Head turner: ’56 Continental Mark II
We read it all of the time. So many sellers state their car is a real “head turner”. Okay, so your metallic blue ’66 Nova does get heads to turn but not like this featured car. You see, the Continental was a very special car. The styling, done in-house by John Reinhart and engineered by Gordon Beuhrig, was devoid of excess chrome. It was almost European in design. And the cost at over $10,000 was equal to a Rolls or 2 Cadillacs. It was embraced by the Hollywood elite with Sinatra, Liz Taylor and Elvis on the list of owners. But this exclusivity came at a price. Ford was said to lose a $1000 for every car sold – and roughly 3,000 were sold. Half are said to survive including today’s example. Today’s example jumped out us mainly because of the color combination. Ivory over red looks amazing although perhaps not as elegant as some of the more subdued colors offered. We checked and it doesn’t appear that this color combination was offered although there is a similar color on the Ford color book from the same year. These were custom-built cars so it could possibly have been specified this way when new. The Continental was restored in the 1980s and probably needs to be sorted if it will be pressed into the car show circuit. A few things don’t work like power vent windows and A/C but that is all we know from the seller. It is an eBay auction so if you like the unique color combination you can click here for the action.
I feel like I never see these in person I always see 4th gens. But I think they are the pretty ones while the 4th gens are the striking ones. The only negative of owning a car this cool is that I would never be able to drive it without dressing as well as it is styled. Though I have to say it would pair great with a vintage yacht, not that I have one but it would!