Text by Patrick Bell.
Today we are going to look at some of the Ford Motor Company’s finest, the Lincoln. During this decade it always ran a distant second in sales in the luxury car market. The leader was of course Cadillac, which reflected GM’s dominance at that time. Cadillac had more models to choose from, which is an advantage you can manipulate when you have such dominance. As for Imperial, it generally ran a distant third, except for ’57 and ’58 where its numbers were close to Lincoln’s.
In our first photo we have a gentleman posing with a new looking ’56 Premier 4 door sedan, the top of the line offering that year. That may be a buyer’s tag on the windshield, so perhaps this is his new car. The sedan was the second most popular with the coupe barely edging above it. Cadillac won the sales race in this model year by nearly a three to one ratio. It looks like a winter day in perhaps a newish housing addition in a semi-rural area.
This gentleman is posing by a ’51 Cosmopolitan with a spotlight. It is hard to tell whether it is a coupe or sedan. And I can’t read the state on the license plate but it looks like Texas from either ’52 or ’54, plus I see a decal in the windshield the shape of the state, perhaps a state inspection? In the background is a ’51 Ford. Cadillac sold over three times as many units in this year.
Here we have what appears to be a young family out for a ride in a ’50 Cosmopolitan convertible. This was the highest priced at $3950, and the lowest number produced at 536 for the year. Overall for this year Cadillac sold over 3.5 times as many.
Now we are off to see a ’55 Capri Special Custom 4 door sedan from New Jersey and sporting a AAA decal. The Capri was the top trim level, and the sedan sales were second to the coupe. Auto sales in ’55 were record-setting industry-wide, but for Lincoln, it was not a great year. Sales were down from the previous year, and Cadillac outsold them by a five-to-one margin. Across the street may be a ’49 Plymouth.
A sharp dresser is standing with a new-looking ’57 Premiere Coupe 2 Door Hardtop in a tidy neighborhood perhaps in the spring with the flowers blooming. This was the top seller of the top trim line with a base price of $5149. Sales nearly doubled from ’55 to ’56 but fell back down some in ’57. Cadillac outdid them by well over three to one in this year.
Another ’57 model in this shot, a Capri Landau 4 Door Hardtop with what appears to be a Minnesota license plate. GM introduced four door hardtops in their senior series in ’55, and everyone else followed in ’56. Except Lincoln, who brought theirs out in ’57. This Capri was the lowest-produced model for the year. But it made a good camping vehicle as shown in the photo, with the tent pitched behind the car and some of their gear on the table.
In this shot we have a lady and her dog enjoying a warm day sitting on the ground behind an eye catching white over pink ’56 Premiere Coupe. Parked next to it is the opposite on the pretentiousness scale, a ’62 Rambler Classic Custom 4 door sedan with at least three senior citizen ladies on board. On the other side of it is a ’61 or ’62 Buick Special 4 door sedan. In the next row back the only one I can ID is a white over blue ’60 Ford Galaxie Starliner.
Let’s head to Canada and check out the Refectory in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where we have another ’56 coupe, this one a dirty white Capri model. This was the least expensive at $4119 and the second least produced for the year. In the foreground is a gold ’57 or ’58 DeSoto. Behind the Lincoln is a ’56 Buick 4 door Riviera, and above the Lincoln is a white over light blue ’55 Oldsmobile 88 Holiday Coupe.
Coming down the drive is a black over white ’56 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan, and parked to the right is a black ’57 or ’58 Mercury or Monarch. In the background from the left perhaps a white over black ’54 Ford or Meteor, gray ’50-’52 Plymouth 4 door sedan, and a green over tan ’53 or ’54 Chevrolet 4 door sedan.
Taking a roadside break in a dirty ’56 Premiere 4 door sedan from New Jersey. The car looks like it has been on the road a while. I am unsure of the location but it does not look like New Jersey.
A man enjoying a new looking ’58 Continental Mark III convertible. It was the highest priced unit of the year at $6283 and 3048 of them were produced. Sales were down across the board in this recession year but more so for Lincoln as Cadillac moved nearly four times more cars. I can’t read the license location, but it does look like a warm day on a country road.
Here is an interesting one, a ’58 Continental Mark III 4 door with a custom cabover camper and an Arizona plate. And the youngsters don’t seem to be a bit embarrassed to be photographed next to it.
Thanks for riding along and to all have a great day!
I am amazed that cars of this size sold more coupes than 4 door sedans.
Maybe a precursor of the “personal luxury “market to come?
Youtube channel “Restored” found one of the Lincolns with the camper on it. Turns out the engine was locked up. There was a company converting the sedans to campers. This was not a backyard job.
It does look like it was likely not a backyard job. The Lincoln was of course the ideal candidate for this conversion because of its near-vertical rear window that also opened, to allow access between the car and camper.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this camper was removable, and that it just took removing the trunk lid to mount.
Still thinking, “looks ok parked”. Too much could go wrong “moving”. Amazing image though.
The camper ! who knew ? .
Thanx for explaining .
-Nate
I think I read somewhere that Packard execs approached the L-M division to somehow try to use the `56 Lincoln bodies for new `57 Packards when they knew the ‘Packardbakers’ were on their way for `57. It would have been a stopgap measure at best until a new ‘real’ Packard could be introduced. An interesting concept that just might have worked.
“Does not look like New Jersey”. Fine deadpan humor!