This is not a custom car, this is not something that someone at home cobbled together to complete their artistic vision or anything like that. Nope, this is a 1958 Lincoln Premiere and among other things it is the largest unibody car ever produced by any manufacturer anywhere. With a curb weight of around 5,000lbs, the looks of something out of a late 1950s Sci-Fi movie, an overall length of nearly 20ft, a 430ci MEL engine, and a power rear window it defined a period in Lincoln’s history that everyone who loves the brand would likely just as soon forget.
In the late 50s Lincoln was bleeding money and part of the reason was the work done on this car. The Premiere was a step ahead of the Capri and a step below the ultra-lux Continental. A brace of the best automotive styling minds of the era worked on the car and while that sounds like a great thing on paper, it seems that their collective genius turned into a serious case of “a little goes a long way” and the end result was one of the largest cars ever made.
The nose of the car is one of the closest attempts a factory got at matching the look of the time’s custom cars and hot rods. The canted lights the bar-style grill, and the “tucked” bumper were all things that builders were doing to show cars at the time. Those show cars were just a few feet narrower than this thing.
How big are these cars? There’s 63″ of shoulder room inside the machine. That’s 5’3″ for those of you playing at home. A King Ranch F-350 has 66″. The one major thing that we like about the car is the 430ci MEL engine. Rated at 375hp, the big MEL was one of the coolest engines of its era. Hot rodders stuck them in lightweight coupes and really flew. They are big, heavy lumps of iron but they are reasonably considered the best things that came out of the disastrous Edsel line and weirdo Lincolns of this period.
So there you have it. Want to put some lipstick back on this pig?
eBay Link: Click here to see the full ad for this 1958 Lincoln Premiere, a truly ugly monster
Bangshift should buy it and then challenge a custom builder to “knock the ugly” out of it. No explosives, fire or heavy objects allowed.
I disagree – put it on air bags, give it a gloss black paint job, mold in the bumpers and paint them body colour. A black vinyl and interior with race seats would be next to tidy up the inside. Then slot in a twin turbo Shotgun, some huge disc brakes front and rear and some black 17 inch alloy wheels and call it FrankenFord…
Fads come & go. Ugly is in right now. Just look at the new car offerings.
“A brace of the best automotive styling minds of the era worked on the car” – apparently with none of them looking at each other’s work?
Take the rocket nose cones off the front bumper and the weird scallops off the front fenders, and it would look pretty decent. The bodywork looks OK from the firewall back.
Took my driver test age 16 in a ’57 Lincoln Premiere w/Continental kit. I guess my dad figured if I could drive that, I could drive anything.
19 feet of awesome! Where do I sign up?
I would put those crawler tracks they put on pick up truck on that beast.
Appliqué some Star Wars style guns and a turret , bag. your ready for the apocalypse .
Saw one of these at Country Classic Cars last year. Thought it was beautiful. Hopefully it wasn’t lost in the big fire they just had.
Great car! I hope it gets to a good home and gets back on the road.
THAT will get you down the highway in style!
Bag it (it was designed for air ride). Skirt it. Cruise it!
Come on BS… Just because it’s not an EVO doesn’t mean it’s ugly. That car has plenty of potential… even though it’s a Ford.
I remember one that my Uncle had. Bought it brand new, worst piece of \”Crap\” he ever owned. He couldn\’t make any kind of deal to get rid of it at all. We had it on pretty good authority that the mysterious fire that destroyed it was, how can I say it politely? was arranged!!!!
Think the term is “Jewish Lightning ” lol
Why would anybody go that route in 1958 ? 58 Caddys were beautiful !!!!
Its in KY, rusted to the ground.