By Joe Sherlock
Originally published in the 4th Quarter 1993 issue of Continental Comments (Issue # 194.)
If you look at a 1955 Lincoln Capri today, you’ll see a nice looking car that looks, well, very mid 1950s. But that’s not how it looked to prospective buyers back then. 1955 was the year of all new bodies for most other makes. Chevy, Pontiac, Ford, Mercury and the entire Chrysler line all had a brand new look to compete with their 1955 counterparts. Even Packard had all new outer panels over their 1954 inner body panels. Lincoln still looked much the same as 1954, although a bit longer. Everybody but Lincoln had three tone color combinations and wraparound windshields. Chrysler first introduced “The Forward Look” in 1955. Cadillac, Buick and Oldsmobile got new bodies in 1954; Lincoln had the same old body introduced in 1952 and it was considered stale and stodgy by 1955. Most embarrassing of all, the 1955 Lincoln was underpowered compared to its rivals. The marque which had won the Mexican Road Race in 1954 still had the 341 cubic inch V-8 engine now rated at 225 hp. That was no match for the 236 hp. Buick Century, 250 hp. Chrysler Imperial, 279 hp. Cadillac El Dorado or 275 hp. Packard. 1955 was right in the middle of the styling race and the horsepower race years, and Lincoln wasn’t winning either race.
The 1955 Lincoln did have some nice new features. The automatic transmission was all new—the GM Hydra-Matic was dropped for a beefed up three-speed Ford-OMatic type of unit called Turbodrive. The car did have some new styling elements designed to make it look longer than the 1954 model. In 1955, the Capri series was the top of the line and the coupe shown here was the most popular body style—representing 42% of production. The Lincoln Capri coupe cost a little over $3,900—about 90 cents per pound. The car had a 123” wheelbase and was 63” high—quite tall for a 1955 model. Ads touted “Elegance with Power” and a top speed of 116 mph. was claimed.
1955 was a banner sales year for most makes, but not for Lincoln. Sales dropped 27% to 27,222 units. It’s a shame that the 1955 Lincoln didn’t get more respect in the marketplace. It’s really a pleasant car and it has aged well. Lincoln would have liked to have had its completely new 1956 model ready for 1955, but the changes were so sweeping they could not get it into production that soon. When the ‘56 finally arrived in late September, 1955 it was a powerful and stylish car with all the styling bells and whistles that people wanted in the mid Fifties. All’s well that ends well.