The 1958 Lincolns and Continentals were totally new in body and appearance and were assembled in a new plant. The bodies were completely restyled with an aggressive, angular look replacing the Futura dream car inspired styling on the '56 and '57 Lincolns. The 1958 Lincolns had unit body construction; they were the largest and heaviest frameless passenger cars ever made. The '58 models weighed 5000 pounds and, at 229 inches long, they were the longest non-limo Lincolns ever made to date.

Four body styles were offered: a pillared four-door sedan, a two-door hardtop, a four-door hardtop (known as the Landau) and a 2 door convertible. The cars featured a new suspension - coil springs all around with trailing arms at the rear wheels.

The Continental was no longer a separate model line; it now was the model designation for the top-of-the-line Lincoln. The Continental Mark III featured a reverse slant, retractable rear window; regular Lincolns had wraparound rear windows. Continentals differed from Lincoln Premieres and Capris in the grille design and taillight design as well.

These big cars had power, too - a 430 cubic-inch V8 engine with 375 horsepower. These cars could go from a standing start to 60 miles per hour in 9.5 seconds. Unfortunately, the '58s were plagued by problems - poor workmanship, rattles, squeaks and vibration at speed. The public was not enamored of the new design which ran from the 1958 through the 1960 model year. Just look at Lincoln's sales compared with Cadillac and how sales of the Lincoln and Continental brands failed to rebound from the 1958 recession. Ford Motor Co. reportedly lost $60 million on the 1958-60 Lincolns. Things didn't begin to improve until Lincoln given a brand new body for 1961:

Lincoln's new 1961 slab-side, suicide-door design was praised by the automotive press. Car Life magazine awarded the Lincoln Continental its 1961 Engineering Excellence Award; the Industrial Design Institute gave it an award for its overall appearance and execution. But sales were hampered by limited body styles. Unlike its predecessor, the '61 was offered only with four doors - as a non-hardtop sedan or a convertible. Sales jumped when a two-door hardtop was introduced in 1966. Between 1961 and '65, Lincoln made $20 million - its first profitable period since before World War II.

The '58-'60 Continental Models are known as The Lost Marks by most Lincoln enthusiasts. Ford conveniently obliterated the existence of the 1958 Continental Mark III when it bestowed the same name on the 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III personal luxury coupe, introduced in April of 1968.

1958 was the first year that Lincolns and Thunderbirds were produced in the same plant. The '58 T'Bird, which also featured unit body construction, was also produced at the new Wixom manufacturing facility. Ford closed the Wixom Assembly Plant in 2007. The last car produced was a Lincoln Town Car which rolled off the line just after noon on May 31st. Over the plant's 50 years of operation, it produced over 6.6 million automobiles. (originally posted 7/29/11)