1956 Continental Mark II's | Edsel Ford Family | Ocala Florida | NPD Collection

On this episode of My Classic Car, Dennis travels to Ocala, FL to check out a collection of rare '56 Continental Mark II’s, cars so beautiful you're lucky to see one, much less three in the same place. And each one of these has been owned by one of the sons of Edsel Ford himself. Truly gorgeous and original gems that, as always, have been preserved with exquisite care by Rick Schmidt and the guys at NPD. Perhaps the crown jewels of the collection. Starting off with a personal favorite (of me the guy writing this), the black one. Subtle chrome accents, cast grill, super straight, and the only one with a cloth top and interior by Mrs Ford’s choice, this thing exudes elegance, and maybe just a touch of sinister. That being said, it wouldn’t take much for the green one to change my mind. That color! The Lucite metallic highlighting every crease and every line in the sunlight. What a rock star! And the interior, with at least 4 different greens in there including a woven insert and headliner, and as is the case with all, that rear end with the continental hump and the exhaust coming out the bumper. But this one has a 430! Stunning, stunning cars. Dennis is truly a lucky man.
0:00 - NPD Collection
1:00 - 1956 Continental Mark II Black
6:14 - 1956 Continental Mark II Black Drive
8:21 - 1956 Continental Mark II Green
12:03 - 1956 Continental Mark II Green Drive
#MarkII #Continental #Edsel #Ford #Ocala #56Continental #NPD #Lucite #430 #BumperExhaust
S18E14

[@Porsche996driver]

That metallic green is amazing. Like a Palm Beach or Palm Springs cruiser. Perfect lines really makes a statement of whoever’s driving it! Bentley and Rolls make the modern bespoke coupe in the same graceful proportions.

[@willsco76]

I had the rare chance to drive one and there very heavy vehicles. But man what a car.

[@radioguy1620]

when you start custom weaving fabrics for your resto , wow top notch

[@joefwarren]

About 15 years ago I bought a 59 Thunderbird from a man in pahrump nv. He had about 30 cars on his property. I knew was a Mark II was, but I didn't know how special they were. He had a light blue Mark II with no rust I could've bought it for 5 grand.

[@voltron63]

cool vid..

[@christophermay4366]

those car's cost a mint to build....but with the uniqueness and history these car's have....eventually these car's will appreciate to that number....very few of these have survived

[@wiktorjachyra1869]

The black ford is now owned by the ford family

[@ronbyrd1616]

Were these 6 volt systems ?

[@medicaided42]

you didnt show inside the trunk

[@Porsche996driver]

Right I wanted to see how the spare sits in there under “the hump.”

[@denniss5505]

@@Porsche996driver yes, these are the models where the actual spare tire sits awkwardly in the middle of the trunk under the hump. My grandfather had one of these in his collection. It sold for the price of a small midwestern house in the late 90’s

[@Disques13Swing]

Too bad it was the standard 430 engine and not the 400 HP version with three 2 barrel carbs. That engine was an option only in 1958 for Mercury (all models), Lincoln, and the Continental Mark III. It is very easy to see the difference between the two versions as the 400 HP version had an oval air cleaner instead of the normal round one.

[@garywood9525]

What killed that car was the new Lincoln factory costs and that almost every piece on that car did not come from any other vehicle which meant that several nuts, bolts , clamps, and minor items were fabricated by hand to put into full production and only fit this car . In the early 70's I wanted one but it wasn't popular in my area as an Import because of the price and the limited Lincoln dealers. The ones I did find were not cheap even with the restoration costs on top of the used car price. In 68 I saw a Mark III that was a Limo service car picking up a older women on a Sunday , the driver was well dressed and parked near the curb with the passenger door opened . I was coming home when it was damp and had rained earlier with the overcast still there , I saw the car ahead and didn't know what it was but knew the truck was a Lincoln hump . The dual exhaust had the condensation puffs hitting the wet road but I did hear any noise , the MARK III was Black and as I walked by the paint had a mirror finish with a twin red stripe running the length at the mid point and it matched the red interior . The door was huge and it had the black padded roof as well, the car smelt new right from the tires and interior and as I got near the front the engine was quiet but that hood was so long . The front oozed Lincoln and the corner marker lights were on with the head lamp cover closed , the wheel covers were unique with all those fins and that fake 1930's looking spindle Nut made the seem to come out to the body width. In late 69 I did a short project for my class assignment on the mark III based on a detailed coverage in a Auto mag, the car body was cleaned and ready for paint which was dragged into a long tank of paint up to the deck area since almost all had the Vinyl roof anyway. This river of paint got into every seem and dripped of evenly as it came out to give that mirror finish , the mag said that the car had close to 70 lbs of covering on the body from primers to the final coat . That too was one I wanted to buy but was sparse as well in the late 80's , the one I did find was not the low mileage original own by the persons grand dad since new. I spotted the new paint over spray in cracks and areas the paint river was used to fill in and make smooth , the under neath had lost some rust protection from new and the brake lines were rotted while the brake pedal was far too worn down for just under 50'000 miles plus the tires looked like the second set with half the wear for a 50'000 mile radial . Looked great in the ad with a normal price if it was what the person claimed, but a restoration to factory finish on the paint and the chrome costs plus a rebuild on the 460 was throwing good money after bad for the gas to get there and the wasted time. Both cars are now so old that a high price for a restoration version is worth it for me if I finally got around to collecting a few and got to enjoy them for the next 20 years.

[@Disques13Swing]

Ford sold these with a base price of $10,000 plus options. They lost about $1,000 on every one. I think the proportions are strange. It's too big outside and too small inside. Worse yet, the rear deck was way too long.

[@eddierools]

Well everybody certainly has their own opinions, and I personally think they look beautiful.