1964 Lincoln Continental - 1,019 Original Miles

[TimLinc61]

Driving Mrs. McGill
The incredible story and discovery of an almost brand new 1964 Lincoln Continental

1019 Mile Lincoln and pics embedded below.

On a very warm afternoon in July of 2005, Scott and I were invited to our best friend’s home in Springfield, Ohio for dinner by the pool - in other words a cook-out! It was such a gorgeous day that we drove the 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible with the top down to Springfield.

We motored up the driveway to the beautiful 1927 English Country Tudor home of our friends, Bill Groves and Joel Johnston. A couple of other people were in the pool when one of the guests jumped out of the pool and exclaimed, “That is a 1961 Continental. He ran up to our car and could not believe its original condition. I introduced myself, as I had never met this person before. I told him that I collected Lincolns and I also had a 1961 Continental sedan which is in original, almost mint condition at home in the garage. This person was introduced to me by our hosts and his name was Rich Colvin.

Rich immediately stated, “There is one of these downtown in the front part of the building which we rent to operate our carpet cleaning business from. I asked him if it was a 1961 Continental convertible. He said he did not know if it was but he knew it was black with the center opening doors. I as so impressed that he did not call them suicide doors. As you can probably guess, my curiosity was sparked.

After dinner, Joel kept saying to me, "You want to go see that car, don't you?" I said NO many times, but Joel knows me too well. Finally, I said YES and all five of us proceeded to downtown Springfield in the 1961 convertible.

We drove into a nice parking area of what was the former showroom of a Springfield auto dealer - the dealer had built a new facility across the street. Rich and his family own Absolute Clean which is full service cleaning business. We entered the building into what used to be the service department of the auto dealer who owns the Lincoln. This is the area that is now occupied by Rich's business. Rich led the way through the building, and we arrived at a hallway that led to the old showroom. I could see the front of the Lincoln and immediately said, "That is a 1964!" Bill asked me how I knew and I told him by looking at the grill.

When we entered the room and I could see the entire car, even though it was covered in dust, I was amazed at the condition. I opened the driver's door and noticed how clean the door jams were. The sill plate shined as if it was new. I then looked at the seats; they looked brand new as well. I was scanning over the dash (the keys to the car were laying beside the headlight dimmer control), the back seat, the headliner, all the door panels, etc. All appeared to be in brand new condition when my mind finally said "Look at the odometer."

I looked at the odometer and then looked at it again and again! I could not believe my eyes! I asked Bill to come over and look and confirm what I was seeing before I said anything, because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. He started to say it has 10,000 and then stopped and said, "Tim you are not seeing things...it only has 01,019 miles on the odometer." I then noticed that the trip meter matched the odometer with 019 miles shown.

After I picked my mouth up off of the steering wheel, I performed a complete inspection:
-The undercarriage still looked new - a little dusty, but the paint still shined.
-The mufflers, of course were rusted, but still carried the Fomoco logo on them.
-The paint, under the dust, appeared to be in perfect condition.
-The chrome, again under the dust, appeared to be perfect - no pitting of any kind.
-Someone had rubbed their finger in the dust across the hood, but no damage appeared to be present.
-The doors, jams, sill plates, hinges and hinge areas were in perfect condition.
-The rubber on the entire car was still supple and pliable.
-The trunk must have never been used. The license plate holder was located in the trunk.
-The wheel covers were perfect.
-The engine room was dusty and dirty, but all labels were in near mint condition. One of the wire tied tags from the factory was still in tact.
-The tires were the original Goodyear P-15-15's - and in perfect condition - but flattened on one side after 40 years of sitting.

I opened the glove compartment and found the papers from the original owner - a Mrs. Ruth McGill of Middletown, Ohio. The story of Mrs. McGill will be covered later in this article.

The following week I called Rich and asked him who I could talk to about the Lincoln. Rich said he would make a call to Mr. Chris Thompson who was the person he dealt with when he purchased vehicles at the dealership. Rich called me back a day later and told me the price that the owner wanted for the car. I politely declined his offer and rarely thought of the car again.

Fast forward to October, 2005: Rich and his associates came to our office to clean the carpeting and he told me that the Lincoln was gone! I felt sad, and only hoped that whoever purchased it would bring it back to life properly. I told Rich it would be a shame for someone to just put fresh gas in the tank and then just drive down the road not realizing that the engine, transmission, brakes, etc. would need major attention.

Fast forward again to Saturday, January 28, 2006: We were at Joel and Bill's for dinner and cards - only this time in the dining room as it was 27 degrees outside. Bill asked me if all the cars were tucked away for the winter and I said yes. At that point, Rich looks at me and says, "Oh, by the way, they did not sell that Lincoln... they just moved it to another building to keep employees from rubbing up against it." I said a rather colorful statement to Rich and then started thinking about that car again! I did not need another car!

At this point, I was in a total quandary as what to do! I turned to my very dear friends Rich and Joyce Liana of Liana Restorations in Roanoke, Virginia. I told Rich the entire story and he could not believe what I was telling him about this car. He said "These kind of things come once in a lifetime and this one has come around twice to you, I would not wait for a third." He also stated, "If you buy it, DO NOT START IT!"

I called Rich Colvin on Tuesday and asked him to make another appointment with Chris Thompson at the dealership. Rich and I met with Mr. Thompson and he walked us over to the new location of the car. It was in a huge area that was well lighted. On this trip I brought the digital camera and the pictures shown here are of the car in its discovered condition.

I proposed a figure and asked Mr. Thompson to ask the owner. When the owner later refused, I offered another figure and he (with a little help from Mr. Thompson) accepted. The owner of this car turned out to be Mr. Bill Marine of Bill Marine's Auto Center in Springfield, Ohio.

Barker Brother's Towing Company from here in our hometown of London, Ohio traveled to Springfield to pick up the car on their flatbed truck. I was told not to start the car as if there was any gasoline in the tank, it would certainly be varnish by this time. The car was pushed out of the storage area and transported by Barker's to my garage where the other Lincolns are stored.

I called Mr. Marine about a week later to ask him the complete history of the car. Here is his account:

Mrs. Ruth McGill was originally Miss Ruth McGraw of the McGraw Construction Company Family of Middletown, Ohio. McGraw Construction worked with the Armco Steel Company on construction jobs using their steel products.

Mr. & Mrs. McGill were avid fans of Lincoln Continental automobiles and purchased the 1964 Lincoln Continental on October 23, 1963, after having traded their 1961 Lincoln Continental Sedan which they had purchased on January 25, 1961.

According to Butler County obituaries, Ruth's husband, Charles died sometime between October, 1963 and January, 1964 as the house was transferred to her sole ownership in April of 1964.

Mrs. McGill was chauffeur driven on shopping excursions and to the hairdresser. Her personal chauffeur was also the caretaker of her home, garden and grounds and later became her caregiver. He lived in Lebanon, Ohio. The car was rarely driven - thus the reason for the 1019 miles. The car was titled to her from 1963-1966.

In 1966 Mrs. McGill became quite ill and had to enter a nursing home. She gave the Lincoln to her chauffer/caregiver as an act of thanking him for the many years of dedicated service to her. Mrs. McGill entered the nursing home in the winter of 1966.

Upon receiving the Lincoln, the chauffer/caregiver decided he wanted a Cadillac, so he traded the Lincoln to Mr. Bill Marine who was a salesperson at the Cadillac dealership in Middletown, and purchased a 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

Mr. Marine, Mrs. McGill and the McGraw family used the same accounting and legal firms in Middletown, Ohio. This is the reason that Mr. Marine was so familiar with the car. (End)

Mr. Marine has been the owner of this Lincoln for 40 years. He used the Lincoln in his showrooms at Wilmington, Ohio and Springfield, Ohio.

The pictures that are in the forum were taken at the actual location of where the car was stored in Springfield, Ohio and when the car arrived at my home via a flatbed towing truck. In addition, the revivement of the car is shown as well at Liana Restorations.

In conclusion, this remarkable, all original - nearly brand new - 1964 Lincoln Continental was mechanically revived by our dearest friends Rich and Joyce Liana of Liana Restorations of Troutville, Virginia. Any needed parts came from John Cashman of Convertible Lincolns, Tim Nill of Lincoln Continental Parts, and Chris Dunn of Lincoln Land.

The car made its debut at the Mid-Western Meet at Indianapolis, Indiana in September, 2006, and once again is ready to go Driving Mrs. McGill.

[toddallen]

Cool story- What a once in a lifetime (or three) find

Why do you think Bill Marine never drove the car for 40 years?

[briven95]

Tim, thanks for posting the incredible story of your magnificent car! (and thanks for the ride in it, too )

[83 PUCCI]

A true diamond and not in the rough ! Please direct me to the pictures of it. I couldn't find them in my slumber....

[Stuart M. Cohen]

Brian got a ride?

What, you're discriminating against us Joisyites?

[Dan Szwarc]

Tim,

If you drop a CD in the mail with the full resolution pics, I will prepare a special site for you on TLF.Net for all to see. It will be just for your car.

Use my address from the directory.

[bgdsub72]

awsome story! I would like to see the pictures!

[rainman]

Great story, if you are offering rides it won't be long berfore it has 2k miles.

[black63lincoln]

amazing story..what are you going to do with the car? trailer to shows only?
i dont think i could handle the responsibility that goes with such a low mileage jewel..
i think every mile i put on it would make me feel guilty..
take care of her it looks like you are doing a good job so far...

[toddallen]

For those who did not ever see the car, Brian Ventura posted some pictures on this thread- page 2:


https://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb/v ... c&start=15

[83 PUCCI]

FINALLY ! Thanks Todd !!

[autostick]

I have driven through downtown Springfield several times, and now I regret not visiting the carpet cleaning store. Congratulations on what is already proven to be a historic find. Are you showing the car anywhere in Ohio? I look forward to seeing more pictures so I hope you take up Dan on his offer for a special gallery. You did a great job with the restoration and our thanks for sharing the story.

[TimLinc61]

Dear Everyone:

WOW...I am overwhelmed! Thanks to each of you for your kind and considerate remarks.

This has to be short today as we are totally buried with work here at my company.

I am burning the CD this morning and shipping it to Dan so he will get it on Monday...he then can load all the pictures (yes, they are below 1000x1000 pixels - I promise).

If anyone has any questions...or want to see the car, please do not hesitate to call or email me.

Peace to each of you,



Tim

[ReijerLincoln]

Unbelievable but true. And it's black... with a red interiour . Congratulations!

[Dan Szwarc]

Tim! If you send me a CD, then they can be over 1000x1000 pixels! I will make a special site for it that doesn't have that limitation.

Only the pics uploaded to the gallery need to be less than 1000 wide or tall.

Your '64 is getting it's own page, separate from all the other pics.