This 1956 Continental Mark II was built by Scott Laitinen and his company SIC Chops in Cave Creek, Arizona. Scott calls the car “Mae” because during body restoration they found a signature on the underside of the trunk by Mae West. The project recently won Custom of the Year at Goodguys 33rd All American Get-Together in Pleasanton, California.
Under the hood sits a Jon Kaase 520 ci V8 that produces close to 850 horsepower. The engine is based off a all-aluminum big-block Ford 429 ci V8. Two of the most obvious upgrades on the engine is the Inglese eight stack injection coming out of the Kaase Boss Nine semi-hemisperical heads. All this Ford goodness is controlled by FAST XFI system.
Although the body appears to be stock almost every panel has had work done. The top has been chopped a conservative 2 3/4 inches. The rocker line has been altered. To give you an idea of how much work it took to get the body perfect, in one 16 hour day a worker walked 14 miles around the car. All that work sits on a custom Roadster Shop chassis with Corvette C6 suspension and Accuair air suspension.
Source: Good Guys, Instagram/Sicchops and ScottieDTV
Amazing car. Amazing engine. Love it.
You didn’t see these modded until just a few years ago. Before that they were over the top restorations or rusted out hulks people still wanted “all the money” for. I had this idea a few years back but never had the cash to start this kind of project. I love the idea of a BBF between the fenders. That is what I chose, one from Roush…lol
The Corvette suspension is a great idea. I might have left the bags off, but that is my only nit to pick with this dream boat.
I’ve loved these cars for years and I’m 41. They have ALWAYS been super expensive restorations. I just googled them today for the first time in years and almost had a heart attack. I like the wheels and tires. This car is something only texas folk can truly understand. Treat this thing like a twin turbo’d m5 with no badging. Another sleeper that I’m probably more apt to go after…with these wheels…mark 7 or convertible galaxie ltd. All these cars get their inspiration from massaged rectangles trying hard to be 2 door coupes…easy to screw up in any style…but when it’s right…any style works.
LOL, when I was a teenager these were just used cars, probably bought and sold, nice examples, all day for a grand.
You have to remember this example has had multiple hundreds of hours of body work, chopping the top and full blown custom interior. Custom suspensions can be had for some kind of reasonable money and crate engines and transmissions are about the same. I’m figuring the owner of this car has 400K tied up here, maybe more. I estimate a pretty nice driver could be done easily for under a 100K, maybe not including the car…