Continental Division

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The Continental Mark II is a personal luxury car that was produced by Continental in 1956 and 1957. An attempt to build a post-World War II car to rival the greatest of the pre-War era, or anything produced in Europe, it is regarded as a rare and elegant classic.

Ford wanted a superior and standalone up-market brand – aside from Lincoln.

Subject ID: 30910

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The Continental Mark II is a personal luxury car that was produced by Continental in 1956 and 1957. An attempt to build a post-World War II car to rival the greatest of the pre-War era, or anything produced in Europe, it is regarded as a rare and elegant classic.

Ford wanted a superior and standalone up-market brand – aside from Lincoln.

The new Continental was not intended to be the largest or most powerful automobile; rather, the most luxurious and elegant American car available, designed to recapture the spirit of the great classics of the prewar period—with prices to match. The Mark II's inspiration was the celebrated V12-powered Lincoln Continental of the 1940s, among the most notable cars of that War-interrupted decade.

For 1956, Ford revisited the original concept of the 1940–1940 Continental. Organized under its own marque, the newly created Continental Division, the Continental Mark II was a two-door hardtop coupe. Instead of an actual spare tire mounted on the trunklid, the trunklid was styled with a tire-shaped hump. Unlike many cars of the era, the Mark II wore conservative styling; relatively little chrome trim was used on the body and tailfins were notably absent.

Positioned above the Lincoln marque, the Continental Division's Mark II was the only vehicle in the division, and was designated as the flagship of Ford Motor Company. At a base price of $10,000 (equivalent to $87,038 in 2015), comparable to a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. Until the introduction of the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, it was the most expensive American-produced car. As a result of its largely hand-built construction, every Mark II was sold at a loss of over $1,000. Production of the Mark II ran from June 1955 to May 1957.

Subject ID: 30910

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Subject ID: 30910