Automotive History: 1970 Lincoln Continental – All-New, Lighter, Faster, But Not Quite Good Enough?

 

The 1961 Continental may have been a classic design, but by 1969, it was getting both old and jowly. For 1970, the Continental received its first full redesign in a decade. Let’s take a look at what changed and why, including an article from the August 1969 Motor Trend presenting the highlights of the all-new 1970 Lincoln Continental.

New Continentals for Old

At some point, every automotive design, no matter how brilliant, goes from fresh to familiar to just old. From there, it might eventually graduate to classic, or at least fashionably retro, but automakers are far more concerned with sales volume, market share, and return on investment, whatever posterity might say.

The 1961 Continental had been conceived as a two-door Thunderbird proposal, but became a four-door sedan (and four-door convertible) in a last-ditch attempt to revive Lincoln, whose poor late ’50s sales had brought it close to the chopping block. Though never a big seller, the critically acclaimed design, a pared-down lineup, and Ford’s need to fully utilize the Wixom assembly plant the Continental shared with the Thunderbird managed to keep Lincoln viable through the early ’60s.

 

Over the next nines years, there were nips, tucks, minor facelifts, and an endless assortment of new grilles. The Continental lost its curved side glass for 1964, only to regain it a few years later. A two-door hardtop returned to the line, and the slow-selling convertible vanished. A bigger 462 cu. in. (7,550 cc) V-8 replaced the original 430 cu. in. (7,050 cc) MEL engine, the modern C6 automatic replaced the older Turbo Drive, and front disc brakes were added for 1965.

 

Despite all this shuffling, the 1968–1969 Continental was still more or less the same car it had been in 1961. It looked bulkier, though, and was — it had gained about a foot in overall length and around 150 lb, partly offset by the introduction of the new 460 cu. in. (7,536 cc) 385-series V-8, which was about 59 lb lighter than the 462.

 

The Continental had never been a lightweight, and its unitized construction hadn’t helped. Unlike the original Falcon program, where weight reduction was such a priority that engineers had to sign written weight commitments, the structural design philosophy for the big Lincolns and 1958–1966 Thunderbird had been “add more metal until it stops breaking.” The ’61 Continental had been lighter than its gargantuan predecessors thanks to its smaller exterior dimensions, but a fully equipped sedan still tipped the scales at a hefty 5,268 lb. A loaded ’69 Continental hardtop coupe was 5,362 lb, and the ’69 sedan added 95 lb on top of that — heavier than most contemporary body-on-frame cars the same size.

Ford had already switched the Thunderbird to a perimeter frame for 1967, and the new Continental Mark III — which was basically a long-wheelbase Thunderbird with neo-classical styling — shared its perimeter frame with the four-door T-Bird. Now, it was time for the aging Continental to go the same way. Here’s how Motor Trend editor Bill Sanders explained the changes in August 1969:

The photos in the middle tier of the page above show some important Lincoln-Mercury players from this era — from left to right, chief engineer Fred Bloom, chief body engineer Stuart Frey, product planning manager Steve Russell, styling chief Arnott “Buzz” Grisinger, and general manager Matt McLaughlin. (Note that the text misspells Grisinger’s last name, which had only one “S.”)

In the ’50s and ’60s, the phrase “all-new” got a real workout in Detroit marketing copy. From a chassis and structural standpoint, the 1970 Lincoln Continental certainly qualified, but since the three-speed C6 automatic had been used for some time and the 460 engine had first appeared under Lincoln hoods in 1968, the 1970 model wasn’t quite the “completely redesigned, re-engineered car from the wheels up” the text proclaims.

 

Back when the 1961 Continental debuted, Lincoln-Mercury had made a big deal of how each car received a 12-mile “final examination” after assembly. The text above notes that this road test would now be conducted “on a computer-programmed road test simulator, which duplicates actual road conditions.”

I realize the black-on-orange of the page above isn’t always the easiest to read (nor was it easy to scan!), so I’ll quote a few pertinent passages:

Probably the biggest news is the fact that the Continental has gone from unit construction to a body/frame chassis. There are several reasons for the change. According to Fred Bloom, chief engineer for Lincoln, body/frame construction cuts down road noise and adds to an improved ride. It’s also more efficient, with better weight distribution, and lastly it cuts costs. The latter point is important because the Continental will now share various underbody and chassis components with other makes in Ford’s stable. Keeping the same unit construction chassis for the past nine years has also created other headaches. Additional steel and sheetmetal were added with each succeeding model without any basic chassis revisions. Consequently, the car kept getting heavier and heavier. Starting fresh for 1970, the Continental will be about 300 pounds lighter, which should cut down on gas bills slightly.

As CC has previously discussed, a perimeter frame is not the same thing as a traditional self-supporting frame like the ladder frames used on larger trucks. With a perimeter frame design, most of the structural strength comes from the body shell, with the frame acting as essentially a full-length subframe whose mass, rubber-isolated body mounts, and designed-in flexibility help to isolate the body and occupants from noise, vibration, and road harshness. Although the body shell must be more rigid than in a vehicle with a self-supporting chassis (where the body is really just along for the ride), using the frame to absorb road shock in this way can allow the body to be lighter than a true unit body providing the same level of isolation. (This depends somewhat on the vehicle’s overall dimensions; a smaller car will usually still be lighter with unit construction.)

Also, because the old Continental was overweight to begin with and had received nine years of belt-and-braces revisions, it could benefit quite a bit by just starting from a fresh sheet of paper, particularly with the growing availability of computerized tools for structural optimization. Those techniques were still primitive compared to modern computer-aided design, but they were vastly more sophisticated than what Ford had had to work with in the late ’50s.

While increasing the big Lincoln’s commonality with cheaper models obviously made sense from a cost standpoint, it’s always a sensitive issue for cars in this class: Nobody buying an expensive luxury car wants to be reminded that it shares many bits and pieces with ordinary family sedans.

 

A potentially bigger issue for buyers was that the new Continental now looked an awful lot like its cheaper Mercury Marquis sibling. Compare the four-door Continental pictured above with this brochure illustration of the 1970 Mercury Marquis Brougham four-door hardtop:

Motor Trend editors were seldom ones to ask troublesome questions, so Sanders skates politely around this point, but Popular Mechanics auto editor Bill Kilpatrick had fewer compunctions: “I can’t make up my mind whether the Mercury is being upgraded to look like the Lincoln or the Lincoln is being downgraded to look like the Mercury,” Kilpatrick wrote in the October 1969 PM. “In any event, there’s a definite resemblance, particularly upfront.” Since Lincoln and Mercury shared the same showrooms, some family resemblance wasn’t totally unreasonable, but it did make the Continental less distinctive than before.

The new three-link rear suspension, which traded semi-elliptical springs for coils and a Panhard rod, was similar to the Mark III, which was largely the same as the 1967 Thunderbird arrangement seen here:

The text claims that there were now “higher rate springs and shocks and a larger diameter roll bar” in front. Motor Trend was right about the stiffer springs — the front spring rate went from 105 lb/inch (at the wheel) in 1969 to 146 lb/inch for 1970 — but the AMA specs show the anti-roll bar as very slightly smaller than in ’69, 0.81 rather than 0.82 inches. The new rear suspension was also stiffer than before, with wheel rate increasing to 149 lb/inch for 1970, compared to just 100 lb/inch for 1969. Surprisingly, this didn’t come at a cost in ride comfort:

On a test drive around the Ford test track at Dearborn, we were quite impressed by the improved handling qualities and ride comfort of the new car. Even on the handling road, with numerous sharp curves, the prototype we drove always kept a tight, flat hold on the surface, with no noticeable wallowing or dipping. Levels of comfort and quietness similar to the Mark III have been a goal of Lincoln engineers, and they’ve succeeded admirably. In fact, the sensation of movement at higher speeds has been reduced to the level of the Mark III. We noticed about a 20-mph difference between our actual speed and our estimated speed at 70 mph on the high-speed test track. This was largely due to the silence and improved ride.

Aside from the stiffer springs and new suspension, another change that probably helped 1970 Continental handling was the increased track width: 1.9 inches greater in front and 3.3 inches greater in back than in ’69.

 

The most interesting new technical feature in the Lincoln line at this time was Sure-Track, an antilock braking system developed by Ford and Kelsey-Hayes. Although it worked only on the rear wheels, this was the first electronic ABS ever offered on a production car, making its debut as a $195.80 option on the 1969 Continental Mark III.

 

Sure-Track became standard on the Mark III for 1970, but it would still be an extra-cost option for the 1970 Continental. Sanders remarks:

The new system improves braking stability by preventing sustained rear wheel lockup during panic stops, even on ice or snow. Unfortunately, this feature will be an option, and because safety does not sell too well it may be like trying to sell heat lamps in Houston. When we asked why this item wasn’t standard, we got numerous answers. “It would add too much to the base price of the car,” we were told. “There isn’t a sufficient supply to equip all the cars that will be built.” Most of the answers we got weren’t really substantial.

Lincoln offered the rear antilock system through the mid-’70s, but quietly dropped the option later in the decade. My unkind guess is that Ford was reluctant to promote this feature too heavily, lest federal regulators insist that automakers make the system standard equipment across the board!

The 1970 Continental looked bulkier than the ’60s model, but as the comparison table in the right column of the page above reveals, the differences in exterior dimensions amounted to less than an inch in any direction, and there were some modest improvements in interior room, in particular a 2-inch increase in front and rear shoulder room.

 

The rear doors were now hinged at the front rather than the rear — the 1961–1969 Lincoln four-door had only used rear-hinged doors because the original seating “package” (designed for the close-coupled Thunderbird) otherwise made entry and exit very awkward — and the doors themselves were wider. I’m not sure that owners parked next to a 1970 Continental hardtop in a crowded parking would have appreciated its 7-inch-wider doors, but it did make it easier for adults to get in and out of the back seat with dignity intact.

You’ll notice that weight is conspicuously missing from the Motor Trend comparison table. Fortunately, I have the 1969 and 1970 AMA specs, which include both base curb weights and the weights of optional equipment. (Since Sure-Track was only available on the Mark III for 1969, I’ve omitted it from this table to allow an apples-to-apples comparison; ordering Sure-Track on a 1970 Continental added 20 lb to the curb weight.)

Lincoln Continental Curb Weights, 1969 versus 1970

Body style	1969 Base Curb Weight, lb	1970 Base Curb Weight, lb	1969 Curb Weight With All Options, lb	1970 Curb Weight With All Options, lb
Two-door hardtop coupe	5,113	4,860	5,362	5,156
Four-door sedan	5,208	4,910	5,457	5,206

 

As the text explains, the projected performance figures are “calculated by applying estimated improvement factors to 1969 figures.” However, Motor Trend had just tested a ’69 Lincoln Continental sedan in the April 1969 issue, and had found that the 460 engine and optional 3.00 “hi-torque” axle provided strong performance for this class: 0 to 60 mph in 9.0 seconds, the standing quarter mile in 16.2 seconds at 85.7 mph. Therefore, this article’s estimates for the 1970 model — 0 to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds and the standing quarter mile in 16.0 seconds at 86.5 mph with the standard 2.80 axle, slightly quicker with the 3.00 axle — seem perfectly plausible, given the significantly reduced if still hefty curb weight.

 

For 1970, the big 460 engine was again rated at 365 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, both SAE gross. This was the same as in 1969, but the 1970 engine had an air injection system to reduce hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions, which consumed some power — probably something like 6 to 8 hp. I don’t think Ford ever published any net ratings for this engine prior to 1972. (While Chrysler and GM published both gross and net figures for 1971 to prepare buyers for the change to net ratings, Ford apparently did not.)

The 1970 Continental got a revised dashboard with full instrumentation, obviously modeled on the dash of the Mark III. There was also a new Flow-Thru ventilation system, exhausting through a vent under the backlight; Ford had been using flow-through systems like this on other models since 1964.

 

 

Leather-vinyl upholstery was a $157.40 option on the 1970 Continental, but even the standard seats now had latex cushion padding, which Stuart Frey claimed was more comfortable than the usual urethane padding. The text notes that the 1970 model also offered a new radio, “reportedly exclusive in the industry,” with five pushbutton station preselects for both AM and FM. This was a pricey option: $301.70 with power antenna, the equivalent of about $2,553 in 2024 dollars!

Evaporative emissions controls were newly required in California for 1970. This was a somewhat belated move in the emissions control wars, reducing air pollution by capturing and reusing fuel vapors from the carburetor and fuel tank vents, rather than venting them to the atmosphere. Without evaporative controls, a lot full of parked cars on a hot day released a substantial quantity of hydrocarbon emissions, even if their engines were never started. Federal emissions regulations would require the same controls for 49-state cars starting in 1971.

 

 

I’ve never been a big fan of the 1961 Continental, and its numerous facelifts didn’t improve its looks, but it’d be hard to deny that the 1970 Continental looked less special. It was a better car in many respects, and weight reductions of 200 to 300 lb are nothing to sneer at even in land yachts like these, but whether the 1970 model was worth almost $2,000 more than a similar-looking Mercury Marquis Brougham was harder to say. Since Continental production fell from 38,383 in 1969 to 31,695 for the all-new 1970 and 35,551 for the 1971, it seems that buyers struggled with that same question. The Mark III cost over $1,000 more than the Continental, but sold nearly as well, and rated higher in prestige.

The big Lincoln sedans would yet have their day, but in 1970, it seems that simply being better wasn’t quite good enough.

Related Reading

Curbside Classic: 1970 Lincoln Continental Coupe – Hot Rod Lincoln (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1969 Lincoln Continental – Missed It By THAT Much (by J P Cavanaugh)
Curbside Classic: 1968-1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III – Right On!…The Mark (by Paul N)
Vintage Motor Trend Review: 1969 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Lincoln Continental, Imperial – American Luxury Comparison (by Rich Baron)
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1961 Lincoln Continental Sedan – “The Best-Looking American Car Built Today” (by Paul N)