Lincoln’s elite Continental Mark II, a limited-production, meticulously handcrafted coupe at the top of the market, was built for some of the world’s wealthiest enthusiasts. One such man was James K. Gaylord of Chicago.

As noted in the book The American Sports Car, Mr. Gaylord’s father “…had invented the bobby pin and was smart enough to patent it.” His two sons, James and Edward, spent the family money well. They were both car enthusiasts from an early age and between them would own many of the finest luxury and GT automobiles from the 1930s through the 1960s. Most prominently, in the mid-1950s, they attempted to build their own limited-production automobile, the memorably named Gaylord Gladiator. One might surmise that Jim Gaylord’s acquisition of a Mark II at a time when the Gladiator was under rigorous development perhaps could have been, in part, to size up the potential competition.

Mr. Gaylord ordered his Continental, offered here, from Elgin Lincoln-Mercury, finished in the special-order “DSO” color of White Lucite over Deep Red and White leather interior, with the only two available options—factory air conditioning and blue-tinted window glass. It was an extremely late 1956 model, built near the end of the “K” series of production and just 12 cars prior to 1957 production—indeed sold and titled as a 1957.

The car is said to have remained in its original ownership for many years, later passing to Ted Assante and then to Ronald Starrantino of East Northport, New York. Mr. Starrantino prized the Continental, maintaining it well and showing it avidly throughout the Northeast. It was reportedly a prizewinner at numerous events, as well as exhibited at the Saratoga Automobile Museum and on Lincoln’s stand at the 2017 New York International Auto Show.

Not long after being displayed at the New York Auto Show, the Mark II was sold to Bob Lichty of Ohio, and shortly thereafter to Michael Leith, in whose collection it has remained for eight years. The car remains in very attractive condition overall, having been maintained to the typically high Leith standards, which included fitting a new exhaust system in 2018 and careful repairs to the interior. Kept in excellent mechanical order, as well, it is noted to both run and drive beautifully, with 40,944 miles recorded at the time of cataloguing.

This is a fine example of the Continental Mark II, one of the era’s most spectacular motor cars.