Vintage Review: 1964 Lincoln Continental 4-Door Convertible – “Quiet, Tasteful Luxury”

(color photos from the web)

The 1961 Lincoln Continental rewrote the book on American luxury cars. It was smaller and of course vastly more restrained and understated in its styling than the flamboyant Cadillac and Exneruberant Imperial. It was something of a Hail Mary pass to save the brand after the excesses of the failed 1958-1960 models. Its positioning was clearly not so much directly at the dominant Cadillac, but more of a quarter or half step above it, in both price, features and exclusivity. And it worked; not so much as a huge commercial success, but in successfully establishing the a new image.

Motor Trend tested the 1964 version, which marked the first semi-significant changes to the original formula.

M/T starts with the observation that I’ve repeated in the headline, that the Continental offers “not flashy, startling luxury but quiet, tasteful luxury that the driver and passenger notice the first time they ride in the car“.  And of course, it was distinctive, especially so the convertible, the only four-door of its kind in the US.

The ’64’s change was hardly startling, but not insignificant. It had a 3” longer wheelbase, all of which went into the rear door and rear seat legroom. And the roof was widened, along with more vertical straight window glass, increasing the sense of space inside. No longer was it essentially a four-door coupe, but a legitimate four door sedan (and convertible). It gave a Conti a more traditional, formal appearance.

Another major change was an all-new instrument panel, ditching the two divided pods for driver and passenger and replacing them with a very horizontally-oriented design. It too changed the feel from of a “personal car” to a more traditional luxury car. Undoubtedly Lincoln felt that the ’61’s personal car-four door coupe design was a bit too limiting, especially in terms of rear seat room. And they were right, even if it was a bit sad to see the brilliant original design and concept be changed this much.

The top-grain leather upholstery and all the interior trim were deemed to be of high quality, and the seats were comfortable. And not surprisingly, the Continental was a very comfortable car on the road. Yes, the top whistled a bit at high speed, but that was to be expected, and otherwise the car was extremely quiet.

Of course all that road-hugging weight (5700 lbs) wasn’t exactly going to make the Conti a canyon carver, yet its handling on winding mountain roads was quite good “handled very well on the twisty stuff“. And the brakes were up to its weight and speed too.

The Conti was motivated by a 430 cubic inch MEL V8, with a four barrel carb and rated at 320 hp.  That’s one cubic inch more than the ’64 Cadillac’s engine, but in terms of acceleration numbers, there was a rather large gap between them. The Conti took a rather leisurely 12.1 seconds for the 0-60 sprint; the ’64 Cadillac took a mere 8.5 seconds; a very credible time back then. What to account for the difference?

M/T lists the curb weight for their loaded (including a/c)  Conti as 5700 lbs;  The Sedan DeVille tested by M/T also had a/c and lots of options, and they listed it as 5050 lbs. Obviously almost 700lbs difference in weight was a factor, but the Cadillac’s 429 made more torque and horsepower, and its new THM-400 was almost certainly quicker-shifting and more efficient than Lincoln’s “Dual-Range Turbo-Drive” automatic (Model PCA-E, a unit used only in Lincolns).

So no, it wasn’t a hot rod Lincoln, but it got the job done in a quiet and understated way, just like the rest of the car. And it wasn’t economical either, with a best test mileage of 11.8 mpg; around town it was 8.7 to 9.5; premium grade, of course.

Along with the other changes, there were now 15″ wheels, mounted with big “low profile” 9.15 – 15 tires.

 

As equipped, this Conti convertible listed at $7,686, or $75k adjusted to 2022 dollars. That doesn’t sound so expensive from today’s vantage point, but it was pretty zippy for 1964, when the median family income was $6,600 and 7-year auto loans didn’t exist. M/T did point out that the standard equipment was significantly more than “on lesser cars”.

Any complaints? Very few: the trunk had almost no capacity when the top was down. And the heater/ac controls were a bit difficult to use. But other than that, it was smooth sailing.

 

Related CC reading:

Curbside Classic: 1965 Lincoln Continental – The Last Great American Luxury Car

Vintage C/D Review: Six Luxury Cars – 1965 Rolls-Royce, Mercedes 600, Cadillac, Lincoln, Jaguar and Imperial