Lincoln premiere

Lincoln
Lincoln Premiere Hardtop 2 Doors (1956)
premiere
Production period:	1956-1960
Class :	Upper class
Body versions :	Sedan , coupe , convertible
Engines:	Petrol engines : 6.0–7.0 liters (210–276 kW)
Length:	5664-5817 mm
Width:	2035 mm
Height:	1435-1445 mm
Wheelbase :	3327 mm
Empty weight :	1973-2298 kg
Previous model	Custom 1955

Lincoln premiere hardtop coupe (1959)

The Lincoln Premiere was a luxury car manufactured by Lincoln from model years 1956 to 1960 .

Year by year

The harbingers of the premiere

The starting point for the redesign of Lincoln vehicles for 1956 were two concept vehicles: the Mercury-800 and the Lincoln Futura . Both were largely shaped by Ford chief designer John Najjar .

The Mercury XM-800 was first shown at the Chicago Motor Show in 1954. In addition to the forward-looking design that influenced entire generations of Ford Motor Company automobiles, the non-functional car was also interesting in terms of construction, as its body was made of plastic.

Similar to the XM-800, the Lincoln Futura was purely an exhibition piece that worked, but was never approved for the street. Bill Schmidt worked with Najjar on the metallic-white convertible that was handmade at Ghia in Italy. Equipped with a V8 engine and mounted on a Continental Mark II chassis, the concept vehicle was not only used as a show car at trade fairs in 1955, but also made appearances in films.

1956

This year the premiere replaced the Capri as the top model. The cars had been thoroughly redesigned. The tail fin models now had a front sloping front, the headlights had sheds and the side chrome strips had a Z-shaped insert at the level of the rear doors. The bodies - a four-door sedan, a two-door hardtop coupé and a two-door convertible - had increased in length by approx. 75 mm compared to the previous year's models.

Like its sister models, the premiere had an overhead V8 engine with 6030 cm³ displacement, which developed 285 bhp (210 kW) at 4600 rpm. The engine power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a three-stage automatic transmission.

1957

The bodies got a significant makeover. Two auxiliary lights were used below the main lights. The tail fins were dramatically enlarged so that the rear lights were tilted backwards at an angle of 30 °. The side chrome strips ran straight again, but had an integrated V in the area of ​​the rear fender ends. Front and rear windows were designed as panoramic windows. A four-door hardtop sedan was added to the three body styles from the previous year.

The output of the unchanged large engine increased to 300 bhp (221 kW) at 4,800 rpm. Electrically adjustable seats, electric windows, power steering and brake booster were standard equipment from this year on.

1958 to 1960

The Lincoln Premiere was completely redesigned for the 1958 model year. Instead of the previous separate frame, the vehicle now had a self-supporting body . The premiere was much longer. Its wheelbase grew to 3327 mm; the external length increased by 125 mm. The body has been completely redesigned. The grille was raised a little higher and the twin headlights were slanted. The sharp-cut tail fins were new. In order to adequately drive the larger and heavier car, there was a larger engine with a displacement of 7046 cm³, which delivered an output of 375 bhp (276 kW) at 4800 rpm.

The model range of the Premiere was limited to a four-door sedan and a two-door coupé from 1958. The convertible was no longer offered from 1958.

For the model years 1959 and 1960, the design of the Premiere was essentially adopted unchanged. The body was also retained; the modifications were limited to side moldings on the fenders (1959) and new front bumpers , which now had so-called " Dagmar Bumpers " (1960). They were round, chrome-plated bumper caps that were supposed to create an association with female breasts .

The performance of the otherwise unchanged engines in 1959 to 350  SAE - PS and reduced in 1960 to 315 hp.

From 1958 the premiere occupied the middle place in the brand hierarchy. The new top model was the Continental Mark III , which was technically identical to the Premiere and also used the same body, but was much better equipped. The Mark III was not officially marketed as a Lincoln, but as a Continental. In 1959, the top model named Continental Mark IV and 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V . They kept their basic consistency with the premiere during this period.

From 1961 the two more simply equipped series Capri and Premiere no longer existed. Only the Lincoln Continental was offered, which had a completely different body.

Production numbers

Construction year	limousine	Hardtop sedan	Hardtop Coupé	Cabriolet	total
1956	19,465		19,619	2,447	41,531
1957	5,139	11,223	15,185	3,676	35,223
1958	1,660	5,572	3,043		10,275
1959	1.312	4,606	1.963		7,881
1960	1.010	4,200	1,364		6,574
total	28,586	25,601	41,174	6.123	101,484

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lincoln Premiere - the Ford descendant with weighty parents. Detailed article about the Premiere with many historical pictures on Zwischengas.com (last accessed September 26, 2016)

Web links

Commons : Lincoln Premiere  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

source

• Gunnell, John (editor): Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 , Krause Publishing, Iola (2002), ISBN 0-87349-461-X .