One of our most prolific Cohort posters, TheProfessor47, saw this 1937 Lincoln Zephyr poking its delicious nose out of an open garage. He remembered how much I love the original Zephyr, and have had my eyes open for one. In his words:
Here’s that Zephyr you wanted, Paul. Sadly, I couldn’t get better pictures as I was running late for something and it was parked way back in someone’s driveway. When I returned later, it was gone (probably in the garage). Still, I thought it would be worth sharing, as I’ve never seen another one in the wild.
Sooner or later; it’s inevitable. Now let’s take a closer look at that clean and elegant prow. Does it get any better than this?
If it wasn’t apparent from the top photo, the Zephyr’s exquisite grille has a pattern to it; two horizontal ribs every so often are brighter than the rest of them, breaking up that long prow. I don’t know about you, but I’ve rarely seen a finer grille; a superb balance of boldness and subtlety. The Zephyr was a success, despite its feeble flathead V12 engine, because it hit the sweet spot between the latest in thirties aerodynamic design along with a traditional front end. The lack of that alone is what did the Chrysler Airflow in.
And here’s a better look at that hood ornament which tops it off.
This is obviously the coupe version, and just in case you’re not familiar with its delicious long tail, here’s a refresher.
And to think of the amount of abuse “Zephyr” took by being re-used over and over on less than worth cars.
Next to the Cord 810, that is probably the prettiest car of the 1930’s. And the 1937 Ford (the Baby Zephyr) wasn’t all that far behind.
Golly Neds!! Those people in the coupe sure are tiny.
Delicious!
Now, why is it Lincoln can’t do a better job of looking back to that era for new designs? Or at least sticking with “Zephyr” as a name instead of the MKwhatever nomenclature?
Well… if you look at the Lincoln “baleen” grilles dead on you might see a hint of the Zephyr’s flowing grille (if you took the Zephyr’s grille and hammered it flat to the wall.) 😛
I thought that the “baleen” grilles are meant to recall the 1940-41 Continental.
I think you’re right. Although they’ve tried referencing the ’61 Continental, and didn’t stay with it for long IIRC…maybe they’ll reference the 1979 Town Car next! 😀
I imagine Paul thinking, what’s the diametric opposite of a Volvo 2xx wagon?
Aha! The Zephyr: Cramped, finicky, rare and gorgeous.
Nice find quite a rare car out here though the last 37 I saw was on the highway unfortunately going in the other direction at speed in maroon looked very smart. The Zephyr moniker was over for Lincoln in 49 when Ford UK appropriated it for their advanced 3 graces range they used it thru till 71 then mailed it back to Dearborn thoroughly worn out.
I can only imagine how different the world and the Ford Motor Company would have been had Edsel Ford not died during WWII. Edsel was the overshadowed son, but with an unfailing eye for style and good taste. Henry Ford did not car what his cars looked like, but Edsel did, and it was Edsel’s sense of the aesthetic that made FoMoCo products from the Model A and up to WWII some of the most beautiful in the industry (and in history). Other than the 41 Ford (which has always been kind of off in its styling) I am not sure there is a clinker in the bunch.
Of course, Edsel did not draw them, but he could hire and encourage the people who did. To me, the tragedy of Edsel’s death was that there was such a clean break between prewar and postwar versions of the company. Sort of old testament and new testament. There was a lot of the old Ford Motor that needed to be jettisoned, but the part that should have stayed around died with Edsel.
Like all of you, I cannot recall the last time I saw one of these. It is a pity that these were saddled with that awful small V12. I really love these cars.
E.T. Gregorie was the man behind most of the Ford stuff after the Model A. I read a biography about him a few years back.
Here’s a Hemmings article about him: http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2007/11/01/hmn_feature19.html
These were beautiful cars. When I was a little kid we lived out in the country in a definitely lower-income area although we had lake frontage. We were still far enough from town that most of the places on the lake were summer houses for swells from Tacoma or Seattle. I’ll never know how he came by them, but one of our neighbors one day turned up with not one, but two Lincoln Zephyr convertible sedans, both maroon with tan leather interiors. I finagled a ride in one of them one day and was very impressed with the interior. Iirc the cars weren’t around very long.
“…mailed it back to Dearborn thoroughly worn out.” Ha! I like that, Bryce.
When you can’t afford the real thing, think small! These Zephyrs were produced by Erie Parker in the late ’30s. These are about 3.5 inches long. All are diecast. Love the chrome piece.
Sorry about the depth of field and lighting that’s all over the place. These are the first shots from my new high zoot camera.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Cool! Ertl also did a 1/18 scale ’37 coupe in their Precision 100 series about ten years ago. My local hobby shop got one in, but I didn’t buy it, though later on I got the Precision 100 ’57 T-Bird in Desert Rose. Wish I’d snagged the Lincoln too.
What a beautiful car! I don’t recall ever seeing one on the road, but there is a sedan in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. I also saw a coupe in the annual Sully Plantation Car Show (northern Virginia) about 25 years ago.
Are you still in the Chantilly area? I go to the Sully show every year. Go to the early Ford V8s area under the big Oak. Look for the green ’40 Ford Woody with “Green’s Farms” lettered on the doors. Maybe we will hook up.
Unfortunately those elegant prow did not translate well into modern design (or maybe it’s Lincoln’s designers that’s doing a poor job at it). Though the Lincoln that’s used to be called Zephyrs are not called that anymore. Which is in a way a good thing, as it’s not worthy of the Zephyr name. The current random alphanumeric names better fit the generic, nondescript sedan that it has become.
Gorgeous. Unlike Chrysler, Lincoln managed to do the streamlined and aero thing without scaring off the customers. If you get a chance to see one of these up close and personal, take it, and take notice of all the exquisite streamlined and art deco details inside and out. One visible in those photos is the headlight bezels.
The Airflows had some nice detailing, as well, although the overall shapes didn’t work as well. (The exterior design of the ’34s was done by engineers, the interiors and detailing by stylists.)
Actually, I think the ’35 DeSoto coupes look pretty good. There’s something about the headlamp surrounds that seems a little off (perhaps because they were struggling to fit the lamps in the available space while meeting state lighting laws), but the revamped grille works and the coupe has a nicer shape than the sedans. Unfortunately, the coupes were very, very rare: 418 for 1935 and 250 for 1936.
Yum!
We can give credit to Bob Gregorie for this car – this link has been posted here before, but it’s appropriate to do so again as this is such a great read if you want to hear early Ford history from somebody who was there:
http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Design/Gregorie_bio.htm
Click on the link at the bottom of that page for the complete transcript of an interview with him conducted in 1985. It’s fascinating!
I just saw a sedan version of one of these last Friday in midnight blue, sitting in the parking lot of a local glass company with another late ’30s car (not sure what it was). Unfortunately I was running late for an appointment and couldn’t stop.