This 1973 Lincoln Continental Thinks It’s A Rolls-Royce

Okay, take a second and look at this properly. This is the Mark IV Bugazzi, and underneath all that drama is a humble 1973 Lincoln Continental. In the 1970s, a California outfit called Hollywood Coach Builders decided a regular Lincoln just wasn’t bold enough.

So they tore most of the body off and built something that looks like a Rolls-Royce that had a wild night in Las Vegas.

The front grille is enormous, the kind of thing that makes modern luxury cars look shy. It towers over the front end, framed by round headlights set in square chrome housings. It rides low on whitewall tires, because of course it does.

Around back, there’s a reshaped roof, a redesigned trunk lid, and a spare wheel hanging out like it’s trying to prove something. The paint? Gold Pearl with Ice Pearl accents and hand-painted graphics. Subtlety was clearly not invited to this party.

Then you open the door. There are actual slabs of granite inside. Not fake trim, just real stone on the transmission tunnel, rear console, and door panels. The seats and dash have been redone, too, but it’s the granite that really makes you pause and look closer.

Power comes from a 460 cubic-inch V8, paired with an automatic reportedly sourced from a C6 Chevrolet Corvette. Well, no one is buying this for lap times. 

Only around a dozen were built, and just two are said to survive. This one is heading to auction through Mecum Auctions.

Cars today try so hard to be sleek and restrained. This thing does the exact opposite, and that’s exactly why it works!