formal wisdom has long bear that the Continental Mark II lasted only two years becauseFordMotor Company lose $ 1,000 on each one sold . Actually , the Mark II was never intended to make money – and that was why the 1958 Lincoln Mark II concept car never made it to showrooms .
The Continental Mark II was premise in 1952 to resolve asking for a modern replacement to the authoritative first Continental line of 1940 - 1948 , but it was also part of a bullish expansion plan . With Ford just recall from the fiscal brink and the ship’s company ’s future ostensibly boundless , management decided to take on giant General Motors by go from two divisions to five : Ford , a detached Lincoln - Mercury , Continental , and one to handle a 2d medium - price make that ultimately emerge asEdsel .
Creation of the Mark II was assigned to a new Special Products Division ( which later on became Continental Division ) under William Clay Ford , younger brother of company president Henry Ford II . Styling , pick out in 1953 from 13 unlike proposals , was the work of a astral in - business firm team comprising John Reinhart ( fresh from Packard ) , Gordon Buehrig ( of Auburn - Cord - Duesenberg fame ) , and young Robert Thomas , with an assistance from thirty coachbuilding peachy Raymond H. Dietrich .
The result was an elegant close - coupled hardtop coupe , impeccably made and completely free of period fads . In fact , many still rank the Mark II design as one of Detroit ’s all - time best .
appear for 1956 on a 126 - in wheelbase , the Mark II was priced at $ 10,000 – breathtaking for the day , but reasonable given an unusual amount of manus labor and high-pitched luxury content . Indeed , air conditioning was the only option ( $ 740 ) . Everything else was standard , include full powerfulness equipment .
But grand though it was , the Mark II never really got its fortune . By the time it arrive , the ebullient executive director who conceived it had been replaced by sober comptroller types for whom no car was sacred unless it made money .
Thus , soon after the Mark II was unveiled to vital acclaim , Ford decided to proceed with more profitable Lincoln - base fashion model for 1958 . The Mark II thus disappeared after 1957 with virtually no change preserve ahorsepowerincrease to 300 . Total production end at 1,769 .
To find out about changes that were in memory board for 1958 , keep understand on the next page .
For more on concept cars and the production models they forecast, see:
1958 Lincoln Mark II Designs
When Ford discontinued the Continental Mark II after 1957 , the company left behind 1958 Lincoln Mark II designs that show plans for a three - model line drop anchor by the familiar hardtop coupe . Only one styling change was contemplated : a mild head-on update with stack quadruplet headlamp ( then all the rage ) , no vertical grille bar , and a mildly reshaped bumper .
Not that there was reason to fiddle . As designer John Reinhart suppose afterwards , the Mark II " was so perfect a design that we feel it could go as long as 10 days . "
More intriguing was fellow designer Buehrig ’s suggestion for a long - wheel - pedestal four - room access hardtop called Berline ( " sedan " in French ) . Evolved through legion rendition and clay models , this used basic Mark II styling but looked sufficiently more " important " to be chauffeur - force back should the occasion need .
difference began with a somewhat taller grille flank by stacked quad headlights , as plan for the coupe , but with the humiliated light source nuzzle in the front bumper . Bodysides stand no decoration save ribbed rocker - control board accents , a coupe - style " theatrical role melody " running full - length just below the belt , and matching broken - body wrinkle that take up as a vertical line just behind the headlamp .
The third simulation meditate was a two - door retractable - hardtopconvertiblethat was not inspired by the 1957 Ford Skyliner . The " retrac " was in reality engineer at Special Products in 1954 as the lone Mark II model , only to be rejected when broadcast costs threatened to spiral out of sight . The idea was n’t guide on to Ford Division until after the conclusion to go with cheaper Lincoln - base 1958 Continentals .
Reinhart and other designers believed each of the aforethought 1958 Mark IIs would become " a ' classic ' in its own right . But we got stopped at the gate . "
What stopped them was a Mercury cost expert sent in to make the Mark profitable . As a consequence , the production 1958s were downgraded far below the proposed triad of Mark II " crease extension . "
However , the " Lincolnize " decision was n’t made for six months , during which time management considered take for a while with just the Mark II coupe to see how sales would come . Sadly , the Berline and retrac were shelved along the mode .
Meanwhile , Continental Division commissioned a custom Mark II exchangeable coupe as a endowment for Mrs. W. C. Ford . work up in 1957 by the famed Derham Body Company of Rosemont , Pennsylvania , it had a soft top with very broad rearward quarters as on the original Continental cabriolets . A second sofa bed was later cobble out of a Mark II coupe by a private party in Florida .
The Derham railway car , at least , still exist , and bear witness that an open Mark II would have looked great . Regrettably , Ford never think of sell copies .
What it did sell for 1958 was the giant Mark III , a mildly restyled version of that twelvemonth ’s blocky new unibody Lincoln on the same 131 - column inch wheelbase .
Styling was nowhere most as graceful as the Mark II ’s – the " slant - center " face was peculiarly jarring – but buyers like it well enough afford vastly reduced price : around $ 6,000 for a selection of exchangeable , two- and four - door hardtop , or four - door saloon .
The Mark III turned a small profit on sales of 12,550 , but Dearborn ’s expansive " divisionalization " dream was dead , a victim of the 1958 recession and Edsel ’s low-down failure . With that Continental ceased to be a separate make , and Continental Division was folded into a abruptly - populate Mercury - Edsel - Lincoln unit , which then became just Lincoln - Mercury ( again ) .
After 1960 , all Lincolns were Continentals until the young Mark III hardtop coupe of 1968 . Never again would Ford consider anything quite like the Mark II Berline or retractable . A pity , for they would have been brilliant .
