When American car manufacturers utter the phrase ‘all new’ they’re often actually telling porky pies. The truth is ‘all new’ often just meant a superficial restyle or some tinkering with grilles and trim, or a new engine even. That cannot be said of the 1970 Lincoln Continental which really was all new. The previous Continental, first introduced in 1961, had laboured on for well over a decade and by the end of the Sixties was starting to look and feel a bit jaded. Of course, Lincoln’s USP in the luxury car market was that by not undergoing dramatic styling changes every three years, one could always recognise a Continental – admittedly it grew longer and changed grilles and other minor aesthetic details; however, this consistency meant these Lincoln Continentals held their values well when it came to resale and were always immediately recognisable.
Colloquially, we know those earlier, Sixties Lincoln Continentals as ‘clap hand’ Lincolns because of their suicide doors, or more darkly and latterly as ‘Kennedy Lincolns’. Never has
