The design: A unified expression of strength, silence, durability.
New machines...new assembly methods bring precision aircraft tolerance to the fine car. Designing a car to deliver perfect reliability is one thing, producing it in quantity is quite another.
There are hundreds of things different about this car. Like the more than 200 pounds of sound- and weather-proofing used - layers of felt, sound deadeners and fiber glass pads up to 2½ inches thick, all contributing importantly to the Lincoln Continental concept of motoring luxury. Little things like nylon lining in hand brake cables to prevent rust - important things like windshield wiper blades operated by hydraulic motors - engineering and manufacture so careful that ball-joints are pressure lubricated for 30,000 mile intervals; and regular maintenance, including oil changes, is necessary only at 6,000 mile intervals.
New machines...new assembly methods bring precision aircraft tolerance to the fine car.
Perhaps the engine best illustrates the new accuracy and precision that Lincoln Continental brings to the fine car field in 1961. It is America's largest automobile engine. It is also America's most exactingly built engine.
In each engine, all critical parts are hand-matched in sets for perfect balance and fit. Standards were so exacting that new machines had to be designed and built before the parts could be manufactured. Critical parts are chrome-plated, or made from stainless steel for increased durability. The cylinder bores are honed twice to provide more positive lubrication of the cylinder walls.
This emphasis on accuracy, on complete reliability, is carried throughout. It shows up everywhere...in the special jigs and body gauges used to insure a perfect fit of doors and windows...in exhaustive wind tunnel tests....in checks that measure parts to millionths of an inch...in the hand selection and making of gears....even in the special insulation used in the electrical system.
At left: This machine electronically checks the entire wiring system of the 1961 Lincoln Continental. The machine is so accurate that it not only detects any failures actually present...but also makes sure each component draws just the proper amount of electrical current.
