Continental Division

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Continental Division,
Ford Motor Company

logo
legal form Corporation
founding July 1, 1952
resolution July 21, 1956
Reason for dissolution Restructuring of the group
Seat Dearborn MI; Wixom MI (USA)
management William Clay Ford Sr.
Branch Automobile manufacturer

The Continental Division was a division of the Ford Motor Company for the construction of a luxury car in the top market segment. It was introduced in 1952 and merged with the Lincoln Division in 1959 , before being completely abandoned after 1960. Your Continental automobiles were built from 1956 to 1960. There is no relationship with the Continental Automobile Company from 1933 to 1934 and its parent company, the Continental Motors Corporation .

The first Continental

A first generation Lincoln Continental (facelift 1946) in Jerusalem

The American luxury car manufacturer Lincoln first used the term “Continental” in 1939 for a convertible for Edsel Ford derived from the Lincoln Zephyr . The ensuing demand led to series production. In 1941, with the addition of a coupé, it became an independent series above the Zephyr, which at least partially compensated for the elimination of the large K models . The exceptionally designed model by Eugene T. Gregorie was quickly recognized as a design icon and is one of the classics of pre-war design. Before production was discontinued, there were two less successful facelifts (1942 and 1946) and improvements to the engine. A 1941 Lincoln Continental is one of only two automobiles in the collection of the Museum of Modern Arts in New York and was voted one of the 100 best industrial designs worldwide (not: automotive design).

environment

After the end of World War II, there were only four luxury car manufacturers left in the United States: Cadillac , Lincoln , Chrysler with the Imperial and Packard with the Patrician . The manufacturers of the latter two concentrated more on the upper middle class. At the time, Cadillac was the benchmark in this market segment and everyone else was struggling to keep up.

At Ford, the problems were particularly great. Until the early post-war period, the company's range of passenger cars in the USA consisted of the three brands Ford , Mercury and Lincoln for the luxury class. In the turmoil after Henry Ford's death in 1947, the company began to falter. There was a huge innovation backlog; Until 1948, Ford used rear transverse leaf springs, mechanical brakes and no shift aids or even an automatic transmission. The Continental, offered until 1948, had been slightly revised stylistically; technically, however, they were at the pre-war level. The side valve 12 cylinder - V-type engine was although modified slightly; but it goes back to the Zephyr of 1935.

When new models were introduced across the Group in 1949, the focus was naturally not on niche products like the Continental. It soon became apparent that the successors Cosmopolitan and Capri could not break the dominance of Cadillac either. In terms of performance, size and new price, some models were even more geared towards the upper middle class, especially the Oldsmobile market segment.

In 1953, four competitors released new, limited edition luxury models: Cadillac Eldorado , Buick Skylark , Oldsmobile Fiesta and Packard Caribbean . Ford initially had nothing to counter this. The fundamental decision to take countermeasures had already been made the year before. The internally appointed Davis Commission suggested massively expanding the group's offerings. As a result, several new models and two brand new brands appeared: Continental and Edsel .

Continental Division, Ford Motor Company

A new edition of the Continental was discussed several times internally and even more often encouraged by outside enthusiasts. So was Hermann C. Brunn , son and staff of the founder of Brunn & Company and Ford employee since the closure of this prestigious operation in 1941, in 1945 the job options for a new Continental based on the upcoming Lincoln Cosmopolitan explore. These designs were a further development of the classic Brunn bodies for the Lincoln Model L and K and comprised an entire series with sedan, sedan, landaulet and convertible , so they would have been more of a reinterpretation than a further development of the original Continental concept. In the following year, Ford designer Robert Döhler presented further designs that also came from the Cosmopolitan. The connection between the strict roof line and its rounded body did not "work". In addition to the business realities mentioned, there also seems to have been great respect for the task of finding a worthy successor to the role model that has already become a design icon.

The decision for the new Continental was made in 1951. The project was placed under William Clay Ford Senior in his position as head of the Special Products Division . William Ford is a son of Edsel Ford , the younger brother of Henry Ford II and grandson of Henry Ford, and by that time already had some management experience. The Continental Division was officially deployed on July 1, 1952. It emerged from the Special Products Division ; William Ford became their general manager. Own premises they moved on Oakwood Boulevard in Dearborn ( Michigan southwest of) Detroit . Out of 1,300 Lincoln dealers, 650 accepted the offer to also sell the Continental.

draft

John Reinhart , who had only moved from his position as chief designer from Packard to Ford in 1952 , became chief designer for Continental . He was supported by the legendary designer Gordon Buehrig (1904–1990), who designed some sensational bodies for Duesenberg in the 1930s and made design history with the Cord 810 . Because the team was forbidden to request internal designers and draftsmen, Reinhart had to look for employees by posting; for a task which literally would have inspired any Ford designer. Thus came among others Robert McGuffey Thomas and Ray Smith to the team. Thomas became Reinhart's deputy. The designer Raymond H. Dietrich (1904–1980), who had designed car bodies for all classic automobile manufacturers and was head of design at Chrysler, was an adviser.

At the end of 1952, Reinhart and William Ford presented their designs to top management. Williams' older brother Henry II flatly rejected them as CEO.

As a result, a blind voting competition was held. A reference to the original and a coupé or cabriolet body were required. Five views had to be made of each design: front, rear, side and diagonally from the front, respectively. back. The background color was also specified - and the color of the vehicle itself: Honolulu blue, William Ford's favorite color. No wonder it was also available in the production version. Five teams took part in the final round; one of them under Walter Buell Ford II (brother-in-law of William and Henry II; two designs), Vince Gardner (a respected designer who had already worked with Buehrig on the Cord 810 ; 3 designs), R. Miller / A. Grisinger (2 designs) , George W. Walker (Ford Vice President and Group Head of Design from 1955; 3 designs) and finally Reinhart's Special Products Division in a second attempt with 3 suggestions. The designs were hung up unsigned and unmarked. Each member of the group management visited them individually and without the possibility of consultation. This time, William Ford and Reinhart won. The accepted proposal was already close to the final product; the biggest change concerned the rounded trunk which Reinhart had already integrated into his two other proposals and which only had to be transferred.

development

William Ford went to work with care and great respect for the original that his father had put on the road at the time. The first official announcement of the new Mark II was made by William Ford at the first national meeting of the Continental Owners Club in Greenfield Village, Michigan in mid-October 1954. The duties of chief engineer were assigned to Harley Copp .

Originally, the car was supposed to appear as a convertible with a retractable steel roof. The cost of this system, which was jointly developed with Lockheed , turned out to be so high that it would have cost around US $ 18,000 or almost three times that of a Cadillac Eldorado. In order to recoup the costs incurred for the retractable roof, Ford finally marketed the finished roof system from 1957 to 1959 for the Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Retractable , after which it was redesigned for the fabric top of the following Lincoln and Continental generations and even for the Lincoln Continental Used 1961-1969 .

The Continental Mark II finally appeared in October 1955 for the 1956 model year. It was the most expensive mass-produced car in the USA at the time. The vehicle was prestigious but made no profit for the company. Ford lost about $ 1,000 on every Mark II sold. After just over a year, production of the Mark II was therefore stopped in 1957; the initially planned expansion of an entire model family failed. Three conventional convertibles with a soft top were built, two still exist. One of them was built according to factory specifications at Derham and served as a factory prototype. Originally painted in Honolulu Blue, the vehicle went to William Ford's family and then sold to a Ford Vice President, Paul Wagner . The coachbuilder Hess & Eisenhardt (actually specialized in ambulance and funeral vehicles, mainly for Cadillac) has made some further conversions at the customer's request. A copy was, apparently without factory support, in Palm Beach ( Florida rebuilt). Its hood is higher than that of the Derham version and it has a metal cover under which it is stored when open.

The production time of the Mark II is 18 months in two model years; Vehicles from 1956 and 1957 differ only minimally from one another and can almost only be distinguished from one another by means of the vehicle identification number (VIN).

Unfortunately, after a brief boom at launch, sales were downright disastrous. By the end of 1955, 1251 Mark IIs had been sold; the remainder of the 1956 model year accounted for just 56 vehicles. In the shortened model year 1957 (five months) another 447 were added. The break-even point was 2500 vehicles. As early as March 1956, the first dealers began to advertise discounts. Continental reacted to the expected damage to its image with little success by thinning the dealer network. The remaining dealers had three options to choose from:

  • Category X: Was obliged to have a demonstration vehicle ready, to keep a sales quota and to send a top seller to Dearborn for an intensive sales course;
  • Category Y: Was only required to have a demonstration vehicle ready
  • Category Z: did not have to meet any requirements

The failure of the Mark II wasn't because of the brilliant vehicle or the organization behind it; In terms of quality, it probably even came close to the Rolls-Royce and was far superior to it in terms of performance. The Continental Mark II could not build up a corresponding image. The fact that it was perceived by the public as a particularly expensive Lincoln was of course also due to the role model on which it was based. A concept that ignored the costs for too long did nothing to change this. This resulted in a much too high sales price. The even more extravagant Cadillac Eldorado Brougham (retail price $ 13,074!) Can only partially be blamed for the failure of the Mark II : By the time it was ordered in December 1956, Mark II sales had long since collapsed. Incidentally, General Motors was not happy with its sales success either, paid even more money on top of it per car and took steps similar to Ford in the third model year in order to achieve an almost realistic sales price.

Ford still held onto the Continental brand . Everything else was questioned. The next Continental was a completely different car, the Continental Division was briefly combined with Lincoln to form the Lincoln-Continental Division , and the new Continental was built on assembly lines parallel to the Lincoln .

There was already a new use for the manufacturing facilities that became free. It too was based on a recommendation from the Davis Commission and led to a new middle-class corporate brand called Edsel .

The giant from Wixom

Reinhart tried to further develop the excellent basic design and presented corresponding drafts that also included a sedan. The management was no longer willing to bear these losses. An attempt to transfer Reinhart's design to the new Lincoln was also rejected. He left the group in 1958.

Production at Lincoln

From 1958 to 1960 there were other vehicles in the Continental Division. They no longer had the independence of the Mark II, but also cost "only" from US $ 6135. The Continental Mark III , IV and V (each model year from 1958 to 1960 received its own Roman numeral ) were particularly well-equipped and very expensive Versions of contemporary Lincoln vehicles. President and General Manager of Lincoln and Continental was Ben D. Mills . One of his specifications was that Lincoln and Continental had to offer more interior space than comparable Cadillac. This goal was achieved not least thanks to the efforts of the engineer Earle S. MacPherson .

The fact that Continental were now being built in the Wixom ( Michigan ) plant was not only due to the fact that the Edsel needed its own production facilities (initially Edsel ran on Ford and Mercury belts); these plants were in turn not fully utilized with the production of Lincoln and Ford Thunderbird and the additional production also made sense from this point of view. Nevertheless, the changeover was an emergency program with which various problems of the group were to be tackled that went far beyond the Continental debacle. Ultimately, it did little to help Lincoln and Continental .

If you want to appreciate the sales figures you have to take into account that 1958 was a year of recession. It was also not foreseeable that sales of compact cars, which had previously played an outsider role, would expand massively. The sales figures for the inexpensive Rambler doubled between 1958 and 1959, and the figures for imported cars also rose steeply, mostly at VW and Renault .

The slump in the US luxury market was dramatic:

Sales compared to 1957
brand difference
Cadillac - 13%
Lincoln & Continental - 28%
Imperial - 57%
Packard - 49%

Self-supporting construction

The structure of the new Lincoln and Continental was - unusual for the 1950s - designed to be self-supporting. The reason for this was not only due to the vehicle (the self-supporting construction allows greater rigidity with lower weight), but also to the manufacturing technology. Ford, and Lincoln in particular , had experience of this type of construction; the Zephyr from 1936 was designed in this way. Other manufacturers such as Chrysler ( Airflow ), Nash or Hudson had also tried it. But there had never been a vehicle the size of the Lincoln or Continental with this design. The problems with an entirely new automobile of an untested design were considerable. The torsional rigidity of the bodies without a B-pillar was initially completely inadequate; a prototype even broke through in the rear area on a test drive in "hard" terrain. The structural problem has been tackled with steady reinforcements. Another cause, inefficient weld seams and points, could be solved satisfactorily in the manufacturing process. In contrast, engineers worked throughout the entire production period to make the vehicle quieter and smoother. These efforts led on the one hand to reduced performance, but on the other hand also to a massive increase in weight which increasingly questioned the advantage of this type of construction. With a time limit of only two years, it was urgent.

Together with Lincoln , Continental also switched from 15-inch wheels to 14-inch wheels. With the Mark II , the customer was able to choose from their own color card, which contained 14 colors (1957: 18, 12 of which were metallized), but the third generation Continental came in the same colors as the Lincoln with which they rolled off the assembly lines.

Limousine and Town Car

In 1959, Continental brought a factory-installed chauffeur-driven sedan onto the market for the first time. The execution of the small series was assigned to the specialized company Hess & Eisenhardt in Rossmoyne ( Ohio ), which had already built several show cars and small series vehicles for Cadillac . The Continental Mark IV Sedan with B-pillar served as the basis . The modifications included a retractable partition to the driver, an even more luxurious interior and a padded vinyl roof on the outside that also enclosed the rearmost side window, as well as a smaller rear window. The car was only available in black, but there was also a Formal Sedan , which was also unsuitable from the factory, Town Car , called a version without a partition. it was intended for business people who also wanted to work while driving. In the USA, a town car actually corresponds to the European Coupé de Ville or Sedanca , a chauffeur vehicle with a removable or missing front roof section.

The production figures were minimal, which was certainly also due to the unheard-of prices: the sedan cost US $ 10,230, the Formal Sedan US $ 9208. This was the first time that the price of the Mark II was exceeded. However, both versions also in 1960 were, of course, with the adjustments of the Mark V offered. A total of 83 sedans and 224 sedans were built in both years.

A Mark IV limousine was specially built as a landaulet for Queen Elizabeth II 's visit to Canada . A wealthy customer ordered a custom-made Town Sedan with a second radio and air conditioning in the rear, just like in the sedan, and had the body painted blue. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Elvis Presley were also customers.

Models

Model name Body shapes Production period Copies image
Continental Mark II Sports Coupe 1956-1957 1,769
Continental Mark II
Continental Mark III Landau Hardtop Sedan , Coupé, Cabriolet 1958 12,550
Continental Mark III Sedan
Continental Mark IV Landau Hardtop Sedan , Coupé, Cabriolet, Town Car , Limousine 1959 11.005
Continental Mark IV Formal Sedan
Continental Mark V Landau Hardtop Sedan , Coupé, Cabriolet, Town Car , Limousine 1960 11,086
Continental Mark V Convertible

Engines

It was only logical that the Continental was powered by Lincoln engines; On the one hand, these were the most powerful ones available in the group. On the other hand, they were state-of-the-art with their OHV valve control . An in-house development was excluded for cost reasons. The purchase of another engine would not have made sense, nor would it have done justice to this prestige project. Initially, more exclusivity was achieved through the selection of the motor described and the additional tests. This ended with the Mark III from 1958. The additional expense could not be justified anyway; they neither wanted to devalue the Lincoln with quasi "second class" engines, nor to hold up the production lines with additional interventions in some of the vehicles or make them more complex. The most important reason, however, was that such a measure was actually not necessary.

The greatest disadvantage of the engines was their high consumption, even by US standards at the time; Continental were far behind in the corresponding rating.

Model year model Cubic capacity cm³ (ci) compression Carburetor power
1956-1957 Mark II 6040 (368.6) 10.0: 1 Carter ; 4-way 300 bhp (224 kW) @ 4800 rpm
1958 Mark III 7040 (429.6) 10.5: 1 Holley ; 4-way 375 bhp (280 kW) @ 4800 rpm
1959 Mark IV 7040 (429.6) 8.75: 1 Carter ; 4-way 350 bhp (261 kW) @ 4400 rpm
1960 Mark V 7040 (429.6) 10.1: 1 Carter ; 2-way 315 bhp (235 kW) @ 4100 rpm

For the Mark V there was an option with 400 bhp (298.3 kW). It should have been a version of the same engine with higher compression and a different carburetor system; the Mark III already delivered 375 bhp (279.6 kW).

The end of the brand

The Ford concern wasn't a cozy place to be in the 1950s and early 1960s. After the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry Ford in 1947, he was in dire straits; Henry Ford had been in poor health long before. A phase of change followed. Management intended to counter General Motors with new brands in each price segment. In the middle class, the new Edsel Mercury should help. That failed because, on the one hand, the advertising promised more than the conventionally built car could deliver. In addition, his styling has met with controversy. The fact that the Edsel appeared exactly at the time of a short but severe recession and that customer tastes were oriented towards the compact car was beyond one's own sphere of influence. The consequences were crash programs and quick decisions. 1958 Mercury, Edsel, Lincoln and Continental were combined in a common division. At very short notice, the Edsel was not offered again in 1961. The result was the new Lincoln Mercury Division.

So the Continental wasn't the biggest problem in the company: The Edsel developed into the biggest flop in the US auto industry since the Chrysler Airflow of 1934. In 1956, there was no equivalent of Cadillac in the Continental price segment; this appeared in the form of the Cadillac Brougham 1957 with an even more ludicrous pricing. While Cadillac dealt with major problems and damage to its image with the air suspension used for the first time - and allegedly lost US $ 3,500 with every Brougham sold - the Continental did significantly better. While the loss per car for the Mark II was around US $ 1,000, the Mark III to V, which are marked much lower, were in the profit zone.

The Continental died because it was no longer absolutely necessary, because the company had massive financial problems, because it was ultimately also a victim of power games at management level, but above all because at least Mark III to Mark V were not accepted enough by the public; with the Mark II it was the price. It is not without irony that Ford held the key to a successful successor to the first Continental: the second-generation Ford Thunderbird. The car had everything that made the great model (except the noble name) and was exactly in the market area covered by Lincoln with its timeless classic.

In the confusion surrounding the demise of the Edsel and Continental brands, even Lincoln was available for a while. In 1961 a new, much smaller Lincoln appeared. There was another model, called the Continental, and exactly two variants: a four-door sedan and a four-door convertible. The car was self-supporting, shared the structure with the Ford Thunderbird and received a styling that was not only intended to become Engel's masterpiece, but is also considered a milestone in car design.

The name Continental was returned to Lincoln as a model name. This brand also received the four-pointed star of the Continental as a new logo (it still is today).

Ford Wixom Assembly Plant

The Ford Wixom Assembly Plant in Wixom in October 2010

The successor models from Lincoln were also designed to be self-supporting until 1969. The Wixom Assembly Plant at 28801 South Wixom Road in Wixom was closed in 2007 after it had served as a production site for various Lincoln models, the Thunderbird (until its end of production in 2005) and the Ford GT (2005-2006). Since 2009 there have been plans to use it for an alternative energy park.

See also

swell

  • Ray Hutton, Jürgen Lewandowski: Lincoln - An American Tradition. 1st edition. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2000, ISBN 3-7688-1125-5 . (English, ed. Lincoln / Ford Motor Company)
  • Paul R. Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980 - The classic Postwar Years. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI (USA) 1993 (new edition), ISBN 0-87938-730-0 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes, Richard M. Langworth (Eds.): The Golden Anniversary of the Lincoln Motor Car 1921-1971. Automobile Quarterly, New York 1970.
  • Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980. Beekman House, New York 1984, ISBN 0-517-42462-2 .
  • Consumer's Guide (Ed.): Encyclopedia of American Cars from 1930. Publications International, 1993, ISBN 0-7853-0175-5 .
  • G. Marshall Naul, R. Perry Zavitz (Eds.): The Specification Book For US Cars 1930-1969. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI 1980, ISBN 0-87938-068-3 .
  • Jerry Heasley: The Production Figure Book For US Cars. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI 1977, ISBN 0-87938-042-X .
  • Tad Burness: American Car Spotter's Guide, 1920-39. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI, ISBN 0-87938-026-8 .
  • Tad Burness: American Car Spotter's Guide, 1940-65. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI, ISBN 0-87938-057-8 .
  • Peter C. Sessler: American Automobile Paint Code Interchange Manual 1945–1995. Motorbooks International, Osceola WI (USA) 1995, ISBN 0-87938-977-X . (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 34.
  2. ^ A b c Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993) pp. 70-71.
  3. ↑ coachbuilt.com, Raymond H. Dietrich
  4. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 71.
  5. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), pp. 71-72.
  6. ^ A b John Reinhart: coachbuilt.com (English, accessed on September 14, 2011)
  7. ^ A b Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 74.
  8. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 75.
  9. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), pp. 76-77.
  10. ^ A b Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 78.
  11. ^ A b Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 83.
  12. ^ A b c Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 80.
  13. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 87.
  14. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 8.
  15. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 90.
  16. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), pp. 79-81.
  17. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 79.
  18. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 85.
  19. ↑ a b Hutton, Lewandowski: Lincoln - An American Tradition. (2000), p. 67.
  20. ↑ coachbuilt.com; Hess & Eisenhardt (English)
  21. ↑ Table based on: Naul / Zavitz: Specification Book For US Cars (1980), pp. 192-193.
  22. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 17.
  23. ^ Woudenberg: Lincoln and Continental 1946–1980. (1993), p. 77.

Web links

Commons : Continental Division  - collection of images, videos and audio files