Eye of the Beholder & Continental Kit's

OK, I'm sure I cannot be the only one that feels this way, and I do realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, having qualified the statement I'm about to make, I'm sure I might end up ruffling a few feathers:
What is the facination with Continental Kits? I have seen many nice, excellent executed builds of early-late 50's cars, that in my opinion have been pimped-out with the addition of a Continental Kit! You might as well hang a railroad tie to the rear end of the car in question, because that's what it looks like to me.
Quite frankly, I think they're just plain butt FUGLY!
So what's the "Facination"? It definitely doesn't make the car in question LOOK like a Lincoln Continental. I especially despise them on Tri-5 Chevy's, what an abomination! OK, I'm done ranting...

 

I agree 100%

 

I have seen some that look very nice. Years ago, a proverbial little old lady in Tulsa had a 1956 Del Ray two door with a continental kit that looked sharp. I have no problem with them on 1955-57 Chevys and T-Birds for that matter.

What I do have a dislike for, are the aftermarket ones that use some form of bumper extender that pushes the whole bumper out. To me they always looks scabbed on and rather half-assed.

 

FIRST thing I did to my 56 T Bird - lose the Continental kit! and it's not That easy on that car.

 

Yup, My Feelings Exactly! I Never Could Understand The Desire.

 

Like you said, "Eye of the Beholder." Some cars they look good on, some they don't.

Cheers to Drama

 

I generally think that continental kits throw the proportions of the rear of the car out of whack. It makes it look heavy. Then throw in the bumper and quarter extensions pushed out another 12 inches and the proportions look awful. Every once in a while, a continental kit looks just 'okay'. I did see a continental kit once that I did like... on the back of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

 

I hate continental kits for the most part but once in a while one will show up that looks good, but it's rare.

 

Most look like what they are, a cheesy bolt-on from the 1956 JC Whitney Catalog. A few cars looked good with the kit ones, most didn't. A few were done as actual custom conversions, like the Barris Mopars with extended rear fenders and spare tire in a cove between.
The kits were kind of a crossover part...some entered custom car culture, others entered gookwagon culture along with Winky the cat and bolt-on chrome louvers.
I think they became entrenched because all the early AMT 3-in-one kits had them, and when we were 12 it was mandatory to use all the parts in the box!

 

Continental kits just don't do it for me. I never could understand why someone would want one. I agree with Bruce Lancaster on the "gookwagon".

 

I agree. Every once in a while I see one that looks good. But in my opinion, most of them look like ass.

 

One Word

SAWZSALL

Oldmics

 

I did some work on a 56 Olds with a kit. The rear bumper was extended about 18" which looked real ugly. You had to tilt the spare to open the trunk and lean over the 18" bumper extension to get stuff in/out of the trunk. I've never seen one that looked good enough that I would not have removed it were the car mine.

 

worthless thread. should have never been started

 

I found it to be perfectly easy with the bonus of a perfect rake.

 

I tucked the rear bumper (a front turned around) tight against the body, so that required trimming the apron that sticks out ~ hence my comment

 

The first thing I did was remove the continental kit from my 54 Buick convert when I first bought it.

 

Part of the 50's bolt on the extra chrome geegaw customizing or big profit makers for the dealerships when they piled those and other crap like sunvisors on cars to up their profit margin.

I can't say what we called cars with that stuff on it without it being a derogatory insult to someone or some culture and see the guys who run the stuff these days as being one step from the Autozone stick on porthole aisle.

 

Classic!!! Stick on portholes are the worst, I have even seen them on newer Fords.

 

How do you know it wasn't a '55 rear?

 

And then there's ME! I always liked continental kits on cars. Still do. Mostly because they looked longer and lower. Yet I never had anything except Model "A"'s, a Model "T", and a 33 Chevy with a tire on the back. Not really a conny kit.
See, my eye was beholdin a thing of beauty.

 

Cuz the guy I got it from said it was a 55 front and the front and rear do carry different part numbers - I presume for the exhaust tips mounts maybe?

 

Didn't new cars back in the day come with them? As in DELUXE new cars? As in, ahem, Lincoln Continentals? I've always thought of them as being a very high end accessory, if not an OEM option, that for the most part gave you more trunk space for luggage. Like hidden doors in the rear quarters to slide your golf clubs into, wood on "estate" wagons (woodies), extra front end lighting, SS grille guards, wind wings, Landau bars, etc.. I don't outright hate them, but the seem fine on a lot of high end vintage / customs to me. Gary

 

I put a continental kit on a '58 caddy convertible i restored for a customer. the kit was designed to latch to the trunk lid so i redesigned a latch to lock it to the frame rail, the spare tire did not fit, so i made a plywood "tire" to hold the tin cover. which made sense because it took two people to remove it without scratching the chrome or painted cover. so not only was it ugly, it was useless and the customer had to keep the car at his sons house because it was too long for his garage!

 

The look was taken from the European sports cars (hence the term "Continental") for a special car that Edsel Ford had built for touring around Europe and wanted it to look more "Continental". I'm pretty sure the 1939 Lincoln was the first US car to have one available and that was the first time the name Continental was used on a Lincoln.
The legend is that Henry Ford II complained that the trunk of his personal 1955 Ford Thunderbird did not have room for a set of golf clubs without removing the spare tire so he had them incorporate the design for the 1956. But it effected the handling and ride negatively so for '57 the car was stretched for more balance with a bigger trunk and the Continental kit became an option

 

im with ya i hate them and those tacky add on visors

 

the anglia is just SCREAMING for one...

 

OK, so it looks like I'm not alone when it comes to these JC Witney accessory kits.. I just never could understand why someone that spent so much time, money and energy, would put something so stupid looking at the rear of their car... I always figured they were trying to "Fit in" with a specific crowd..
Here are some atrocious examples:

 

i could use the one from my T Bird

 

Good place for 50's themed mural.