1968 Lincoln Continental

Sedan

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

8Y82A833584

Clear

Gasoline

1968 Lincoln Continental Amazingly Preserved & Maintained in California & Arizona for Nearly 40 Years - No Rust Ever! - Single Family Ownership from 1968-1998, Only Two Owners Since Please wait for all pictures to load and read description carefully! Comprehensively original throughout apart from one high-quality respray in the original Code 'N' Platinum (white with a hint of blue), this 1968 Lincoln Continental is an unrestored time-capsule survivor example delivered new to the Los Angeles regional distributor per the build sheet. I am very fortunate to know and have as a good friend of mine one of the original owner's closest friends. According to him, the car was purchased by the original owner's son John for his mother when she did not like the yellow/black '68 Continental Coupe his father bought her earlier in the year. She liked this a LOT more! In October, 1968, this Lincoln Continental sat in the showroom of Santa Ana Lincoln/Mercury. As mentioned above, it was sold new to Dorothea Bradley after she did not care for another Lincoln that her husband Jack had bought for her; her son John traded the yellow/black Continental Coupe back to the dealer and paid the difference out of his own pocket. The elder Bradleys were retired and intended to use the Lincoln primarily to drive up and down the coast to visit their family in the San Francisco Bay Area, including maintaining a house on the Seventeen Mile Drive in Pebble Beach in sight of the Lodge, where Jack showed Bugattis and other Grand Classics from the earliest days of the Concours d'Elegance. The vast majority of the mileage was accrued in the 1970s from their numerous trips. By the early 1980s, the car began to see less use as the Bradleys continued to advance in age; despite this, John reported that his mother would visit and talk to the car out in the garage long after she was no longer able to drive. It is fortunate that the Bradleys stopped driving when they did, as there's no evidence that the car was ever in a fender bender or more serious accident with the car. It drives beautifully and the body is straight down both sides. When Jack and Dorothea passed on in the late 1980s, their son John kept the car warehoused in Van Nuys. During the 1994 Northridge (L.A.) Earthquake, a box fell off a shelf and cracked the paint on the roof. John opted to have the warehouseman's insurance paint the entire car rather than attempt to match the original lacquer. The result, over 15 years later, remains remarkable with no flaws apart from a few touch-ups. Even the original pin-striping was professionally done by hand. Furthermore, the chrome and brightwork are all original and overall in beautiful condition. John sold the car to a Scottsdale, Arizona collector of American luxury cars in 1998. The car had just short of 89,000 miles at that time. Records indicate that the new owner had a bit of work ahead of him given the length of time the car had been sitting without more than just occasional use over the last decade and a half. However, he was a serious Lincoln enthusiast very impressed with how solid and rare this car was and remained dedicated to it. He replaced all the usual old heavy car stuff that most of you reading this expect to have to do on cars of this age and more and a stack of receipts that remain with the car document the replacement of major brake, suspension, engine, transmission and other repairs, replacements and services to make it a safe and reliable car for him to enjoy. Most of the work on the car was completed by the end of 1999, though the occasional repair ticket pops up throughout the early part of the last decade. It would appear that he drove the car around 4,500 miles before consigning it for sale with a local collector car dealer in Scottsdale. In 2006, a North Carolina collector bought the car and shipped it home to the east coast. Apart from putting 1,000 or so miles on the car, it would appear that he did little with it but keep it in good running order as its prior two owners had. Fast forward to last summer. A friend of mine bought it from the last owner in June for his collector car dealership inventory. I drove it from the auction back to his showroom, and by the time I got there, I made him a very generous offer for the car - which he declined, given the amazing paperwork, history and condition this car is in. Not long thereafter, I traded him another car for this and drove it home 150 miles on the Interstate at 75 miles per hour. There were a few little issues I had to correct - I rebuilt the headlamp switch (bad panel light dimmer), the wiper switch (and freed up the cable to the 'motor' - hey, it never rains in Southern California, right?), rebuilt the driver door window motor with a new gear and rollers, lubricated other door parts while I was in there, put a fresh cap, rotor, plugs, points and condenser in under the hood. I even took apart a set of wiper blades for their inserts and made a set to fit the original Trico arms, which are perfect. I also want to run it through my friend's front end alignment rack this week just to check out the front end - he's been gone for three weeks, so this is my first opportunity. While this is a car I'd like to hold on to for a few years and enjoy myself, I've got a collection of cars coming my way in the short term that I need all available funds and room to handle, so I thought I'd offer this here one time before putting it in a friend's dealership on consignment where it will undoubtedly sell for more. Take a very good look at the photos above and beneath - if you've ever wanted an exceptional example of a car that has become incredibly rare simply through a very low survival rate, this is the one. (While you're looking at the front end, let me point out that the headlamps are FoMoCo script sealed beams - and not repros, either...) I've been tempting you with the paperwork that comes with this car above - this is a fraction of the documentation that conveys with this car and tells its history the best. The Bradleys saved both their temporary and permanent Ownercards, most of their receipts and earliest registrations and lots more documentation that's remained with this special car for over four decades. The original build sheet, protected by a plastic sleeve. Note that the car has always been a 'slick top' - i.e. no vinyl top ever. The original owners manual is still in the glove compartment, filled out in 1968 with all of the Bradley's information overleaf. In addition to the above, service documentation from the 1990s and 2000s as well as reproduction service manuals (1967-1968 supplement) and other documentation convey with the car. There's quite a bit here. I also wanted to point out that the power antenna works flawlessly. As do the automatic-dimming headlamps. A great contrast to the Platinum exterior, this car is appointed with its 100% original blue leather interior inside. The steering wheel is crack-free as is the dashboard. The tilt steering column is nice and tight, adjustment is easy by pushing the turnsignal stalk towards the dashboard. Even the original carpeting has been protected from wear by mats, themselves not even worn. Note the wiper switch - the wipers in 1960s-vintage Continentals are driven by the power steering pump. The knob pulls a cable that opens a variable pressure valve in the 'motor' that allows for about 8 wiper speeds. Additionally, this regulator also will wipe about 3-4 times when the knob is pushed in, as it takes a vacuum signal from the knob. Pretty neat. The master cruise control on-off switch is here as well, this works great from the button at the end of the turnsignal stalk. The driver's side shows only light wear and exceptional care. The springs and foam are still supportive. There is no evidence that the leather and/or any other interior materials were ever re-dyed. I just had this panel off to repair the window motor. All of the vacuum power lock parts are like-new as are the window regulators. The switches open and close the front vent and all four door windows without complaint. The automatic temperature control works great - the air conditioning blows cold and the heat is quite warm. The headlight switch has been out as well - I completely removed and dismantled this as well as I had to de-corrode the panel dimmer rheostat and repair the catch that retains the headlight knob. The little dial beneath the headlight knob controls the sensitivity of the automatic dimmer. Yes, this works great - as well as they do in this modern reflective sign and license plate era, anyway. I've put a few miles on the car since this photo and am 'upgrading' the mileage in the listing - but this is the original miles from new, with the majority of these miles having been put on while the car was still less than 2 decades old. The speedometer is the ribbon type and changes from white to red at 70 mph. The radio works great as well - it has the Town and Country seeking buttons (which Chris at Lincoln Land suggests should not be used) as well as the antenna raise and lower buttons - the antenna does not go up when you turn the radio on like a modern car, they did not. It's not often that the original sweep-hand clock works in these cars once the battery's been let to discharge once or twice. Forget about it. This clock keeps near-perfect time too over weeks and weeks. You may ask 'why are there so many seatbelt buckles here?' Well, this was the advent of the shoulder harness - a strap held by clips in the headlining. You first buckled your lap-belt, then pulled the shoulder belt down and buckled that up as well. Plus, there's a lap belt for the center passenger. Yeah, right! The passenger door panel is just as clean and tidy as the rest. Everything is where it should be. Directly behind the last photo, the 'suicide' rear door opens opposite. The rear doors trigger a control relay that illuminate an indicator on the dash if they are left open. It is very likely that nobody spent much time in the back seat of this Continental. Leather, carpet and the rest are all immaculate. And from the other side. More of the same again, primo, primo. Just like the interior, the trunk compartment remains all-original. Behind the right-hand 'curtain' in the trunk, all the jack parts are here. Looking at the original 460 engine from just in front of the windshield. Serviced, but not restored - lots of original parts and pieces here. It's running comfortably at idle here. This is likely one of the very first 1968 Continentals with the 460 as Ford were still using up the last of the 462s used in prior years. From the driver's side. Very clean and tidy on the passenger's side as well. No need to spray a bunch of tire foam and armor all to clean this engine bay up like the dealers do. It looks fantastic and like a car with 1/5 the miles. Even by California and Arizona standards, this is immaculate. why am I selling? I couldn't get this car out of my head for weeks after I first saw and drove it - I've owned more of these 1960s and 1970s Lincolns as well as tons of similar-vintage Cadillacs over the years and I've had plenty of them in a variety of different conditions. Many of them have been cars with less than 20,000 miles. I can't remember one of them that was this tidy: inside, outside or underneath. I often tell clients of mine for whom I do appraisals or inspections that cars with regular, documented miles are preferable as drivers and tour cars to those that haven't been used - or may have dubious roll-back odometers or other fraud. It definitely goes without saying that buying a car from out west that has been kept indoors is also a great way to save a ton of money on body and paintwork - not to mention dried out interiors, et.c. From a condition standpoint, this is as good as a 7-8 year old original car would have been - that puts us in, what, 1975-76? This is a great car with an un-matched history and the winning bidder will be put in contact with one or more people in Southern California who have known this car for decades, if they wish. However, I've got a bunch of cars in my inventory and am staring down the barrel of having to deal with the liquidation of a large collection in the near future. I may even need to buy several of those out of pocket. I'm going to try to avoid that, but I think I could use the space, if not also the money, to help with that possibility. It doesn't help either that a deal I made two months ago on a car out in California fell through and that is now coming east in the short term. So I'm either going to let this go here on eBay at wholesale - or park it in a high-traffic collector car showroom I have an interest in until someone pays retail. It's not the high point in the collector car season in most of the United States, but now would be a good opportunity for you can buy a good car at a more-than-fair price. Added to that, while I certainly prefer to sell outright, I am not averse to considering swaps for similar-quality examples, particularly British or European cars and oddball/orphan marques. Thinking about doing the 2013 Lincoln Highway 100th Anniversary Tour? What better car to drive than a beautiful and comfortable Lincoln?payment / shipping Payment is due in cash, cleared cashier's cheque in my bank account or wire transfer within 7 (seven) days of auction close - no exceptions to this unless cleared with me in advance. Please contact me with any questions or concerns about this. As it happens, I'll be out of town most of the week following auction close doing a memorabilia auction in Ohio, so I will be quite lenient on these terms if you ask. Shipping/pickup needs to occur within 14 (fourteen) days of auction close unless cleared with me in advance of your bid. If you need help with or a referral to a quality automobile transporter, please don't hesitate to ask me. I don't use the cheapest guys, I use the best guys - who aren't usually the most expensive. Live close and want to drive it home? I give no guarantees but with a fresh tune and a great-running powertrain, it shouldn't present you with many problems. Live outside the USA? No problem there, either, so long as you are patient and work with me, I'll be happy to help or refer you to someone to get it to the port for you. Bottom line, I aim to please - I've sold lots of cars to people over the internet for many years and usually make new friends. I go above and beyond to help folks out.QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS? E-MAIL ME OR CALL 804-357-4926