I still haven’t found an E! In case any of you remember this car from about three months ago, this is the 1966 Lincoln Continental Coupe that I found in New Jersey and picked up back in June. I wrote about it on Barn Finds here. There have been a couple of challenges with this car but it’s a heck of a great looking design. And, that color is so much nicer and richer than black, in my opinion.
After quite a debacle in getting it shipped back home from New Jersey, it’s been in a shop for two of the three months that I’ve owned it. As usual, the shipper was a day late and I had to be out of town so I had to call a friend to be at our house when it arrived. And, also as usual, the driver didn’t speak much English so it was almost impossible to communicate with him, unfortunately. So, when my friend called to say that he was standing in our driveway and the driver wasn’t there, but the driver was calling at the same time saying that he was at our driveway.. yeah, not good. It turns out that he thought that we lived on a dead-end street and he was worried about getting his truck down there and not being able to turn it around. After my friend ran, literally, down to the corner to meet the guy and tell him that yes, he could get through after dropping the car off, he finally came down to our house to drop the car off.
But, then the real hijinks started. The driver, apparently not familiar with cars with carburetors, couldn’t get the car started! Ugh. I called yet another friend and between the three of them they ended up pushing the 5,000-pound car off of the trailer and just up our driveway enough to get it off of the street. All while I’m still out of town and now somewhat frantic not knowing if the car will end up being towed before I could get home, or get vandalized, or who knows what. The second friend went home and got his pickup and an old tire to put between the bumpers and he pushed it up into the driveway, thankfully. What a nightmare, but what a great thing to have such great friends!
But, back to the car. At pretty much 19-feet in length, this car is too long for our garage with our cabinets, so I have to pay $230 a month for storage. That is not my favorite thing on earth. When I got home after the shipping debacle, I drove the car, which incidentally started right up in our driveway, and I backed it into the storage unit. I had to go out of town again (I travel 150-200 days a year) and when I got home a few days later there was a little pool of some sort of fluid in the storage unit! GAA! It turns out, the transmission dipstick has a twist feature, so to check it, you have to turn the dipstick and then pull it out. The driver, or someone, must have just pulled on it and pulled the dipstick loose! Once that was fixed, I brought it to a shop to have the belts and hoses changed and new fluids, etc.
It turns out that the water pump was leaking and a replacement couldn’t be found so they sent it out to be rebuilt. That took literally a month, so there it sat. They also replaced one of the steering drag links. Thankfully, they pushed it inside the shop every night or if it was going to rain out so it hasn’t been outside in the rain for the last 36 years. It still has a slight exhaust leak from the flange on the right side and they were hesitant to tackle that for fear of breaking the bolts/studs off, so that’s still on the to-do list. The engine could use a good detailing as you can see and it should still have the transmission fluid and filter changed. This car has an automatic climate control and the AC compressor seems to engage but it isn’t blowing cold from what I can tell – I haven’t had it on for very long, I would like to have someone look at it instead of just running it after it has been sitting for so long.
The interior is the jewel of this car. The body has quite a few scratches and nicks all over but the interior is really nice. The gentleman that I got the car from, I believe the son of the original owner who stored the car since 1981, called the paint touch-ups “old man touch-ups” because he didn’t seem to bother getting the exact same green color, he used whatever he had on hand. He had around 80 cars in a huge pole building so there are a few little dings and on the passenger door there is sort of a soft-crease. The ivory leather is in fantastic condition as is the carpet and the dash is pretty much in perfect condition with no cracks anywhere. I found an original owner’s manual on eBay a couple of months ago and that’s now in the glove box, where there are two buttons – one for the trunk release and one for the flashers.
A few things need some attention inside: the clock doesn’t seem to work and the horn doesn’t, either. I’m not sure what’s going on with either of those. Also, a couple of the windows don’t go down from the driver’s side armrest controls and the power door locks don’t seem to work. These are, I believe, vacuum powered and I can hear a hisssssss, but the locks don’t operate. The power seat works but at the end of the travel it skips like it wants to keep going for some reason, but it goes up and down and tilts and goes back and forth. The tilt wheel is great for long-legged folks like myself.
Good grief, what a great interior! At 6′-5″ tall, even I have head room in this car, front or back!
And, since you’re riding in luxury in the back seat of a 1966 Lincoln Continental Coupe, you may as well light up that cigar..
I left the Lincoln logo floor mats in the trunk when I took this photo, for some reason. There is also a bag of spare headlights there from the previous owner. The original jack is under the flap on the right side and the light still works in the trunk. The carpeted spare tire cover with the embossed Lincoln logo is pretty rare, supposedly.
Here’s the first of the areas of the body that may need work in the future. Right behind the LF wheel is an obvious repair just above the chrome piece. According to the former owner, the car was repainted over three decades ago, but the shop said that the underside was rock solid when they had it up on the lift.
And, here’s that soft-crease on the passenger door. I had a PDR (paintless dent repair) guy check it out and he thinks that it could be massaged out for about $300 or so. But, alas, I think I’m selling this car! Yes, it’s a sad day. And, for those of you ready with torches and pitchforks thinking that I’m just a #$%! flipper, I’ll most likely lose a grand or two on this car, so if I’m a car-flipper I’m not a very good one. I just like to buy, own, drive, and try to save old cars. I didn’t expect to sell this car but paying $230 a month to store it isn’t a good plan at all. That’s the saga of the ’66 Lincoln and it’s a bit longer than I thought it would be; which is pretty fitting for such a long car.
I am totally floored by this BEAUTIFUL Automobile ! I think you should really try to find free storage or a friends driveway something so you dont have to sell ! I would LOVE to own this but alas the funds are just not there…:(
Hi Phil, I’ve tried, but he’s heck bent on selling it. It really is a tad out of character for him, specializing in Toyota’s, Nissan’s and Lloyd’s and such. Storage, especially a car like this, is sometimes a problem.
The car is beautiful and I love the color, that coupled with the fact that I’m considered to be a “Lincoln man”, own a small body shop and can repair it myself I should look into buying except I already have 5 play cars including two Lincolns……so how much$ ?
Color R, “Spanish Moss Metallic” on Lincolns, “Ivy Green Metallic” on Fords, “Olive Mist Metallic” on Mercurys. A nice color, I agree, especially with a contrasting white or parchment interior.
Put a cardboard cutout of John Kennedy in the backseat
waving hello or bye 👋 with an sign saying: They missed
me….see you at the golf 🏌️ course. Tacky….yes…but oh well.
I’ve seen this car in person, and one can’t go wrong here. It needs very little, and will return a lot. These big Lincoln’s are gaining steam, mostly because, people are finding out, nothing you can buy today will equal the ride of this car. I took my road test on a ’68 4 door, so these cars mean a lot to me. ( not enough to actually buy one, however) A 2 door is pretty rare, as most I’ve seen were 4 doors. This a nice car! I’m really sorry to see it here.
This should be in your driveway, Howard! You have the skill and space to tinker with the things that need fixing to bring it back to the smooth, quiet ride that it was, and hopefully will be again.
I never knew they made a two door Lincoln Continental coupe. Rare like a four door Thunderbird. Great looking car non the less. Might be time to buy a piece of property with a . . . . . . . . . . barn on it.
Well, as coupes = 2 door, you aren’t likely to find a 4 door coupe…
How much are you planning on asking for it?
I AM interested
Hi, Bob. Please see below for a rambling reply about the price..
What a cool ride, Scotty! I love the two-door body, and the light interior. My Dad had a ’66 T-bird a while back and some of the interior details on this car remind me of the Thunderbird. Time to erect “Scotty’s Car Barn” and let the hoarding begin.
I like your thinking, Todd! There is no question that if we had a normal car guy (or gal)-sized garage (more than 18′ long and two spaces) I’d keep this one.
Nice ride Scotty, sad to hear you have to let it go. Best of luck with the sale. And these Linc’s still remind me of Animal House.
Thanks, Mike!
Guys is it me or I dont see a price anywhere?
i would love to know how much he is selling it for..I personally own two lincolns a 1960 conv and a 1960 coupe..would be a nice addition to my collection ;-)
Let us know how much you are selling this car for..
Jean Marc
I missed seeing this up close and personal but Scotty was out of town when I came through in late August. I keep hoping; next time. A real gem of a car. A little too fancy for me; I’m more the ‘Mom and Pop’ type. Might want to do an evac/recharge on the A-C but I don’t recommend ‘updating’ it to R-134. There’s an R-12 substitute that cools like the original recipe.
What is the R12 substitute?
Hi Mike. Just go into the auto parts store and ask for the R-12 replacement. It comes in 1 lb. cans just like R-12 used to. (I understand) the stuff is denatured propane and some people are scared of it but it freezes quite well. Regular refrigerant oil works with it as well as your R-12 A-C test manifold….
I’m more of a small car guy, Geo, even though I’m too tall for my own good.
Hi Scotty. I like smaller cars too. When we came out your way last March, we rented a Chevy Sonic and I liked driving it. This last trip we took a Chrysler 300. Great on the highway but not very good to us in downtown Minneapolis. Our old cars are the ’49 Chevy and the ’57 Poncho. They’re actually full-sized cars and not all that maneuverable. One former member of our club had a Nash Metropolitan and it was a joy everywhere except the freeway….
Any details about the sale? Price? Current location of vehicle?
Dude, you could rent it out to the Panamanian locomotive company that pulls oil tankers through the canal as their backup locomotive. Pretty sure the torque ratings are the same.
SO, how much do you want for ‘El Hermosa Tanko’? Don’t keep us in suspense.
Hello Scotty,
I’ve been following Barnfinds for some time always with an eye for something that I could one-day purchase and this is exactly what I’ve looking for – I’m in the UK and have a couple of old cars (Integrale, Frogeye/Bugeye) and would be delighted to have the opportunity to buy this lovely green Lincoln. It would also give me a great reason to visit the US and meet a fellow enthusiast.
I’d be very grateful to be considered as a purchaser.
Great site – lovely car!
Thanks and regards
CR
..soooooo….what’s the asking price, and location?
Hi, Jon. It’s in St. Paul, MN. See below for some other info.
Wow…
Flash from the past. My Dad bought the same car in ’66, same color, except the 4 door version.
I took my drivers license test in that car. Nailed the parallel parking on the first attempt, but I grew up driving my Dads Linc’s.
It was pretty cool to pull into the drive – in while in HS behind the wheel of this boat.
Interested in the selling price.
I would guess if you start around $7000, Scotty would being talking. It was advertised for $5900 in June, figure transport plus repairs. I love these old Lincolns. I wonder if my wife would notice this in the garage. (Pretty sure my garage door wouldn’t shut.)
You’re getting close, Vwbubblehead! I’ve spent $890 in shipping and $2,600 in repairs so far.. not counting tax, title, and license and those kinds of goodies that a person never gets back.
Ha, if our garage door shut I’d keep it!
Hi, folks. If we had a pole barn it would be a no-brainer to keep this car forever. It’s probably a once in a lifetime find for me but paying for a double storage unit just for one car isn’t good.
Hagerty lists the value at $7,700 for a #4 fair car and $14,800 for a #3 good car. It has to be somewhere in-between those numbers, which is $11,250. It needs some tinkering and the next owner would have to know that they aren’t just going to get in this car and drive it a few hundred miles without fixing a few things, so it’s probably not worth $11,250. I’m hoping for $9,500ish or so, give or take..
There are several so called R12 substitutes on the market, however most of them are not recommend. Most of them either still contain CFC’s or are made from flammable gas. Would you want to drive around with a pressurized bomb under your hood? I would definitely go for the R134A conversion. This is a gorgeous car, but it wouldn’t fit in my garage either.
Hi Scotty, I can understand the frustration of not being able to find a missing letter, but I may have a solution. Why not just shorten the name. Missing the “E” in CONTINENTAL is definitely a bummer, but you may find an alternative by using a “Scrabble Word Finder”. My favorite in the 7-letter category is “CANNOLI”. The 6-letter category includes; “ACTION”, “CANNON”, “LATINO”, “NATION” and “OIL CAN”. a LINCOLN CANNOLI or LINCOLN LATINO would certainly be an ice breaker at the local car show. My personal car, a MALIBU LT, is going to be changed to either an ALLIUM or a LABIUM.
Might as well call it LABIA, stu.
What State is the car in now?
A buddy of mine has got a Mercedes station wagon with an Aussie GM Holden Commodore supercharged V6 in it so he changed the name on the back of the car to ‘Mercadore”, problem now is everyone asks what it is, who made them, and where can they get one.
Scotty, FOMOCO used a pin style connector for the master on the drivers door. Remove the whole window switch assembly and clean off the pins with an eraser, or fine steel wool (00000 grade). Pop it back in and test window switches that don’t work and see what happens. Years ago Radio Shack made a spray contact cleaner for T. V. tuners (when it was 3 channels and a rotating dial) that worked really good for taking off corrision. I haven’t seen it in quite a few years.
On the vaccumn door looks, look for a split in the line close to the connection, as they get brittle with age, and the moisture from the heat in the line.
Best of luck with your sale, I keep my 67 Delmont 88 425 on my driveway with a car cover from Oct thru April.
Pretty car, but where are the original wheel covers? The ones on it are from a 1972-era Continental Mark IV.
I bought a 69 Mklll bout 4 years ago. Done a lot work, but it runs fine now.
Tag it, insure it as a collector car. Thats a lot cheaper. Put a car cover over it. Drive it on nice days.
Scotty,
That is a beautiful car. Hopefully you can find a nice home for it. My garage is long enough but it already houses my ’64 Lincoln and my (only slightly) smaller ’65 Galaxie.
– John
This is the first one I’ve ever seen that wasn’t black! What a gorgeous color on that land yacht.
The man who owned the garage across the alley from my parents had a coupe, same year, in black (of course) in the early 1970s. If the weather was good on Sunday afternoon he’d be cleaning and polishing that car. He did drive it once (in a great) while.
We (me, his son, and one or two other friends from the neighborhood would sit and watch while he cleaned and polished. We weren’t allowed to get too close, either!