2022 is almost over and for all its shortcomings in other respects, it’s been a pretty good one for the many facets of the automotive industry. Including for the custom and collector markets, which both enjoyed quite a lucrative year.
That means we can only expect more from 2023, and auction house Barrett-Jackson seems determined to convince us of that by previewing some of the most exciting builds that’ll go under the hammer in the last decade of January 2023 during its sale in Scottsdale, Arizona.
And the auction house started with this simply breathtaking 1956 Lincoln Continental (Mark II), put together by an Arizona crew called SIC Chops, and expected to go under the hammer with no reserve during the said event.
With Dupont Toner Black paint spread all over the body panels, the Continental rides on a one-off chassis of Roadster Shop make packing Corvette C6 suspension and Wilwood braking hardware.
The car is driven by a 502ci engine rocking eight-stack fuel injection and semi-hemispherical heads, and rated at a mindboggling 850 hp of punch. The engine’s power is sent to the road by means of one-off Colorado Custom wheels with 40 spokes each.
The car’s body was chopped by 2.75 inches (7 cm), and it opens to reveal a luxury interior, with Lexus 8-way power seats in Black Onyx leather and stainless-steel accents taking center stage.
Incredible as this car may be visually and mechanically, the thing that strikes the most is the signature on the underside of the trunk (sadly not pictured in the just three photos made available at the time of writing). It belongs to Mae West, one of the biggest and most controversial names in entertainment in the early decades of the 1900s.
As per the available info, the signature was discovered during restoration work, but nobody knows how, when, or why the star signed her name on this particular car. The signature was preserved, of course, and is included now in the custom 1956 Lincoln Continental.