I’d love to know the full story behind this beautiful ’65 Lincoln Continental four-door sedan. The seller only gives the most basic of basic details in the ad: “Very clean, all original one-owner car. 55k original miles.” The supplied photos won’t win any awards and there are no pics of the engine bay for some reason, but it looks like a stunning survivor that’s seen a lot of garage time and TLC from its one owner. The seller doesn’t say if it’s been a California car all its life, but it’s currently residing in San Jose, California, and is for sale here on craigslist for $25,000 or best offer. Another thank you to ToddK for bring this luxurious Lincoln to our attention.
The 4th generation Continental was the car that saved Lincoln. Literally. Given one last chance to make a profit (the disastrous 1958-60 Lincolns lost an estimated $60 million – that’s over half a billion in today’s dollars) or be terminated, the stunning 1961 Lincoln went from eyesore to iconic, thanks to Elwood Engle’s talented design team. Not only did the brand new Continental meet its most important objective of profitability, it also gave Lincoln the respect and prestige it had sorely lacked up to the point. Lincoln also helped its profitability by not sticking to the usual three-year design cycle. The 1965 model seen here was the fifth and last styling cycle that began in 1961. Some styling updates included a new, flat horizontal grille (that gives the front end a Mercury-esque look), new parking lights and turn signals mounted as a single unit in the front fenders. new ribbed taillights, and a revised bumper and trunk accents. Based on the photos, the exterior of this survivor looks great, from the orignal shiny Turino Turquoise paint to the chrome bumpers, trim, stainless, and glass. I don’t see any rust or other concerns.
“Step into a world of tasteful luxury.” That’s how Lincoln described their “elegantly understated” interiors and the original Aqua interior in this survivor is in exceptional condition. I had to remind myself that I was looking at a 58-year-old car. Except for some driver’s seat cushion sag, the rest of the cabin including the roll-over pleated leather seats and door panels, aqua headliner, and the refined-for-’65 instrument panel are well preserved. Although the “suicide-doors” are a unique and cool styling hallmark of these Continentals, they were actually a solution for making entry onto the rear seat easier without increasing the car’s overall length.
Mid-1960’s luxury creature comforts include power windows and door locks (accessible from the “Master Window Control”), a six-way power front seat, power steering, power brakes, power antenna, power front disc brakes, and a 3-speed automatic transmission. There are no photos supplied of the Lincoln’s 430-cubic inch, 320 horsepower V8 engine with a reported 55,000 original miles on the clock. And based on the time capsule condition of this Lincoln, I’m guessing that’s the accurate mileage. Of the 36,824 four-door Continental sedans produced in 1965, this is the nicest one we’ve listed here on Barn Finds. And, like its iconic styling, the condition of this survivor is stunning.
Wow. Shiny. The only flaw I see right away is the divot on the front L tire…
I’d trust that Maypop to drive the car onto and off of a trailer and that’s it.
That “divot” is a byproduct of the tire molding process. Not a sign of a curbing or other damage. Almost every cheap modern large sidewall tire has that.
That doesn’t mean the tires are fresh for sure.. but that divot doesn’t mean anything either.
This is the “Baby blue continental” Billy Joel was singing about.
Nice. With both front and rear doors open, the advantage of coach doors is displayed at its finest…
I feel this front end inspired the looks of the ’67 full size Mercury.
The suicide doors seem cool, until people try to get ii or out the front and back at the same time.
Modern cars put you in one spot and surround you with a dash, console and thick doors. This car is like driving two giant sofas on the road. Tons of room to move around.
It has air conditioning. The vents are well integrated within the dashboard, but you can see the controls that accompany each vent.
A 58 year-old one-owner luxury car, possible, but most buyers of a 1965 Lincoln Continental were 50-plus, so perhaps a 30 or 40-something wealthy woman (like the beautiful women shown in the Lincoln brochures of the time) chose this lovely turquoise Continental as her lifetime car.
And her name was Diane…
Another fantastic car. This is stunning. To be stupid wealthy and absorb this and the 69 Sedan Deville on here right now. I had an acquaintance with a convertible eons ago. Another super nice old car fleeing California.
My memories of this generation Lincoln: Every summer my parents loaded us kids into the back of our ’65 Country Sedan wagon for the 200 mile pilgrimage to visit my aunt and uncle in rural Georgia (on the trip there I was always fascinated by the “Colored” drinking fountain at the Tastee Freeze). They owned a sprawling general store with signage todays collectors would drool over, complete with outhouses for the patrons, a small barber shop, and a used car lot. On the lot for at least two years that I can remember was a ’51 Mercury coupe in immaculate condition. Under their carport for many years was a ’63 Lincoln Continental sedan, power everything, dark blue, in even more immaculate condition. My uncle was obviously doing pretty well for a rural GA car dealer!
I owned 2 of these back in the day. Both were baby blue, one with blue vinyl top, one with white vinyl top, both with blue leather interior. Great driving cars, only trouble I had was the transmission went out on one, took it to AAMCO and it never worked right again, took it back 7 times they could never get it right. Radio in both quit working in short order. Power steering hose had to be replaced on one of the cars. Between my second wife and I we put a lot of miles on them. Later on we bought 75 Lincoln Mark IV dark blue with white leather interior and sun roofs. I’ve been a FOMOCO owner since the 60’s and I love them. still drive Fords.
God Bless America
My uncle bought a new Lincoln Continental every year, until the MarkIII was introduced.
I remember he won a ’63 Cadillac in a drawing and immediately sold it.
Obviously, he preferred to have a lower class car.
A Lincoln Continental is hardly a lower, class car Sir. These years were marvelous cars. I had a black ’66 with burgundy leather interior. Mine had the 462 engine. I thought, it was for ’65 and ’66 only. Then on to the 460 engine. Had a ’77 Mark V, with the 460. Another wonderful car. Loved all my Lincoln’s. Loved a few Cadillac too. It’s all good stuff!
Cadillac stopped being the “standard of the world” in the 30s. The v16 was a pretty awesome car. All I think of when I hear Cadillac is old white guy or a late 70s pimp.
Nice looking car. With no pictures of the engine bay and chassis, the only thing is to hope it runs and drives well enough to get on the trailer under its power. If there are no holes in the bottom and no major engine or transmission problems, the price may not be bad.
I worked on one of the missle sites in Kansas in the 60s and the foreman would pick us up in his lincoln just like this but in black. It had tons of room for 6 men and so comfortable.
All of these “old” cars bring back memories.
Perfection! So wish I could bring this one home.
Beautiful car. I remember watching reruns of The Fugitive and the FBI and this car was often seen. In 1965. This car sold for about $8000 which would be about $65000 to $70000 in today’s money.
I want it, two things hold me back a lack of Green and good inside storage that only costs one BODY PART.
My dad’s car was a 1965 Lincoln Continental – as shown here, in Black with a buff (lightest color off white/tan) I can still remember the horn, from when he would show up and hunt me down with my delinquent friends. So many memories. Guy in a Plymouth Fury made a left against the Lincoln traveling straight and got totaled. My father collected insurance, but opted not to fix the Lincoln. I put a new headlight assembly in and boom..Good to go! My brother got it as his 1st car. When I heard he was getting it, I was PISSED OFF! I LOVED that car; My brother (1 year my senior) could care less. I remember vacuuming under the back seat in awe of the 1/3″ thick framing metal of that unibody. They TRULY don’t build cars like this anymore! That dash is 80% metal. Heavy metal!
There’s more to the history than the article gets into, more to establish an even bigger connection to the JFK tenure. A ’61 design had already been approved, based on the bizarre ’58 design which Engel also worked on (though not as head designer). The concept Engel submitted that actually became the iconic ’60s theme, a total reversal of the design that disappointed him, was meant to be a Thunderbird proposal; but when the rising star of Ford who was bound to become company president saw this, he immediately said that design was the identity Lincoln had to have, and ordered the other design revoked in favor of Engel’s T-Bird proposal.
Who was that Ford exec? Robert S. McNamara…yes, the same one who became JFK’s Secretary of Defense. Now you know the rest of the story.
Now, then, this example, I have to say, is quite impressive for an unmolested original. I hope the new owner resists any temptations to trick this car out with wagon wheels, balloon suspension, or any of those other obscene trick-outs that still seem to be all the rage.