In the mid-1930s Edsel Ford saw a large gap in their line-up of cars. For the average buyer they had the very successful V-8 De Luxe line up. For the discriminating, luxury car buyer, they had the Lincoln K Series. What they wanted was a more affordable luxury car that would compete against General Motors’ LaSalle. What they got was a Zephyr.
The Lincoln-Zephyr was introduced in Nov. 1935 as a 1936 model. It was sleek with curves unlike any other car of the time. Even today it looks futuristic in a way with rounded lines leading to rear points, a low slung stance and rear wheel skirts that reveal only the smallest portion of the back tires.
Power was generated by a 4.4 liter V 12 engine that was based on the classic Ford Flathead 8. It sported 110 horse power and had a reported top speed of 90 miles per hour. A couple of years after its first release, the Zephyr got a 4.8 liter engine and then, in its last years of production, a 5.0 liter power plant.
Originally the Zephyr was available in both a two door and a four door sedan style. In 1937 the two door sedan was renamed the Coup-Sedan and the following year convertibles were offered as part of the car’s line. These only lasted a few years and were discontinued in 1940.
With the onset of World War II, the Zephyr, like all U.S. automobiles, ceased to be manufactured in 1742. After the war, Lincoln no longer used the Zephyr name, instead rolling that line completely within the Lincoln badge.
While the name re-appeared on a Lincoln model in 2006, it didn’t catch on with the car buying public who had seemingly forgotten the lineage of the Zephyr. It lasted one year before being re-named the MKZ
The Zephyr in these pictures is a 1939 two door coup convertible that I saw at a car show this past fall. It is a car that you don’t see all that often and I surely wanted to share this blast of west wind that was unlike any other car of its time.
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