QOTD: The Best and the Worst?

As you read in the previous post, Lincoln has finally admitted what everyone by now knew — that the Continental’s days are numbered. The marque plans to shelve the model after pulling the plug on production at the end of the year.

Big sedans have all the appeal of an uncontrolled cough in a crowded elevator right now, so there’s dim hope that the Continental name will ever grace a stately, rear-drive sedan or coupe in anyone’s near future. At least we have our memories, though… not all of which are good ones.

Perhaps this writer is speaking for himself. Maybe you’ve never seen a Continental you didn’t love. Others will disagree and choose to play favorites.

There’s certainly a long list of vehicles from which to choose. The first-generation, Tinseltown Contis never did it for me, style-wise, but one can appreciate their presence and panache, as well as their V-12 powerplants. The exceptionally expensive, crafted-with-care Mark II of ’56-’57 was a jewel, but maybe too much of one. The unibody behemoths of the late Fifties, so hated by Robert McNamara, were Exhibit A at the Dangers of Capitalism trial.

Ah, but the slab-sided Sixties… Mmmmm, that was where it’s at. The best Continental, in this writer’s entirely subjective opinion? The ’64. Stretched three inches for that year, it best combined the minimalist elegance that defined the Kennedy-era Continentals with the hulking size that emerged later in the model’s run.

A close runner-up is the Continental Mark III (1969-1971), which deserved top billing in The French Connection. A money maker by design, the quintessential personal luxury coupe came into being after Lee Iacocca looked at the floundering four-door Thunderbird and figured its underpinnings could be put to better use. The idea certainly panned out. With margins as wide as its split front bench, the Mark III was a license to print money, as well as a gorgeous thing to look at.

Maybe your tastes lie elsewhere, though. Maybe a two-tone Mark V with the faux cabriolet roof is your bag. Maybe the bustleback of the Fox-body Continental of 1982 gets you hot under the collar — especially when you think of the oh-so-rare BMW diesel engine option. Then there’s the Mark VII and VIII coupes that aimed to inject a much-needed dose of sport into Lincoln’s calcified veins.

Is it possible your favorite Continental emerged after that date? Maybe a late-’80s example — the kind often seen with a blown rear suspension, its bumper bouncing off of speed bumps in a mall parking lot? We won’t judge you if that’s the case. Not publicly, anyway.

There’s lots to choose from here, folks. A lifetime of Continentals, but for each of you, there can be only one best and one worst. What are they?

[Images: Lincoln Motor Company, Murilee Martin/TTAC]