Why are other Continentals worth more?

[Barry Wolk]

Bentley, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Cunningham, and others have all produced "Continentals" that are worth far more than Mark IIs. Why aren't Mark IIs $100,000 cars, at least? Parts are relatively cheap compared to the names mentioned. Mechanically, they are complicated, only by the number of options and packaging, but takes no great skills to work on. I think that that's part of the problem. The cars have an unwarranted reputation for being difficult to work on when the people saying that have never worked on one. We've got to stop that myth if we want prices to rise accordingly.

Other than the fact that the engine has to come out to get the trans out, what, specifically, is difficult about these cars?

[Mark Norris]

I agree Barry ..there is nothing difficult about looking after and maintaining a MKII, no more than any other 1950s car.

I've got a theory when it comes to classic/vintage car values. You need as many of the following four points to maximise desirability and value;

1) A successful racing history of the mark, it does not have to be lots of races ..it just needs to be prestigious races. No score for us
2) Good looks and timeless classic lines ...we score there
3) An image in the public mind with repeated references in the media (could be TV, magazines, web ..whatever). Low/no score for us there
4) Very expensive and exclusive when new ...we score there

However prewar Bentley & Rolls Royce and post war Porches all score well. As does my vintage Lagonda though most people don't know they won LeMans in 1935! Regardless I love my MKII.

[Jack Bowser]

My opinion for what it's worth, Mark II's were expensive from the start so they were bought by the wealthy who only drove them in nice weather to church and the country club.
Therefore many have survived in good condition so there is still a lot of them still around making them not that rare. Marks # 3 point is another real reason. Most people are not aware of our amazing Mark II's.
I believe Mark II's are finally getting the respect they deserve and real nice ones are now fetching $100,000 and more.
I will never sell mine for less that 6 figures but I am not expecting to sell mine anytime soon.

[Roger Zimmermann]

For 30 to 40 years ago, the Mark II was rather expensive compared to a '57/58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Now it's the contrary...Both cars were for the same kind of customers; the air suspension almost killed the Brougham. Many have been converted to steel springs. When I sold mine, it was still with its air suspension.

[lld]

No real data to support my opinion but here are a few of my thoughts:

. although it is different in many ways (particularly size and interior), to many people, it looks very similar to the Thunderbirds of the same era which are not fetching big money and are thought of as being relatively common.

. Ford/Lincoln somewhat corrupted the prestige of the car being a Continental by offering many years of Lincoln Continental models, many people just consider it one of the early ones in a series of Mark X cars.

. its an American made car, there are very few American cars (made in the 50s and 60s) that are thought of as very rare and have very high resale value.

. there are so many Mark IIs that are in very poor condition and are being sold at very low prices, they pull down the whole Mark II market. A rare foreign car draws big bucks even if it is very poor condition

Larry

[Emmanuel from Belgium]

I have owned a 1959 Thunderbird, so similar size and technical, but the Mark II drives ... really better than a Thunderbird or any other Ford (I drove four 50s Ford in my young time).
In my opinion, the interior of the Mark II is almost equivalent to the Silver Cloud interior quality.

Similar "problem" for the last Packard (fifties), they are very low priced and in Europa, nobody want to pay 20k for a Packard Coupe. It is a type or cars very hard to sell in Europa.
A 55-57 Chevrolet Bel Air was a very popular car ... now, it worth 100k (Bel Air Coupe), despite there are still a lot of theses (more than 300.000 were produced for 55-57).

But you can ask the same question for some Rolls-Royce models : why a Silver Shadow worth "only" 25k and a Silver Spirit 15k ?
The best price increase for RR is the Corniche Fixedcoupe model. Price are today 3x the price of 2000-2001.
Not for the Silver Shadow (saloon).

But I don't choose car for the value, I choose with my heart :-)
And I specially love American car 1954-1958 area, hardtop coupe models only.