(first posted 11/21/2012) While there’s no doubt summer’s over, I still have quite a cache of car show pics to keep you entertained throughout the long winter ahead. To wit: How about a colorful 1956 Lincoln Premiere hardtop?
I saw this sharp Lincoln last July at one of the North Park Mall cruise-ins. It was a late arrival, and I waited patiently for the crowd surrounding it to disperse so I could get some good shots for you CCers. I have always had a thing for unusual color schemes, and this Lincoln was amazing! Most ’56 Lincolns were quite colorful, with an available color palette of various pinks, corals, yellows and aquas. This one’s finished in Wisteria, an actual 1956 factory color, and its interior is every bit as bright and cheerful as the exterior. Premiere models featured three-tone interior schemes, including the black/white/wisteria combination shown above.
The 1956 Lincolns were longer, lower and wider than ever, and sported spiffy, all-new bodywork. It was clear that unlike the 1952-55 “Road Race” Lincolns, these were more than dressed-up, longer-wheelbase Mercurys. The Capri was the ‘standard’ Lincoln, and the Premiere represented the top of the line. In addition to a slightly flossier interior, Premiere buyers got power windows and a four-way power front seat as standard equipment. A 368 cu in, 300-hp V8 engine, breathing through a four-barrel Carter carb, powered both models.
Also standard was Turbo-Drive automatic transmission, which had replaced the GM-sourced Hydra-Matic in 1955. The newly home-grown automatic utilized a torque converter with three planetary gears. Like many ’50s automatics, its primary mission was smooth, unhurried operation (after all, this was a luxury car). It did offer lower-gear starts for speedier takeoffs when the go-pedal was floored.
Our featured car, priced new at a princely $4,601, is one of 19,619 Premiere hardtop coupes built for 1956. Interestingly, the Premiere hardtop was the best-selling 1956 Lincoln, outselling the four-door sedan by about 150 units.
Despite sprouting fins that looked slightly tacked on, the 1957 Lincolns retained much of the cohesive design of their predecessors. But come 1958, the gigantic and boxy all-new Continental Mark IIIs and Lincolns would take Ford’s luxury make in a totally different–and perhaps questionable–direction.
What a beautiful car. Color usually makes-it or breaks-it with me also & this is just divine. It sure breaks up the car show generica I see surrounding it. It’s interesting the 2-door outsold the sedan.
The 56 Lincoln has long been one of my favorite 1950s cars, although I have very rarely seen one in real life. The most amazing part of the car is how its designers so thoroughly nailed the styling so perfectly, and then lost the plot almost immediately with the 57 line. If there was ever a worse transition from dual to quad headlights in a design, I cannot think of it. It is really amazing that Ford did not try to get more mileage out of this body, as properly styled, it could have been reasonably competitive through 1960. But Ford was on a spending spree and there would be a new unit body Lincoln (and Thunderbird) for 1958.
When Packard was trying to fund a replacement for its 1955-56 line, Jim Nance explored a deal with Ford to purchase the tooling for the 56 Lincoln body, but no agreement was reached. This car could certainly have made a decent Packard, particularly with its massive V8.
But back to the 56. This car probably helped seal the fate of Packard, as it was Lincoln’s first credible luxury car in several years. The styling, particularly in the interior, was very clean and restrained. There is none of the overwhelming chrome that we normally associate with the era.
Alas, mechanically and structurally, it was a pretty unremarkable car. The big Y block and Turbodrive were no match for Cadillac’s V8 and HydraMatic, either in performance or durability. Also, these were said to be notorious rusters. As for the color, I am normally not a purple car kind of guy, but I like this one. I recall seeing an old rusty 56 Ford Fairlane in this color as well, so it must have been available in most of the Ford Family of Fine Cars. A nice find.
JP, I think you are right on it being available across the board. A couple of years ago, I saw a ’56 Crown Victoria in the same colors as this Lincoln. The owner, somehow, had documented the number of Fords painted the same color and it was remarkably low.
I checked the (Ditzler) paint-code charts on eBay, and also Ford’s 1956 brochure (picture below): no Wisteria (or same hue under another name). Perhaps a kindly dealer could have gotten the Regional Office to OK a non-standard paint job, but I’d think Lincoln would want to keep these especially distinctive colors to itself. (That said, I don’t think I ever saw one of these 56’s during my late-50s/early-60s young years, when similar-vintage Cadillacs seemed plentiful still.):
Agree with you totally. The ’56 was a beautiful car, not quite up there with the ’56 DeSoto and Chrysler, but close. The transition to ’57 was right up there with Studebaker’s efforts. Awful, cheap, and tacked on.
Other than the size, I’ll admit I like the ’58 Lincoln (not quite so excited about the Continental Mark III of the same year, the details just didn’t work as well), and attempting to mainstream the car down for ’59 and ’60 took an attractive (for the 50’s) style and made it blech.
JP, do you know if Packard tried to buy the Lincoln body itself or the platform (e.g., the new “cow belly” chassis) on which to fit the design that Dick Teague had already come up with?
Dr., I don’t remember on this. I had always thought it was just bodies, but I could be wrong. I am not that knowledgeable on this car – I knew the cowbelly design was used on the Mark II, but have no idea if the standard Lincoln used it too. If the car’s dramatic lowness was due to the cowbelly frame, then I could imagine that sticking this body shell onto an adapted standard frame would have been less than satisfactory. I could also see where Ford would be reluctant to sell the frames too, as much as Lincoln was struggling for traction at that time.
Funny, the first thing that struck me with this car is how much it looks like a ’56 Caribbean I saw this summer. Similar side themes but the Packard has better detailing on front and back, to my eye.
The 58-60 Lincoln was an abomination…although I wish they’d kept making them as Imperial outsold them a couple of those years.
Front of the Packard:
Shoot, thought I had a better shot of the back. I do love the use of color here.
The 1956 Lincoln didn’t have the cowbelly frame, plus they all had an X brace, so no footwells.
1957 Ford cowbelly frame:
Maybe this one will work.
Needs more cowbelly.
Cadillac had an all-new HydraMatic transmission for 1956, and it was initially very troublesome. Cadillac was replacing transmissions for people who bought brand-new 1956 Cadillacs on a regular basis.
Popular Mechanics surveyed 1956 Cadillac buyers for its “Owners Report” series, and several of them mentioned having to replace the transmission on their new cars.
From what I’ve read, the bugs weren’t worked out of this new transmission until the 1957 model year. Lincoln may have had the more reliable transmission for 1956.
I liked on these era Lincolns the interiors and the push of a floor button for the “automatic” lubrication. The battery was accesible through a pull-out panel on the floor on the front passenger’s footwell. I think the build quality of these were superior to the ’56 Cadillac; the hardware inside is restrained compared to oodles of windshield reflecting chrome on the ’56 and ’57 Caddies.
However, in terms of performance, Cadillac and Lincoln were definitely outpaced by the Forward Look . . .
Ed Sullivan almost met his demise in a ’56 Premiere after a head-on collison enroute for a quick getaway to his Connecticut home. It took him about 6 weeks to recover . . .
Count me in on the ’56 Lincoln love, especially the interior, Love that dash. Check out the twin supports for the brake pedal – beefy!
These cars were already quite uncommon when I arrived in 1960. And seeing one was always noteworthy.
I’ve always had a thing for the ’56 exterior, but I’d never taken note of the interior until looking more closely at this article. I’m in love–that dash is, somehow, just about perfect.
Add also the revival of the Continental as the Mark II who was then a separate division. That was a one-two punch and a double whammy for Packard.
I go to the Mecum auction every year here in Indianapolis and have spotted three ’56 Premieres over the years. Here they are, two convertibles and a sedan.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilene/4640111103/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilene/7347914268/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilene/7347910898/
These cars have serious presence in person, especially with the pastel colors they could come in.
OMG, that first convertible is gorgeous! For my 16th birthday in 1960, I inherited a pink and white ’56 Lincoln Premier coupe. Still one of the sexiest, most beautiful cars. Gasoline was $.23/gal. We’d never heard the term “gas mileage”. Good times. Gorgeous car!
Not a big fan of purple, but this Lincoln is super. Around 1978, I looked at a very beat up 56 Lincoln 2 dr just like this one. I can’t recall what the guy wanted for it, but it needed alot. The car was a red/white two tone with matching interior. The leather was cracked and ripped, and the exterior looked just as bad. The owner tried to start it, and found that the battery (inside the car) had completely disintegrated. Acid and stuff all over the inside of the car.
UGH! That killed my interest. It beats me why car makers would put the battery in the passenger compartment. My 2002 Deville’s battery is beneath the back seat. Seems to me to be a dangerous place for a battery. Needs a special vented battery in order to prevent fumes. What sense is that?
There are many reasons why car makers put the battery in the passenger compartment. Some do it to better balance the weight of the car, some such as rear engined Volkswagens because it’s closer to the engine, some because there is no other practical place, some for safety considerations (better protected in a crash). And then there are the current hybrid and electric cars that have a large battery pack, there is no choice. But I agree, they can be messy, and are generally inconvenient. It all reminds me of the story I once heard many years ago from a guy who had a old VW Bug. He gave a ‘fat chick’ (his words) a ride in the back seat. Whenever he hit a bump the seat springs would ground out the battery and the car would go dead. When the seat rebounded the car would come back to life. I am sure something was not correct, either the battery size or perhaps a missing cover. Still a funny story.
The Jaguar S-Type and Lincoln LS twins had their batteries in the trunk. Not so much for weight balance, more so because there WAS no room under the bonnet/hood.
The VW must have been missing a cover, my uncle told me a similar story about his Type 3.
The Holden Commodore VE/Pontiac G8 also has the battery in the trunk because they were squeezed for room under the hood.
The battery in the C3 Audi 100/5000 is under the back seat. Guessing it was for weight purposes to counter a very nose-heavy car with the entire engine sitting over/ahead of the front axle.
My 1975 Audi Fox had the battery in the trunk, as the underhood space where it was in 1974, was taken up by the K-Jetronic metering body. One year only, everything under the hood got redesigned for 1976.
I don’t actually recall VW supplying a cover; maybe I am mistaken. I do recall people recommending to attach a piece of heavy cardboard or some such to the bottom of the seat springs to avoid this issue.
Beautiful car. If memory serves, the 1956 vintage Dodge La Femme was painted almost the exact same shade of purple. When I was growing up, the people who ran a local roadside diner had a red 1956 Premier hardtop, which they kept for years and years; they still had it in 1978 when I graduated from high school. It was always parked right next to the diner, and it really caught the eye. I wonder how many travelers stopped in for lunch simply because of that car! It wasn’t even a “classic” or an “antique” at the time. It was just a very impressive-looking older car.
I seem to remember some scene from a movie where the police officer surveys the cars in the parking lot, then walks thru the diner and its obvious to the film viewer which car belongs to which customer. Was It Five Easy Pieces? Last Picture show? Fargo?
Apparently somebody in Iowa picked up on that idea in the late-70’s and early 8o’s, and kept a beautiful (pearl white with gold wheels) ’57 Cadillac parked in front of his restaurant in Mason City.
The 1956 Lincoln sold unusually well — around 50,000. Yet it took Lincoln a decade to surpass that level. That’s pretty amazing given how much Ford spent on a completely new 1958 redesign, which flopped. The 1961-65 Continental may have been an instant classic, but it didn’t sell all that well either. The 1966 redesign and the 1968 Continental Mark III were the big boosts that started to make Lincoln more competitive with Cadillac.
The 1961 Lincoln was not available in the two-door hardtop body style. If I recall correctly, the two-door hardtop was Cadillac’s most popular body style.
Plus, the Lincoln was initially only available in one trim level, and that level was the equivalent of the Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special. Llincoln was handicapped by its more limited selection of body styles and trim levels.
After all the pictures of the 1959 Pontiac yesterday, and now we’re talking about Lincolns, I realized that the back end of the 59 Pontiac looks a lot like the back of a 1958-60 Lincoln.
Love everything about the design of the ’56s, except for those upper grills that flow out of the headlights, that just ruins the front end for me.
I always kind of liked that feature, that was adapted from the Lincoln Futura showcar from 1955. Of course, everybody knows it better as the Batmobile following George Barris’ work on it in the 60s.
With the headlights, I suspect they were trying to capture a bit of the styling from the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept (which would later become the Batmobile).
Same thing with the fins added for 1957, which some commenters have said look “tacked on”. The chrome strip that outlines the fins gives them the same look as the Futura’s fins when viewed from the side.
EDIT: Darn, Jim beat me to it on the headlights. I got side-tracked when I saw this picture of a recreated Futura body in fibreglass.
http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Marty_Martino%27s_1955_Lincoln_Futura
The only way to make one of those Lincolns better is to have Jayne Mansfield sit on it.. like this. Actually, this one may be a ’57.
Jayne Mansfield was much like Marilyn Monroe in being a smart woman who capitalized on her dumb blonde persona. Loni Anderson did a really good portrayal of her in a tv movie.
IMO the ’56s were the most gorgeous-looking Lincolns of that decade, nicer than what came before and way better than what came after. I would call that colour lavender myself. The interior is tasteful, restrained and elegant. Too bad this body style only lasted one model year.
Having owned a 1956 coupe, I can only agree with you on its beauty. Mine was quite unmistakably pink and white. But I think you are right that the one pictured is lavender rather than purple. I haven’t owned that car in about 54 years, but still look back and love how it’s beautiful design has held up.
The 56 Lincoln won the Industrial Designers Institute award – it was a beauty. However, I have a soft spot for the 57, too. A friend of my Dad had a new 57 convertible, turquoise with white top and upholstery, and I loved it. It was a pretty glamourous car and rarely seen compared to the ubiquitous Cadillac. He eventually sold the convertible to his secretary around 62 and she took very good care of it for many years.
The 50’s were the heyday for car colors – purple, pink, turquoise, yellow, two-tone, tri-tone, gold and silver mylar inserts – I don’t remember many people driving silver or grey cars. Or even black in the late 50’s, unless it was matched with another color like red or pink. I think the colors and the exuberant use of chrome were a reaction to the black-outs of WWII and Korea (remember painted bumpers and hub caps). Good times.
I’m with you on the use of bright colors with many choices. I still have never figured why mfgrs. changed to muted blues, grey, silver, white. Considering how alike cars look today, it would be a treat yo at least be able to choose a snappy color.
An old friend who was a Lincoln fan had a very nice red and white Premiere hardtop like this. I gave him a 1957 Illinois license plate to put up in his garage – with its matching bright red and white colors and Land of Lincoln slogan it seemed appropriate. Land of Lincoln was an appropriate name for his place, as he had five or six Lincolns, also including a 1954 convertible and 1960 Mark IV black limo and a 1960 convertible.
I always liked the 1956 styling, both of the hardtops and the sedans. Oddly enough, I also liked the 1952-1955 styling even though it was always obvious to me that these were based on the same body as the Fords and Mercurys. This may have been because of my early introduction to a light blue 1952 sedan that belonged to a friend of my father, and which made Pop’s 1950 Packard look even more like a pregnant elephant in comparison.
When I had my 55 Merc, I was looking for a 1955 Lincoln front bumper, as I’d heard that they would interchange, and the angled Lincoln bumper guards would have added some interest to the Merc. I never did lay hands on one though.
Wow, another great memory. I was so enamored of these Lincolns, even being only 10 years old at the time, but the ’57 was the creme-de-la-creme for me. I still have a long-defunct Holiday magazine ad for the ’57, photographed in front of the Carlyle Hotel in New York City, stating that “There is a quiet, sure pride that comes with arriving in this long, low, lovely Lincoln.” The ad copy proudly touted the “crisp, canted rear blades,” the “distinctive Quadra-Lite grille,” and quietly proclaimed their tag line “Unmistakably, the finest in the fine car field.” It still grabs me today, along with the mid-60’s Lincoln ad line “America’s Most Distinguished Motorcar.” Great stuff. I agree with Paul, the dash of these Lincolns always intrigued me, with luxury car details you just didn’t see in lesser cars: the sliding toggle switches and their rotating drum displays in the little raised housings, the radio dial perfectly mounted in the forward crease of the dash padding, the power window switches neatly tucked into the dash extension below the windshield dogleg, the beefy chromed transmission selector lever, with that chunky white handle and chrome tip. And that enormous white steering wheel, always reminds me of my dad having fits at short-statured drivers “peering through the steering wheel,” as he would put it.
My love of these luxo-cruisers had its beginnings in the ’56 Lincoln Premiere hardtop coupe that a classmate’s father drove when we were going to elementary, junior, and senior high school. It was a white roof over aqua, with a matching two-tone leather interior, very glamorous. She and I were class reps together in high school student government in 1963, and we would sometimes have occasion to drive her dad’s car to various school meetings and class functions. She even let me drive it a couple of times, which scared me to death, since I had only recently received my driver’s license. But even though it was already seven years old then, you still felt like a million bucks piloting that leviathan down the boulevard.
There was a ’57 Premiere hardtop for sale recently in a Palm Springs classic car showroom near where I live now, white over pink, matching leather interior. They were closed for the evening when I happened by, good thing, it might be sitting in my driveway today (not that I could possibly afford to keep it up). But what strikes you is how absolutely ginormous these cars were compared to today’s vehicles, certainly in length, but even more so in sheer bulk. You don’t realize it from photos, but in the flesh, or metal, they are simply immense. Ah, well, fun to transport yourself to another era.
UGH one of my pet hates. Not the car, the paint. These 50s pastel paint jobs in the pinks,lemons and lilacs were pretty and subtle colours. With the limits of paint technology then, all colours had a softness that’s hard to re-create now. When repainted with modern technology the colours go bright and ghastly. Especially when the paint matchers decide to jazz them up a bit more. Witness the million-and-one 59 Cadillacs now seen in screaming Barbie magenta pink, not the pretty coral pinks a very rare few would have had. It’s hard to establish what these would have once looked like as surviving original paint jobs, colour photographs and memories have all faded but sure not like this!
Subtlety died in Detroit around 1956-57 and here in Texas it’s downright illegal.
Soft paint on voluptuous cars . . .sigh
I love the early -mid 50s lincolns – unlike virtually every other American car of their time, they were flashy, elegant AND understated! While some say the 1961 is more of a classic, my vote goes in for the 1956 Capri (like the one driven by Joanne Woodward in “The Long Hot Summer”)
I got a mint-condition ’56 Lincoln coupe for my 16th birthday birthday in 1960. Pink bottom/white top and matching leather interior. I still remember how gorgeous and deep the luster was on that freshly waxed hood as I was driving. When I look at all of the colors that were available, I feel real sorrow looking at how pathetic and limited the palette is for today’s cars. When did we begin accepting this? I understand styling, aerodynamics, weight and need for gas mileage, but why can’t we at least get to choose a snappy color to personalize our generic-looking cars?
Sometime in the ’80s there was a study linking bright car colors with “low achievers”. After that, ze Germans who were the trendsetters, and had been all about bright “signal” colors for safety in low-vis conditions in the ’70s, started going dark metallic and grayscale in a big way. At the same time Honda was offering cars in as little as two color combos and selling to a waiting list.
The ’56 – ’57 Lincoln is just so rare that it was almost like I discovered them sometime in the 1990s.
In my rather GM centric thinking of times-gone-by, I’ve always found these cars to be just a bit weird. There are a lot of similarities to the ’55 – ’56 Packard, which I’ve thought of as a rather beautiful automobile. For the times, Packard got the details right.
That isn’t to say I don’t like this car. It’s truly a ’50s novelty, and I’d love to own one now. While the ’56 Lincoln was something of a success, about doubling the 25,000 sales they had in 1955, Cadillac had a record year in ’56 and trounced Lincoln sales yet again.
“… the go-pedal …” lol 😎
Love the massive brake pedal, except whats on the other end four discs? I suspect four drums oh well the thought was there, great colour something thats missing from todays cars but depending on brand could make a comeback it sure would be welcome, Yeah overall a nice car and not one I ever get to see live unfortunately.
I have NO idea why, at one point in my life, I thought these were ugly. I think they’re one of the most attractive cars of the 50’s now.
Beautiful. One of my favourite Lincoln shapes. What a great hue.
There was an identical red ’56 parked in Little Current, Ontario across from the Beer Store. I took some photos – it was in nice shape, though the plates were expired. I’ll look for it when we’re up there this summer. I’d hate to see it rust away.
I’d still choose the ’56 Cadillac. Cadillac had established some strong styling trends that were carried over and developed over the years. The raised center, egg crate grille was introduced in 1941. The bullet over riders evolved into the famous “Dagmars” and the raised tail light “fin” was introduced in 1948. Cadillac stylists played shake and bake with these styling elements but they established a very strong continuous visual identity. When you saw a Cadillac, you immediately knew what it was. Lincoln was missing that styling continuity which also hurt their resale value. My Dad had a road race era Lincoln sedan for a time and it did not overwhelm you with it’s presence. I suppose it’s appeal was more like an Imperial of the time. Cadillac was brash and flashy which was just what the Hollywood types and “nouveau riche” buyers preferred.
This certainly was a great design. And Lincoln’s Premier star medallion was perfectly mid century quasaresque. I would have made the body just an inch or two narrower, though… it borders on zaftig. It’s almost, but not quite boring, in the way that only a nearly perfect design can be, considering the human penchant for ego-feeding ornamentation. Maybe that’s why it looks so good in pinks and lavenders: its simplicity of line doesn’t compete with them.
Saw the “same” car with factory A/C at the LCOC meet last weekend in Dayton, OH. Wisteria is so iconic for the ’56. Tom, we miss you!
I see a certain deep-pocketed Phil Schaefer has made a dream come true; who wouldn’t want to see the country in this (if gas wasn’t yet topping 30 cents a gallon):
But those wheel covers! As my college calculus prof Fr. Dominic would say –
WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY? Just so wrong.
Btw, when the Kennedy administration ’61 parade Lincoln (yes, that one) came back from the conversion it was a ’62, but with ’56 Lincoln wheel covers because of the larger wheels.
Rereading the article and comments, plus a lot of other articles on the 56-57 Lincolns over the years, I’ve always felt that if there was a year when Lincoln should have gone head-to-head with Cadillac, 1956 was it. The car was certainly the equal of Cadillac that year.
Unfortunately . . . . . . .
Great paint colors. I’ve noticed some new cars in less saturated, non-metallic colors. Subarus, maybe? Or maybe Fords. It’s a refreshing change.
Like this? 2022 Ford Maverick in Area 51.
Same truck in Cactus Grey.
Subaru and Toyota also offer similar colors. I think Toyota has one called Cement.
It looks even more like what you’re describing in natural pictures vs the computer generated images I posted above.
In an strange allusion to the Corvette, the Jeep Wrangler’s shade of this color is called Sting Grey.
The 1956 Lincoln reminds me a lot of the 1956 Packard, especially the headlight arches and the roofline. I have mixed feelings about the lavender color but automobiles in the ’50s had much more vibrant colors-both interior and exterior. Today, the colors I see on most vehicles are shades of white, grey, silver and black with mostly tan or black interiors.
Does anyone have photos of ‘56, 4 Dr., premier, in Lavender(Wisteria)?