Ask Google. Or was that the joke?

Depends on the shifter setup, but generally yes. If the shifter has detents that snap it into gears on the shifter unit itself, it would often be technically ok (I can name several like that off the top of my head). Not to endorse it as a habit, of course.

But seriously... even understood as he meant it it’s not quite true. It’s more true now in the days of autos that prefer to lock up when possible and pretty true for manuals, but cruise doesn’t nail an exact RPM unless you’re on flatlands.

I’m assuming with the username Laurie it’s the Laurie B. mentioned in the post.

On the rust/bondo issue, some of that comes from the frantic rate at which they ended up making (and thus fitting and sealing) the things, some from design flaw moisture traps, and some from the use of thin sheet metal to cut weight - the Falcon had zinc coating on the outside of the floorpans and galvanized subframe…

Fun fact - I don’t know what the correct size is on the ‘59 Caddy, but I do know what it is on a ‘59 Lincoln: 950-14. That’s a whole 8"+ of sidewall, since it’s a 30"+ tire on a 14" wheel.

Well, the telegraph to the engine room in the helmsman’s station *does* look a lot alike...

I have a ‘63 Ranchero. Solid engine compartment and rockers, most of the firewall, very little else. Portions of the bed and fenders.

As an interesting note, the Lincoln uses a daffy lug pattern which is most commonly shared with Ford trucks (5x5.5, I believe). I think the brakes are truck-related as well.

I think the Lincoln was the sharpest of the bunch, but the point stands. Big two and a half to three ton luxury, fast steering wheel with assist out the ass. It’s nearly unpossible to turn the wheel parked with the engine off.

Ah, Falcon/Mustang bodywork - a.k.a “bring a magnet”. Rule #1: the quarters are bondo. No, they are. Really. Always.

The series 62 base coupe we went to see was <$1k - the question was whether we’d be able to stash it in the interim before new floorboards, new glass, new paint, new trunklid, major trunk repair, driver’s door repair, fresh engine, new brakes, bumper rechrome and a partial interior - to say nothing of all the minor…

We’ve pretty much decided (my cousin’s friend, cousin, me) that said cousin’s friend needs a ‘58 - either a two door basic Series 62 or a four door extended deck - but the time is not yet right. The ‘58 we went to see captured some imaginations.

I have Jarod Rose’s old ‘59 Lincoln (as seen here and here and on Oppo), and this is on the bucket list. Those 900/950 section bias plies are expensive, though.

All three of the top-lines had very quick-ratio steering for their size and a very heavy assist - Imperial, Lincoln/Continental, and Cadillac. My ‘59 Lincoln has about ~3.4 turns lock to lock, over a very wide sweep.

I’ve been getting into ‘57/’58s lately - spurred on by doing a ride-along to a Craigslist visit to a ‘58 two door in very bad shape. Extended Deck All The Things. I’ve got a ‘59 Lincoln that’s the same size.

Also has good feel for the manual trans, though for the best results he needs a wide range C-suffix box - you don’t need the later synchro models anyway.

They’ll just throw anybody at the wall and see if they stick.

Motorized penny farthings. Shit, now I kind of want one of those.