good morning! If you’re a regular reader, you may remember that a few weeks ago we reviewed a decades-old Cadillac. Mainly because there was a really cool old Fleetwood for sale and I couldn’t find anything else worth it. Well, today I found an equally cool old Lincoln, so I’m going to give the luxury section of FoMoCo the same treatment.
But before we get into those, let’s take a look at yesterday’s Chicago-style beaters. (By the way, Chicago style is either the thick type with sauce on it or the very thin, crispy type cut into squares.) This is an example of visible damage and damage that may be hidden. And to be honest, I didn’t know which way to go. In the end, the victory went to the Prelude, but while the Prelude had some issues, it seemed more open and honest than the Lexus.
I have to agree. I’ve bought a lot of cheap old cars over the years, but I’ve had much better luck with privately sold cars or cars that look a little dirty than the over-polished filth you get at dealerships. I think Prelude will be a good beater for a while.
Lincoln, Ford’s luxury division, hasn’t been around as long as Cadillac. Lincoln opened in 1917 and was acquired by Ford in 1922. The division has produced many legendary machines, often with names like Continental and Zephyr, but it has also sold many badge-engineered Fords with names like Continental. . And Zephyr. Today we’ll take a look at one of Lincoln’s last great large luxury sedans, as well as a more modern example that offers comfort and features but may be a little lacking in prestige.
Engine/Drivetrain: 460 cubic inch overhead valve V8, 3-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Lakemoor, Illinois
Odometer reading: 68,000 miles
Operating status: Can be driven and driven, but there is a communication leak.
“Continental” has long been a near-mythical nameplate for Lincoln. The Lincoln Continental first appeared in 1939 as a hand-built car with a V12 engine, but for a time in the 1950s it became an entirely separate division, but it was something special. Although subsequent Continentals were mass-produced rather than hand-built, that didn’t mean the model wasn’t special, with its huge slab-sided styling and rear “suicide door.” But to be honest, I couldn’t begin to explain what a 1970 Continental was like until I found this car for sale. After Suicide Door left, the magic kind of disappeared. This car looks like a slightly overgrown Mercury.
However, it’s still special inside. In 1970, only the Lincoln was available with Ford’s massive 460 cubic inch V8. With 365 horsepower and enough torque to pull a freight train, this big V8 relentlessly pushes the big boxy Continental with the help of Ford’s simple and tough C6 automatic transmission. This car is in good shape and drivable, but the transmission has some serious noise leaks and needs attention. The C6 is prone to dirt, making it easy to repair or replace if necessary.
The interior is all leather, carpet and power accessories. I don’t think the woodgrain on the dashboard is real. It’s a ’70s American car, after all, but that’s part of the charm. It is in good condition, with some signs of use and cracks on the leather, but otherwise in good condition. And amazingly, the seller says it’s never been smoked, which, as anyone who owns a car of this vintage knows, is rare.
It doesn’t have the effortless cool of a suicide-door Continental or a modern-bodied Chrysler, but it’s still pretty impressive to look at. The paint is nice and shiny and the vinyl top is in good condition with no signs of rust. It has been kept in the same family for 20 years and seems to have been treated with great care. By the way, it comes with service records from the owner and a Haynes manual, always a welcome sign.
Engine/Drivetrain: 3.5 liter dual overhead cam V6, 6-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Rutherford, New Jersey
Odometer reading: 132,000 miles
Operating condition: Good operation, good running
From the 1970s onwards, Continentals became less and less special. Initially built on the Fox platform and then switching to front-wheel drive on the Taurus platform in 1988, the Continental became an entry-level Lincoln rather than a flagship in the 1980s, until 2006 when Lincoln decided to carry on with its former name. I did. And slam it into Ford, Zephyr. Of course, the Zephyr name had already been sullied by the Mercury version of the Ford Fairmont in the late ’70s, so there was precedent. And perhaps it was in memory of that Zephyr, rather than the original 1936 model, that Lincoln dropped the name and renamed it MKZ in 2007.
The MKZ is based on the same platform as the Ford Fusion and Mazda 6, with a transverse 3.5-liter Duratec V6 sending power to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic. According to the seller, the car runs very well, has a new battery, and has just had its brakes applied.
Lincoln did a great job of differentiating this car from the Fusion interior, with plenty of leather and wood (real wood this time) and a clean, classy exterior. The interior seems to be in good condition. I think everything would still work if it was well maintained as claimed by the seller. However, the passenger seat seems to need a little more cleaning. I think someone spilled something in there.
The outside is in decent condition, but does it look like a Fusion from this angle? The Lincoln-specific front and rear fascias are helpful, but they don’t look all that great from the side. There is a slight crease on the rocker panel just below the passenger door. I don’t know what happened there. And maybe it’s just a trick of the light, but the front bumper doesn’t seem to match very well.
It’s easy to look at these two cars side-by-side and say, “Look at how a mighty vehicle has fallen,” which is kind of a cheap shot, but it’s also easy to look at these two cars side-by-side and say, “Look at how a mighty vehicle has fallen.” It would be more accurate to say, “See how you survived.” ” The ’70 Continental is a very nice car, but it’s from a time when cars were more spacious than they needed to be, took up more space, and were more efficient on the highway. The MKZ is old now, but it dates back to the heyday of ICE-equipped cars. It’s powerful, reasonably efficient, and has all the niceties you could want without being loaded with technology for technology’s sake like today’s cars. So they’re both throwbacks – the question is, do you want something that’s 54 years old or 14 years old?
(Image credit: Seller)
