1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible

*Highly sought after first year design

*Triple Black

*California Car with its 1970 Registration tags still on the original Black Plate

*Excellent older restoration

*Recent Service

The 1961 Lincoln Continental and its designers received a Bronze Medal by the Industrial Design Institute (IDI) of New York, NY.  This institute rarely gives awards to vehicles. It also won Car Life‘s 1961 Engineering Excellence Award. For 1961, the Continental was redesigned again and the “Mark” series moniker was dropped – it was now simply known as the Lincoln Continental. Styled by Elwood Engel, the new car was a drastic departure from the Mark III. It was originally intended as a design proposal for the new Thunderbird, but was wisely chosen by Bob McNamara to go to Lincoln and was tweaked to suit the brand’s image. Gone was the frenetic style and excessive detail, and in its place was an elegant, low, slab-sided sedan or four-door convertible complete with rear “suicide” hinged doors. Though still a fairly big car, the new Continental was a full 14-inches shorter than the outgoing car, and it carried its bulk much better than before. Crisp and elegant, the Continental became an icon of 1960s style and enjoyed a successful run from 1961 through 1969, with over 360,000 units sold in total. In 1961, only 2,857 Continental convertibles were produced.