Generation Gap: Ranking each and every Lincoln Continental

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The Lincoln Continental has undergone more ups and downs than any other luxury car in history. From the dizzying disaster of its beautiful-but-overlooked Mark II phase; to the era-defining design of its slab-sided ’60s look; to the Malaise-soaked mile-long sheet metal of the following decade, the Continental has been both lauded and panned during its nearly 70 years of production.

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Which versions of the car deserved to be cheered, and which ones are best forgotten? Here’s our take on the best and worst generations of the Lincoln Continental ever built.

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Generation Gap: Ranking each and every Lincoln Continental Back to video

1961-1969 Lincoln Continental

This is the Lincoln almost every car fan pictures when they hear the name ‘Continental.’ Slab-sided, and the last four-door convertible to be produced outside of the SUV segment, the ’61-’69 Lincoln Continental firmly established the model as one of the premier luxury vehicles in America.

Designed by Elwood Engel, its suicide doors wiped away memories of the awkward third-generation Continental that had preceded it. The car also found itself in a starring role in one of the great tragedies of the 1960s after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in the rear of the Lincoln limo in Dallas, Texas. One of the most beautiful cars ever to have left a Detroit factory, it is a true automotive icon.

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1956-1957 Continental Mark II

For a brief, shining moment, Ford attempted to set up ‘Continental’ as its own brand, one that could take on the very best streaming out of European factories from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Mercedes-Benz. The phenomenal Continental Mark II was definitely a Continental but not so much a Lincoln, commanding an absurdly high price compared to the cars of its period and produced almost entirely by hand in very small numbers.

Less than 3,000 of the two-door Mark IIs were built before Ford realized the American public simply wasn’t interested in dreaming the same dream, and after losing money on every vehicle it sold, the decision was made to return the Continental name to the Lincoln stable. It took decades before the Mark II was recognized for its grace and beauty by collectors who were more appreciative of the car than its intended audience ever had been.

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2017-2020 Lincoln Continental

Why does the most modern Lincoln Continental place so high on our generational ranking? Because it was a good idea, well-executed, and just so happened to arrive at the very moment the market was pivoting away from full-size cars towards sport-utilities. Elegantly styled, roomy inside, and featuring the kind of interior improvements that were on the verge of pushing Lincoln back into the luxury conversation, the final Continental was an intriguing premium alternative to high end Japanese four-doors.

It was also fairly quick: the 2017-2020 Lincoln Continental shared its platform with the Ford Fusion, and benefited from the availability of a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 good for 400 horsepower. Matched with all-wheel-drive, this made the Continental the fastest car to ever bear the name.

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1940-1948 Lincoln Continental

The original Lincoln Continental was an intriguing offering from a company that was trying to find its feet during a tumultuous period for American industry. Originally a branch from the Lincoln Zephyr’s family tree, the Continental had yet to adopt the large-and-in-charge proportions that would later define its legacy. Handsome, but hobbled by the outbreak of the Second World War, the Continental underwent a styling evolution after the end of the conflict that saw it gain in stature.

Strangely, the Continental was put on pause after 1948 following a Ford edict that briefly pulled Lincoln out of the full-on luxury car market. This accounted for the 10-year gap between the first Continental and the Mark II confusion that followed.

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1970-1979 Lincoln Continental

The fifth-generation Lincoln Continental covered a lot of ground, and while it may have fallen off towards the end of the decade (after enduring the slings and arrows of styling excess and EPA smog restrictions), the early half of the ’70s represented a final hurrah for the car’s classic styling. A move from suicide doors to conventional hinges heralded the move away from smooth sheet metal to more complicated trim, chrome, and covered headlights.

The redesigned Continental pushed towards over-the-top acres of sheet metal with each passing year. This was especially true after the 1975 refresh that introduced some of the largest overhands ever seen on a passenger car (both front and rear). The ‘Town Car’ name appeared for the first time since 1959 (as a vinyl-roofed trim) with this edition of the Lincoln, and on top of the Mark III personal luxury coupe a two-door ‘Town Coupe’ was also offered.

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1995-2002 Lincoln Continental

Lincoln made the most of the pedestrian platform that had been shrugged in its general direction with the 1995-2002 Continental. Helping to boost it above more common fare in the Ford and Mercury line-up was the presence of a V8 engine, a 260-horsepower 32-valve 4.6-liter mill that wasn’t offered with any other front-wheel-drive model in the FoMoCo catalogue. For the first time in what felt like forever, the Continental was actually quick. The look of the car had also improved, featuring aero-friendly drives and a more upscale appearance inside and out.

Unfortunately, it overstayed its welcome, and in the face of very competitive premium cars hailing from Acura and Lexus, Lincoln gave up on building a mid-size contender and parked the Continental nameplate for a decade and a half following the 2002 model year.

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1980 Lincoln Continental

In many ways, the 1980 Lincoln Continental was a continuation of the car that came before it, only with a cleaner design take. Strangely, it would last only a single model year as Ford once again shuffled the deck in terms of what size car the Continental should be, eventually rebadging the vehicle as the ‘Town Car’ and introducing a smaller Continental for 1982. Both coupe and sedan editions were offered, and the vehicle’s shorter wheelbase and massive 1,000-pound weight loss did it a load of good in terms of escaping the worst of its Malaise Era styling sins.

1958-1960 Lincoln Continental

The 1958-1960 Lincoln Continental was half-built under the failed Continental brand banner, with the last two years of production shifting to the newly-formed Lincoln-Mercury division. Either way, the car failed to improve on the model’s fortunes, continuing to bleed cash even with stronger sales thanks to its massive price cut versus the Mark II (with the Mark III/IV/V naming convention continuing for this generation).

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The unibody Continental simply wasn’t as attractive as offerings from Cadillac or Imperial at the time, regardless of whether it was found as a sedan, a two-door coupe, or a convertible, and customers stayed away until the stunning 1961 redesign righted the ship for Lincoln.

1988-1994 Lincoln Continental

The best thing that can be said about the 1988-1994 Lincoln Continental is that it got away from the lacklustre body-on-frame Fox platform that had down-sized its predecessor and introduced a more advanced, and more comfortable, front-wheel drive unibody setup into the equation. Unfortunately, it was essentially a plus-size Taurus, losing its V8 engine and adopting forgettable styling that hasn’t gotten any better with age. This was the beginning of the end for the Continental nameplate as a meaningful contender in the luxury car sweepstakes.

1982-1987 Lincoln Continental

The small, Fox-based ’82 Lincoln Continental was lost in the shuffle of Ford’s confusing mix of mid-size sedans. Aside from the interior, it was hard to see what set the Continental apart from its Blue Oval and Mercury platform-mates, and other than the Mark VII coupe ( covered more extensively here ) there was little interest about this placeholder of a car. Fashionistas, take note: the otherwise milquetoast ’82-’87 Continental was offered in both Givenchy and Valentino ‘Designer Series’ trims.