Continental Mark II - Convertible Prototype - 1956
In the 1950s, as a method of competing head on with General Motors, the Ford Motor Company sought to organise itself into a broader range of auto divisions.
Ford vs Chevrolet, the new Edsel Division vs Pontiac, Mercury vs Oldsmobile, Lincoln vs Buick. Atop this series, Continental would be broken out as a marque in its own right.
Continental would compete directly with Cadillac - then undisputed leader in the upper luxury division.
The 'Continental' had previously been a specialist model within the Lincoln hierarchy. It would now have its own staff, its factory and its own, unique vehicle.
Cadillac had made a great number of customers through delivering a vehicle for a new, glorious age. Continental, on the other hand, was intended to create a vehicle in the spirit of the 'Classic Era' - the 1930's. Coachbuilt vehicles of the highest quality. With this in mind numerous layers of quality control and quality design was embedded into every process involved in the creation and manufacture of each car.
This quality came at a cost. Each Continental Mark II was a very expensive machine to purchase - but the process in creating the car was also costly, and time consuming. For this reason, though the car can rightly be called a 20th Century landmark classic, only 1,231 cars found homes in 1955, a further 1,325 in 1956, (and 444 in the 1957 calendar year), It is estimated that Ford lost $1,000 per car (in 1957 money).
Perhaps one part of the problem was that the car was only available as a Hardtop Coupe. Internet research yielded at least one running convertible prototype (now restored - and gorgeous), along with images of a 4-door saloon clay - also a very attractive car.
The restored Continental MkII Convertible is shown here. There is a story from Supercars. net at the end of this text with further history about this model.
The postscript to the story is that the Continental Division was once again merged with Lincoln - the new 1958 Continental Mk III was substantially a modified Lincoln. This may not have been such a problem, but for the fact that the 1958-1960 Lincoln and Continentals are some of the most unattractive cars from the period.
When Lincoln launched their own 'Personal Coupe' for 1969, they named in the Mk III - conveniently ignoring the Mk III, IV and V marketed under the Continental Division a decade earlier. It has been said that the Ford Motor Company has gone to great pains to erase the memory of these car from history, Instead, preferring the 1961 Lincoln Continental - again one of the most attractive cars ever designed, to be the logical descendant of the beautiful Mk II.
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n 1956, two pre-production Mark II convertibles were created to expand the Continental Division range within Ford. These were finished before the merger with Lincoln which would eventually swallow the name. At the time, a Continental cost $2000 more than a Cadillac, becoming the the ride of choice for many of America’s wealthy including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Howard Johnson.
What most people don’t know is that the Mark II was originally conceived as a convertible in 1953 from drawnings by Charley Phaneuf. These would later inspire the modifications to the Mark II Convertibles.
Hess & Eisenhardt, of Kennedy limousine fame, had a long history with Ford Motor Company. The Chicago district of Ford marketing ordered two prototype convertibles from them in September of 1955. Hess & Eisenhardt took a stock black 1956 Continental Mark II began the long process.
The stock Continental cowbelly frame was designed with a convertible body in mind. In fact, a third cross-member was removed for the 1957 frame when plans for a production convertible were scrapped. To further enhance the chassis, Hess & Eisenhardt used 1/4 inch plate steel, artfully cutting and stitch-welding it to the existing frame. There are tubular cross-braces welded in an X to further support the A and B pillars. A substantial sub-structure was fabricated to support the convertible top. Hess & Eisenhardt fitted a power top mechanism that was driven by a power pack in the trunk.
The first black car was C5681126 and it was shipped to a distributor in Chicago. It resided in a dealership showroom as a demonstrator to show wealthy clients in the Chicago area what a convertible would look and drive like.
A second convertible was finished by Derham almost a year later for the Texas State Fair in October of 1956. That car was originally white at Ford but was eventually painted Honolulu Blue, a favorite color of William Clay Ford and was driven by his wife as a daily driver. Paul Wagner, whose job it became to dispose of cars like this, fought for the car with other Ford executives. He kept the car for a few years before it was sold.
Eventually an owner in Georgia fitted an original H & E top and envisioned a sleeker design to the fabric boot that covered the convertible top when stowed. Possibly he was inspired by the Charley Phaneuf drawings and fashioned a crude mechanism that flipped the new metal boot backward, just like the Mercedes SL. The top was extended rearward and a fastening system identical to the period SL was installed. This changed the roofline to closely match that of the original Continental convertible. The finishing touch was added in the restoration that took place in �93. The beautiful fiberglass bow covers replaced the fabric snap on covers installed in ?69. This Mark II convertible most closely duplicates the original design penned in 1953.
Featured is the Derham Continental Convertible which has been kindly shown by it?s at all the prominent concours. We would like to thank him for allowing us to use his story and share his unique car.
Story By Barry W. & Supercars.Net
Continental Mark II - Convertible Prototype - 1956
In the 1950s, as a method of competing head on with General Motors, the Ford Motor Company sought to organise itself into a broader range of auto divisions.
Ford vs Chevrolet, the new Edsel Division vs Pontiac, Mercury vs Oldsmobile, Lincoln vs Buick. Atop this series, Continental would be broken out as a marque in its own right.
Continental would compete directly with Cadillac - then undisputed leader in the upper luxury division.
The 'Continental' had previously been a specialist model within the Lincoln hierarchy. It would now have its own staff, its factory and its own, unique vehicle.
Cadillac had made a great number of customers through delivering a vehicle for a new, glorious age. Continental, on the other hand, was intended to create a vehicle in the spirit of the 'Classic Era' - the 1930's. Coachbuilt vehicles of the highest quality. With this in mind numerous layers of quality control and quality design was embedded into every process involved in the creation and manufacture of each car.
This quality came at a cost. Each Continental Mark II was a very expensive machine to purchase - but the process in creating the car was also costly, and time consuming. For this reason, though the car can rightly be called a 20th Century landmark classic, only 1,231 cars found homes in 1955, a further 1,325 in 1956, (and 444 in the 1957 calendar year), It is estimated that Ford lost $1,000 per car (in 1957 money).
Perhaps one part of the problem was that the car was only available as a Hardtop Coupe. Internet research yielded at least one running convertible prototype (now restored - and gorgeous), along with images of a 4-door saloon clay - also a very attractive car.
The restored Continental MkII Convertible is shown here. There is a story from Supercars. net at the end of this text with further history about this model.
The postscript to the story is that the Continental Division was once again merged with Lincoln - the new 1958 Continental Mk III was substantially a modified Lincoln. This may not have been such a problem, but for the fact that the 1958-1960 Lincoln and Continentals are some of the most unattractive cars from the period.
When Lincoln launched their own 'Personal Coupe' for 1969, they named in the Mk III - conveniently ignoring the Mk III, IV and V marketed under the Continental Division a decade earlier. It has been said that the Ford Motor Company has gone to great pains to erase the memory of these car from history, Instead, preferring the 1961 Lincoln Continental - again one of the most attractive cars ever designed, to be the logical descendant of the beautiful Mk II.
-
n 1956, two pre-production Mark II convertibles were created to expand the Continental Division range within Ford. These were finished before the merger with Lincoln which would eventually swallow the name. At the time, a Continental cost $2000 more than a Cadillac, becoming the the ride of choice for many of America’s wealthy including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Howard Johnson.
What most people don’t know is that the Mark II was originally conceived as a convertible in 1953 from drawnings by Charley Phaneuf. These would later inspire the modifications to the Mark II Convertibles.
Hess & Eisenhardt, of Kennedy limousine fame, had a long history with Ford Motor Company. The Chicago district of Ford marketing ordered two prototype convertibles from them in September of 1955. Hess & Eisenhardt took a stock black 1956 Continental Mark II began the long process.
The stock Continental cowbelly frame was designed with a convertible body in mind. In fact, a third cross-member was removed for the 1957 frame when plans for a production convertible were scrapped. To further enhance the chassis, Hess & Eisenhardt used 1/4 inch plate steel, artfully cutting and stitch-welding it to the existing frame. There are tubular cross-braces welded in an X to further support the A and B pillars. A substantial sub-structure was fabricated to support the convertible top. Hess & Eisenhardt fitted a power top mechanism that was driven by a power pack in the trunk.
The first black car was C5681126 and it was shipped to a distributor in Chicago. It resided in a dealership showroom as a demonstrator to show wealthy clients in the Chicago area what a convertible would look and drive like.
A second convertible was finished by Derham almost a year later for the Texas State Fair in October of 1956. That car was originally white at Ford but was eventually painted Honolulu Blue, a favorite color of William Clay Ford and was driven by his wife as a daily driver. Paul Wagner, whose job it became to dispose of cars like this, fought for the car with other Ford executives. He kept the car for a few years before it was sold.
Eventually an owner in Georgia fitted an original H & E top and envisioned a sleeker design to the fabric boot that covered the convertible top when stowed. Possibly he was inspired by the Charley Phaneuf drawings and fashioned a crude mechanism that flipped the new metal boot backward, just like the Mercedes SL. The top was extended rearward and a fastening system identical to the period SL was installed. This changed the roofline to closely match that of the original Continental convertible. The finishing touch was added in the restoration that took place in �93. The beautiful fiberglass bow covers replaced the fabric snap on covers installed in ?69. This Mark II convertible most closely duplicates the original design penned in 1953.
Featured is the Derham Continental Convertible which has been kindly shown by it?s at all the prominent concours. We would like to thank him for allowing us to use his story and share his unique car.
Story By Barry W. & Supercars.Net