LCOC President’s Message – November/December 2020
LCOC President’s Message – September/October 2020
Northstar News – March 2021
Rare 1969 Lincoln Continental Luggage Option
By Chris Dunn, Continental Comments magazine, March/April 2020
The photo above of the 1969 Lincoln optional “Marvelon luggage set created by Guild Masters exclusively for the Lincoln Continental.” I recently acquired this luggage but it took 19 years of waiting.
In September, 1980, when I purchased a 1969 Lincoln Continental sedan from the original owner, Robert Buttmi in Treasure Island, Florida, he told me the story of how he ordered the car from Carlisle Lincoln-Mercury in Clearwater, Florida with every available option including “new Town Car ultra-luxury interior option” and the matched set of luggage.
However, my purchase of the car in September, 1980 would not include the luggage as he wanted to keep this for their 1970 Mark III he bought new for his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Buttmi were so nice they said I could use the luggage set whenever I wanted to take it in the trunk to car shows, so I did take advantage of their offer once when I took the car to the Florida-Georgia Lincoln Car Show in St. Augustine, Florida in April, 1981.
We stayed in contact over the years and they knew I was interested in purchasing the luggage set. Mrs. Buttmi stopped driving the Mark III 10 years ago but son Doug kept it in running condition for short local trips in the neighborhood only. He called in August, 1999 to tell me that his dad had passed away in 1997 and his mom was ready to sell the Mark III and the luggage set along with it. I was able to purchase the set but passed on the Mark III for now. It was worth the 19 year wait as now I have this rare luggage set to display in the trunk of my mom and dad’s 1968 Lincoln Continental two door coupe. The 1969 Lincoln Continental brochure shows the 12-piece luggage set displayed on the ground in back of the trunk.