The area right around Alameda High School has been a good one for DOTS cars; within a block of today's car we have the '68 Ranchero, the '78 Jaguar XJ-6, and a couple other cars I haven't got around to posting yet.

This car always parks in the same spot next to the school; the interesting thing about this to me is that, during my days at AHS, the crypto-hipster English teacher who came the closest to credible lust-objecthood for teenage boys (being the only female teacher under 50 certainly helped) drove a beater '63 suicide-door Continental and parked it in this very same spot. Is this spot reserved for mean-looking Continentals only? If so, the city needs to make it official with some signage!

Ah, suicide doors. The name alone makes them cool! Sadly, 1969 was the final year for this essential feature. Jeez, Ford, just put big warning labels so backseaters don't open them while the car's in motion and they'll be totally safe!

I like to think that fellow AHS alum Jim Morrison rode in the back of this car when it was new, preferably while passed out from overindulgence in Seconal/Wild Turkey peyote-enhanced highballs. Wow, maybe the crusty remnants of the Lizard King's puke remain under the carpeting!

For '69, you got a 365-horse 460 to haul your 5,000-pound slab-o-luxury (and its insensate rockstar passengers) around. Fins hadn't totally disappeared by '69, but they were pretty subtle.

When you see this in your rearview mirror, don't hit the brakes!

If we were to give this car the official Jalopnik Stamp-O-Approval treatment, we'd do the usual cam/heads/intake/headers routine on the engine, tint the windows far beyond legality, put the biggest rubber possible under it, and install Cherry Bombs. Then, a quick trip to Tijuana for a red velvet diamond-tufted interior- as much like an 1895 French cathouse as possible- and fur headliner. Oh yeah, plus it needs a Toploader.

You can still see the slab sides of the more famous early-60s Continentals here, but the grille is showing hints of the silly-yet-righteous Malaise Era Lincolns to follow in the next decade.














Comments
Tits on glass.
60's continentals have always been my favorite. My uncle had a black '64 (just like the one in the Matrix) when I was 6 or 7, and I have wanted one since. My favorite DOTS yet.
Oh baby. In my less reasonable years, I nearly bought one of these (well, a '63) that was in just horrible shape. But it was the same car in which JFK was shot (except, you know, not the convertible...). For some reason that made it cool to me.
Under the hood was a decrepit plastic pouch tacked to the wheel well that contained antifreeze with a tube comping out of it. Worse, it was clearly a stock part.
Question: I notice the new RR convertible has suicide doors on the production vehicle, not just the concept. If a RR can have them, why not a Ford? Did RR make them safe somehow?
I think i'm a little lightheaded....i don't care how diffcult it is to park in the city, i want one!!
Awesome. My fave DOTS car yet. I heart old Lincolns. Escpecially Continentals, and especially suicide doors.
This one just look plain bad ass.
Does everyone remember the one Oliver and Lisa Douglas had on Green Acres? It was a convertible, of course. Oliver ended up trading it in on a Grand Marquis convertible in '70, 'cause Lincoln blew it when they stopped making them.
Darling I love you but give me Park Avenue!!!
I always thought that a perfect engine / trans swap for one of these would be a 32V 5.4 liter V8 from a totalled Lincoln Navigator (plenty of ditzy cell phone-blabbing trophy wives sending them to junkyards). Great combo of classic looks and modern running gear.
I had a cherry '66 when I was 20. These cars were a disaster electrically. Circuit breakers for the lighting system would heat up after about 20 minutes and cause the lights to flash on and off. Mine had two dead window motors and a leaky power steering pump, which was in the 462's engine block, water pump style. These things conspired to keep me close to home, so the Lincoln had to go.
As usual, another amazing find.
My cousin's neighbor had a 61 Continental convertible, which I believe he bought new, and kept all-original (the chrome was shiny, and the paint was glossy!). It didn't get driven much, but it was a fine sight to behold.
Suicide doors really made these cars stand out from the aircraft-carrier-as-car standards of the 60s.
In my fantasy garage there still resides a Continental with a modern V8 diesel swap with a big turbo upgrade. Think of the sound... and the torques! I guess unfulfilled dreams are cheaper.
Best DOTS yet. There's a guy near me who has a shop with dozens of these things, and later model Lincolns, too. Most are just rotting away, waiting purchase to be restored or someone in need of parts. I hear he sells parts to people all over the world. I lust after one each and every time I drive by.
If that isn't "battleship gray" I don't know what is. This car is such class it makes the landau top look good. The side markers are in astonishingly good condition.
I've never been much on 60-70's era Detroit Iron, but, Good Golly Miss Molly - That is an awesome car!!!!!
I'd upgrade the rubber, brakes & motorvation, but leave that exterior alone! I'd probably give the interior a good thrice-over, too - the possibility of leftover Morrison DNA in there is, uh, ummm, not appetizing.
Oh yea, 2 more things:
1) awesome job of docking that carrier.
2) I'd rock the original steel wheels, or maybe go an inch bigger (in the most stock looking wheels I could find) to hide the most massive set of 4-wheel discs possible. I have this weird thing about wanting to stop without the bending of sheet metal...
Not the prettiest iteration, but what a car. Lincoln ought to get their act together and build some sort of Phantom-rivalling beast in the vein of the '60s Continental.
Incomparable! I love that the license number contains "DNF". I'm not sure this thing could finish a trip around the block.
I would be worried if this was parked in front of my child's school.
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