Continental Mark II
The Continental Mark II is an ultra-luxury coupé that was sold by the Continental Division of Ford for the 1956 and 1957 model years. The first product line of Continental, the Mark II was developed as the worldwide flagship vehicle of Ford Motor Company. Developed as a successor for the 1939–1948 Lincoln Continental, the Mark II derived its nameplate from European manufacturing practice, denoting a second generation of the model family; Ford would later use this nomenclature for the Mark Series of flagship personal luxury cars.
As the most expensive American-produced automobile of the time, the Mark II was marketed against the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and the Bentley Continental. Produced solely as a two-door hardtop coupe, the Mark II was largely hand-assembled, sourcing its V8 powertrain from the standard Lincoln line.
Following the 1957 model year, the Mark II was discontinued, with the hand-built coupe replaced by a rebranded Lincoln. For 1969, Ford revived the Mark series chronology, debuting the Continental Mark III coupe, leading to five successive generations, ending with the 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII coupe. Alongside its nameplate nomenclature, the Mark II debuted the integrated "Continental" spare-tire trunklid ; each generation of the Mark Series used a variation of this feature. The Mark II also debuted the rectangular four-point star emblem, which remains in use on Lincoln-brand vehicles today.
The Mark II was assembled by Ford at Allen Park Body and Assembly in Allen Park, Michigan. Following the discontinuation of the Mark II, the facility was converted to the headquarters of the ill-fated Edsel brand. Today, it remains as the Ford Pilot Plant, where Ford pre-production vehicles are hand-assembled for testing and production development.
Background
For the 1949 model year, all three divisions of Ford Motor Company unveiled their first post-war product line, with Lincoln discontinuing the Lincoln Continental after six years of production. Following World War II, the Lincoln and Mercury brands had been grouped together within a common division to streamline their operations. While the Lincoln Continental had gone on to build a positive reputation, the Continental was an aging design, as a variant of the 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr.Following the withdrawal of the 1939–1948 Lincoln Continental, by the early 1950s, interest in a successor vehicle proved sufficient for Ford Motor Company to commence development on a successor. In 1952, the company formed the Special Product Operations team. Led by William Clay Ford, the team consisted of John Reinhart, Gordon Buehrig, and Harley Copp.
Initially meeting with rejection from upper Ford management, in 1953, design work was approved to bring a successor to the Continental to production. A full-size clay model was approved in June 1953, “subject to minor revisions.” The same year, the two-door luxury segment saw several American-produced vehicles enter production, with the launch of the limited-production Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Skylark, and Oldsmobile 98 Fiesta convertibles by General Motors, the Chrysler C-300 and the Packard Caribbean convertible.
Under William Clay Ford, the Special Products Division set out several objectives. In addition to creating a successor to the 1939–1948 Lincoln Continental, the Continental Mark II was also intended to revive the memory of the 1930s coachbuilt Lincoln Model K, among the flagship American automobiles of the time. In April 1955, the Continental Division was created by Ford Motor Company as a stand-alone division to handle the Continental Mark II. While a two-door hardtop would be offered as the debut vehicle, the model range would expand to a retractable-hardtop convertible and a four-door hardtop sedan.
Ford noted in 1956 that: “At the very beginning of this program, four major design objectives were set forth: 1. The new Continental was to have distinctive styling. The styling was to be based upon clean, classic lines, rather than modernistic innovations. 2. The new car was to include technological advancements and special features which would enhance its value to the customer in terms of comfort, durability, safety, performance, and prestige. 3. The overall height of the car was not to exceed 58 in. 4. There was to be maximum interchangeability of chassis parts with Lincoln, including engine, transmission, rear axle, and suspension.”
While the original Continental coupe sold relatively poorly in contrast to its convertible counterpart, the Special Products Division had set out to introduce a full range of body styles in contrast to the Cadillac Eldorado and Packard Caribbean.
Model overview
Intended as a successor to the Lincoln Continental, effectively making its predecessor a Mark I, the Continental Mark II made its world debut at the Paris Motor Show in October 1955, a year and eight months after the introduction of the smaller two-passenger Ford Thunderbird personal luxury car. The Mark II debuted in the United States at Ford Motor Company headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. With a $9,966 base price, the Mark II was the most expensive domestic-produced automobile sold in the United States at the time. The only extra cost option offered for the Mark II was a $595 air conditioner. Despite its high price, Ford Motor Company estimated it lost nearly $1,000 for every unit produced.Chassis
The rear-wheel-drive Continental Mark II is constructed using a body-on-frame chassis layout. To lower its body and to optimize the use of dual exhausts, the Mark II uses a Y-shaped frame designed for the model line. A fully boxed crossmember was placed under the front seats, with six tube-style crossmembers located through the rest of the chassis.While the suspension layout itself was largely adapted from the Lincoln model line, to improve the handling and ride of the 5,000 pound vehicle, the Mark II introduced speed-sensitive shock absorbers for the front wheels.
To streamline production, powertrain components were adapted from the Lincoln model line and checked through the division's quality-control program during production. The 368 cubic-inch Lincoln Y-block V8 powered the Mark II, paired with the 3-speed Turbo-Drive automatic transmission. For 1956, the engines produced 285 hp, increased to 300 hp for 1957. For a distinctive appearance, the engine had unique finned, cast-aluminum valve covers. Because the engine sat lower than in the Lincoln—and at a different driveline angle—a special oil pan was necessary “to provide the required volume of oil for extremely steep grades.” In a 1956 report from Popular Mechanics, the Mark ll produced 16.7 mpg at 50 mph.
Body
While Continental was planned as a three-model range, the Mark II two-door hardtop coupe was the sole model to reach production. Sharing its 126-wheelbase with the Lincoln model line, the Mark II was over four inches shorter, two inches narrower, and over three inches lower than the Lincoln Premiere and Capri. In an extensive contrast to other American luxury cars, the body of the Mark II was conservatively styled, with chrome limited to the bumpers, grille, rocker panels, and window trim. Few curves were added to the body, with the exception of a body accent line on the fenders and doors.In a notable departure from both American and European styling precedents, neither tailfins nor pontoon fenders were seen; a swing-away left taillamp hid the fuel cap from view. To update the Continental tire styling feature, Ford engineers moved the vertical tire inside the trunk; as the spare tire was still vertically mounted, the "tire bulge" design was introduced in order to allow for the trunklid to close.
While Continental was intended largely as a luxury vehicle, interior elements of the Mark II were intended to make the vehicle more personal than a typical American luxury vehicle. Central to the interior design was the wraparound windshield. In contrast to Lincoln and Mercury vehicles of the time, the Continental Mark II was given a vertically angled steering wheel.
The Continental Mark II would have an extensive list of standard equipment for the time, equipped with power steering, power brakes, power windows, power seats, power vent windows, and full instrumentation, including a tachometer and a low-level fuel warning. In total, the Mark II was offered with nineteen standard exterior colors and 43 interior design schemes. In a break from other luxury products offered by competitors, two-tone paint combinations were not available, while privately the customer could be accommodated if the appearance was desired.
Quality control
In place of style or outright performance, to justify its exclusive price, Ford Motor Company sought to market the Continental model line as the highest-quality American automobile; in line with the coachbuilt cars of the 1930s, the Mark II was largely hand-built. While sharing its design with the standard Lincoln model line, each Continental Mark II engine was effectively factory-blueprinted; after selection from the Lincoln assembly line, the engine was disassembled and reassembled after numerous quality-control and performance inspections. Each of the four wheel covers was hand-assembled with individually fastened vanes; each letter of "Continental" was individually bolted onto the trunklid.As American leather was sprayed vs vat dyed, Bridge of Weir leather was used throughout the interior; as Continental felt the results were better-wearing, the leather used the Vat dye process and was dyed in the United States. While metallic-style exterior paints had become popular on 1950s American luxury cars, durability concerns forced Continental to adapt lacquer-based paint colors.
During the development of the Continental division by Ford Special Products, Ford Motor Company sought to develop the most stringent quality control programs ever seen in the American automotive industry, coming up with seven major initiatives for Continental. The quality control program included all employees at the assembly facility, from assembly workers to upper management. In one instance, a transporter truck of Mark IIs was returned to the factory as a gate security guard noticed a paint defect on one vehicle.