Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Any Lincoln fact related question can be posted here. Questions such as how many Contintenal convertibles were produced in MY1965? How much was the Town Car option in 1969? What size of tire was standard on a 1953 Premiere? or Does the Mark II retractible prototype still exist?

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badwf
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Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by badwf »

When Ford Motor Company come close to bankruptcy in early 1963, the company made some significant changes to reinvigorate sales. One thing they did was to refresh their product line and introduced the '63 1/2 Fords and Mercurys to compete better in the marketplace. They accelerated their product introductions in that the 1963 1/2 were initially the 1964 product lineup.

Did Ford do the same with Lincoln? If so, what were the modification to the existing 1963 Lincoln Continental model?
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by briven95 »

There weren't any changes to the 63 Lincoln, in 64 there were some major changes: flat side glass, different dash and rear trim, relocated gas tank and filler, among others.
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by KULTULZ »

badwf wrote:
One thing they did was to refresh their product line and introduced the '63 1/2 Fords and Mercurys to compete better in the marketplace. They accelerated their product introductions in that the 1963 1/2 were initially the 1964 product lineup.
I think you will find the 63 1/2 model year change(s) were mostly a major body redesign on the FORD and MERC (adding fastback) to make them more competitive on NASCAR tracks. The box top design was used in 1962 and early 1963 (after dropping the STARLINER roof line of 60/61) and they got kicked in the butt on the tracks.

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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by AlT63bird »

Close to bankruptcy in '63?
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by TonyC »

Yeah, I didn't know that. I had read that Ford made record profits just a couple of years after Edsel Division went extinct.

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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by Dan Szwarc »

Mid-Model year running changes do not mean that it is or could be a 63-1/2 model. Technically, there is no such thing as a 1/2 model year since it's all determined by the VIN and the VIN is always a single digit.
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by Gerald F. Chase »

Does this mean, Dan, that ALL early Mark III coupes were '69s . . . and there were no 68 1/2 s ???
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by 66Lincoupe »

Gerald F. Chase wrote:Does this mean, Dan, that ALL early Mark III coupes were '69s . . . and there were no 68 1/2 s ???
I'm not Dan but from the company perspective there are no "official" 1/2 year models. So there is no such thing as a 1964 1/2 Mustang or a 19681/2 Mark. The public, however, uses mid years changes to define their car. Not us though...
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by Dan Szwarc »

Gerald F. Chase wrote:Does this mean, Dan, that ALL early Mark III coupes were '69s . . . and there were no 68 1/2 s ???
That's exactly what it means. It's used by marketing and the public, but officially, no.
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Re: Was there a '63 1/2 Lincoln?

Post by Billblassed »

The 1/2 Year trick was a Sales Booster at FoMoCo . Instead of "Spring Editions" 1/2 Model nomenclature seemed more "Catchy" . Most States went along with this program Titling 1/2 MY's in '62 - '63 - '64 . This ceased as GM complained this practice was unfair Competition . The Kelly Blue Book Posted two different values for the regular and the 1/2 MY . The practice ceased for the '65 MY . Thanx ..
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