LBJ’s ’64 Lincoln Continental Is Right this moment’s Convey a Trailer Public sale Choose

• A spotlight of Nineteen Sixties American automotive design, the “suicide door” Lincoln Continental was the selection of transport for a lot of a well-known particular person.

• This all-white convertible, up for public sale at Convey A Trailer, was the private car of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36^th President of the US.

• It was utilized by LBJ to tour round his sprawling Texas ranch, making this Continental each a mid-century icon and a rolling piece of presidential historical past.

Politics apart, there are many causes to admire what a personality President Lyndon B. Johnson was. Particularly when it got here to automobiles: he owned an Amphicar and was recognized to terrify unsuspecting passengers by pretending to lose management and “crash” right into a lake, the place the automobile merely floated off. He was an enormous man with a Texas-sized character, and when he wanted one thing to drive round his 1500-acre ranch, LBJ went huge there too.

Delivered in October of 1963 to the LBJ Company of Austin, Texas, this 1964 Lincoln Continental is presently up for public sale on the website Convey a Trailer—which, like Automobile and Driver, is a part of Hearst Autos. Bidding sits at $75,000, with the public sale slated to finish on Wednesday, November 16.

What you get right here to your cash is each part of historical past and a really elegant machine. LBJ himself may very well be a bit crude—the recording of a cellphone name the place he orders a pair of pants is legendarily crass—however his style in vehicles cannot be faulted right here.

The fourth-generation Lincoln Continental was the Ford Motor Firm’s broadside in opposition to Cadillac, and it hit residence. Lovely within the simplicity of its design, it was completed to a really prime quality, and it instantly discovered favor with the nation’s elite. The convertible model was the primary four-door convertible provided by an American producer within the put up–World Battle II interval.

Powered by a 7.0-liter V-8 producing 320 horsepower, with a three-speed computerized transmission, the Continental was extraordinarily heavy however not precisely sluggish. Primarily a roadgoing pleasure yacht, it was meant for relaxed boulevard cruising, the kind of glittering transportation you may see powering alongside the Las Vegas Strip. For 1964, it obtained a mid-cycle refresh, however the entrance finish was once more modified for 1965. Arguably, the ’64 is the prettiest of them.

One other Continental, this one a stretch limo in black, would ferry tragedy into LBJ’s life. However scarcely one month earlier than the assassination of President Kennedy, this automobile arrived in Texas as the entire inverse of the load of rule. Proper via till 1969, this white Continental served as LBJ’s strain launch valve as he drove it round his sprawling Texas ranch.

Reportedly, LBJ had his Continentals (he owned two) fitted with snow tires, the higher to cope with tough terrain. Among the many larger-than-life tales that include this automobile is the story of how he used to usually have a glass of ice and Cutty Sark whiskey in his hand as he cruised across the ranch. When the cup ran dry, LBJ would stick his arm out the window and rattle the ice cubes; one of many brokers from the Secret Service element following him would hop out and refill the cup. This wasn’t on a public street, so President Johnson seems to have taken the angle that this habits was no completely different than a cocktail whereas crusing.

The automobile has seen some gentle refurbishment in its life and has simply 16,000 miles on the odometer. Any Continental from this period could be particular, and right here the presidential provenance provides worth for the collector. All you want is your individual private sprawling Texas ranch and perhaps a 10-gallon hat, however stick with iced tea.