Sales of the hyper-exclusive Continental Mark II would slip to just 444 for 1957, furthering Ford’s interest in closing its halo luxury car division. This one is presented in Starmist White paint with red leather and appears ready for placement in the showroom. Paired with a Turbo Drive 3-speed automatic transmission, the 368/285 HP V-8 engine is fed by a 4-barrel carburetor and dressed beautifully with finned aluminum valve covers. Mark II customers enjoyed a bevy of standard amenities, including a Town & Country AM radio, power steering, power door locks, power windows and an in-dash clock. Air conditioning was the only option available on a Mark II, and this example is so equipped. Rolling on wide whitewall tires with the factory steel wheels and polished finned wheel covers, the overall look is very impressive. In 1953, GM unleashed three special-edition vehicles to celebrate and demonstrate the company’s leadership in design—the Cadillac Eldorado, the Buick Skylark and the Oldsmobile Fiesta. Each was priced very expensively, with the Eldorado commanding nearly $8,000, or about $95,000 today, a shocking amount of money for 1953. That same year, Packard would also introduce a special-edition, high-luxe convertible, the Caribbean, priced around $6,000. A bit later, in 1955, Chrysler would make Imperial a standalone division, giving Chrysler an absolutely dedicated luxury brand. The nearly $5,600 Crown Imperial convertible would serve as its halo car below the limousine. While Lincoln’s new Premiere convertible for 1956 would command about $5,400, public impression was that Lincoln competed more directly with Buick and Chrysler rather than Cadillac, Imperial and Packard. Lincoln was in need of an image overhaul, so the Continental Division was created. Its purpose would be to produce an all-new luxury car to rival even Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz, thus giving people the impression that Lincoln must compete more directly with Cadillac, Imperial and Packard. For 1956, Continental would introduce the Mark II, a largely hand-built, two-door hardtop coupe. Stickering over $10,000, only one option was available, which was air conditioning. Everything else was included, and the customer could pick virtually any color combination they wished. With such a stratospheric price, only 1,769 were built by the time production ceased in 1957, the same year Cadillac would introduce its $13,000 Eldorado Brougham.
