The owner refers to this car as a Lincoln Continental, but it is actually a Continental Mark II. Regardless of that, we have seen a few project grade Mark IIs come through in recent times, and this particular car seems to be one of the better and more promising of them. A big thank you has to go out to Barn Finder Wayne A for referring the Mark II through to us. The car is located in Reno, Nevada, and is listed for sale here on Craigslist.

The outward signs on the Continental seem to be quite encouraging. This car hasn’t been consumed by rust, and the panels look to be very straight. Apart from some of the letters missing off the front of the hood, all of the exterior trim and chrome certainly looks like it could be restored, and all of the glass also appears to be in good condition. It’s amazing to consider how tight the quality control was on the Mark II. Each body was hand assembled to check panel fit. They were then dismantled and all of the components were painted, then baked, and then hand sanded before being repainted. This process was repeated with every step in the painting process until a flawless finish was achieved. One item that I can’t see is the hubcaps. Those alone are a story in themselves. It would have been very easy for Continental to use something relatively simple, but the standard finned hubcaps for a Continental were each hand assembled, with the inner and outer rings joined by fitting each of the fins individually.

Under the hood are the 368ci Y-Block Lincoln V8 engine, and the Turbo-Drive automatic transmission. In keeping with the exclusivity and quality that Ford was attempting to establish with the Continental, the engine in the Mark II was something a bit special. Standard engines were randomly removed from the Lincoln production line. They were then completely disassembled and reassembled as fully blueprinted and balanced engine, thus ensuring the best levels of power, smoothness, and refinement were obtained from them. So meticulous was this attention to detail that even the generator was balanced to ensure that it didn’t introduce any form of vibration into the drive-train. Being a Continental, life was designed to be that bit easier, so you also get power steering and power brakes. While it all looks quite clean under the hood, we don’t get any indication about the state of the engine.

The leather-clad interior trim is going to require restoration, but its appearance is a bit confusing. It almost looks like it might be comprised of pieces from two separate cars, as there is a lot of color mismatch in there. Once again, in keeping with its prestige reputation, you wanted for nothing in a Mark II. Power windows, a power front seat, a Travelmaster AM radio, and even power vent windows were all part of the package. The leather was sourced from Scotland but was dyed in the USA, and it covered almost every surface, from seats to door trims, and the dash pad. The only optional extra that you could specify in a Mark II was air conditioning, which was a $595 optional extra. Unfortunately, that box wasn’t ticked on this car. One of the features of the interior that I’ve always liked is the gauges and their pod. The gauges themselves ooze luxury, while the aluminum fascia looks positively space-age.

If this Continental Mark II is a solid and complete on personal inspection as it appears to be in the photos, then it really is a solid candidate for restoration. With a really nice example, you can expect to pay a bare minimum of $35,000, but I have seen them sell for six-figure sums. My only real concern with this car may be the price. The owner has set it at $18,900. It might make it a bit expensive for a restoration project, but only a thorough inspection would confirm this. Given the “money is no object” approach that was taken in the development and building of the Mark II, it might just be worth it.