1956 · Lincoln
Continental Mark II
The most expensive American car you could buy. Built by hand, sold at a loss.
Ford created a separate Continental Division to build one car. The Mark II was meant to be the American equivalent of a Rolls-Royce, sold at a price ($10,000, more than a small house) that explicitly excluded the buyers Ford normally chased. Each Mark II was hand-assembled in a dedicated plant. Each engine was disassembled after dyno testing, cleaned, and reassembled for delivery.
Stylistically the Mark II was a quiet car in a loud decade. No tailfins. No two-tone paint as standard. A long hood, a short greenhouse, a spare-tire bulge in the trunk lid that was an open homage to the original 1939 Continental. The Mark II looked, in a showroom of 1956 Cadillacs and Imperials, like the only adult in the room.
Ford reportedly lost a thousand dollars on every Mark II it sold. After two model years the program was canceled and the Continental Division folded back into Lincoln. The cars were never replaced, only succeeded by louder, cheaper machines. The 1956 Mark II remains the only American car of the decade that takes itself entirely seriously.
Why it matters
- Sold for $10,000 in 1956, making it the most expensive American production car of the decade.
- Hand-assembled in a dedicated Continental Division plant; engines were dyno-tested, disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled for delivery.
- Ford lost an estimated $1,000 per unit on every Mark II sold, then canceled the program after two model years.
Photo · Beverly Hills Car Club
Next in the collection
1959 · Morris