Vehicle Description
This is a very special 1956 Continental Mark II with only 14,185
MILES that was in long term ownership from the Late Great Country
Western Star "Roy Clark" for nearly 40 years! Roy Clark purchased
this car in 1980 and is still in his name on a 1980 Title. Roy
Clark was an American country musician who was an active musician
from 1950 right up to his death in 2018. He was best known for his
role as host on Hee Haw, and he was often affiliated with Johnny
Carson.
His musical expertise is in guitar, banjo, vocals, fiddle,
harmonica, and mandolin. Clark is a member of the Grand Ole Opry as
well as the Country Music Hall of Fame. He started playing banjo,
mandolin, and guitar when he was fourteen years old and won two
National Banjo Championships by the time he was fifteen. Clark is a
jack of all trades with his experience in baseball, boxing,
piloting, music, and acting. He signed to Capitol Records in 1963
and later to Dot Records, ABC Records and MCA Records. He opened
the Roy Clark Celebrity Theater in Branson, Missouri 1983, and he
has endorsed Gretsch, Mosrite, and Heritage Guitars. He can be seen
in films such as Matilda, Country Comes Home, Uphill All the Way,
Freeway, Gordy, and Palo Pinto Gold. In 1982, Clark won a Grammy
Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Alabama
Jubilee."
The demise of the first Lincoln Continental is attributed to Ford's
poor financial condition in the post-war era. It had been the
vision of Henry Ford's talented son Edsel, and the design was
perfected by designer Eugene 'Bob' Gregorie and built between 1939
and 1948. Plans for a replacement continued with styling proposals
failing to gain corporate approval in the late 1940s. By the early
1950s, Ford's financial prospects had improved, and another
prototype was shown by the newly formed Special Product Operations
committee, which in 1955 was renamed the Continental Group. William
Clay Ford, the youngest of Edsel Ford's son, was manager. The
design team was headed by Edsel Ford who had been tasked with
creating America's most elegant and opulent personal luxury car.
These elite automobiles were two-door personal luxury cars with a
European flair.
These vehicles were made by the Continental Division of the Ford
Motor Company, which was a new division that was completely
separate from Lincoln-Mercury.
The Continental Group unveiled the Mark II in 1955 at the Paris
Motor Show. In the front was a hood-mounted four-point star, which
would later become the Lincoln emblem. The paint was wet sanded,
double-lacquered, and polished to a shine industrial painting
techniques could simply not achieve. Power was from a 368
cubic-inch V8 engine offering 300 horsepower and mated to a
Turbo-Drive automatic transmission. The cars were predominantly
handmade which accounted for a list price of $10,000. Ford
originally planned to build about 2,000 Mark IIs a year for five
years. Just 2,550 were built in 1956 (some sources state 1956
production of only 1,325) followed by 444 in 1957. It is believed
that approximately 1,500 examples are still in existence.
Of the 444 built-in 1957, only 98 were built with optional air
conditioning. Power steering, brakes, windows and seats, Town and
Country radio, and wide Whitewall tires were standard.
The Mark II sprung forth from the upmarket Continental division and
was its only product. It was an ultra-luxury car in every sense of
the term, being handbuilt, stacked with every conceivable feature
and amenity, and intended to compete with the likes of the
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. Every Mark II was assembled to order, and
it's said that each Mark II may have cost as much as twice its
retail price of $9966-roughly the same as the Silver Cloud-to
produce, although some estimates of its unprofitability are more
charitable, at $1000 lost per car.
The Mark II's standard equipment included an OEM radio, power
windows (including the vents), power brakes and steering, dual
heaters, the finest leathers and fabrics, and power seats. The car
shown here carries the only option available from the factory, the
$595 air-conditioning system.
Famous owners of the Continental Mark II included Frank Sinatra,
Elvis Presley, Dwight Eisenhower, and Nelson Rockefeller ELizabeth
Taylor, Roy Clark and many more.
This car is in amazing condition and pictures do not do it
justice.
Call 314-346-6039 to purchase or with any questions.
314-346-6039