When the Ford Motor Company decided to bring back the Continental nameplate in the early 1950s, the bar was set very high. This was to be a demonstration of Ford’s ability to produce a world-class luxury car, and they delivered it. If you have deep pockets and a taste for the finer things in life, then carefully peruse this 1956 Continental Mark II for sale on craigslist in San Luis Obispo, California. While obviously in great condition, is the asking price of $49,995 market correct for this rare luxury coupe? Thanks to T.J. for this stately find!
Erase your preconceived notions about American luxury cars for a moment. During the postwar period, American luxury cars were well respected throughout the world. Lincoln, Imperial, and Cadillac all sold lesser models under those nameplates, but the top-of-the-line offerings were amazingly well-built and luxurious. Cadillac Cimarrons these were not.
Ford, having found itself on firm financial footing, decided to swing for the fences. The automaker revived the Continental nameplate but established it as a whole division rather than placing the car under the Lincoln nameplate. At its introduction, it was the most expensive vehicle produced in America, with that price rivaling that of offerings from Rolls Royce. Only one option was available on this essentially hand-built automobile, and that was air conditioning.
The 1956 Continental Mark II seen here is one of the 2,996 built before the plug was pulled in 1957. The ad gives us a very short rundown of the Continental Mark II, including the statement that Ford lost money on every single one. If you ever take a close look at the build quality on a Mark II, you will see why. These cars were constructed of quality materials and the weight added up. A Mark II is not a large car, but they tipped the scales at 5,000 pounds. A Thunderbird weighed somewhere between 3,100-3,400 pounds in comparison.
The only real piece of information we get about this particular car is that it has been restored before. While we can only use the pictures in the ad to guess as to the level of restoration performed, every indication is that this is a very presentable and drivable car. The light blue exterior is complimented by the white and dark blue interior. In the sidebar of the ad, the odometer is listed as having 73,002 miles. However, there is a tag underneath saying that the odometer is broken.
Under the hood rests a Lincoln Y-Block with 368 cubic inches and a four-barrel carburetor. The ad states that the car is a very nice driver. There is no mention of the car being equipped with the sole option of air conditioning. Perhaps one of the photographs will offer a clue to an eagle-eyed reader who is well-versed in these vehicles. While the $49,995 price is steep, the big positive here is that this Continental Mark II would not require a lengthy and costly restoration. Barn Finds has probably featured about half of the surviving Mark IIs, but nearly all of them were in dire need of restoration. They are amazing automobiles that cost a lot to purchase, a lot to maintain, and a whole lot to restore. At least with this one, the most strenuous activity will be writing the check. Would you find a place in your garage for this Continental Mark II? What do you think is a fair price?
I wanna find a junk one and swap It onto a panther platform car. Maybe supercharge it .
BF: “A Mark II is not a large car,”
Huh? A 218-inch overall length (longer than a ’56 Caddy CDV) on a 126-inch wheelbase is not a large car? Makes me think you’ve never seen one IRL. They are considerably larger than you’d think, especially for a coupe, and larger (though narrower) than the full-size luxury sedans of today. It’s a big car.
They are, however, very small and cramped INSIDE. Only people of average size (or smaller) can fit comfortably. Anyone who’s tall or ‘corpulent’–FORGET IT!
This is pricey? We see scrap metal for sale here everyday with price tags like this, or more. This is a rare and timeless classic, I would say the price is quite reasonable.
The small air scoops positioned at the base of the C pillar indicate this as a factory air-conditioned car. Whether it works or not is another story.
A fairly priced car in my opinion.
Actually the air scoops were an early 56 thing. My grey one has them as well but Continental discontinued them as a running change during the model year as they could leak. I’m not absolutely certain where the ones without pulled air in from but none of the 57 models had scoops. I like the looks with them.
Actually, very few of the ’56 model year were equipped with AC. Most of the AC MKIIs were ’57 model years. Regardless of model year, all AC equipped MKIIs had the quarter-panel air-duct scoops.
Not really.
The rear fender mounted air scoops, very expensive to make bronze castings, proved to be a terrible position for airflow under real-world conditions
The a/c air intakes were already repositioned to a behind the grille position before the first car ever left the factory.
The air intake grilles were put on the rear fender of airconditioned cars until the parts were used up.
I had completely forgot about the bronze used in the intakes. The car had to be stripped to metal when painted(almost 30 years ago) because the lacquer did what it does and cracked and the intakes were exposed then.
Cool car, I just don’t like the color. Maybe it’s the photography. the light blue has no contrast and hides the lines of the car.
Nice Mark II. The gaudy shade of blue on the steering wheel looks hopelessly out of place on an interior of such stature. It should be the same dark blue as the dashboard if done correctly.
Or stately black, imho.
Looks like an stitched-on steering wheel cover so easily remedied. Maybe the condition of the wheel warrants this, but that would be the first thing I’d remove if I bought this.
A magnificent car well priced for 20 years ago. Not sure now as they are all over the place price wise with some very nice ones going in the 20s. Saying it is restored does not mean much at all and the broken odometer The seller should just auction it vs CL it. I see this car like the 40s Continentals. Great classic cars but the prices stalled and then fell. You can pick them up now for the same price they were 30 years ago and that is not inflation adjusted price but the same price.
30 years ago? This was a $10,000 car.
30 yrs ago you could buy a mansion in palm beach on the ocean for $2MM. now $50MM.
When they were new they were $10K … 40 years ago they were $10K This one has the 40fin stainless hubcaps that are worth $10K This is a clean driver but is certainly not a restored car. Actually? …these are really no longer truly restorable based on many “unobtainium” parts.
Won’t last long at that price. I thought all of ’em had the scoops on the rear fenders. A/C is electric with outlets above the windows in the headliner on the one i saw at Hickory Lake MI last year.
Henry, the a/c is actually pretty conventional in that it has a compressor that sits on the passenger side front of the engine and normal placement of the condenser in front of the radiator. Then there are the god-awful long lines that run all the way to the evaporator that’s in the trunk under the back window. Takes over 6lbs of freon to charge it. This is an early car (scoops but blocked off) without air. If you look in the rear window photos on a Mark II with air there are two semi-clear tubes running from the parcel shelf to the headliner leading to the a/c vents. Air was the only option and in 56-57 it was a $1000.
I judge it between a high #3 and a low #2 as it is an older restoration, that appears to have been well maintained. so, price it between $36-42K and not balk at slightly less than the $38 minimum to get it sold. I looked at other vehicles seller has listed, and he is priced on the upper end of the price scale for all his listings. another seller you may see on CL is BHCC who asks substantially more for is items needing restoration. IMHO actual buy in should be around $32K .
The interior colors and presentation just don’t seem to be harmonious with the exterior whatsoever. Like maybe the exterior was designed by Committee A, and the interior was Committee B? The dead white and dark blue colors used on the front seat, against the Baby Blue exterior . . . IMHO: gag
I dont see that it’s a factory air car with the limited engine bay pics, I don’t see the AC compressor. At this price it should be. IMO. The blue paint is very tired and would look better in a later, and similar color of Tiffany Blue. I remember the “selling for a friend” Mark 11 that was factory Air car awhile back and was also a great find.
I had a long test drive in one of these about 30 years ago. It was a survivor in very good unrestored condition. Maybe there was something wrong, but I was surprised how difficult it was to drive. Steering was very sloppy and suspension was too floaty. Is that common on these cars? (Granted, my old car experience is otherwise strictly Mopar, so I am more used to a more controlled driving experience,) It was enough to put me off these cars ever since, notwithstanding the beauty of the design.
30 years ago, you test drove a 37 year old car, probably didn’t exactly handle like new. I had a 59 Cadillac that was a little sloppy going down the road, no big deal, it was the 50s.
It does have a/c. 56 the scoops were attached to the top of each rear fender with chromed intake grills. Close up of the front 3/4 view shows the scoops were integrated into the peak of the fender rise, no chrome, looking very much like early NACA ducts on hoods years later. Remember, the works are in the trunk, not under the hood
The original listing makes no mention about the AC or whether or not it’s working. Also no pics of the trunk, where most of the AC was. I know most of the AC components were in the back but most people who restore it will update to a belt driven compressor instead of trying to restore the original
I’d like one of these in smoke gray metallic with a black roof!
Correction. 55 had the intake ‘blisters’ tacked on top of the fender, just between the roof and the fender, 56 they are in the fender peak itself. And because it was all electric, you don’t have the belt driven compressor under the hood, everything is in the trunk under the parcel shelf. Some buyers didn’t like the loss of trunk space or the price or both. Also a reason no convertible was offered, with A/C, no place for the top to go down
Jranders,
ANY factory air conditioned car or truck from Ford motor company had A/C compressors mounted to the front of the engine. Same for MoPaR and GM. A/C compressors back then were quite bulky and took a lot of power to run, so much that a 12v DC motor that was powerful enough to run a vehicle’s A/C would drain the battery within a minute or 2, and would require an alternator twice the size of the generator.
I’ve worked on several of these, all had A/C, and a compressor mounted on the engine. I don’t think this car has factory A/C, and if not, I fear this will be a hard sell, as the few serious buyers will want a Continental MK2 with A/C. I would suggest that one of the reasons for the lower asking price is it’s lack of A/C.
And a note to possible buyers: Complete and near mint wheel covers have been selling at high prices for many years, often $10k for a mint set of 4. Restoring wheel covers is also costly. I know of owners who remove the wheel covers and keep them in the trunk, only putting them on the wheels for shows and photo sessions.
IF I owned one of these, I’m afraid I would be haunted by this nightmare: I’m driving down the road, and hit a wee bump in the road. I hear a sound, and check the mirror. I see the LF wheel cover coming off, and bouncing down the road. Before I can get over and stop, I see in my rear view mirror, an 18 wheeler flatten it.
There was no such ’55 model year for MKIIs.
Fun tidbit: There were no ’56 or ’57 model years issued by Continental.
They wanted to see their cars as “timeless,” so they did not have conventional model years.
States registered the cars and that determined the model year.
And not sure, but under hood pic the fenders look to be darker blue to match the interior
Under hood should match exterior, might have faded somewhat.
There’s actually a lot of misconceptions about these cars as they were so oddly built compared to normal assembly line vehicles. I guess they drove well for their time but they are ridiculously heavy going on about 4800lbs with air and the track is somewhat narrow. Most of the restored ones also don’t carry modern tires but the narrow bias-ply repros as mine does. It’s a little ponderous to drive and it’s only got 43,000 miles on it. I’ll lose access to inside storage in a year or so and will likely sell it so someone can enjoy one. Here’s what they look like in grey. Interiors two-tone dark/light grey.
That is a stunning automobile and would look wonderful next to my ’56 T-bird, Gunmetal Grey
If you’re a Ford fan you’d probably like the car you can just see to the left also. That’s an 04 Mercury Marauder. Think they called the color silver birch which I liked but most of them I’ve seen seem to always be black or maroon.
I may be interested. Is the suspension that bad? You’d think with a Continental even in the late 50s would have been very substantial. Does yours have factory air that’s working?
The a/c works but it seems a bit low on freon or did the last time I tried it but it will run you out of the car. It’s a big unit for the relative cabin size somewhat like when they originally air conditioned two-door trucks. The suspension isn’t bad and it rides pretty well on the open road but track width and the relatively narrow wheels make it “wallow” a bit if you run into a sharper curve too fast. Funny thing about the wheels is if you put modern radials on the car, the tires bite better, the wheels flex a bit, and it will throw off a $500 wheel cover. I’ve got 5 of them and at the moment they’re in the trunk. There’s a 70’s station wagon with similar looking covers and a lot of owners use those as daily runners and save the originals for shows.
You have a beautiful Lincoln!
Technically, these are Continentals and not a Lincoln as they were all produced by an entirely separate division of Ford in Dearborn. This is certainly not a restored car but is a nice example of a fun “show&Shine” driver car. Given the value of truly restored or perfect originals? … I think this seller may come close to the asking for this pretty ugly lady! … simply for a sunny weekend or as inventory for spares for somebody who own a 90 point example.
I always take the hubcaps off and put them in the trunk before I drive mine! I change them out with similar designed caps from a ’69MKIII until I reach the show&shine … then put the originals back on … then perform the same “switcheroo” to go back home! I have a “set of seven” and always looking to acquireadditional! Ha!
The VIN for this MKII is C5691187. The AC is completely removed but the Dealership selling the car “has the parts”.
I know that the “Ford lost money on every Mark II produced” comment is repeated everywhere, but it actually doesn’t make sense.
Ford’s new CEO, Robert McNamara, was brought in to clean up Ford’s balance sheet before the company was being taken public, and was looking to eliminate programs that were less profitable to boost the stock price. He elminated the two-seat T-bird, and intially proposed eliminating Mercury and Lincoln.
The Continental Division had no track record at all, and ultra-luxury cars, like haute couture, are not money makers. That’s why VW owns Bentley Fiat owned Ferrari, and Chrysler owned Lamborghini at the height of K-car production. The Ford family wanted Continental to burnish its image, but getting rid of the division was a good way to make investors find Ford an interesting stock.
The decision to eliminate to division was actually made before production of the car was stopped. I don’t believe that profit per unit on existing model sales had much of anything to do with it.
Looks nice. But I can’t help but think whomever buys it had better really like it. I can’t see much more upside in price over the next few years. Collector car prices seem to be cooling off.
Not everybody buys a classic car to profit from, some of us just like having one.
Exactly
and I would not take financial advice from someone who bought a collector car, expecting to make money after the cost of storage, maintenance, and possibly restoration
Micheal the Mark 11 you have is great. And yes I’m sure the hard to find hubcaps are at leat $2500-3000 for a good set.
Micheal, what size tires are on your Mark11? Pretty sure they’re 15s not 14s. I’m normally not a hubcap fan but with this model maybe best left that way. Coker does sell repros of the bias plys as well as rims that may be appropriate if someone wanted to get radials. All pricey options including if one stayed with hubcaps.
They’re 15″ originally with an 8.00 x 15 bias tire. Weirdly if you had a/c it was 8.25 x 15 but I’m not sure what that was supposed to actually accomplish. There was a member of a forum I’ve been involved with for 15yrs that found a vendor who would widen the wheels but it’s been a while since I looked. If you have one of these cars the info that’s been gathered up on markiiforum is priceless.
Coker does have wire rims and tires that would work fine on a Mark 11 but they are very pricey. But not as pricey as losing hubcaps while driving on radials or having the caps stolen. Your Mark 11 is actually a better looking example than this blue one on BFs
Wheel Vintiques has some nice steel wheels that will work with these cars. Seems like you get a 6″ wide wheel and about a 3.5 or 3.75 back spacing to clear the suspension. If they have a record of what they’ve sold them for see if they have a sales listing for a guy with the last name of Wolk. His look great.
HC and other members,
A few words on running radial tires on older US car rims;
Older American cars that used tubes in their bias ply rim/tire combinations often used thinner [metal thickness, not rim width] wheels, because they depended on the combination of rim, tube, and tire to provide firmness.
I operated an old car shop for several decades, and I’ve seen several instances where people decided to use radial tires along with the original rim, eliminating the tube. One problem was the inability to maintain air pressure, caused by the outer part of the rim being atached to the inner part of the rim thru the use of rivets, and the seal around the rivets is not always air tight. It might take weeks or months for the tire to go flat.
Another problem was the rim-mounted wheel covers that had many small gripping points around the outer edge of the wheel cover that gripped around the edge of the rim, [where tire weight are attached]. Over and over I saw a problem with the wheel covers actually rotating around the rim, eventually striking the rubber valve stem, and if the hole in the cover is sharp, cutting into the valve stem and deflating the tire. The cause of this situation is the rim flexing more, now that the tube is not providing necessary support when cornering.The solution to this problem is to install metal tire valve stems. The wheel covers will rotate until they hit the stem, and stop.
The third problem can be a serious one. Rims intended to work with a tube have a different tire mounting point compared to tubeless tires & rims. Rims intended to operate with tubes depend on the inflated tube to keep the tire seated to the rim. Running tubeless tires WITHOUT TUBES on the older rims, often results in the tire rolling off the edge of the rim under hard [and/or emergency] cornering.
Never run tubeless tires on old “tube type” rims without tubes. However it’s OK to use tubes on most tubeless tires.
Okay, bit more info on this car. It was originally bought and has stayed in California. As delivered the car was black with a two-tone gray interior probably like mine. In 07 it sold on Ebay and was painted white with the interior it has now but it says blue welts, which is generally just the piping but not the inserts. As of 2013 it was recorded as blue and located in San Luis, Obispo, Ca. The owner at the time was suspicious that it may have been put together out of more than one car but he wasn’t sure. He referred to it as a good daily driver. I belong to a group that has a pretty useful database on these cars. They are awesome to have and I got lucky with mine as a friend got it in 1981 from the original owner and I got it from him in 2002 and it’s never spent a night outside that I know of. They are expensive to restore if they aren’t solid or incomplete. That’s why if I downsize in the next year I’ll like likely let it go so someone else can enjoy it. It’s likely the last virtually handbuilt car we made in the US.
The paint job should have stayed black. It’s a Continental after all.
You get this info from LCOC of America? If so, I didn’t know such info was available for MKII. I was a member many years ago but “lost touch” as many of us have long since passed.
Log on to the MarkIIForum. It’s not part of LCOC but I guess you could consider it a parallel entity. It focuses only on the Mark II and the data is extensive. It’s been around collecting all this up since 2009 that I know of personally
Great to know! I will check it out! I am also the 3rd owner of mine! It is black with gray biscuit and ivory bolsters for interior. It is all original 57K miles excepting a black lacquer repaint I had done in the Bay Area in 1984. She still has the original unused Firestone Whitewall spare tire in the trunk!
We had three between us at one time, a black one that needed an engine, a white and red one that belonged to an old Hollywood actress named Ann Sothern, and the one I have. All were doable but the one I have was the best one as far as zero rust. As you know they’re around but nice ones aren’t always available and there’s no way I’d ever attempt one that was rusty or incomplete. The only thing I intend to do to mine is have the leather dash covering replaced. It looks nice but it’s an oddity they could have left off. Yours is agreat color for them and you’ll enjoy the forum though some of the old guys(birthday-wise) like me can be a bit cranky sometimes but they’ll always help.
Michael Thomas Freeman,
I used to work on a 1940 Packard 180 Super 8 formal sedan with division window, It’s ID plate was stamped with the Los Angeles Packard dealer E. C. Anthony, and the paperwork in the glove box showed the original owner was Ann Southern. It had been brought to my shop by an elderly man who claimed he bought it off the back row of a Lincoln dealership’s used car lot, for [I believe] $100. I first saw this Packard about 40 years ago when he brought it in for me to get running again.
I’m curious if any paperwork from Ms. Southern’s Continental had a reference to a Packard as a partial trade in?
Thanks! I will register. I seem to remember that MarkII Enterprises offered a retrofit kit to secure the hubcaps. But now that the “old Man” is gone, I don’t really know what inventories are left or how to reach-out to them. Do you know if they are still located out toward the desert?
Lee,
One of the MarkII cars I worked on had those hubcap restraining cables. If you can’t find them, it’s possible to have them made at most hardware shops that offer wire cable by the foot with attached rings at each end, one of the rings is smaller and used one of the center bolts on the inside of the wheel cover where the smaller end goes, and the larger ring is placed under a lug nut.
While they did thwart a theft [that’s what the car’s owner claimed anyway], I would be more worried about what would happen to a wheel cover if it popped off the rim at speed, and then was kept attached to the rim as it went ’round & ’round hundreds of times until something failed.
That would likely beat the fenders/quarter panels off before you could get it stopped. Also, the one Ann Sothern supposedly owned was completely cleaned out and there is no mention of her in the Mark II registry as an original owner though a lot of those folks bought them through studios/companies.
Yes Bill, if you’re going to update to a more modern radial tire you should also update the rims as well. Pricey, but worth the effort. I’m not a big hubcap guy myself and am running Cragers on my 65 Mercury and it handles great. No reason you can’t get updated rims and tires for a 56 Mark 11. Better than spending so much on hubcaps and having to hide them in the trunk.