1961 Lincoln Continental

Sedan

7.0L 7048CC 430Cu. In. V8 GAS OHV Naturally Aspira

Automatic

1Y82H418770

Clear

Gasoline

1961 Lincoln Continental. I bought this car in January of 2012. I believe it has been a California car all of it's life. It has factory tinted windows and air conditioning. It gets as much praise and attention on the streets as my Lotus. The strongest points of this car is the straight body, mechanical reliability and the fantastic interior. The odometer currently shows 33,333. I have put less than 1,000 miles on it in over a year. The interior is original and in very good condition. The hydraulic wipers, lights, signals, horn, windows, and power bench seat all work. The Sultana White paint is mostly original. There is evidence of spot resprays in the door jams and around the engine bay. There are several scratches and chips in the paint. The trunk lid paint is very thin and the color is not uniform, but is not noticeable from 10 feet. The front lower bumper needs re-chroming. The rear bumper chrome is very good, except for the passenger rear bumper end. It needs to be re-chromed and aligned. When I bought it the engine ran fine, but was leaking exhaust into the coolant, I suspected a failing head gasket. Instead of rebuilding the top end I decided to give it a no expense spared engine rebuild so I could paint and powder coat all the components. The proper stepped pistons were used. I also had the crank driven power steering pump rebuilt, brake cylinders replaced, new exhaust system installed, Pertronix ignition system (hidden in OEM distributor) and Flamethrower coil. The previous owner had the wrong carburetor installed so I installed a rebuilt Holley 500 cfm unit with electric choke. The transmission works flawlessly, but there is a very slow leak coming from the tail cone. The brakes work well. I fixed the parking brake so it works, although the return spring is a little weak so the pedal does not completely return without assisting it by hand. I replaced the original 14" wheels and bias ply tires with 15" wheels and brand new Coker wide white wall radial tires. The original 14" hubcaps are riveted to modified 15" beauty rings. This not only looks better, but gives you a wider choice of radial tires. The air conditioning worked before the engine rebuild, but was never re-charged afterwards. The blower works and it should get cold with new freon. The previous owner had a switch added under the dash to select AC or heater. I'm not sure why this was required. The vacuum actuated power door locks do not work. I have not tried to troubleshoot them, but I suspect a vacuum hose is cracked or unhooked. All of the doors will manually lock or unlock. The drivers door must be locked/unlocked with the key. All four power windows work good, but for some reason the rear passengers cannot control their own windows. There is a child window override I suspect it is faulty. The power bench seat will lean forward/backwards, rise up or down, but sliding forward and backwards is temperamental. It works sometimes, and other times it doesn't. This is a great car to use as a driver and also take to local car shows. To be a show winner it would need the following: new under hood insulation, new wood trim in the doors and dash, re-chroming of bumper sections and some paint touch ups especially in the engine bay around the fenders. The weatherstripping is starting to show age, but works well and is intact. The only rust I can find on the vehicle is on the bottom edge of the passenger rear quarter panel and a couple spots in the trunk rain gutter. I would say this car is 99% rust free which is about as good as it gets for an original. Under the hood is yellow glue residue from the missing hood insulation. I am also including 3 sets of keys, the original wheels and tires and all of the receipts. I paid $10k for this car less than 2 years ago and have receipts that add up to $8k in work I've done since then. My reserve price does not get close to getting me even. I was planning on keeping this car for the rest of my life, but unfortunately life circumstances have changed that. Good luck bidding and I hope this car goes to a good home. Please note this car is also for sale locally and I reserve the right to end the auction early if sold. There should be 66 photos below. Please let me know if you have trouble viewing the photos. These photos were taken just yesterday.