Vintage Lincoln Cars

The Vintage Lincoln Cars

Lincoln’s circle of ownership started with Henry Leland who formed Cadillac in 1902, from what was left of the original Henry Ford Company. Mr. William Durant bought Cadillac from Mr. Leland in 1909 in order to add it to his “General Motors” stable. After dabbling in the aircraft industry for a few years, Mr. Leland formed Lincoln (which he named for a famous president). After running into some financial troubles, he sold out to Henry Ford in 1922. The circle was complete, and the Lincoln name now belonged to Henry Ford.

Lincoln Cars of the Thirties

The Lincoln in the late Twenties and early Thirties were massive machines, featuring huge V-8 and V-12 engines, competing head to head with Packard, Cadillac, Stutz, and the Pierce Arrow. Some of these beautiful beasts weighed in at almost 7,000 pounds, and were priced in the $4,000 to $7,000 range. By the mid to late thirties, Lincoln was beginning to feel the pinch of the economic times of the depression years, as the “big car luxury” market was on the wane.

Ford’s answer was the was the development and introduction of the Lincoln Zephyr in 1936. Priced at about $1300 the Zephyr was very popular with the buying public, and almost 15,000 units were produced in its introductory year. With its weight being trimmed down to 3,300 lbs and its V-12 engine, it was capable of a top speed of 87mph, and produced a respectable 0-50 mph performance in 10.8 seconds.

Lincoln Cars of the Forties

The 1940 Lincoln Zephyr Continental was a completely redesigned automobile that was a real crowd stopper. This automobile became a milestone car for the Lincoln brand. With its distinctive pointed hood, single sealed beam headlights, and the outside mounted spare tire, it was one of the most beautifully designed cars of all time.

The Lincoln Zephyr line carried most of the water for the Lincoln nameplate right up until all civilian car production ceased for World War II in 1942. When production resumed in 1946, only minor changes were made from the pre-war 1942 models. This continued until the first “new” post war Lincolns arrived in mid year 1948. Two models were offered, the “standard” line and a new “Cosmopolitan” series. The V-12 engine was gone, replaced by a new 337 cubic inch V-8.

Lincoln Cars of the Fifties

As the 1950’s dawned Lincoln introduced a couple of new models, the “Lido” and the Cosmopolitan Capri series. The Lido and Capri coupes were a limited-edition series, and featured custom interiors, padded tops, and a newly designed dashboard.

The Early Fifties saw major mechanical changes for Lincoln, the introduction of a new V-8, ball joint front suspension, bigger, oversized drum brakes, and options such as air conditioning, and four way power seats.

A major redesign for 1956 was in store for the Lincoln, and they were introduced to the public as “Unmistakably Lincoln”. The Lincoln “Premiere” series was introduced in ‘56. Huge tailfins and quad-headlights were featured on the 58 Lincolns with body weights inching up towards the 5,000 lb range. Motoring this heavy Lincoln was America’s largest engine, a huge 430 cu. In. motor putting out 375 horsepower. By 1959, the Capri name disappeared , it was now simply “Lincoln”.