I always think about what it would be like to drive the vehicles shown here, as I’m sure most of you do. I don’t know how many owners of a 1948 Lincoln Continental would have driven it to a grocery store or gas station back in ’48, but that’s what I think about. Being coupes, they may not have been chauffer-driven cars, so maybe most owners did drive them. At just over 18 feet in length, they’re big but not overly so compared to the two Suburbans parked next to you at the gas pumps.
It looks heavy and it is. These cars were heavy, but again, at just over two tons, this car is a featherweight compared to some new SUVs. My Cayenne Turbo was half a ton heavier than this car, which is ridiculous. The design has always looked somewhat cartoonish to me, the fenders are almost too big, pontoon-like, and out of scale. The diecast, two-tier egg-crate grille is almost too big and almost too simple. Yet there’s something engaging about these Continentals.
Lincoln offered well-heeled buyers the Continental coupe and cabriolet from 1939 to early 1942, at which time production was stopped due to the U.S. being pulled into WWII. After the war, 1946 through 1948 Lincoln Continentals were the last to be named the Continental until the 1956 model. Lincoln was supposedly the last big U.S. carmaker to offer a V12 production engine unless one of you can think of another. The seller included a couple of underside photos, which is nice. This one was found in a Michigan barn and was last registered in 1983.
There is some rust on the edges and crevices of the exterior, around the trunk lid, and areas like that, but looks great overall. The interior continues that trend of looking great overall but needs some work here and there. Old cars always seem to have water stains on the door panels and these do as well. A column-shifted manual transmission isn’t something we usually think of in a Lincoln. The back seat is wicked huge and looks very good. There were 847 Lincoln Continental Coupes made in its final model year of 1948, so they’re rare to see today.
The V12 isn’t what a lot of us think of when we think of a V12, as in Lamborghini or another high-power exotic, this one a 292-cu.in. V12 with 125 horsepower and 220 lb-ft of torque when new. This one runs, drives, and stops but needs the usual work due to having been sitting for three decades or so. They have it listed here on eBay in Howell, Michigan and there is an $8,500 buy-it-now price listed, or you can make an offer. As a general reference, Hagerty is at $11,100 for a #4 fair-condition car and $19,200 for a #3 good car. Have any of you owned a Continental from this era?
Wow folks, this one really takes me back! Got my hands dirty for the first
time in the fall of 1966 helping Dad
work on a friend’s ’37 Zephyr sedan
that also had a V-12 in it as well. At
first, they just had me cleaning the parts in solvent as they (my Dad, Harry Heinz, and Don Grimm) took them off the engine. By the end of
that weekend, they had me putting some things back together as they
instructed me from behind. By late
Sunday afternoon (after church) we
had Harry’s old Zephyr running like
the proverbial Swiss watch. Now a lot of folks can remember the first time they made woopie in the backseat of their family’s Buick, it was that same feeling for me as I
learned about engines and how they
worked. And the other thing, my folks
didn’t have to worry about that much
as my first two loves were cars and music! Great find though.
Is this the car Santino Corleone took a high, hard one for the family in?
Ike you’re close, Sonny’s death ride was a ’41. The Lincoln Continental Owners club provided sheet metal for the sacrificial mockup that was holed ala Bonnie and Clyde’s ’34 Ford. Makes you wonder what became of it. Incidentally. Dick Sargent (later of Bewitched) rolled his ’41 Continental convertible after losing his girl in OH BERNARDINE (1957).
w
Ah,yes. Dick Sargent. One of Samantha’s two Dicks.
Again, no air cleaner. I don’t think removed for visual purposes, most folks today don’t have a clue what they’re looking at anyway, more like, the only way to get it to start is gas down the gizmo, air cleaner set aside, now gone missing.
I realize you can’t possibly compare this with anything today, but this was a road car. I’m sure it had O/D( knob on left of steering wheel marked “O”) and I’m not so sure how many were chauffered, more like Mr. Businessman or Senator Whatis, afraid to fly, got around and after the war, travel by highway was king. One thing for sure, when this car rolled up to the pumps, it wasn’t Mel from the mailroom, this was a big shot. Mel’s boss. At over $700, I believe the most expensive US car at the time, Mel could only dream making $.74/hr a good wage for 1948, just not Lincoln worthy.
As far as driving such a thing, some, including my late mom, marveled at how I could maneuver a semi around, and while intimidating at first, you get used to it. I think this car would be a joy to drive,,,wait, wait a second, what’s that other pedal on the floor, A STICK? Sorry,,,no can do and it will sit. Again too, almost 250 viewers and no offers got to say something.
Over $4700 new, typo,,
Look at those HORNS !!! No Meep Meep here.
I’d like to take a look at her…. I’m only an hour from Howell, how can I make that happen?
Tap the “here on Ebay” link and tap contact seller. Good luck
These always looked weird to me, strangely proportioned. Also read “Stately”.
Ungainly and ugly
Someone got a good deal, I’d say, at best offer below $8,500.
Thanks, a different Dave! I would love to know how much it sold for.
I had a rubber toy of this in the late 40’s, with a bit of aluminum paint on the trim, I thought it was the best looking car ever made, I was 8 or 9, and the ’49 Ford had yet to appear. They are big, compared to today’s two door sedans. By 1948 Ford had worked out the bugs in the V 12, and so the engine became good by the time they quit making it – sort of like GM’s Northstar – good at the end.
When I was 15, so we’re talking around 1968 I was visiting my uncle in Maine. Down the road sitting in the middle of a large field was a ’46, ’47 or ’48 Lincoln just like this one except I think it was a four door. To me it was beautiful, gorgeous! I wanted to buy it and bring it home to New Jersey. But how was ac15 year old kid, still in school, no job no money and no way to travel this huge probably non running car all that distance.
Yes, my love of land barges was always there.
I often wonder what became of that car. Probably got towed out of that field straight to the crusher. 😪 Oh the humanity!
I was 15 in 68″ and driving my brothers 57′ Chevy on the back roads of South Jersey.
Yes, Michael, those were the days. I was in north central Jersey, 20 miles west of Newark, in the country living on a small farm on a dirt road that I drove on, eventually sneaking onto the main paved public roads.
Father taught me how to drive at 11.
Kids today have no idea what they’re missing. Most today can’t even drive a stick or a car without a back up camera.
A friend of mine has one. It runs good and rides good, but it is a mite underpowered.
Wow that’s pretty big for a coupe. I can’t imagine this V12 with only a 6 volt electrical system. And a V12 with only 125hp? Tons of torque though.
During the 1939-45 period a family friend was a Lincoln guy and owned a pre-war Continental and two post-war Continentals. He was a DOD contractor and travelled extensively throughout the country during and after the war accumulating some serious mileage. My parents never recalled him citing any problems with the Continental’s V12 engine (maybe he was luckier than other Continental owners).
In later years, he claimed that his favorite Lincolns were his 1950 Cosmopolitan and a 1956 Premier. Apparently, he considered the Premier to be a better value than the ’56 Continental.
One of the ugliest cars ever to come out of Detroit.