boost. Also remember that 75% of all the Holley and Motorcraft carbs out there today have bad power valves. (Due to age and lean backfire) And most people just accept the poor mileage due to age.
    It would still be interesting to see the difference. I am watching for a cheap ’65 to ’71 Pontac that runs well but would need a lot of other attention. Just to try the experiment.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Lyle Macbride

    My grandfather left me a 1974 Town Car with a 460ci v8. I got 8 mpg no matter how I drove, but the cool factor was off the charts!

    The greatest thing on my opinion was that it could be fixed with just a Chilton manual and tools. (It did take a while to fix it though as it had every possible gadget and option on it.)

    Unfortunately the brakes went bad after I had it for 2 years and would have required complete replacement with no guarantees that was all to be fixed. I still see it occasionally as it is still on the road since the man who bought it did a full frame off restoration as a project with his son.

    I still regret selling it though as I loved the car and remembered my “Gramps” every time I drove it.

    Like 0

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