1961 Lincoln Continental 4 door hardtop (orig. photo)

[Bill Prince]

I found a new factory advertizing type of photo of a metallic blue 1961 Lincoln Continental 4 door hardtop that, I do not recall as having seen before.

The white wall's seem a little small, and the hubcaps seem to be non-1961 - maybe 1964? Because of that, I am not sure if the photo is vintage 1960 or even a real car vs a scale model, but it looks real.

[Steve K]

I don't think its an advertising piece. The B pillars are missing which they would not have done for advertising purposes even though they are pretty easy to remove on a sedan. I do think the hub caps are right for the year but its hard to see the detail on them in the pic. I don't see the dark paint between the ribs like a 64 has. That said, I do think its a real car staged for the photo. Either that or someone got hold of a real good model car kit and is an expert with an air brush to get a realistic looking shine like that going. I just think the detail is too good to be a plastic model. Interesting though because I haven't seen that pic before and I've got a ton of googled pictures.

[linc64]

Lincoln produced four of these without the B pillar.

[Ken Stevens]

Actually the Hollander Interchange Manual lists 61 as offering a 4-door hardtop as a body style.

[Bill Prince]

The photo might have been a very early attempt at an advertisement - but not used due to the deletion of the hardtop model.

[Suicide65]

Lincoln produced four of these without the B pillar.

Anyone know where these 4 cars are now??

[Dan Szwarc]

Lincoln produced four of these without the B pillar.

Built, but never sold. Not through dealers, anyway.

[Bill Prince]

I meant to say that while I have been aware for a long time that there were a few hardtops made (maybe considered prototypes) - I never saw this particular photo on one before.

I wonder what color each of the 4 (or about this amount) hardtop cars were? I guess maybe silver blue for one.

[Dan Szwarc]

Look and this article a Michigan Region Member sent to me:

What Happened to the 1961 57C Body Style? by Mark Sitko
Everyone knows that in 1961, Lincoln offered two models; a 4-door sedan and a convertible. But there was another model; a 4-door hardtop. It was designated model 57C. This model has the convertible rear doors, glass, wiring, and relays from the convertible. This car doesn't appear in sales literature, shop manuals, sales data books, or master parts books.

It shows up in the electrical equipment installation manual ES-10846-C1VB-A (an internal Ford document) on pages dated from September 1960 thru May 1961. The car can be seen in the book, "The Ford Century" by Russ Banham. It's executive grey with a black leather interior. Also pictured is a black car with a medium colored interior. In December 1960 Ford's own production records show that nine 57Cs were produced. In January, one additional car was built.

In March, the production records say the following, “March 6 units model 57C converted to 53A in accordance with L-M program timing. From this point 4 units will be carried on the production records until change-over”. The question is why change them into sedans? Why did they keep just 4? What happened to the other 6? Did they sell them?

One place this car did appear is in product literature: the 1962 deluxe brochure. Check out the page with a model sitting on beige empire cloth seats. You will notice there is no pillar. Also the door handles have no screws holding them on, a 1961 feature. One thing is certain, there was serious consideration to expand the Lincoln car line. Otherwise why would the electrical manual have this entry until May 1961?

Why, indeed, Mark? Why, indeed?

[Bill Prince]

Of the 10 cars, so produced, that were most likely all converted to the standard 4 door sedan - it is likely that the cars do not exist anymore in any form. However if they do, it could be possible to ascertain it they were originally 4 door hardtops. I would not think that Ford changed the complete rear doors - so some differences in the doors or lower B pillars could be a hint. After so much time has passed, maybe only one of the ten survivors in original condition could be found to be one of these rare cars. You would have to eliminate a redone car that might be hard to know if an individual had changed parts on it, matching the hardtop, vs Ford originally building it that way.

I do not have my sedan here to inspect the lower B door pillar, but if the plunger switch holes are only in the convertible and a car is found with them, then that car might be one of the original 10. I would think that one at best still exists, and it might be difficult to know with certainty that it is one of these cars.

[John Mc]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this early ad before. I'll see if I can find it.

[1961Lincoln]

I do have that photo in my collection.

Everything suggests prototype...notice the non-factory '61 features, power antenna, windshield mounted rearview mirror and missing exterior rearview mirror (3 styles used in '61.) The power antenna and windshield mounted mirror (which the same generation Thunderbird has) were shown on prototypes.

Rob

[Dan Szwarc]

Look, here's another official Ford photo:

Found it here: http://www.automobile-catalog.com/photo ... 13092.html

[Steve K]

I've seen a few pictures like this but have always assumed they were just sedans with the B pillar removed and the windows down. The info about the prototype 61 hardtop was fascinating to me. I would love to find out if any of those cars still exist and, if so, does the owner even know what he has? Seems like the odds are great that none survive if they weren't preserved when nearly new. If you think of the small production numbers, the number of cars of that age that have long since gone to the crusher or rusted away in a field, and then add to that the complexity of a non-convertible with all the problems of the rear window setup. I would guess the rubber that seals the front and rear glass on a hardtop would rot away letting water inside and rust having it's way with things. Maybe one will show up. Would be a good question to put to the writers of some of the classic car magazines.

[Dan Szwarc]

It's likely that Ford tried the hardtop version because the convertible version already made it possible, but a simple design change improved the quality and since sedans sold 10x more, it was a no brainer to simplify.

Too bad most of the designers are dead. No one can tell the true story today. It's been 56-59 years!