Latest Cars News Blog: 1956 Lincoln Continental [Down On The Street]

1956 Lincoln Continental [Down On The Street]

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. It appears that we have a new Ultimate DOTS Neighborhood in Alameda, one that's provided us with the '67 Imperial, the '69 Volvo P1800, the '67 Olds Vista Cruiser, the '70 Lincoln Mark III, plus several cars you haven't seen yet… all in a one-block area! Some are clearly owned by the same lover of old iron, but the whole neighborhood seems to be infected by the glorious madness of vintage machinery.

This is either a 1956 or 1957 model; I can't tell the difference, so I flipped a coin to choose. You Lincoln experts can save the day by pointing out what makes it one or the other. Either way, it's pretty solid and it runs; since it's too nice for rat-rod-ization, my guess is that it's going to go the restoration route.

Check out this fine trunk ornament. Knights! Coats of arms! Somehow, this schtick wasn't lame in the 50s, very much unlike the Broughamized cheeze Detroit pasted on their cars in the 60s and 70s. Or was it always cheeze?

And the vents behind the rear quarter windows- what's the deal here? They look functional, but for what? Rear-mounted air-conditioning unit? Early attempt at flow-through ventilation? Rear brake cooling for total hoons?