1970 Lincoln Continental four-door 6.6L V8 3AT RWD (166 HP)

Vehicle Overview

The fifth generation of the Lincoln Continental returned to the body-on-frame platform since making a unibody construction for such a large land yacht was just too challenging, but it came with its benefits.

While the muscle car had lived its final years and California had already introduced its emission standards, Lincoln tried to impress customers with a luxurious vehicle that could overtake the competition. The result was the 1970 Lincoln Continental built on a chassis shared with the Mercury Marquis but with a longer wheelbase. Thanks to this approach, the automaker could lower production costs while still providing a high level of comfort for its customers. However, this system led to a heavier vehicle, which forced the American luxury brand to install a big V8 under the hood that wasn’t that friendly in terms of fuel efficiency. Due to that, the automaker used a smaller powerhouse for California than for the rest of the U.S. market.

The 1970 Lincoln Continental featured a squared-looking front fascia sporting a broad grille with horizontal slats. These were extended over the headlights’ covers. Lincoln adopted this system to make the vehicles look more menacing and also to lower the risks of having them chipped on the highway. Later models had an egg-crate grille with chromed horizontal and vertical slats. A massive chromed metallic bumper covered the lower side of the front fascia and integrated the parking lights at the front and the blinkers on the sides.

Lincoln shaped the fifth generation of the Continental as an evolution over the previous model. As a result, the long, straight lines characterized the vehicle. In addition, it sported a chromed trim that ran along the waistline from the front fenders all the way to the back, over the taillights. Unlike its predecessor, though, it featured front-hinged doors for safety reasons, but just like that model, it had frameless windows that made the vehicle look sleek. In the following years, GM and Chrysler shrunk their full-size luxury sedans, so the 1977 Lincoln Continental became the epitome of a land yacht since it was the longest production car in the world, besides custom and special-ordered limousines made by Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce. At the back, the automaker installed vertical, pinched-out taillights that flanked the rear fascia, while the lower area was covered by a chromed metallic bumper, echoing the one from upfront.

Inside, acres of leather covered the two bench seats for the front and rear passengers. In addition, the 1970 Lincoln Town car had leather-covered door cards. Fronting the driver was a long instrument cluster featuring a ribbon speedometer that used a horizontal bar instead of a needle. It was marked up to 120 mph (193 kph). In addition, the automaker added three rectangular gauges for the coolant temperature and oil pressure and an analog clock on the right, while on the left side of the steering column were the dials for the fuel level and the ammeter. The cruise control buttons were mounted on the horizontal stalks of the steering wheel. Like any luxury car from that era, the full-size sedan featured air conditioning, a radio, and power windows.

Lincoln learned from its mistakes. Instead of using drum brakes for all wheels, it installed disc brakes at the front. Furthermore, an anti-lock braking system for the rear axle named Sure-Trak was on the options list. The suspension was tuned for comfort, not high-speed cornering maneuvers. Depending on the state, the vehicle was powered by a choice of V8 engines. Both were paired with a three-speed automatic transmission that sent all the power to the rear wheels.