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- đď¸ Max Found an American Gangster's 2-Door Coupe - 1974 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
đď¸ Max Found an American Gangster's 2-Door Coupe - 1974 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
And its the size of a damn house...
Max Zintel
September 18, 2023
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GM. Welcome to MaxFindsCars.com, the only newsletter on the internet that has probably won a fantasy football game against his haters by the time youâre reading this email.
Fantasy Football fortunes aside, today we have something exceedingly American on tap.
Itâs a car long enough that if it stood upright itâd be the same height as a two story house, luxurious enough that the likes of Cartier built the clock for its interior, and famous enough that it evokes, more than maybe any other car in the world, the mystique of the American Gangster.
HERE IT IS: A 1974 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
What Makes The Continental Mark IV So Cool?
It Happened By Accident
It Has All The Cool American Luxury Features
It Has Some Really Wonky QuirksâŚ
Todayâs Edition is brought to you by Morning Brew
But First, the HighlightsâŚ
THIS Lincoln Continental comes sporting the unique âPastel Limeâ paint color, and very âof the eraâ golden velour interior. It is a full on 70s American luxury time capsule, yet seemingly very usable in the present day due to its owner meticulously maintaining the vehicle.
Itâs in great shape, has a unique spec, and has low miles which is why I think its going to go for a bit above the average price of ~$11k.
That said⌠this car might be, dollar for dollar, the most badass car you can buy - especially in this price range.
đď¸ Driven around the world: 1.9x
đź Song to Get the Vibes Right: Regulate - Warren G & Nate
đ Can beat 212 horses in a fight
đ°ď¸ Predicted Price: $11,460
đ Auction Ends: Sunday, September 24th, 2023
It Happened By Accident
The story of how tf the Continental came to exist in the first placeâŚ
Back in the 30âs, times were a bit tough for much of America. Blue collar workers were losing their jobs, the Dust Bowl was rendering much of middle America a âMad Maxâ-esque hellscape, and yacht designers simply did not have enough yachts to design.
The latter meant a man named Bob Gregorie, instead of creating fancy boats for the business magnates of his day, had to go work in Detroit for Ford.
Around that same time, Edsel Ford (son of the OG Ford), had done a little trip around Europe.
He was apparently smitten with the European cars he saw on his trip, and asked olâ Bob to whip up a European luxury inspired, custom car built on top of a Lincoln chassis.
When that car was completed and Edsel was whipping it around Florida the following year, his rich buddies liked it so much that he got on the horn with Lincoln and told them to start building this thing for the public.
Thus, the first Lincoln Continentalâs were born!
The first generation of Lincolnâs were made for model years 1940 through â49, then were discontinued until 1956 when famed Ford exec, Lee Iacocca, saw the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow started getting imported to the states.
Lee apparently saw the $110k (adjusted for inflation) Rolls and told a VP of design to put a Rolls Royce grill on a Continental, and thus the new generation of Continental was born.
Now, the new Continental was coming in at around 60% the price of the Rolls Royce, so it wasnât really meant to compete with the Rolls, but it stillâŚ
It Has All The Cool American Luxury Features
First Feature (not a bug): THIS CONTINENTAL, todayâs Continental for sale, is 19 feet long. NINETEEN FEET. Two stories tall. Book 1 and book 2 in length. And yes, it has but two doors. The fact that this thing was inspired by small, flowingly-designed European cars initially, and then became this MONSTER is pretty hilarious.
Feature Two: Sick Cartier analog clock.
Yes, Cartier, the French jeweler that routinely makes multi-hundred thousand dollar watches (not to mention the sleek Cartier Santos, one I personally like a whole lot) made a clock for what was effectively a Ford. Okay⌠probably Cartier sold the rights for Ford to put their name on an existing, Ford-built clock, but still! Itâs cool, dammit.
Feature Three: These seats that have never heard of a lumbar, but look insanely comfy nonetheless.
Weâd all be lying if we said those seats donât make us want to sink feet deep into them while taking up a very unhealthy cigar-smoking habit. I would coat my lungs in tar to sit in those seats.
Feature FOUR (the penultimate feature): HIDDEN HEADLIGHTS
One of my favorite things is when headlights arenât just headlights. They pop-up, or flip-up, or are hidden, SOMETHING. Itâs just so fun, and the cover/flip-up mechanism in this Continental is one of my personal favorites.
Feature FIVE: Opera Window
Windows like this in the rear quarter panel were the bees knees in the 70s and 80s. Your car wasnât luxury if it didnât have a strangely shaped window. Why are they called opera windows? Not entirely sure, but Iâll tell you my hunch! These things became popular in cars in the late 20th century, but their history in transport design date back to horse-drawn carriages. My guess⌠operaâs were poppin back then, thus we called these opera windows?
Idk. If someone knows the real answer, let me know!
But cool features aside, the Lincoln Continental is a bit more weird than you might think.
In factâŚ
It Has Some Really Wonky QuirksâŚ
Quirk NUMERO UNO: The naming convention.
The Mark IV is one of the editions of what Lincoln called the Continentalâs âMark Seriesâ. Which edition? Have a guess?
Did you guess the âfourth editionâ because of the roman numeral suffixing the name, clearly indicating this is the âMark Fourâ?
Youâd be wrong. Dead wrong. This is actually⌠the third edition of the Mark Series. For some unholy reason, Lincoln STARTED (the Mark Series) AT MARK II (2). Infuriating, I know.
Quirk Dos: It has a trunk that appears form fitted to fit a spare just over the rear bumper, but instead the spare is stored loosely in the trunk.
aforementioned trunk
carpet covered tire
Doesnât it feel like the trunk shape necessitates a very particular spot to store the spare? Idk.
Quirk the III: The Roof.
Now, to any sane person a vinyl roof like this would lead you to believe that this Continental is a convertible, it is not. Apparently, a vinyl roof was a purely aesthetic option, simply because people loved the two-tone look at the time.
El Fin Quirk: The color.
Out of all the colors on this option listâŚ
The buyer chose âPastel Limeâ⌠Now, I donât necessarily think the Lime looks bad. I am a weird car color enjoyer myself, and a large proponent of strange green and brown car colors in general. However, I think the Pastel Lime might have been the last one Iâd have chosen among these options.
What color would you have picked? Let me know on Twitter @maxjzin !
And rememberâŚ
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That's a wrap for today. New Editions come out every Monday & Friday! While you wait, go out and drive! And if you want more, be sure to follow Maxâs Twitter (@maxjzin)