Background: At $9,960 the 1956 Continental Mark II was the most expensive American production car of the '50s. A 3-bedroom brick ranch home in Detroit's suburbs was $10,000 and a new Rolls Royce was $9,600, to put things in perspective. Continental lost $1,000 on every car it produced but the prestige it gained for Ford Motor Company was worth every penny.

There were sales goals of 2,000 cars a year for five years. Astounding sales of 2,550 units in 1956 led to talk of expanding the product offering by producing a 4-door variant and a Retractable hardtop based on the coupe. Drawings for a convertible/retractable were on the table as early as 1953. The chassis for the coupe had been designed with an additional crossmember to accommodate the additional weight of a convertible body on a stock frame.

Unfortunately, sales of the 1957 model dropped to just 444 units. The country was in a recession and Ford Motor Company had just gone public and now had stockholders to answer to. The project was canceled by Henry Ford II and the Continental plant was retooled to build the ill-fated Edsel.

The Continental Mark II was the baby of William Clay Ford from the beginning. The concept was to recreate the mystique that had been so successful for the earlier Continental. High quality material and craftsmanship were the order of the day. This was to be a vehicle that was to be treasured by its owner and whose presence was to be a statement of the owner's stature. To this end, Continental was very selective about who could buy their elegant masterpiece.

In late 1955, as the Mark II was being shown for the first time in Paris there was talk of producing a retractable hardtop version of the Mark II. A prototype convertible and a retractable hardtop were ordered by Ford from Hess & Eisenhardt of Cincinnati, Ohio. Hess & Eisenhardt was in the business of building hearses, flower cars, limousines and other custom vehicles for all of the major auto producers.

The convertible was built as a fallback, should the retractable prove too difficult or costly to produce. The retractable program cost Ford $2.1 million to develop and was transplanted to the Ford division to become the Skyliner in 1957 when the Continental program was canceled. Ford produced almost 50,000 Skyliners over the next three years, recovering its development costs.

This Continental Mark II convertible: The serial number of this car is C5681126. The serial number is deciphered as follows: All Mark II's serial numbers began with C56; even the 1957 models. The number 8 following the C56 is the month of production. This car was built in August of 1955. The last four numbers are the actual production number which was thought to begin with 1000. In fact, this car's production papers, obtained from the Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn, Michigan state that this was the 137th Mark II made. This numbering discrepancy accounts for a number of preproduction/prototype cars that were given serial numbers under 1000.

This Mark II convertible started off as a black "Sport Coupe." It was shipped as an "Introductory Unit" as stated in the Production Order #137. The car was shipped to a distributor in the Chicago area on September 13, 1955. These Introductory Units were cars that were built to show prospective customers what the Continental Mark II would look like. These cars were placed in showrooms but were owned by Ford. Ford could hardly burden their dealers with a $10,000 car that they couldn't sell.

This Mark II never made it into the showroom as it was quickly shipped to Hess & Eisenhardt to be made into a convertible. The Chicago District of Ford Motor Company commissioned Hess & Eisenhardt to build them a roadgoing convertible that could be driven from dealer to dealer, by appointment, to show wealthy clients what a Mark II convertible would look like.

Hess & Eisenhardt didn't do anything halfway. They took the direction of Ford Motor Company and proceeded to rebuild the car in a manner that would make it most roadworthy. They needed to compensate for the lack of a roof by strengthening the radically new ladder frame developed to give the car its long, low look. A ladder frame allowed for footwells to be recessed into the frame members which allowed for a lower overall height.

The body of the car was removed and 1/8" plate steel was welded to the top of the frame rails and 1/4" plate was stitch-welded to the bottom of the frame. X-bracing made of 1-1/2" steel tubing was added to create additional strength for the portion of the frame that supports the A-pillar and the B-pillar. The rubber body mounts were shaved by 1/8" to end up with the proper clearance between the frame and body.

Before the body was removed from the frame, supports were installed to maintain proper spacing in the door openings after the top was removed. The top was cut away along with the rear package shelf making way for the convertible top bows. While the body was off the frame it was flipped over and 2" band steel was installed in a "U" shape under the car and behind the package shelf to stiffen the B-pillar door lock post. The body was reinstalled and top bows from a '48 Continental were installed. The quarter windows and their mechanisms were removed. The front windows were cut on their back edge to match the angle of the distinctive Continental top bows. Hess & Eisenhardt used mid-'50s Mercedes fittings for the windshield header and to secure the rear portion of the convertible top. The back seat was narrowed but the center arm rest was maintained.

This Mark II has one unique feature that sets it apart from other Mark II convertibles created over the years. This car has a metal boot that covers the top bows in the stowed position. All other Mark IIs have canvas boots that cover the top bows. This metal boot is what led to the discovery that this car was made by Hess & Eisenhardt.

The discovery: This car was not purchased with the intention of showing it. It was purchased as a piece of rolling sculpture. It's history was irrelevant. It was purely an acquisition of a beautiful object. That all changed with an invitation to join the Lincoln and Continental Owners Club.

Encouragement to show this car was overwhelming. However, showing this car in LCOC meets meant that it's history had to be documented. In order to show a modified production vehicle in an LCOC meet, it is necessary to go through a certification process. The criteria are that the car had to be authorized by Ford and it had to be delivered to its first owner in its modified form. Since the judging criteria for the LCOC is strictly based on authenticity, the modifications needed to be certified, as original, to be judged along with the other Mark IIs.

Research revealed that there had been a number of articles written about this car that were not very complimentary. It was called a "counterfeit," a "fraud" and a "pretender." The reason for these words will become obvious.

There was a second Mark II convertible built for Ford Motor Company as a show car. It was introduced at the Texas State Fair in October of 1956. Ford Motor Company commissioned Derham Body to build this car. It was built by Derham, much the same as Hess & Eisenhardt, in the hopes of getting the contract to build convertible Mark IIs for Ford. Three cars were ordered from Derham, but only one convertible was built by them. The Gilmore Museum has the Derham records and has confirmed this fact.

When the second Mark II convertible came off the show car circuit it was repainted and refurbished with 1957 running gear and offered to William Clay Ford. He declined the offer as he was happy with his daily driver. He told them to offer the car to Mrs. W.C. Ford and she accepted. She had Ford Styling repaint the car and change the interior to suite her tastes. Mrs. Ford used the car for a couple of years as a family transport. The car was retired and put into the Ford pool where Paul Wagner, a Ford exec, snapped it up under the noses of some bigwigs who thought that they would be the one to take this prize home. His job was threatened several times but the system won out and he was able to keep the car. He kept it for a couple of years and sold it to a man named Walter Goeppinger.

Mr. Goeppinger was convinced that his Mark II convertible was the only conversion authorized by Ford and was further convinced by Mr. William Clay Ford's own words that backed up his position. He wrote several articles and was quoted in numerous others slinging mud at the first Mark II convertible; calling it a counterfeit and a fraud. He even wrote that he knew that the "counterfeit" car hadn't been made by Hess & Eisenhardt reporting that Mr. Hess had denied any involvement with it.

Mr. Wagner said, and was verified by W.C. Ford, through a representative, that it was understandable why Ford didn't know about this car. Mr. Ford said that it was a big company and its Districts had the autonomy to pretty much do what they wanted. Mr. Wagner verified that the Chicago District had quite a number of cars made, over the years, that he personally disposed of, as part of his job.

The Jackpot: The true origins of this car, at this point, were unknown. While the Mark II convertible was on display at Ford World Headquarters as part of an LCOC show leading up to the Ford Centennial, the Mark II was identified by a very distinguished looking gentleman who said that he recognized the craftsmanship and boot mechanism as that of Hess & Eisenhardt. He said that Hess & Eisenhardt had been purchased and was now called O'Gara/Hess & Eisenhardt and was strictly building armored vehicles.

Some web research revealed an obituary for Mr. Hess that stated that he was survived by a son who worked in the business. He had heard of the car, but it was built while he was away at college so he never saw it. He contacted the man who retired with 39 years of service as the Shop Manager of Hess & Eisenhardt. He forwarded pictures of this car to the Shop Manager just outside Cincinnati and was pleased that the elderly gentleman remembered the project. He told of hidden modifications that were later verified. He confirmed the use of Mercedes fittings. He described the frame strengthening, even remembering the hours that were spent hammering some floor sheetmetal to clear the frame enhancements.

Due to failing memory he asked if he could hold off on saying, 100% for sure, that Hess & Eisenhardt had built this car. There was to be an annual gathering of retired Hess & Eisenhardt employees in two weeks and he wanted others to verify his recollections. He took additional pictures to the gathering and they were the hit of the party. He said that the Mark II was all they could talk about which made him feel good that his memory was accurate.

This kindly old gentleman hand wrote a letter that was accepted by the LCOC as proof that the car had been built by Hess & Eisenhardt for Ford Motor Company and was delivered as a new car. Mr. Hess wrote a letter attesting to the Shop Manager's involvement in all aspects of the day to day business of Hess & Eisenhardt. The LCOC now recognizes this Mark II as a Certified Custom.

The car was restored by it previous owner to a very high standard. The color is the most mentioned question. It looks dark blue in low light and takes on a green hue in bright light. It is a 1956 Lincoln color called Shenandoah Green (Opal). The top is Mercedes medium blue material and the interior is all leather. The paint is highly reflective lacquer over flawless sheetmetal.

Now that the history of this car has been established it has been awarded top honors at several shows. It received a Gold Ribbon and the Automotive Design of Exceptional Merit at Eyes on Design and an Award of Excellence from the Concours at Cranbrook. This car is driven to all the events; which was the intent of Ford Motor Company and Hess & Eisenhardt.