The Continental was initially a model of the Lincoln-Zephyr. It wasn’t really intended to be a production car rather, a special automobile that Edsel Ford wanted for himself. He asked designer Bob Gregorie to design it for him. Gregorie did – in crayon over a blueprint of a Zephyr chassis. Edsel, too, with his innate sense of style offered more than a few suggestions about its design. He wanted the car to resemble those he saw in Europe, thus the “continental” spare tire at the rear. The special car was three inches lower than the Zephyr and seven inches longer, primarily in the hood. When the car arrived at his home in Hobe Sound near Palm Beach, Florida on March 1, 1939, friends and neighbors asked if they could have one, too. It’s been said that he returned home with 200 signed blank checks for deposits.

It was originally referred to as a Special Lincoln-Zephyr using 1939 Zephyr mechanicals, just like the production car. In addition to the Edsel’s car, a second car was built as an engineering prototype used in developing production models. In 1940 just 54 coupes and 350 cabriolets were built, all powered by a 130-h.p. 292-c.i.d. V-12 engine.