Lincoln Continental Grill???

Hello all, I just joined the group here to find an answer to two questions...

1. Is this grill off of an older continental (70s, maybe a mark V even)

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_9UAG7wEN8-A/SgSO0pzHxAI/AAAAAAAAGEU/OOpae3AxNUU/s640/DSCN4466.JPG

2. Is there a market for something like this???

My grandfather just passed away (he worked for Ford) and we found this in his garage, it plugs into the wall and it works very well. Its very heavy and appears to be a real grill, obviously with some modifications.

The grille is from a 1972 - 1979 Continental sedan. It is not from a Mark series car.

It looks like a nicely-made one. The market for these is pretty limited, although LOTS of car parts (usually hubcaps) are turned into clocks, and are sold for about $30 on up. I have a 1935 Packard hubcap clock.

I do not think that any ordinary car enthusiast would have much interest in this, but a Lincoln collector might. I would suggest contact your local Lincoln and Continental car club in your area and see if they have a website or newsletter that you could advertise in. (Say 'best offer' and you might get $30 - $200 for it, maybe???)

I might suggest selling it locally because, as it's heavy, you may not want to pay to ship it.

This club has various chapters worldwide: http://www.lcoc.org/

A couple of more thoughts... did your grandfather work at the Lincoln plant in Wixom, Michigan??? If yes, perhaps it's a new part that came from the assembly line... possibly a surplus part, or one that was going to be scrapped for some reason.

This grille looks new, and, if it is new, it's probably worth MORE as a new, original part than it is as a clock. For collectors, "New Old Stock" (NOS) parts command a premium price over parts from used cars.

If the grille has not been cut-up or welded, you might advertise it as a NOS grille, in case someone wants to put it back on a car. Otherwise, advertise it as an NOS grille clock.... that makes it pretty rare.

Yes, he did work at the Wixom plant...It looks like the pieces of the clock (the "digits" and the plate where the clock mechanism sits) has been welded on, and some of the slats of the grill were notched out to house the back end of the clock.

Thanks for the info, I will look into finding some clubs, etc....