My dad had three Continentals over the years-98, 99, and 2001. I know the 98 is stick kicking as I still see the guy who bought it from him from time to time. I don't know about the 99, but the 2001 unfortunately was totaled in a parking lot fender bender a year or two back(my dad still owned it at the time).
Stay on top of the maintenance as they are reliable cars. As mentioned, the Intech V8 is the Lincoln-branded 32V DOHC version of the 4.6L modular. It also found its way into the Mark VIII, Aviator, Mercury Marauder, and a few other cars. It's fundamentally a sound engine, although as mentioned access is TERRIBLE in the Continental.
Also, my biggest memories of it are the massive torque steer and the huge turning circle for a car its size.
Still, it was comfy to ride in(not Town Car comfy, but still) and also fun once you could manage to launch it in a straight line without a massive amount of tire chirp. The '97(I think) refresh brought a lot of neat tech that was ahead of its time, and some features that I miss. When you put it in reverse, for example, the side mirrors rotate down so that you can see the parking lines/curb/whatever. They key fobs are linked to the driver, so if you set and save all your seat/steering wheel settings it will automatically go to those on starting depending on which key fob was used to unlock it. I always loved the gauge cluster, which is actually projected from the top of the instrument panel and superimposed onto the area with the needles.
I don't think this is unique to the Continental, but eventually pretty much all of the rear view mirrors(which are self-dimming as standard) will "leak" and leave you with a weird half-dim mirror a big brown spot below it.
I think all 2002s had floor shifters in a center console. That was optional in earlier years, and all three of my dad's had a 3-passenger front bench and column shifter.