Vehicle Description
Rare Lincoln Continental Mark II finished in code correct Black
over Ivory/Gray interior! Fitted with all factory options including
air conditioning! All new leather/cloth interior completed in 2018,
and fully serviced for immediate road use! Showing only 57,800
miles! Much of its ownership history is documented including
original owner! Spent the past 17 years in California! A wonderful
classic luxury car investment! Lincoln Continental Mark II
Background: The Lincoln Automobile Company had made great strides
to identify itself as a premiere, luxury brand all through the
1920s and 1930s. After World War II, most manufacturers eagerly
pursued new innovations and designs to regain the vast market share
of a booming American economy. As the 1950s era rolled in, also did
automobiles with sleeker body lines, more powerful engines,
electronic accessories, and much larger price tags. With Cadillac
arguably being the front runner on luxury car lists, Lincoln set
forth to trump the impressive top of the line Eldorado with a
complete redesign of their Continental model. They featured
terrific long & low body aesthetics, with build qualities second to
none! During production, all body panels were fully test fitted and
perfected before being painted with a superb lacquer finish. Only
the best materials available would be selected to adorn the
interior, along with fully featured power accessories. Each car
would have to pass through 14 quality control stations during
assembly, with each one road tested before delivery. The only
available option would be factory air conditioning. Appropriately
named the Continental Mark II, only 2,994 units would be produced
during a 2-year run. Each with an astounding price tag of over
$10,000 when equipped with air conditioning! With Lincolns
obsession to make the finest car on the road, it would quickly
attract buyers from all around to own such an exclusive automobile.
Some of the most famous names would include Frank Sinatra, Dwight
Eisenhower, Elvis Presley, Howard Johnson, Nelson Rockefeller,
among many others! Lincoln Continental Mark II Info: Offered here
is a beautiful 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II finished in factory
correct Black (01) over White Leather/Deep Gray Matelass Cloth
seating upholstery with Deep Gray Carpet. Powered by its original
368ci V8 engine producing a stout 285 horsepower through a
Turbo-Drive automatic transmission. Features on this Lincoln
Continental include the exclusive, trunk-mounted air conditioning
system with ceiling ventilation, power windows, power steering
,power brakes, power front seat, tinted window glass, drivers side
outside mirror, wide whitewall radial tires, full wheel covers,
Town & Country signal seeking radio, heat/defrost, and more! This
wonderful, December 1955 production example sold new from Seaman
Motors to Howard Zink, a Fremont, Ohio-based Automotive Accessories
Manufacturer from 1917-1966. Originally named the Hodes-Zink
Manufacturing Company, it later became Howard Zink Corporation with
the passing of A.K. Hodes in 1938. Specializing in convertible top
& side curtains for touring cars & roadsters, they also made
radiator & hood covers. With a copious amount of vehicle patterns,
they mass produced their products under the trademark Sure-Fit. Mr.
Zink would maintain possession for a number of years, before it
would trade hands to James Miller, another Ohio collector, from
1975 through at least 1984. He would have the car listed in the
Continental Mark II registry. Fast forward to the year 2000, and
this Continental has now made it way out to Palm Springs,
California to join the collection of Herbert J. Lane after he
purchased from The Auto Collection in Las Vegas, NV. Outside of one
repaint to the exterior, the car continued to remain virtually all
original! He would finally come to sell it in the summer of 2017
when it found its way here to the St Louis Car Museum. Upon arrival
to the Museum, we performed a very comprehensive inspection
followed by a thorough servicing of all major components. This
included a complete conversion of the air conditioning system to
R134a, new engine valve cover gaskets, fresh engine oil & filter,
rebuilt original carburetor, flush & refilled both transmission &
rear differential, new brake vacuum reservoir tank, new battery &
cables, rebuilt speedometer & tachometer, new heater control
valves, rebuilt starter, rebuilt fuel pump, new front sway bar
bushings & end links, all new window weather stripping, radiator
cap, rebuilt vacuum wiper motor, and complete ignition system to
include new spark plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor, condenser, and
points. Our biggest and most expensive contribution was the
complete replacement of the entire interior. This included
everything from a new headliner down to the padded carpeting! The
seat cushions were rebuilt, all new Ivory Leather hydes supplied
from Hirsch, along with new inset fabric and Ivory headliner
provided exclusively by SMS Auto Fabrics. The carpet was provided
by Mark II Enterprises with correct driver heel pad. The padded
door panels were hand fabricated. The end result is outstanding,
and equal to the quality when delivered new in 1956! For those
looking for a prestigious automobile that checks all the boxes in a
classic luxury arena, look no further! This remains as exclusive an
automobile today as it did in 1956, perhaps even more so! Please
call to visit more about this Continental, or present an offer.
Thanks for looking!
