Lincoln called their 1957 Premiere Landau “The finest in the fine car field.” This one is certainly the finest in this barn! It’s listed for sale here on Facebook Marketplace for only $3,200. That’s about $0.68 per pound of car! It’s currently located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So what’s special about this Lincoln? Read on to find out.
Lincoln executed a dramatic facelift of its successful 1956 models for 1957. Added were quad headlights, large pointy tail fins, and a massively stretched rear bumper (the story goes that the stylists were given the choice of shortening the tail fins or lengthening the bumper to protect them). Unfortunately, sales did not respond; there were 21 percent fewer cars produced, and Lincoln’s market share dropped by almost 6 percent as well. On the bright side for collectors, that makes 1957 models rarer, with only 11,223 four-door, Premiere Landau (pillarless) hardtops produced (Lincoln produced an additional 5,139 pillared hardtops as well). The original list price was a pricey $5,380, which equates to $64,510 today!
We’re told that this car hasn’t been driven for around 25 years. The May 2000 plate sticker bears that out, as does the thick layer of dust. I wish we were given a front 3/4 picture to work from; there’s a lot of chrome and decoration on that front, and I’d like to see what condition it’s in.
This is going to sound silly, but I’m encouraged that the original wheel cover is in place here (and look at those long fins and bumper!). That’s just the sort of thing that an abused car loses along the way. Honestly, I can’t see much rust beyond surface rust as well, and all the trim appears to be in place (at least in this picture). More good marks!
This picture sums up this Lincoln in a nutshell; tarnished, but not down for the count yet! What I see is mostly surface rust in what might be original paint. Lots of work, but it certainly can be done by the home hobbyist. Now, rechroming those bumpers? That’s another story! I imagine the chrome bill might hit five digits for the entire car.
Although this isn’t the greatest picture, the interior looks remarkably good in this picture. I’m not sure what’s going on with the top of the dash. The fragile, plastic-overmolded steering wheel isn’t missing chunks, though, so perhaps the car hasn’t gotten a lot of sun exposure during its almost 70-year existence.
The engine, if original, is a 368-cubic-inch “Y-Block” V-8, which originally was good for 300 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque. The seller tells us it turns over freely. The 3-speed Turbo-Drive automatic transmission was unusual in that it was water-cooled (a new feature for 1957). So after looking this huge barn find over, what do you think? Is it worth resurrecting? Let us know in the comments and share your Lincoln experiences!
This, over the ’56 Chubby any day of the week!
I love the color and I love the fins. And the price too, for that matter. This beauty would be an a$$load of work to make roadworthy.
It would be cool if you could have a club with a group of guys all willing to pitch in and work on the car, and everyone pitches in financially too. Like buying shares in an airplane or a boat. You’d want a lift to be sure.