Continental Mark II Walkaround

Seventy years ago, Ford Motor Company's Continental Mark II was a big deal.  It was a luxury car intended to evoke the classic Lincoln Continental of the 1940s, especially the original, prewar version.

For the public at large, a more sensational feature was its publicized price: $10,000 (actual list was $9,695).  A lot of money in those days.  Google AI has consumer prices increasing 12.24 times, making the publicized price $122,400 in 2026 dollars.  Put another way, a 1956 Ford Victoria hardtop coupe listed at $2,194, so the Mark II cost more than four times as much as that fairly standard car.

I wrote about the Mark II here, and presented competitive alternative designs here.

However, rather than evaluate the Continental's styling in reference to the original, classic Lincoln Continentals, for today's post I'll try to evaluate it as an independent effort.

The color of the featured car below is not very attractive.  I selected its photo series because the colors and lighting show body forms better that can be seen on the usual images of black-painted Continentals.

Gallery

1957 Continental Mark II - Broad Arrow Auctions photos
The Mark II debuted in the Fall of 1955 when panoramic (wraparound) windshields were at the height of their American fashion.  More will be said about it below, but for now I'll assert that its design was unique in its day.

Wheelbase is fairly long at 126 inches (3200 mm), same as '56 Lincolns, but not as long as those of contemporary standard Cadillacs.    Regarding proportions, the passenger compartment greenhouse strikes me as being too short for the car's length.  A slightly shorter hood/front end, say 6-9 inches (150-229 mm) worth might improve matters.  Also, a similar reduction in rear overhang would be useful stylistically.  That said, large, long trunks were becoming accepted practice then, so that overhang was a marketing consideration.

The backlight window curve echoes the windshield's.  Salient rear feature is the rounded cover over the spare tire's interior space (it was mounted at that angle, placed behind the trunk's floor.  It was a major linkage to the original Continental's appearance -- spare tire mounted behind the trunk.

Another mid-1950s feature is the engine exhaust venting in the rear bumper ensemble instead of the usual pipes set below the bumper.

The angle of the spare tire shape seems about the same as that of the backlight, a subtle, unifying touch if so.  Rear fenders are strongly defined at their tops and aft ends.  Tail light assemblies are discretely done.

Side character sculpting related to the fenderline except at the very front.  Its upkick by the rear wheel opening is a subtle, useful detail.  However, the rear fender upkick is too close to the forward anchorage of the C-pillar, creating a small zone of fussiness.  I wonder if the C-pillar is too wide.  Note the A-pillar angle.  Similar to '55 Chryslers and DeSotos, but wrapped farther aft.

The crisp, nearly-flat, nearly-linked windshield and side window tops was unusual; most American windshields were taller than the side windows in the mid-1950s.  Headlight assemblies are "frenched" and aggressive, another '50s thing.

The grille's shape is wide and bold, but the "eggcrate" mesh is subtle by comparison.  Turn indicator/running light assemblies mimic the rear end's engine exhaust ports.

1956 Continental Mark II - Daniel Schmitt photos
Bonus images showing the design from a higher perspective.  From here, the hood/front still seems too long, and the greenhouse too short.

The after part of the design flows better than the frontal.

1956 Continental Mark II - Broad Arrow photos
Now seen from near-overhead.  This clearly shows how window/windshield tops and adjacent roofline form a coherent visual unit almost unique in 1955 America.  (Studebaker was the other main exception to that norm.)

From above, the hood/front doesn't seem too long.  So maybe it's the fender length with those protruding headlight assemblies that's causing the visual problem.

1962 Buick Skylark Walkaround

In my 10 September 2018 post "The Outstanding 1962 Buick Skylark Sport Coupe" I wrote:

"I suspect that most readers of this blog have warm places in their hearts for some of the cars their families had when they were young.  That's certainly true for me.  One of those cars was the 1962 Buick Skylark Sport Coupe with the body painted black and the top painted white.  Plus having a red interior."

Today's post is a Walkaround regarding that design.  Some Skylark background is here.

As noted in a caption below, subject car photos were taken using a wide-angle lens.  That made the car look longer, sleeker than actuality.  Yet I used that set because the expected eight viewpoints were available (decent images sets of 1961/62 Skylarks are still rare on the Web).  Also, because the car had monochrome paint, the photos provide a better feeling for body sculpting.

Gallery

1961 Buick Skylark Coupe - General Motors photos
First-year Skylarks were coupes with fixed B-pillars.  For 1962 they became hardtop coupes with no visible B-pillars.

Most 1961/62 Skylarks were two-tone.  The 1962 model my parents owned had a black-and-while scheme such as the one shown here.

1962 Buick Skylark Hardtop Coupe - car-for-sale photos
Frontal styling is quite similar to that of standard-size '61 Buicks.  The main differences are grille bars and small pseudo-bumper guards on the larger cars.

This image is a test of the preceding one that was probably taken with a lens set in the wide-angle direction.  Nowadays many car photos seen via the Internet are wide-angle.  Sometimes that is necessary -- when the subject is in a cramped area where the photographer cannot stand away far enough that a normal setting can include the entire car.  The GM photo here was taken by a professional and can be considered essentially accurate.  The previous photo shows the car as being longer.  Try to ignore the distortion and focus on design details.

Buick's "compact" Special line included coupes with the same body as seen here.  Skylarks can be distinguished from mere Specials thanks to the wraparound tail light assemblies.

Rear detailing is horizontal-rectangular, unlike the multi-shaped sculpting on many of today's cars and SUVs.

The rear deck flares outward over the rear fender zone, a continuation of a form beginning at the front end.

That unifying sculpting is seen better here.  The lower sculpted line subtly hints at Buick's classic SweepSpear side-chrome motif such as found on 1953 Skylarks.  Front fenders sport rectangular echoes of Buick's 1949 "portholes."

The pointed fender fronts found here and all 1961 Buicks disappeared on standard-size 1962 Buicks, but were retained on Specials and Skylarks until 1963.

And an example of the red interior.

Project Nightingale Concept by Rolls-Royce

In mid-April 2026, Rolls-Royce announced a program of limited-production specialty cars for presumably discriminating buyers.  A roadster concept car was revealed.

In principle, I rather like the idea.  It harkens back to the 1920s and 1930s when luxury cars were given special bodies -- usually one-off custom designs.

Rolls-Royce's public relations web presentation includes the following:

"Still in its concept phase, Project Nightingale’s aesthetic is grounded in the belief that the most exquisite design emerges from precision, where function and form are inseparable.

Project Nightingale also draws inspiration from Rolls-Royce's red-badged 'EX' experimental prototypes of the 1920s — particularly 16EX and 17EX — some of the rarest
and most desirable motor cars in Rolls-Royce’s history.

These foundations informed Project Nightingale's three core principles."

"Coachbuild Collection unites a true coachbuilt motor car and an extraordinary multi-year programme of experiences.

The clients invited to join this remarkable programme have a special affinity with the brand.  As collectors of one-of-a-kind opportunities, they will be granted rare access to the innermost design studios within Rolls-Royce and gather for events in the world’s most desirable destinations."

"As the most exclusive division of Bespoke, Coachbuild is the automotive equivalent of haute couture. The invitation-only service offers individuals of extraordinary achievement, culture, and vision to craft an entirely original motor car — and stake claim in the marque’s legendary history."

That said, let's take a look at the associated concept car, along with my commentary.  I need to note that it's electricity-powered (or intended to be so, if that car isn't functional).  I think that is not a good idea, given the problems inherent with that technology.  But seriously rich buyers might not mind, because they would have other, more practical cars available.

Photos below are via Rolls-Royce, colors adjusted my me.

Gallery

The grille is similar to Rolls grilles of the past decade or so.  The vertical lights on the fender fronts are in the spirit of current Cadillac and Kia designs -- not unique.

The profile is in the same spirit as recent Roll sedans.  Note the "suicide" door hinging.

For some reason (Teslas?), electric car styling by many carmakers tends to be simpler than styling of conventionally-powered equivalents.  Same story here.

Concept cars often lack bumpers because those could interfere with the intended visual concepts presented.  This car does have bumpers, but they seem too puny for everyday protection.  A front bumper that's a bit more forward of the grille might work.

But the tapered rear bodywork seems at some risk, given the bumper seen here.

Cockpit view.  Instrumentation is hard to detect.  Maybe it's all in an electronic screen that's not activated in this image.

Renault Dauphine Walkaround

In the late 1950s, Americans became more accepting of small (by our standards) foreign cars.  British sports cars were appearing in noticeable numbers by the early '50s in Washington State, where I grew up.  By mid-decade, Volkswagen Beetles were on the scene, later supported by clever advertising.  So other marques decided to enter that expanding, potentially huge, automobile market.

One such entry was Renault, at the time owned by the French government.  Its car was the Dauphine, produced 1956-1967.  At first, Dauphines sold fairly well, buyers perhaps thinking they were a more modern, and therefore better, car than the VW.  Sadly for Renault, Dauphines proved to be under-powered and unreliable under American driving conditions and sales collapsed.  They sold better elsewhere, hence the long production run.

I wrote about the Dauphine here.  The post includes some French publicity photos.

The first link above notes that Dauphine's styling was derived from that of the Renault Frégate, produced 1950-1961.  Comparative side-views are presented below, along with a Dauphine walkaround set.

Gallery

Renault Frégate - photo via zorblogauto
Frégates had the conventional engine-front, drive wheels rear, layout.  The wheelbase was 110.2 inches (2800 mm).

1959 Renault Dauphine - BaT Auctions photo
The Dauphine's wheelbase was 89.3 inches (2267 mm), its motor and driving wheels at the rear, á la VW Beetle.  Aside from the backlight window and some door cut-lines, the passenger compartment closely resembles that of the Frégate.  Perhaps some components were shared.

1962 Renault Dauphine - Bilweb Auctions photo set
A rather awkward-looking design, not uncommon for Renault.

The side air intake for the radiator aligns with the aft door cutline, a useful simplification.

Additional air vents are at the rear.

The engine hood has some sculpting, and the profiles of those air vents have curved shaping.  I think that such a small car would have justified a slightly narrower, more rectangular, shape for the vents, relating better to the aft hood cutline.

By today's standards, the car seems too narrow.  But more width would have required more weight and more engine power, lifting the car from its intended market segment.

The passenger compartment greenhouse seems bulky due to its heavy window framing.  But that was probably the best Renault could do in terms of sheet metal forming at the time the Frégate was developed (late 1940s).

The lack of a front radiator grille made for a bland design -- a limitation of today's electricity-powered cars.

Like the rear engine compartment hood, the frontal trunk lid has some central sculpting.  The bumper is shaped to conform to maximal European license plate shapes.

Dashboard view.

First-Generation American Panoramic Windshields

General Motors usually set the styling theme pace for American carmakers from the late 1920s through the 1960s.  Of course there were exceptions.  Other firms sometimes introduced features before GM -- an example is placing headlights in front fenders.  And GM sometimes designed cars that didn't sell well -- the late 1950s, for example.

One styling feature that briefly dominated American design was the panoramic (or "wraparound" as we usually termed it in those days) windshield.  It was a pet project of GM's design supremo Harley Earl.  They first appeared 1950-51 on the LeSabre and XP-300 "dream cars."  Model year 1953 saw them on Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Fiesta convertibles.  And for 1954, Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs were redesigned with panoramic windshields.

Model year 1955 saw most models from the other carmakers sporting such windshields, although it took until 1956 for a few other brands to catch up.  Some models such as Studebaker coupes and Nash Metropolitans never went panoramic.

Not all brands from each manufacturer are shown below.  Only examples of each new windshield design are presented in the interest of keeping this post from becoming too long.  The only major omission is the 1956 Lincoln whose windshield was similar to other vertical A-pillar designs.

Gallery

1954 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - BaT Auctions photos
Here is GM's C-body version.

Windshield is tall and framed by A-pillars that are essentially vertical.

1954 Oldsmobile Super 88 - RM Sotheby's photos
GM B-body windshield.

Also tall, but the A-pillar slants forward.

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air - car-for-sale photos
C-body cars were redesigned for 1955.

A-pillars are essentially vertical, a common solution.

1955 Ford Customline - car-for-sale photos
Fords were massively facelifted for 1955.  Roofs were flatter and windshields became panoramic, but not as high as the GM versions.

Again, a vertical A-pillar.

1957 Continental Mark II - car-for-sale photos
The Mark II appeared for model year 1956.  Its panoramic windshield is unlike the others shown here.  It does not intrude into the roofline.

A-pillars slant to the rear.

1955 DeSoto Firedome - Barrett-Jackson photos
Windshields used for Chryslers and DeSotos.  Not as tall as General Motor's versions.

The main difference was the aft-slanting A-pillar.  Same sort of pillar as before, but anchored farther aft.  This gave Chrysler cars a more conventional appearance and seems to have reduced or eliminated the distortion found on GM cars.  In 1956 my father test-drove Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets, experiencing annoying distortion.  So he bought a DeSoto instead.

1955 Dodge Coronet - GAA Auction photos
The panoramic on CHhysler Corporation's entry brands.  Its upper frame is aligned with the upper side window framing.

Another aft-slanting A-pillar.

1955 Packard 400 - Daniel Schmitt photos
Packard's strong '55 facelift included a panoramic windshield.

It's pretty much like the GM vertical A-pillar designs.

1955 Studebaker Champion - car-for-sale photos
Studebaker added panoramics partway in to the 1955 model year.

Similar to Chrysler's solution.

1955 Nash Ambassador - photo via Hemmings
Another facelift, but not as strong as Ford's or Packard's -- changes were at the front end, plus the windshield.

1955 Nash Ambassador - car-for-sale photo
Again, a largely vertical A-pillar

1956 Nash Rambler - car-for-sale photos
Rambler was redesigned for 1956, so its panoramic windshield was probably intrinsic to the styling.

From this photo, the pillar is vertical.  But back in the day, I always felt that the A-pillar tilted slightly aft.