GLM '59 Continental Convertible prototype

John, your Lincoln history was spot on, '41s were instant collectables. 

These GLM '59s are sensational. The finish, glass & trim, vet windows, grill, chrome, and the in-scale scripts & hood ornament are remarkable. A "top-up"  version would be fantastic to see. I'm very glad you mentioned the inclusion of slanted glass on convertibles. That was an engineering wonder!

I have just two GLM requests:

1) Save paint!      To be period-correct, whitewalls must be narrower.

2) Save plastic!    Tool up a thinner, in-scale, steering wheel.

To be fair to GLM, you can find an awful lot of these cars online wearing quite broad whitewalls.

You can also find them with extremely thin whitewalls, and some are in-between.

I don't know if different widths were available as factory options according to customer preference, or whether it depended on the tyre brand selected, or whether some some people replaced the original tyres, but it would be understandable enough if the specimen GLM worked from had the wider variety. I agree the wide whitewalls they've fitted do look a bit late-'40s or early '50s rather than late '50s.

The steering wheel is maybe a little thick-rimmed but the diameter looks nicely to scale and the overall impression looks fine to me. So we won't knock them for wasting plastic.

Agree this is a beautifully detailed model. One rather obvious inaccuracy is the termination of the tail fin end. The actual chrome end cap is a sharp point not the rounded end depicted on this model.  Not a deal breaker for me, however an unfortunate distraction. (NEO made a similar model to the 1958 version of the same car with correct tail fin.)

Posted by: @graeme-ogg

You can also find them with extremely thin whitewalls, and some are in-between.

Yes, of course. And I can also find pics of 1959 Lincolns with hot-lick flame paint schemes or roll bars, pick-up conversions, and so on, etc...   But that's not historically accurate. There were a few tire suppliers for Ford/Lincoln in 1959 and whitewall widths differed slightly but consumers could only accept blackwalls or chose optional whitewalls.

This debate/argument/drama/point of view, etc.... over "historical accuracy"  VS.   "right to replicate any damn thing imaginable"  has been DEBATED TO DEATH on ALL THESE FORUMS.  I do NOT have the energy to fight  today; I have other things to do. 😉 

Bottom line: If you like it, buy it. If not, then move on.  Personally, I would have to fix those "1949 tires."   I'm sure, for MANY others, it's a moot point. 

Posted by: @stanton-lyman

One rather obvious inaccuracy is the termination of the tail fin end.

...yeah, it's a little slope-e and rounded but as John noted, chances of fixing THAT now are basically ZERO. I tried to point out a few things that, at least, had a chance of actually being changed/corrected.

Despite everything "wrong," there's NOTHING I view as a deal breaker...unless it scales out to be 1/48, but John would've noted severe under or over scaling. 

It's a beautiful Lincoln model.

This era of Lincoln is my least favorite but I must say that these prototypes are very nice indeed and I will be buying one to represent this era of Lincoln design in my collection.  I would sure like to see another color other than red though as it is overdone in 1:43 models in general IMHO; although I do appreciate that "red sells".  Black on black looks great on smaller cars or large sedans but it looks too formal in a convertible IMHO; red interior would contrast better.  Just one person's opinion of course.  Here are several of my favorite colors Lincoln offered in '59:

Deauville Yellow

Pearl Blue Poly

Cameo Rose

Sapphire Poly

I love 2"+ whitewalls on most cars and if I could afford a MkIV Continental, I'd have fat whitewalls put on it - factory approval or not.

Posted by: @chris

Posted by: @graeme-ogg

You can also find them with extremely thin whitewalls, and some are in-between.

Yes, of course. And I can also find pics of 1959 Lincolns with hot-lick flame paint schemes or roll bars, pick-up conversions, and so on, etc...   But that's not historically accurate. There were a few tire suppliers for Ford/Lincoln in 1959 and whitewall widths differed slightly but consumers could only accept blackwalls or chose optional whitewalls.

This debate/argument/drama/point of view, etc.... over "historical accuracy"  VS.   "right to replicate any damn thing imaginable"  has been DEBATED TO DEATH on ALL THESE FORUMS.  I do NOT have the energy to fight  today; I have other things to do. 😉 

Bottom line: If you like it, buy it. If not, then move on.  Personally, I would have to fix those "1949 tires."   I'm sure, for MANY others, it's a moot point. 

Goodness me, Christopher. no need to get so upset about the "historical accuracy" debate. And  I don't see how you imagined I was picking a fight. It was you complaining about the accuracy of the tyres, not me. And I pretty well agreed with you. I only asked whether or not alternatives might have been genuinely available at the time, I wasn't even remotely endorsing the "right to replicate any damn thing imaginable".

Thanks for your comments, gents. I'm passing them along to GLM. 

Posted by: @graeme-ogg

Goodness me, Christopher. no need to get so upset about the "historical accuracy" debate.

I'm not mad or upset at all, not even close..... 

I was merely making a point.  "Life-er" forum guys (I go back 27 years. Yikes!  😬) KNOW there's been a long-running-decades-old-"friendly" -feud regarding this subject of accuracy vs. anything goes. 

I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness, but honest...no worries here. All is well!! 😀 😀 

@jack-dodds 

I would prefer this model in one of the four colors you showed.

I know white wall width is an issue for some. All in all, these are fairly close. Keep in mind that 1/43 manufacturers are limited as to how many varieties of tires they can make. These are not inserts and not easily adjustable. There are precious few 1/43 tire makers out there, and the cost of tooling a unique tire for each model can be expensive. So, getting them within the range of plausibility can be a good thing, and it helps keep the price down. For some, this will be acceptable; for others, it won't.

@chris Relieved to hear it. I thought I had somehow unintentionally worded my comments in a way that provoked an annoyed response. But apparently not. So we're all OK.

These look fantastic, John, and will make great addition to just about anybody's collection. I really like this era Lincoln Continentals although presently I just have some SunStar 1/18 editions in convertible, hard-top and top-up versions. These are dramatic beauties in any scale !

As with all cars and models, there may be things that are debated about virtually everything. Nobody is necessarily right or wrong (or both) because it may be both "historical" evidence from the internet or books (which, of course _never_ disagree and are _never_ wrong ) or photographic evidence/proof ......... which, of course also is always correct and _NEVER_ wrong or equivocal ! )

So.....buy what you like and like what you buy. It is (or is supposed to be) an enjoyable hobby and not really a competition as to how many supposed "mistakes" <sic> can be "found".

P.S. It is disconcerting to not have your friendly face in the video happily discussing the replica being examined !