The idea for the Futura came from designer Bill Schmidt, who got the idea while he was diving, after an encounter with a shark.

The car's official public debut was on January 8, 1955, at the Chicago Auto Show; it had been shown to the press at the city's Congress Hotel on January 5. While being displayed elsewhere in the U.S. that spring, the Futura was seen by the country's television audience on Today ("The Today Show") on March 3, 1955. The Futura's styling was original by 1950s standards, with a double, clear-plastic canopy top, exaggerated hooded headlight pods, and very large, outward-canted tailfins. The Futura had a complete powertrain and was fully operable, in contrast to many show cars. Its original color was a pearlescent white, created by one of the first pearlescent color treatments. To achieve the effect Bill Schmidt wanted, Ghia ground and pulverized the scales of thousands of fish and mixed them into the paint.

The Futura was powered by a 368 cubic inch Lincoln engine and powertrain; the chassis was an early prototype Y-shaped backbone perimeter frame that would go into production on the 1956–1957 Continental Mark II.

The Futura was a success as a show car, garnering favorable publicity for Ford, and so was released as a model kit and a toy. In a much more subdued form, its headlight and tailfin motifs would appear on production Lincolns for 1956 and 1957, such as the Lincoln Premiere and Lincoln Capri. The concave front grille inspired the grille on the 1960 Mercury Monterey and the 1960 Ford Galaxie.

This kit was initially released in 1956 and there has only been one additional re-issue and that was under the Monogram logo in 2004.is is the only reissue to date. Perhaps Atlantis got the molds for this and other similar cars. I know I'd like to see the others re-released.

Typical of the kits of the day, it is molded in color so you don't have to paint it, though I know most will. It is easy to see how this was the basis of the Batmobile of television fame. There is a lower body pan onto which the interior and instrument panel piese were attached. In the fron the hood/fender piece was installed after the headlights were attached. Next the rear deck and rear fenders were attached along with the tail lights.

Wheels are plastic and attached via a 1/8" section of piano wire. Two figures are included to occupy the seats. The top is a single piece and you have chrome front and rear pieces along with side chrome trim and a futuristic lookin radio antenna. That's it. Fewer than 40 pieces in total. You'll have to do some creative painting as there are no decals to use for the whitewall tires. The chrome sprue is well done and will require some scraping prior to gluing in place over a hopefully prepainted body.

Instructions are just like the period offering and provide three construction steps.

These kits show just how far the hobby has come. They are not difficult to build, but the fit can be problematic so be sure to hone your modeling skills if required.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Futura

July 2025 

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