The origins of the Lincoln Continental

Before being one of the most common names in the Lincoln lineup, the Continental was one of the most celebrated designs of the 20th century. In 1951, it will be one of the 7 cars exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But initially, she was a one-man styling exercise.

Lincoln was established in August 1917 by Henry Leland and his son Wilfred. The latter two had just left Cadillac, of which they had also been the founders, following a dispute with the president of General Motors, owner of Cadillac since 1909, William Durant. If the Lincolns are renowned for their undeniable technical qualities, they are not for their style. In February 1922, the brand was bought by Ford. We can see three reasons for this acquisition: it is an upward diversification, there is potentially a desire for revenge (the Lelands had founded Cadillac on the remains of the Henry Ford Company) and it offered an opportunity for Edsel Ford, Henry Ford’s only son, to express his talents.

A sophisticated man

Edsel Ford was born in 1893. If Henry Ford presents very traditionalist values, Edsel is educated and has an artistic sensibility. The relationship between the two men will be very close and… often very toxic.

Edsel will be named president of the Ford Motor Company in 1919 but Henry will continue to pull all the strings and regularly undo the decisions made by his son, even humiliate him in public. It was Edsel who pushed for the modernization of Ford products (Henry thought the Model T would last forever), launched the Model A in 1927 and the Mercury brand in 1939.

Back to Lincoln. Under the direction of Edsel, the brand built sumptuous and elegant cars but its sales did not really take off. In 1935, its K-series V12 models achieved only 1,434 sales compared to 3,636 Cadillacs and 6,894 Packards (excluding the One Twenty, closer to Buick).

Edsel felt that in this America still hard hit by the 1929 crisis, the future lay in mid-range vehicles. And that’s good because the coachbuilder Briggs, a Ford supplier, submitted to him in 1933 drawings made by stylist Tom Tjaarda. Two concepts are built: one with front engine, one with rear engine. They were shown in the “Exhibition in progress” exhibition in the fall of 1933 and at the Chicago Motor Show in May 1934. The reaction of the public, who preferred the front-engined model, confirmed Edsel Ford’s choice.

The final version was presented in 1936. It offered aerodynamic lines (but more elegant than the Chrysler Airflows of the same era), unibody construction and an all-new 75-degree V12 of 267.3 hp (4.4 liters) developing 110 horsepower. Named Zephyr, it is offered with 2 or 4 doors. Lincoln will sell 14,994 copies the first year, an incredible success to compare with the 1,515 K models, sold about 3 times more expensive. The Zephyr will undergo several evolutions and will be marketed until 1942 (beginning of hostilities for the United States in the Second World War) while the K models will be abandoned in 1940. Edsel Ford was right and the Zephyr will have had the merit of save Lincoln. But not only…

The two make a pair

Edsel Ford loves design and has found in the person of Eugene Turenne Gregorie a perfect accomplice who shares his tastes. Gregorie joined Ford in 1931 and Edsel Ford made him the corporation’s first design director in 1935. He had already produced two unique roadsters for Edsel in 1932 and 1934. He also signed the design of a roadster with the latter. which will be produced in small series in England between 1935 and 1941, under the name of Jensen Ford.

It is September 1938 and Edsel Ford wants a special model built for his winter vacation in Florida. He wants a car with a long, low bonnet, with the tire visible installed on the trunk, like what is done in Europe. The two men understand each other half-heartedly and Gregorie draws a drawing on a 1/10th scale plan of Zephyr in an hour. He will take the opportunity to move the front seats back and eliminate the running boards. A clay model is quickly made. When he sees it, Edsel will sketch a rare smile and ask Gregorie not to change anything. Plans are then drawn up and sent directly to production, without going through a full-scale model. bodywork, led by Henry Crecelius. The sheet metal panels are hand hammered and finished with solder and lead (lots of solder and lead!) before being painted Eagle Gray. The interior is also gray. The mechanical part is not modified in any way. The car, then called Special Roadster, was shipped to Florida on March 1, 1939.

There, Edsel Ford turns many heads. Legend has it that he would have received 200 orders for his convertible. The truth is probably well below that number. However, the enthusiasm was real and Ford telephoned Gregorie from Florida to request the manufacture of a second model. The car will have several mechanical problems and the homemade bodywork will cause several leaks in the rain. This time, Gregorie modifies the fenders and moves the seats forward to free up space for passengers and changes the lines of the trunk to increase the space of loading. Painted black, this prototype will be intensively tested by the engineering department during the summer of 1939. This vehicle still exists today while the first will be sent to the crusher during 1939.

Ford envisages a production in limited quantity and contacts coachbuilders, who refuse the contract. He then decides to use the internal manufacturing capacities of the K models, which are in decline and will soon disappear. He set the date of presentation at October 1939, for the 1940 vintage. The engineers and designers drew on the organ bank of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. Deadlines were met and two pre-production models were completed on October 3 and 19, 1939. These vehicles were exhibited at the New York and Los Angeles Auto Shows. The first production model will be produced on December 13, 1939 and will be delivered to actor Jackie Cooper. Twenty-five more will be manufactured before the end of the year.

A cut short career

The name Continental appeared during the development of the car. At its launch, it is integrated into the Zephyr range and does not bear the Continental logo (it will only last one year, it will become a series in its own right from 1941). The car is based on the monocoque platform of the Zephyr and resumes its V12, which has just increased to 292 hp (4.8 liters) and 120 horsepower. It is sold for 2,840 USD, against 1,770 for a 2-door Zephyr convertible. Quickly, a coupe model is designed. It is neither more nor less than a convertible with a welded hardtop in place of the soft top. A pre-production copy was made on April 3, 1940 and the first production model was produced on May 27, 1940. Many celebrities would acquire a Continental and Lincoln would build 350 convertibles and 54 coupes for the first vintage.

In 1942, the Continental will be entitled to a major restyling with a more massive front. This vintage will be cut short because of the war. The car will experience a few mechanical changes, including the disastrous Liquimatic semi-automatic gearbox and the no less disastrous passage of the V12 to 305 hp (Lincoln will be forced to reintroduce the 292 hp during 1946). The production will be distributed as follows:

The first new post-war Lincoln will be launched in 1949 but the Continental is no longer part of the range. It must be said that she never made money for Ford and that she lost her two most fervent supporters: Edsel Ford died in 1943 and Gregorie left Ford in 1946, not liking the new management. Patience: like a cat, the Continental has only just finished the first of its many lives!

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