Affordable classic luxury cars are getting harder to find, but that seems to be what is on offer with this 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V. It has been parked for 40-years, but it is a complete vehicle that shows a lot of promise. Our eagle-eyed Barn Finder Ikey H spotted this one for us, so thank you for that, Ikey. Located in Costa Mesa, California, you will find the Mark V listed for sale here on Craigslist. Hand the owner $7,000, and you could be taking this one away.
It isn’t clear why the Mark V has been left to sit for four decades, but I have a theory that I will expand on shortly. It appears that the car has spent its life in California, and this is excellent news for a model that could be prone to rust problems. It is finished in Polaris White, and it does present extremely well. The paint holds a lovely shine, while the panels look as straight as an arrow. The chrome and trim are in good order for a survivor-grade car, and there appears to be nothing missing. The glass is in good order, and I think that a wash and polish would have this classic sparkling once again.
When we look into the engine bay, we get to that point where I believe that we find why the Mark V has been parked for so long. Here we see a 430ci MEL V8 that should be capable of producing 315hp. It is backed by a 3-speed automatic transmission, with this combination allowing the car to hit a top speed of 118mph. At 5,470lbs, this is one hefty classic. That makes the 18-second ¼-mile ET pretty impressive. The owner makes no mention of whether the car runs or drives, but the fact that the hood has been removed would suggest that there has been some pretty major work either completed or contemplated in the engine bay. The fuel filter looks relatively new, but there is no line going into it. That suggests that someone might have been trying to coax that V8 into life with an external fuel source. Hopefully, the owner is approachable and would be willing to shed some light on this.
This is the only photo that the seller supplies of the interior, and it paints a fairly positive picture. The dash is flawless, the wheel has no cracks, and the carpet and headliner appear to be in excellent condition. There have been no aftermarket additions, and the owner says that all of the power features work as they should. This includes the power front seat, power windows, power vent windows, and a power antenna for the original Town & Country radio. We can’t see the leather on the seats or the condition of the remaining interior trim, but what we can see looks pretty encouraging.
Affordable project cars will always attract their share of attention, and I suspect that this 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V will be no exception. With 6,604 examples rolling off the production line in 1960, the 4-door Hardtop Sedan is not the rarest car that the company ever built. However, it does share its bloodline with some other great classics, and its asking price is very affordable. This is one project car that I believe will be snapped up pretty quickly.
On a car of this (like it or not) magnificence, those BLACKWALL tires are just so wrong! To me, they give a “down on your luck” vibe, as white walls were more expensive to obtain. GLWTS!! :-)
Moparman, with all due respect, I couldn’t disagree more. I love the way these look on the car. I wish the white sidewall tire had never been invented, ugh…
You must be a youngster! Those of us who were alive back then (and, in my case, driving one of these!) know that blackwall tires meant you were too cheap or too broke to spend the extra $5 each for whitewalls. You probably bought gas $1 at a time (3 gallons in the mid 60s). In my 70+ years this is the FIRST 60s luxury car I’ve ever seen with blackwall tires. It’s ok that you don’t like whitewalls. But they are required to make this car “authentic”.
My father bought a new car in the late 60s and refused to pay for the whitewall tires. The dealership remounted the tires so the whitewalls faced the inside.
I agree. In most cases, blackwall tires give a car a tougher, more menacing look, especially if you take the whitewalls off of a car, with dog dish hubcaps.
Whitewalls were invented – i think – because of the the high 75 series profile tires used back then. Ooops i mean 78 series!
A lot of rubber showing & small 14″ wheels, usually.
So plenty of rubber space to dress the tire.
If anything, what really looks terrible are homemade whitewalls or raised white letters added to modern very low profile tires! I seen a few. yuck.
On late ’60 muscle cars, IMO, only sporty ULTRA thin whitewalls will suffice.
LOL!!! The blackwalls look the part for a car that was the personal limo of a south american-central american dictator back in the 1960s…
All kidding aside, this car appears to have alot going for it.
Dang! You could play a game of touch football on that trunk!
Steve, I was thinking you could land a small plane on the carrier deck
Before you buy this,measure your garage,
to make sure it’ll fit.
I don’t know if that would fit in my driveway, much my garage. He may be trying to work on it under that shelf which would require hood removal.
Yea, my ’58 Ford Skyliner doesn’t fit in my garage, and it’s “only” 17 1/2 feet long (garage built in 1922 for a Model T, my Volvo barely fits.)
I believe it’s 227 inches long if I remember right
I feel sorry for those dollies!
Believe it or not these huge cars are unibody. Years ago I read in “Collectible Automobile” magazine that there were a lot of structural problems found during development and testing of the Lincoln’s unit structure and that a Nash Ambassador was purchased to see how AMC did it.
AMC guy you are correct. Ford found out the hard way the over 20 feet of car did not work on a unibody car. One year Lincoln had the speedometer gauge always crack at the 50MPH mark . The unibody experiment lasted until the 61 slab sided model
Lance,
The 1961 and later Lincolns were all unit-body construction as well. The 4-door convertible bodies had such a problem with twisting & vibration, that they ended up hanging huge heavy cast iron weights at the 4 corners of the car, directly behind the bumpers. Each weight was suspended at the end of leaf springs, all in an effort to reduce body twist and severe vibrations.
I once bought a Lincoln 4-door convertible and found the weights & springs were missing. The car rode terribly and I even had the right front door pop open to the second latch position on a rough road. Once I found and installed the weights, most of the problem went away.
Re Weights related to vibration: All Imperial Convertibles 1957 to 66 were frame cars, REALLY STRONG REINFORCED (perimeter AND X member) frame cars yet they, too, had weights at all 4 corners. Strange.
If the engine is bad you could go the Neil Young route and put a bio-diesel in it.
Mmmmm…smells like chicken!
Neil electrified his. LINCVOLT was the name he gave it. If I understand correctly there was a fire that originated at the wall charger in his warehouse where he kept it. Extensive damage to the car and much of his memorabilia as a result unfortunately.
Rust Never Sleeps!
My dad had one. As a kid I remember the rear window opening and standing on the seat to get a good look! Thanks for the memory!
Why not put a diesel in it JR. The Cubans have been doing it for years.
I saw one such car on a YouTube video
about American cars in Havana. As for
this car, I’d swap out the ’60 carb and
intake manifold for the ’58 units which allow that engine to make 375HP or better. I had a ’59 Premier 4-door hardtop as a Sophomore in high school.
Great car except for the issue of vapor
locking on hot summer days or drowning the distributor when you drove
it through a mud puddle. I was so embarrassed when my date was driving
my car and it did these things. Lost a lot
of girlfriends that way.
My dad had one of these – I took my date to the prom in it. Great to see this and relive that moment of that era.
I never had to Simoniz one of these, thankfully. It would have taken the better part of a weekend – no electric buffers in those days, all done by hand.
If only that car were on the east coast. I’d jump on it. Seems to be priced just right.
If it was an east coast car it would probably have rust holes the size of bowling balls.
If it was an East Coast car, it would be rusted away, and the remaining pile would be the size of a bowling ball.
IIRC, these had a crazy power steering pump setup where it was attached to the front of the engine (like in the position you would expect a waterpump) and was humongous. And they tended to leak. I trust that someone here will know more, but they were complicated cars and if you are searching for one, buy the best one you can find (and that may be this one).
what happened to the 4v carby no go with 2v.
Okay I know its Craigslist. I know people are lazy. I know people have personal problems but COME ON!
The left rear hub and drum is ON THE DOLLY……who does that? Its an interesting car but talk about a pig in a poke! Explain to the less intelligent among us why the hood is off! When was the engine run? Why is the tire off. A child could do a better job of selling this car.
Did the seller pick the ask out of ths sky? Okay I feel better now. Sheesh….I get so mad I dont even want to makethe effort to drive the hundred miles to look at it! and I might of.
From what I read (can’t remember where) the ’58’s flexed pretty bad, so more structural support was added for ’59 which made mpg’s suffer. To try to remedy this in ’60 the 430 was given a 2bbl carb. This one might need some work, but overall a very nice car to start with.
i live in Australia so these cars are only seen in books but i own a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 390 Auto and is 2000 lb lighter than this gem and it gets 16 mpg and it has 4 doors and was made RHD in Canada. your right is a bargin car i have read the 58 Thunderbird was based on the Lincolin floor pan and had structial problems too thats why it was a late release model.should sell quick.
on a good day MPG is 5 on these! there were two old ladies that each had one in a ugly color, they drove them till they were to old to drive. i loved the back window. i was told by one old man that he had one and got 3MPG so he did not keep it long. and if he drove it fast got less MPG. cool car in looks but not one that is cheap to drive.
It’s only “For Sale” if the owner responds to inquiries, which has not been the case so far-either by phone or email. Is this a real ad? Who knows????
Am I seeing things or does that 3-speed automatic have a clutch pedal?
I think you are seeing the emergency brake pedal.
If I remember correctly (and its been over 50 years since I’ve been in one of these) the brake pedal has two arms.
It’s refreshing to see a vintage vehicle here wearing correct wheels.
I owned one of these in the early 90’s. Found it parked on the street in Denver. Bought it from the daughter of the original owner. I sold it to a friend who sold it to someone who shipped it to the UK. Good luck driving it on those roads. If I had the room, I would consider bringing this one home. But I am told the engine parts are hard to find. I hope I was misinformed.
Bob McK,
In 2008 I was visiting friends in England. This couple collect large American cars. One time we took their 1965 Lincoln convertible to a LOCAL car show. It cost them over $100 in fuel!
Taking it to the big American car show in the Netherlands was simply out of the question due to fuel costs, so they took their 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 60s, because it gets double the gas mileage compared to the Lincoln, even towing their small 1953 Airstream trailer!
And for those who collect model cars, the Brookline Models company made a 1955 Cadillac 60s towing a 1953 Airstream. Note the propane tanks & hitch on the trailer are the Euro spec versions, because the models are based on my friend’s car & trailer.
I have both a 1966 Imperial convert and a 1964 Cadillac. Both are in excellent states of tune; the Caddy gets MUCH better mileage than the Imperial (and it is a 45k mile car). Perhaps that near 1000 lb weight disadvantage of the Imperial has something to do with it.
Anyone remember the funTV’s “Fantom Works” had reviving the Lincoln-only components on a cleaning-looking one that a doctor bought off the Internet? Is there a club and parts support for these?
Holy crap. I love this car, AND I can afford it. But I decided to start with a Spitfire 1500 for my first “classic” car. Must stick to the plan… On a related note, who’s got a nice Spitty in the PNW for $7500-ish?!?
I have a foggy memory of these things being just an upgrade trim level of a regular Lincoln. A neighbor had one of each and the biggest difference was the tail lights. Quite a comedown from the 56-57’s.
wow , i love it . I’m glad its in California and not in Michigan because the snow would kill it . I wouldn’t drive it in the winter to begin with . I know because i have a 1963 Pontiac “Grand Prix” and it stays covered all winter .
thanks , Ron Andras Harper Woods , Michigan
In 1981 I showed up at a towing lot in Washington DC for an auction held for the US Government. The only item in the auction was a 1960 Lincoln Town Car. The car had been seized by the feds [IRS, not DEA] and it had sat in the lot for about 2 years. Had a couple flat tires, but it was a decent looking car.
I was the only person to show up for the car’s sale, and I bought it for whopping $100.00! The towing company said the government paid them over $1,000 in towing and storage charges for the car.
The Lincoln Town Car was a special order vehicle, they were made by the coachbuilder Hess & Eisenhardt, who made either 136 or 215 examples, depending on the sources. But this one was a bit different, it had about a 4 to 5 inch extension to the body, between the doors. The original car had been a 4-door hardtop, but now had a fixed side glass panel between the doors. This supported a full retracting division window just behind the front seat. It was still a 6 passenger car — no folding seats.
I had the car running in no time, and it cleaned up very nicely. A brake overhaul, tune-up, new tires, and it was looking very elegant. I put an ad in Old Cars Weekly and a few days after it was published, a guy with a Slavic accent called me and made arrangements to come see the Lincoln the next day. He arrived right on time, with a roll-back truck following. Both had New York license plates. He examined the car very closely and checked the VIN as well. I showed him the Maryland Title I had just received in the mail the week before.
He made sure the price I had quoted was still the same, and on confirmation, he handed over the full amount, in cash. I signed over the title and the car was winched onto the back of the truck. As they began to leave, the new owner opened the window on his car and said “Mr. Bill, my country and I thank you for the return of an important piece of our history”, and he drove off.
Trying to figure out what he meant, I checked the caller ID and called the phone number he had used. A recording said it was a pay phone that did accept incoming calls! I’ve never seen the car again, not even in photos.
A few years later I had the privilege of meeting and befriending Mr. Willard Hess, one of the owners of Hess & Eisenhardt. He told me all about the Town Cars they made, and a few had division windows, but he couldn’t recall ever stretching one for a division window. He was pretty sure they didn’t make my former car with an extension between the doors.
So who did? Sadly, the photos and info I had for this car were destroyed in a huge fire that consumed my shop in 1995. I’ve never found a single photo of a 1960 Lincoln Town Car with a center stretch, nor have I learned anything else about it’s history.
Thanks for this! A truly interesting story.
Thank you Bill for your continued interesting, educational, and useful commentary.
A couple of concepts Lincoln perhaps should have put into production back in the day …
http://www.carstyling.ru/ru/car/1953_lincoln_xl_500/
&
http://www.carstyling.ru/en/car/2001_lincoln_mk9/
Well, at least the ’53 morphed into the ’55 Futura, which we know later became the first Batmobile. These two concepts led directly to the 1956 Capri, Premiere, and to a much lesser extent, the ’55 and ’56 Mercurys. They just should have flat out built the 2001, as is.
I had a 58 & a 60 .The 58 was a conv. A good looker but a lot of work to keep it runnlng,trailing arms on rear suspension pulled through the body was one thing I do remember
The 60 had a self lube system that you had a button on the dash to grease it.Long ago, far away.
love it . how bout a 6.7 Power Stroke swap ?
Does that boat come with enough line for docking maneuvers?
A lot of car for the money. America will never produce anything like this again. Could be a real treasure.