(first posted 2/7/2013) Ever since I found this relatively rare 1970 Continental Coupe, I’ve been trying to find something good to say about it. Don’t get me wrong; I love it, in its intrinsic hugeness and badness. But then, I also had a crush on Blaze Starr in seventh grade. And I was just about as thrilled to find it in this neighborhood of old Toyotas and Volvos as if Blaze herself was suddenly sauntering down the sidewalk au naturel.
Yes, these are an uncommon sight, and this the only one of its generation I’ve encountered. Devoid of the ’61′s clear, angular brilliance, heavily influenced by GM’s big barges, and lacking the in-your-face over-the-top I’m-big-and-I’m-proud excess of their ’75-’79 successors, these are almost forgotten now. Shall we call them the lost Lincolns? Oh wait; I think I just came up with something positive…
We could call them the hot rod Lincolns! I know that’s a bit of a stretch, but seriously, this ’70 Coupe was undoubtedly the fastest-ever Lincoln up to that time, and would easily hold that crown until the 1987 Mark VII SLC came along. The 460 cubic inch (7.4-liter), still in its high-compression youthful freshness, was rated at 365 (gross) hp. And although the 1970 Lincoln was a completely new car, with a bigger wheelbase than its predecessor and now riding on a gen-u-ine frame, it actually weighed several hundred pounds less than the heavyweight unibodies it replaced. My Encyclopedia of American cars says this coupe weighed a relatively svelte 4,669 lbs., about the same as today’s Audi S8. Of course, once that big gas tank was filled and ready to roll, it was probably closer to 4,900.
The same was true for the Cadillac of the time; the ’68 Coupe DeVille’s weight was listed at about 4,600 lbs., and it had the new 375-hp 472 V8. It would be a blast to see a couple of these big barges drag race each other. I can’t find any old road test numbers for the Lincoln, but ’68-’69 Caddys could do 0-60 in about 9 seconds, and the quarter-mile in sixteen. Not so hot from today’s perspective, but considering the technology of the times and the utter effortlessness with which these boats hustled along, those numbers are none too shabby.
Flooring one of these big girls at sixty still gave a noticeable shove in the back. The big-block, de-smogged low-compression versions soon to come would get to sixty or so with a semblance of urgency, but quickly ran utterly out of wind from there on up–just in time for the double nickel–and never mind their utterly emasculated and wheezy successors of the early-mid eighties. Just as with muscle cars, the turn of the decade was a high point; the difference was that one didn’t have to order a special engine. In that respect, they were the high point of the whole genre.
See? I managed some positive spin for this bad girl. But that’s about as far as I can take it. Time for Jim Cavanaugh to take the mike. So if you’re negativity-averse, you’d better stop here. And I’m not even going to use the words “handling” or “build quality”.
Let’s face it: These Lincolns are just Ford LTDs with a bit of collagen and silicone. The big, wide new ’69 Ford was designed around a one-frame-fits-all strategy. OK, the Lincoln’s side rails are a couple of inches longer, but when it comes down to it they’re all of one family and cut from the same cloth. Ford’s experiment with its a-cut-above unibody Continentals was over; pragmatism was the new order of the day. From here on, Lincolns would essentially be a trim level above the LTD, with the Marquis precariously squeezed between them.
Ford’s pricing strategy certainly made that inevitable: This 1970 Continental was 20% cheaper than the 1961 model (price-adjusted for inflation). Ford was going for the volume, just as Caddy had been doing for some time. Cue the entrance of Mercedes as the up-and coming luxury car of choice. The seventies saw the democratization of many things, but nothing more so than “luxury” items. Shag carpeting was laid over the linoleum floor (which is in again), and opera-windowed, soft-padded tops sprouted on suburban driveways like crab grass in the lawns. The peak decade of the Great Brougham Epoch was underway, along with the decline of exclusivity of Detroit’s top brands.
This ’70 represents the transition to the height of that era; opera windows were still a couple of years away. In a way, the understated quality of this car, along with its healthy motor, is also its redeeming feature. Might explain why this owner is going to some lengths to keep it running on the streets, despite the broken-out side window and largely disassembled instrument panel. It’s someone’s beloved hot rod Lincoln, so watch what you say. I tried to.
It’s both good looking and ugly at the same time like a French bulldog.I like the fender skirts and kicked up rear wings,not sure about that grille.
I’m also compelled not to knock it, because it’s only a couple degrees of separation from the Marauder X-100, surely one of the coolest cars no one’s ever heard of (present company excepted, naturally).
Speaking of Marauders………ever seen a Mark hump on one? It was on CL a while ago. Big fan of the Big Ms here too!
Wow, its like a Hawaii Five-0/Cannon crossover.
Speaking of CANNON in the 1970 pilot Tv movie William Conrad is driving around in a brand new black ’70 Lincoln Continental. About halfway through the movie it gets good ‘n’ trashed. The front end has ‘issues’ after Cannon slams into the back of a pickup truck that stops short on purpose. Cannon is rightfully pissed off . . .
I saw the TVM on MeTV, btw, about a month ago. My local MeTV channel 32 showed it over 2 nights from 3 to 4 A.M. CANNON became a series in 1971 so I reckon the pilot movie was filmed at least a year earlier. Good cast, too.
I don’t think the ditching of the suicide doors for the conventional-opening doors was a very popular styling change — much like when Cadillac ditched the vent windows found on their ’68s for their 1969 model-year offerings.
I hope the owner is able to keep the ’70 Conti running as long as possible. I haven’t seen a 1970-73 Continental on the road in forever.
I had the four door, and, yes, fast.
It outdragged a new 78 Electra and some specs show it close to a vette 0-60.
No chrome,full guages, it was no Caddy. It even handled well in a sloppy, Burt Reynolds in White Lightnin’ way, although it used all the road.
Alas, $1 gas and a $300 unrebuildable driveshaft, along with the usual Ford nickel and dime you to death syndrome spelled goodbye.
A Mark Rauder? Never seen that before…
Ack!! on an X-100 at that!! Well…the rest of it is dazzling anyway 🙂
I’ll never understand why the Marauder X100 was a flop. Such a cool car…
The market for “fullsize muscle” cars had mostly dried-up by 1970. Sales of the comparable Plymouth Sport Fury GT and Chrysler 300 Hurst were equally abysmal.
Doesn’t have the presence of the unibody suicides, not as distinguished, materials quality slipped a little, but dynamically a better car than it’s immediate ancestors.
The squared-off opera window roof didn’t appear until 1975. However, this has a purity of form that the gaudy later ones just didn’t have. And, as mentioned, that 460 in its high-comp, non-smog, non-retarded cam glory.
The narrow rear-passenger windows and the generally square haunches give this car a stately air. Or, they did when new. Whatever, it’s nice to see this one on the road, despite its condition, just because there probably are <= 10 of these left driveable anywhere.
Now that is rare,I’d never heard or seen this car til now.I learn something new every time on here.Great find and article,thanks Paul
Those beautiful days when a big block was considered standard equipment for Detroit’s top brands.
Yes, folks – here I am. Where to start. (Commence gushing) I just love these. I always felt that the unibody Continental started to lose the plot around 1968. This car took the baton and started the second leg of the race in which it would finally overtake arch-rival Cadillac in quality and prestige, if not in raw sales numbers.
I particularly love the 1970-74 coupes. How ridiculous is the, really – a two door car of this size. Still I simply can’t get enough of those lines. My father briefly considered one of these in 1974. At the time, I thought the sedan looked better (and I was thoroughly sick of climbing in and out of the back seat of 2 door cars) but today I would take this coupe in a heartbeat.
The 1970-74 Lincoln presents a terrible dilemma. The 70 is the hottest of the batch, and the 74 is (to me) the cleanest in detail and overall best looking, though the weakest performer. The sweet spot for a compromise (for me) is the 72. But good luck trying to be picky if you want one of these, as they are really hard to find.
I once drove one of these. My brother in law called me one day and said that he was coming into town because he bought a 70 Lincoln. All I could blurt out was “why?” At that time, he was into mud bogging and had a 78 F-250 4×4 pickup. The rules required “stock”. The 460 was optional in 78 F series trucks, so he was buying an engine and a car came with it. Of course, the premium-gas high-compression 460 was about as far from “stock” as you could get from a 1978 wheezer, but, well, let’s just move on. The car was a definite worn out POS that wallowed too much even for me. But I loved every second of that drive from the seller’s house to my house.
Finally, for what its worth, the execution on these was WAY better than on any LTD of that era. These were probably the least rust-prone vehicle that Ford built at the time, and were significantly tighter than the big Fords of 1971-78. The inside was extremely well done, and is the one area where these significantly outshone the Cadillacs of those years.
I agree…I would take this Lincoln over that year’s Coupe De Ville. That goes for any 1970s Lincoln compared to its Cadillac counterpart. Lincolns from the 1970s seem more luxurious and better built than Cadillacs, as cost-cutting appeared to be hitting the Standard of the World harder than it did Lincoln.
I’m sure that the Cadillacs handled better, but the difference is probably lost on someone used to a 21st century Accord or Fusion. The choice was between “pillow-like” and “more pillow-like.”
I disagree…(ducks)
There is just way way to much generic Ford hardware inside one of these to make it that nice, especially the ones with the generic EveryFord 2 spoke steering wheel that was in everything from a Pinto to a F400 dump truck.
The Cadillacs weren’t any nicer than an Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight or Buick Electra, or even a well-optioned Chevrolet Caprice.
In particular, the Cadillac plastic wood wasn’t very good, and would get worse in 1974-76, when the cars featured “wood” contact paper covering the upper portion of the interior door panels.
I remember sitting in new Cadillacs at the car shows and thinking, even as a teenager, that those door panels looked awfully cheap for a luxury car, particularly the portion that wrapped around the edges of the panel (which was often wrinkled at the edges).
Lincoln just did “faux luxury” better than Cadillac did at that time. For that matter, Ford interiors of the 1970s were better than comparable GM and Chrysler interiors when it came to “plushness” and the look and feel of the various cloths, plastics, etc.
Remember in those days Cadillac had a budget coupe and sedan called the Calais although I have only seen a couple 2-3 of them in all my years. They had most of the basic amenities of Cadillac but deleted some of the odd trim items here and there like pull strap on the door instead of swing pulls and no chrome trim around the pedals. That model persisted until the 1977 redesign although never sold in any big numbers. Lincoln really did not have a base model per se I think the Town Car did not come around until 1975?
The Marks were not small cars by any means, but small than the Continentals which made them easier to drive. 2 doors, especially the Marks, were often targeted to professional people or people without children (anymore) its always unusual to find a family of 4 or 5 that makes a go of it with a two door on a regular basis.
The biggest thing about 70s cars, aside from their overt baroqueness, as that, even though many of them were the biggest built, they really looked big even if the difference was only slight. The 70 Continental was only 5 inches longer than a 67 but look much more.
I hate the design on the armrests in the 1970-76s cadillacs …..so cheap looking,
however the base interior seats in 1970-1974 were very bland looking…you might as well get an LTD for the better seats
I agree with “Carmine”. These early-seventies Lincolns just had way too much “Ford LTD” in them.
The Calais was an old hold out that no one ever bought except for the odd old lady, it was replacement for what used to be the old series 61 in the line up, which was “the baser” Cadillac for many years until 1965, the problem with the Calais was that it only a couple of hundred bucks less than a deVille series car, which is why they would sell like 5000 Calais to 100,000 deVilles.
Yes the Calais never really had much justification in the market especially as the 70s rolled on and of course it was dropped. What is interesting though, is unlike a lot of other “base” car where they mostly just eliminated options, the Calais did have its own interiors in vinyl and brocade that was unavailable in any other car. The standard DeVilles I admit were rather cheap but the Fleetwoods were very very nice with their distinctive body design and interiors especially the Talisman. Ford never really had an equivalent model.
As close as Lincoln ever got to a Talisman like interior was the 1978 Diamond Jubilee Mark V, that had a full on velour orgy of an interior, I think even the pedals were upholstered.
Another reason to favor the 1972 cars was that the 460 ran on regular gas while still providing good (and quiet) acceleration.
The two- and four-door 1970-74 cars shared the marvelous high-backed rear seat, didn’t they? I fondly recall the one in our 1972 four-door with black leather (in the standard tuck-and-roll upholstery, which I preferred to the pillow-type Town Car option in comfort and appearance; a family friend was a L-M dealer at the time, and I was able to sample all the rotating showroom vehicles.)
Liked them myself. Thought the “Cord” grill was really great looking at the time though I missed the suicide doors from the pre 70 models, though at least through 71 you could still get them on the 4 door T-Bird. Remember a customer at the gas station I worked at had a 72 or 73 2 door back when these were new. They did seem huge compared even to the Mark 3 or 4 or even a 2 door Cadillac Deville. Seems like Ford also did a pretty decent job with big bumpers in 73 on these were every thing else from Ford was hideous.
For a glorious three months or so in ’75 (until it was totalled by a hit and run driver) I owned a pristine ’68 Continental sedan with the suicide doors, I still wake up late at night in tears, thinking about that car.
At the time, a friend had a Caddy of the same vintage, and I preferred my car in about every way, from build quality to driveability. And that 460 V8 was an awesome engine, at least for the short time I drove it.
The ’70? I’d still find it…acceptable, although my parents had a ’71 Monterey 2-door that was about 8/10s of the featured car at a fraction of the price. I too enjoy the sheer nerve of selling such behemoths as two-door coupes.
8/10s? Probably more like 96/100s, although I don’t have the actual numbers in front of me.
I believe that in person, these cars distinguished themselves more from a big Mercury than might be apparent from a walk around the outside. I was fortunate to spend some time in these, and there was a “feel” and a presence that was lacking in the Marquis or LTD. The doors always felt heavier and more substantial, the cars were quieter and tighter structurally (particularly than the 71-78 big Ford/Merc) and there was a big difference in things like the carpet and the seat upholstery. I can agree that a lot of the switches and knobs had a sort of generic “Ford” feel to them, but there was more than enough additional content to make a Lincoln a worthwhile splurge over a Marquis. Drivetrain isolation was as good as anything I have ever experienced – these things had a smooth surge of power unaccompanied by any sort of noise or vibration. By 1980, all this would no longer be true, and all the extra money would be for a slight wheelbase increase and a Lincoln hood ornament.
I was referring to their actual length. But I have no reason to disagree with you. FWIW, when these came out, it was all-to obvious how much the LTD, Marquis and Lincoln shared. Having lived through the suicide-door Lincoln era as a kid, when the difference between a Conti and a Galaxie was profoundly obvious, this was a change.
But it was almost everywhere; as I said in the post, the 1970s stylistically were about “affordable luxury”; from interior design to cars. And part of that was making Cadillacs and Lincolns more affordable, and of course incomes were peaking just then.
It all played into Mercedes’ hands perfectly….
…and Jaguar. Mercedes didn’t blow the chance though…..
seat upholstery? in the 1970-4 lincoln continentals?- I find the seat designs very bland unless you got the towncar package
Right again JP. Pre 1979 you could really tell the difference between a Lincoln and everything else in the Ford lineup. The upholstery, door panels, carpeting, trim, etc. was of a much higher quality. Unique dashes too with a ribbon speedometer, and even the steering wheel, which was a rim-blow affair – much nicer than the cheap 2 spoke deal in lesser Ford products. Add to this what must have been a hundred pounds of sound deadening, for an incredibly quiet, hushed ride. And, the 460 provided smooth, effortless performance. This really was a premium car and felt like it. My father had a 1989 Town Car and while nice, it was basically no different from a Crown Vic LX.
My brother’s friend has one of these. I think it’s a bit newer though, as I’m pretty sure it had opera windows. He supposedly just finished restoring it, though I haven’t seen it since he first bought it 5+ years ago.
I had to respect the car, since it is a large 2-door hardtop with some vestiges of Engel styling, which is not to say that I liked it.
Slight mistake, his is actually a Mercury.
While this car is beautiful as-is, I think it would look even cooler with a Marauder/Ford XL roofline.
I don’t know about anything prior to the mid-seventies, but I like the “bigness” of these.
My favorite thing about the seventies Lincolns and Cadillacs was the introduction of the “named” luxury packages: “Town Car”, “d’Elegance”, “Elegante”, etc. And of course, the creme de la creme, the Lincoln designer editions!!
The “Town Car” option was available for the sedan beginning in 1970.
The 1973 Lincoln Continental sedan with the “Town Car” option:
In the sedans, the restyled beltline on the rear doors for 1972 with the sharper kickup at the C pillar made all the difference. The 70-71’s more flowing beltline never looked quite as good to me. It seemed like the 72 was the first of this series to really start attracting the attention of Cadillac customers. The coupe, of course, kept the flowing beltline through the 74 model.
Yikes, Paul – I just looked it up. According to Automotive Mileposts, there were only 3,073 of these coupes made in 1970. 1972-73 is the high water mark for these, and they still only made between 10 and 12K per year those two years.
Whats interesting is that inspite of never selling many big Conti coupes, they ran all the way through 1979, and even continued into the early years of the Panther based ones too, even though they could have killed it at anytime and no one would have noticed.
Carmine, I think the Coupe deVille was such a good seller for GM that Lincoln hoped the same would happen someday with their coupes as well…..it just never happened!!
It could be interesting to check if the sale of the Continental coupes during the 1970-74 model year. menaged to outsell in some years, the sales of the Fuselage Imperial sedan and coupe combined?
Imperials sold between 12,000 to 22,000 during the fuselage years 69-73.The oil embargo killed big car sales especially Chrysler and after two slow years Imperial was dropped. Imperial never sold more than about 35,000 cars, but I would say that especIally the models before 1969, the Imperials were more distinctive than Lincolns and Cadillacs. As a matter of fact, Lincolns 61-69 and Imperials 64-75 were designed by the same man.
That’s interesting, in it’s initial year it didn’t make a dent into Mark III sales (or anybody’s!). But it became more popular during the Mark IV’s production. I’d say the Mark IIIs were more distinctive, and the Mark IV was too similar to the 2 door Continental. My 71 Mark III was 5003 lbs. of concentrated luxury! Not all that big, but she was still a big boned girl!
I’ve never driven a 70 Lincoln Coupe or 4 door, they seemed too much like a Marquis. I’d like to. After the wonderful suicide door models the “Big” Lincolns got lost. At least until the Town Cars! Then they reinvented the whole genre.
I think that the other factor in play was that Cadillac started to compare less favorably after 1970. By 1972, Lincoln’s looks improved a lot over the plain-looking 70-71, and the Cadillac was starting to look a bit cheap by comparison. I will echo Canucklehead that the Lincolns looked and felt a lot more substantial, particularly inside. The Mark III and IV was giving Lincoln some luxury cred, which did not hurt. By the 70s, Cadillac seemed like what you bought to impress others, and Lincoln was what you bought to impress yourself. As Paul said, neither was the car it had been 10 years earlier, but Lincoln came through the transition better in the 70s.
My only ride in a post 1970 Lincoln was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, while on holiday.
It was probably only the third or fourth time I had ever ridden in a “full size” American car.
When the driver got us to our destination, I requested of the good ‘Captain’ would he be kind enough to please lower the gangplank.
1986 Mark VII LSC. First year with multi-port EFI 302 (200hp), followed the 1988 version (225hp)
Like Paul, I prefer the 1967 and earlier Contis, as well as the shameless barges that came after this one. (Those are my nominee for Ultimate Brougham!)
But I kind of like this generation in triple-black… they have sleek evilness that I appreciate. They may the driver look like a grown-up hooligan.
The Continental coupes were always overshadowed by the Mark coupes even though Ford made them on the full size platform for twenty years. It was always an interesting phenomenon that Cadillac sold more Coupe DeVilles until 1981 than Sedans yet still sold respectable numbers of Eldorados while Lincoln could never sell any coupe in volume until the Marks.
I personally have always found the Lincoln Continental coupes to be ill proportioned especially this subject model with its tiny quarter window that makes the middle section look too small. The 60s Continental coupes were far more elegant.
As far as performance, in that year, I think the Mark III coupe with the 460 and a slightly smaller and more agile body would have been faster. Heck, they raced one in the French Connection…
I think that the success of the Marks had something to do with Lincoln’s low coupe sales. My father got his first Lincoln in 1970 – a Mark III. He later told me that he would have bought a sedan with suicide doors, but the 70 big Conti had conventional rear doors. In the 60s everyone wanted the suicide doors, and in the 70s, everyone wanted Marks. Dad thought about a 74 Continental coupe, but it was a recession year and he hung onto his 72 Mark IV for another 2 years.
Well they never raced a MkIII in the French Connection, the drove it fast in a couple of scenes at the end, and they took it apart to find the smack that was hidden inside. The car used in the chase was a 71 LeMans sedan.
Wow, did this get my attention this morning. My dad got the inevitable 4-year itch in 1971 to replace my mother’s ’65 Continental, which had grown somewhat tired and long in the tooth (he actually bought that one used in 1967). We were regulars at Lynch Lincoln-Mercury in Santa Monica, and dad somehow preferred the new Mercury Marquis coupe design. He had actually inked a deal for a two-door model, then came to find out that my brother and I (both of us at 6-foot plus, could not fit into the back seat without scraping our heads on the rear headliner. For whatever the reason, even though the LIncoln and Mercury were obviously the same body, the rear seat in the Lincoln sat lower (or the roof was a tad higher), so we avoided the head tangling issue in that car. So dad reluctantly switched gears, the dealer being only too happy to upgrade him to the Lincoln, and we became the proud owners of a brand new ’71 LIncoln coupe, white with a black vinyl top and black leather interior. They drove that car for six years until dad traded it in on his long-dreamed of Cadillac in 1977.
It was a leviathan of a car, barely fit into our garage. “Bigness” wasn’t the half of it, but it was surprisingly nimble to pilot around, and easily handled even in city driving. Parking was a bit of an issue, though, as the high rear window edge effectively cut off your view of the tail end of the car. I drove it often, and remember it as being solidly built, reliable, with a quietness and tightness that seemed much better than our family’s ’65. The 460 engine fairly surged with power, and on long trips would deliver pretty good gas mileage, seems I remember around 17-18 mpg. I did miss those signature Lincoln styling cues, though, most of all the center-opening doors, the stainless strip running the length of the beltline, and the ubiquitous Lincoln star hood ornament. Those were rectified in ’72, though, had we only waited one more year. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these Lincolns, the ’71’s were nearly identical to the featured ’70, although the front grille was made more prominent by removing the matching grille pattern from the headlight door covers, and the taillight design switched from the tri-grouping of two horizontal lights to a similar tri-grouping of three vertical lights. The flow-through ventilation screen below the rear window was eliminated, being incorporated elsewhere in the body where it wasn’t visible. Incidentally, the wheel covers on the featured car were the standard ones, which I personally liked much more than the upgrade versions shown on the ad picture. That Lincoln star applique in the center just seemed so much more elegant. The coupe doors were heavy and enormous, and had a bad habit of swinging closed on you just as you would get your legs out of the front seat, the detent on the hinges being weak or non-existent at best. And you would regularly pinch your fingers between the interior door handle and its recessed space in the arm rest. Otherwise, the interior, even in black leather, was sumptuous and spacious, like sitting on your den sofa. The sweep of the instrument panel was impressive, and I loved that horizontal rotating speedometer indicator, a really cool touch. Even though there were some generic Ford touches, knobs and switches, fake wood paneling, the rim-blow horn on the steering wheel, it all still said “this is a LIncoln,” Needless to say, I was ecstatic that dad dumped the Marquis and splurged on the Lincoln, and I thoroughly enjoyed driving it whenever I got the chance.
“Blaze Starr?” When I clicked, I though you meant Brenda Starr, the red haired reporter of the comic strips. Boy, I got that wrong. In the 7th grade, I didn’t know ladies like that existed.
The ’70 Coupe was overshadowed by the Mark III. The Mark is by far, a better design. The Coupe was probably a couple thousand less than the Mark, big money in 1970.
In 1970, I wasn’t in the position to buy any vehicle. In 1979, I test drove the Town Coupe and the Mark. The Mark was huge, but the Town Coupe was even bigger. Both were too big for the rapidly changing times.
Thats a bold way of saying luxury barge Ive seen one and couldnt identify it, cool now I know what that was. Im not a fan of the Canon coupes but this is cool, paint it all one colour that would be a good cruiser
===It’s beautiful. That’s all I can say.
I love those true American classics of the 70s!!!!!!!!!
Easy to their own I guess. It does have a certain period charm, but I find it very fussy and rather lacking in taste. So much visual clutter, new really does not know where to look – perhaps that was the intention?
“Very fussy and rather lacking in taste.” Look at most new cars and you’ll see just that. Take the Hyundai Sonata for instance, way too busy, no flow or grace.
Big surprise I love it and would love to add one to my fleet. I just wish Ford had kept making the 2dr version into the Aero years.
It could be interesting to wish then someone photoshop some of these Town Cars of the aero years in 2-door coupe to imagine a nice “what if?”.;-)
I love old Lincolns because they are in fact easy to own. The 1970’s Lincolns actually had quite good quality, especially the interior. My business partner has a 1979 MK V and a 1979 Sedan de Ville. The Caddy is parts bin GM, cheap plastics and mouse fur included. Things fall off, fade and unstick. Not on the Lincoln. Both are cool cars but up to 1979, I’d take a Lincoln over a Caddy any day.
I couldn’t find any road tests, either, but Lincoln-Mercury claimed mid-8s for the 0-60 time (depending on axle ratio). Since the 300-pound-heavier ’69 could do it in the low 9s, that seems entirely realistic to me for an engine in good tune.
I will agree that Lincoln interiors of this vintage were all very high quality. The same dash was used through ’77 and it beats Caddy cold, if only because it has some real gauges.
All that being said, I never have been able to generate any enthusiasm for the 1970-74 Lincolns and still can’t. Not only does it look more like a Mercury than any Lincoln siince 1955, but to make it worse it appeared in model year 1970 looking like a bulked-up version of LAST YEAR’S Mercury. The common design theme in lower and higher end brands works better if the higher end brand leads than if it follows (as is being noted right now in some of the commentary on the relationship between the Chrysler TC by Maserati and the LeBaron).
As to this particular example, I’m thinking its highest and best use might be in the 24 Hours of LeMons. After all, the interior is half prepped already.
I would imagine a Nixon themed LeMons car, call it the Tricky Dick?
Stéphane Dumas wrote:
“It could be interesting to wish then someone photoshop some of these Town Cars of the aero years in 2-door coupe to imagine a nice “what if?”.;-)”
=====Here we go;-))))
::::P.S. P.S. P.S. —-Maybe she ain’t pretty but that’s MY vision, the way I see the Aero Coupe;-)))
=two tone paint
=vinyl top
=fender skirts
=cornering lamps
=column shift
=Lincoln Dig Dash
=bench seat
If only this could be true! Maybe someone could come up with a full-size model like this!
In terms of style, I have to lean towards the Cadillacs of 1970. I think that the post 60s lincoln’s style didn’t come into itself until the big ’75-79 ones. Now those were goorgeous! This one for me just doesn’t do it (and this is coming from a lover of big old luxury cars).
It’s sad that this car really represents the tipping point for US luxury cars. It seems from 1970 on, both cadillac and lincoln started traded their exclusiveness for profits and sales. It worked in the short term, but by the late 80s, not even 20 years later, lincoln and cadillac were completely bypassed by the young, new generation of buyers for Mercedes and BMW.
Ask the man who owned one!!!
In high school in ’80 to ’82 I owned a ’71 Town Coupe.
Just as Cunucklehead, these were “easy to own’ for sure.
A good amount more sevicable than the ’61-’69s. The benefit of sharing the inner stucture with Fords and Mercurys.
I’ve owned a great many of pre-’73 land barges. My current float being a ’71 Imperial LeBaron Coupe, a very good car itself.
The Lincoln was one of the best cars I’ve owned. Build quality was fine, handled fine, and the 365 horse 460 was bitchen!
Wasn’t a huge fan of the looks of the brown vinyl top with white body and brown brochade interior though, and I actually found the 4dr. model slightly better looking. Haven’t seen any more than one or two since, but I’d buy another one in a second.
The ’70 through ’72s were easily the best looking and better over-all of the whole ’70 – ’74 lot. Not that I have any use for any U.S. car built past ’72 anyway.
And unlike someone said above, I find very little difference between the 1970 through 1972 Continentals.
Thanks for the great topic and memorys!!!
My father owned a black on black 1970 Lincoln Continental 2 door Coupe with the 460 V8. It was big, shiny and beautiful. It was 1977 and I was in the 8th grade. The car was wonderful – smooth, comfortable, powerful and fast for its massive size. I remember the speedo had a green colored tube that moved from left to right under the mph numbers to indicate your speed-the color of the tube changed to red after reaching 70mph and beyond. I remember seeing the red tube color a lot from the back seat on road trips! My father is 100% Italian and I will never forget seeing him getting out of that “Made for the Mafia”, low, black cruiser wearing one of his business suits after getting home from work! “Fuggetta bout it!” It was an awesome car and I wish I could find a nice one that I could give him to drive around before he gets too old to be behind the wheel! Ahh, the memories……
Black…just perfect. Gimmee gimmee!
really nice car, I actually prefer the early 1970’s non Mark Lincoln Continental’s over the suicide doors although these didn’t seem to get the recognition of the 60’s suicide door Lincoln’s, I can see the Mercury Marquis resemblance which I take as a good thing because I have a soft spot for the 1969-70 Mercury Marquis’s.
A couple years ago a ’70 Continental coupe appeared for sale in the next neighborhood over from where I live right along the route I used to bike to work. It was white with a cream landau top and cream leather interior, and it looked like it’d rolled out of the showroom. Of course, I had somewhere to be that night, so I figured I’d call the next day and do a test drive.
It was still there in the morning, but by the time I was on my way home it was gone.
I loved the look of the ’70, as well. It was big, but it didn’t look like a fatty trying to squeeze into an off-the-rack suit-more like the big guy that had a good tailor and looked great for it.
I’d still love to drive a ’70, if for no other reason than to feel how much they really lost from ’70 to ’78. At least by ’78 they’d done some weight reduction and found some of the lost horsepower (IIRC ’75 was the low point).
I so love that body style, they just look so… serious. Like a mobster should be driving it 😀 .
These cars were rolling proof that a coupe could simply never be larger.
That is until today’s trucks came along. They fulfill exactly the same role.
I think a 1976 Buick Electra 225 coupe could give this ’70 Lincoln coupe a run for its money in the Land Yacht department. 😀 Having seen pictures of one of those on here those were monstrous. Bigger by an inch or two than Caddy’s Coupe de Ville, I do believe.
I really liked owning my ’67 Continental (it had suicide doors, tho). If only I could’ve driven it more I’d have kept it. I hope its new owner is driving it. It needed to be driven. It was 48 years old when I sold it and only had 45,000 miles on its odometer. Barely broken in . . .
Nice car, but Lincoln had a severe sub-naming crisis with this car, since Mark III’s were also called Lincoln Continentals. Too confusing!
Maybe the Subtitle “Town Car” should have been required as a definite sub model name (L-C-TC) for the large car; while the Mark III was simply called a Lincoln Mk3 (L-Mk3)— (with Mk3 the model name, instead of the sub-model name); with no reference to the word “Continental” whatsoever.
Then the distinction between the papa Conti & the baby Conti wouldn’t have been so blurred in my head.
I’ve always liked the ’70-’72 Lincolns. They have simple, elegant lines, and seem to me like worthy successors to the ’61-’69 predecessors. I don’t understand the hate everyone has for them. Suicide doors would have made them nicer, but they are still nice cars.
What a monster, I love it! Looks a lot like a Marquis but more mean looking, i love closing headlights especially when they are just for looks rather than any kind of aerodynamic reason.
As a very young child, I started intense car spotting around 1974. No question, from a distance, I would have IDed this as a Mercury Marquis. Largely because of the anonymous grille, and not having the advantage of seeing the Lincoln branding up close.
“Marquis” were not so squared off.
Ford gave Brezhnev a similar car at Camp David and he gave Tricky Dick a hella ride.
Great story.
What can I say about this car that hasn’t already been said?
Wait.
Wasn’t this generation of Lincoln the last American car with a ribbon speedometer that changed color (white>red) above a certain speed?
Now there’s a claim to fame.
For those who have a love jones for the 1970 Lincoln Continental Coupe, here is your dream come true.
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1970-lincoln-continental-lakeland-fl-2797508
I too like this (BTW : at that age I was a huge Mae West fan for the same reasons) , and am well pleased to see it still road going .
As far as “Hot Rod Lincoln” that’s not really too hard to make this behemoth into using the standard tried & true recipe :
Take the dead simple suspension apart and replace every rubber bushing in it with red Polyurethane ones, up grade the sway bar, add four good quality gas shocks (I’m still using Bilstein HD’s to very good effect) and slap on a set of top quality light truck radials so it :
A. handles the weight
B. sticks to the road as best it can .
Redo the entire exhaust getting rid of al the sharp bends Ford likes to use to quiet them down a crossover pipe of course and some sort of longer truck muffler that will breathe easily yet not cork it up .
Then power tune it and tweak the slushbox until it shifts smartly and firmly then drive the hell out if it ~ I learned what I know from the older guys who bought these types of cars new and did just this and then drove them *much* faster than I ever guessed they could go .
-Nate
One of my roommates bought a brand new 1970 LTD and it was a good-looking auto and a great ride. It said, “next step is a Lincoln”. So, making a Lincoln aspire to be an LTD is a head-scratcher
So many “70-71” Lincolns were this color blue. Generally with the “black top”.