One 1956 Lincoln Premiere Is a Rare, Cool-Adorned Classic Clad With Gizmos and Gadgets

The 1956 Lincoln Premiere convertible in our story is another find of YouTubing classic car enthusiast Lou Costabile. The video was shot during the August Pebble Beach Concours of Elegance. However, the YouTuber posted it only recently – and the time couldn't be more wonderful for such a lovely Lincoln.

Arguably the best-looking automobile of 1956 and probably the all-time Lincoln beauty queen, this convertible is from the first model year in the short five-year production run. The clean design lines of the Premiere draw attention away from its massive size.

Two hundred twenty-three inches long, eighty inches wide, and sixty inches tall (5.6 meters x 2 meters x 1.5 meters) is a lot of Lincoln, especially for a two-door design. The soft top variant of the Premiere only saw 2,447 copies for the initial model year - and the Taos Turquoise color makes this ever so rarer. According to the owner – a Lincoln Continental Owner's Club member – some hundred still exist, and few have this livery.

Lincoln started with a blank sheet of paper when the designers penned the Premiere (and every other model in the division's range). This renewing effort resulted in the newly introduced model bearing an almost identical profile to the Capri (the latter entered its second generation in 1956).

Curiously, the range-topping Premiere outsold its identical twin almost five to one in the first year of their coexistence, despite the price difference of nearly $500. The higher-ranking newcomer sold over 42,000 units, while the Capri managed a modest 8,000.

Overall, the "Finest in the Fine Car Field" – the Premiere – was the "longest, lowest, loveliest" Lincoln ever. And the mechanical improvements helped tremendously in establishing it as the high-class automobile of the day.

The 368 CID (six-liter) Y-block V8 offered 285 hp (almost 290 PS) and 401 ft-lb (544 Nm). The three-speed Turbo-Drive automatic proved a reliable partner for the big engine; the 3.31 rear had no trouble with the Premiere's long road trips.

The 130-mph speedometer (209 kph) was a bold statement (the performance Mustangs and Chevelles of 1970 had a more modest 120 mph/193 kph clock limit). The real-life top speed achieved by the premiering Premiere was 115 mph (185 kph).

At its debut, the automotive media praised its drivability – particularly cornering stability and handling. The engine greatly impacted this feature and so did the improved suspensions (rear leaf springs moved outboard precisely to tick the comfort box). The massive automobile also carried a lot of weight (4,740 lbs. / 2,150 kg). Its clever design and improved powertrain didn't allow for dreariness.

The car looked fast – thanks to forward-canted headlamps, flat horizontal lines running the entire body length, and fluid back, with dual exhausts protruding straight through the back bumper's chromed pizzazz.

Speaking of brightness and shine, the massive mirror-polished surface of the bumper had a practical use, too. When reversing, the lights array under the trunk lid reflected on the polished metal and improved night visibility.

This and several other features granted the 1956 Lincoln line an award from the New York Industrial Designers Institute. It was the first automobile to have received this distinction - this should add significantly more weight to styling quality.

The iconic fins – one of the distinctive marks of 50s automotive fashion – were budding under the crests on top of the rear fenders. In 1956 only, the Lincoln Premiere proudly wore the unmistakable knight decorations on the hood and trunk lid.

To keep a clean look at the back, the tank cap is hidden behind the slant license plate, and the lid lock is the knight's head. Play the video to see how the helmet visor of the gold-plated knight hides the mundane keyhole in plain sight.

Another notable and very cool feature of this car is the dual fog-and-search lights/side mirrors. Apart from the sheer outrageousness of putting two side mirrors (most cars had one, offered as an option), the ingenious design also encased the powerful pistol-grip-controlled search spotlights in the mirrors' housings. One detail that wowed the passengers was the self-turning Station Search knob as the radio browsed through the Town or Country bandwidths.

And to keep the cool factor at the same level as the chrome cladding, the door handles mimic window cranks. As for the windows themselves – Lincoln put power at the driver's fingertips: power windows, power seats (four-way), power antenna, power steering, and power lubrication. This last gizmo allowed the oiling of twelve chassis points (while on the move!) with one button push.

Ford managed to spotlight its high-end division with the Lincoln Premiere (the exclusivist Continental was still an independent brand altogether) but failed to flip the sales charts as predicted. Customers preferred the "personal luxury" of the Ford-badged Thunderbird (especially after the Blue Oval execs threw in the second row of seats in '58). As such, the Premiere was written off just five years after it dawned upon Planet Piston.

It left its mark nonetheless, redefining luxury in the American automobile trends and breaking away from the 40s-tributary "soap-bar" design cues in cars. And some blistering good-looking examples, like this Taos Turquoise convertible, are the occasional reminder that cars used to be breathtakingly beautiful once upon a time.

The owner of this vehicle bought it in 2016 and invested around $300,000 in restoring it to factory correctness. It's a lot of money, but the car is worth every dime and ounce of effort. It is a Concours-winning strive – this Premiere took home grand prizes – and it stands as proof that many things were better in the past. Cars included.