We’ve exited the doldrums of winter and skipped right over the bullshit jacket weather season known as spring and jumped right into the heat of summer. There is no better way to celebrate the warmer weather than with a convertible. The sights, smells, and sounds of summer are so much more accessible when there isn’t a godforsaken roof over your head. That’s why this drop-top Lincoln is the perfect ride for the gap between vernal and autumnal equinoctes.
This 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible began life as all do, rolling off the assembly line looking fresh as hell. The sales listing claims the car is equipped with the Continental-unique 462 cubic inch V8, but that engine was not introduced until 1966, so its either non-original or a 430 V8, neither is a deal breaker. Mate a big V8 to a smooth-as-spreading-butter 3-speed automatic transmission and you’ve got a torquey luxurious ride.
The Continental also had a power convertible top that could be swallowed up by a powered rear tonneau. When it rolled out of the Lincoln plant, it had four big doors, the rearward pair hinged in the infamous “suicide” fashion. The Continental had everything a discerning buyer might have wanted in the era, and was a proper luxury competitor to some of the biggest and most venerated names in the luxury car business.
According to the seller, the original owner took this Conti to a coach builder in California known for building limousines to have the car cleft in twain and several feet removed from its abdomen. The big four-door four-seater was lopped into a two-seater double slammer with a profile reminiscent of a slab-sided Thunderbird.
If you want a unique vintage American drop-top summer cruiser it doesn’t get much more unique than this. With a gorgeous robin’s egg blue paint job, a top that matches the tire sidewalls, and a bright red vinyl interior, this might be the best color spec you could get a Continental in anyway.
The current high bid of $11,000 is about half what you can get a decent Continental for, which makes sense as it’s roughly half the amount of Continental. I’d love to have this ridiculous car for my own collection, but this is an Ohio car and I’m deathly allergic to rust. This cracking and bubbled paint isn’t a great sign, but maybe you can fix it. The seller says the car can be driven as-is, which is nice.
Check it out on eBay right here for more photos and info.
H/T barnfinds.com
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