This 1941 Lincoln Continental Convertible is for sale here on eBay in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s a beautiful car, needing only minor work, and bids are currently hovering around $9,000 with the reserve not met. With just 1,250 of these cars built between 1940 and 1941, it’s quite a rare and impressive find, so hopefully, it will find its way into a Barn Finder’s garage!
The car, in Hampton blue with blue interior, features the original 292-cubic-inch, 120-horsepower 12-cylinder engine and three-speed-on-the-column manual transmission. The engine and transmission have been rebuilt. The odometer shows 79,534 miles. It’s said to have been garage kept since 1989 by a non-smoking owner.
The brakes and glass are given a thumbs-up. The seller says, “Less than 12 of these cars have survived and [this is] the only one painted with special-order Hampton blue. No rust and runs with all its original parts. All components to the top are there, it just needs a new top.”
So there’s not of work for the new owner, once that top is installed. Drive and enjoy. The styling was very modern for the period, with no running boards. Interior photos would have been nice, but from what can be seen it’s probably OK. The speedometer is just fine. As some readers might know, the Continental was initially a one-off project built for Edsel Ford, then the company’s president. It was styled by Eugene T. “Bob” Gregoire, with the contemporary Zephyr as a starting point. The clean convertible sketch was done in an hour.
Edsel Ford liked the resulting prototype so much he said he could sell 1,000 of them, and so the car went into very limited hand-built production in 1939, with just 24 constructed that year, and 400 in 1940. The Continental had a 267-cubic-inch version of the V-12, transverse leaf springs and hydraulic drum brakes.
The Continental received only minimal updates from 1939 to 1941. The iconic pushbutton door releases were new for 1941. There were some body changes, including squared-off fenders, in 1942 but production was very limited that year for obvious reasons. But the Continental came back after the war with a 1946 model.
Lincoln was on a roll at the time, since the 1941 lineup also included the Zephyr. “Automotive historians have said that the Lincoln Zephyr was both one of the most handsome American automobiles of the 1930s and one of the most revolutionary,” says Robert Tate, a historian and researcher. “The automobile offered a popular sloping rear deck and curved side windows. The front fenders were also an attractive feature which included a simple grille form with added horizontal bars in combination with its front headlamps molded into the front fenders.”
Some spare parts come with the car, as seen above. The ’41 Continental is a full classic, especially as a convertible, and some lucky buyer is going to end up with this Florida car.
Are you sure there is a windshield?
I hate comments like only one because I have a 1941 blue on blue convertible sitting in my garage not 100 feet from me and it has a black top.
Is that tag line irony? It clearly needs more than a top.
Sonny Corleone ate it in a ’41 Continental. Since then I just blow through the toll booths.
Hahahaha. Love it!
Yeah, it’s pretty easy to “blow through” toll booths today with those windshield decals that records your passing through… but the comment was appreciated 👍 I love this car and it is just a year older than me… but this looks in better shape than I am, but I’m still puttin’ around with no physical supports needed. I wish I could get this, but I already have 2 cars in the garage.
Oh my my. Where did my comment go? I said that nine grand was way too cheap for this and that the WWII generation must be dead and younger generations were fools not to see how great this is. Does your software not like the word Idi*ts?
Well, it also said the reserve was not met. The $9g offer was probably placed by somebody who thought he could get it with a low-ball. God only knows what the reserve is.
I don’t know what source was used for the general-history part of this article, but it doesn’t match my sources. Edsel never intended to market the Continental; it was a personal car made specifically for him and him only, to drive to Florida for the winter of ’39. While he was down there, though, he drew a lot of unexpected attention and awe from people who wanted to know if they could buy one. Some even offered to give him signed blank checks to get their own copies. It was the result of that attention, which he never expected, that prompted him to call the factory in Dearborn and have a second one made. Then, in April he decided to make it part of Lincoln’s 1940 lineup, again because of the attention he never expected to draw to himself and his new personal car.
It was a very smart move because, with the demise of the Model K after 1939 (yes, some were sold in 1940, but they were all leftover ’39s), the only car Lincoln had to offer in1940 was the Zephyr.
Hello Tony,
It is so great to read something that someone has written on here and they actually were spot with all the correct information. I love reading some ones comment from a person that knows what he is talking about. Hooray for our side.
Thanks,
Bill
I wonder how Tony C did on the rest of the American History course. I don’t remember studying this material…. LOL
Is there a buy now price ??
Ce n n’est pas ce que je recherche. Merci quand même.
No pictures of the interior? Went up to $15K; reserve not met.
Nice Lincoln!
Are there skirts for this or did I miss something?
Well, auction has ended. Reserve not met at $15,750.
I wonder if a V10 would fit in that engine bay?
Where does the seller get the idea that less than 12 of these ’41 Continental convertibles still survive? If that was true, then I’ve seen 50% of the survivors in the past 20 years and have owned 1/12th of the surviving cars.
I believe the owner of this 41 Lincoln Continental convertible stated that there were only 12 1941 Lincoln Continental convertibles left and this is the only one left in Hampton blue.
He actually said that this is the ONLY ONE that was coloured Hampton Blue.
Great car and not surprised that the reserve was higher than the last bid. I’m sure more folks ( like me) would have been players if there had been a lot more photos. If there’s more to be done show it.
I am looking at another car that is the same color Your cant be sure what the original exterior or interior colors were as there were no data plates used on these cars Just a vin plate indicating the year and make. If you dont believe me than go ask the Ford museum and they will advise the same thing. I would like to make a offer but cant find a way to do that Advise if anyone knows
High mark example of Art Deco – seen in many swell items from everyday life in those two and a half decades of mid 20th C. America. More than anything, it’s an artistic statement celebrating simplicity in movement and shape. I have an equally rare 1940 best Chris Craft pocket cruiser that mimics so much of this car’s Art Deco primary appeal: movement even while standing still! What fun to get a shot of them together at dockside somewhere. Just a fantasy… Rick. in Buffalo
@Rick- Maybe Mr.Sandoro has something at the Buffalo Museum of Transportation- Pierce-Arrow you could use for your photo shoot. I’m sure there are Chris-Craft folks all over Western New York, but if you ever need a survey or technical assistance, there is a good one in the Rochester area.
– From Buffalo, in Rochester
Everything Buffalo
Everything Rochester
Western New York is home to the genius, the soul and a wicked work ethic.
We have a restored 1940 for sale in Nebraska… one of 400 and I believe there is only 100 remaining!
Price for the 1940
$60,000…. Completely restored the right way.