Edsel Ford was truly a remarkable man. With a personality completely unlike his tempestuous father’s, he was able to assert himself in Ford Motor Company despite his father’s conscious or unconscious attempts to undermine him, and the greatest legacy of this was seen in Lincoln. Upon Edsel’s death in 1943, however, Lincoln was akin to one of Edsel’s beloved artistic masters finding himself without a patron, and one could argue that it never truly found one until the 1961 Continental’s spectacular debut. Therefore, in the tumultuous halls of postwar Ford Motor Company, Lincoln entered a state of moratorium where Cadillac receded far into the distance despite also fielding cars that were aging derivatives of cars that were introduced a half-decade before, which was an eternity in the world of planned obsolescence. The main problem was that the prewar Cadillac already had a head start over the basic Lincoln Sedan, but in spite of that, you have to admit that the Lincoln has its charms.
But try telling that to Lincoln’s marketing team, who seemed dejected as they groped for anything complimentary to say:
A number of refinements have been made in the Lincoln motor car for 1947, comprising new styling [a few small detail changes], new colors and new interiors. These various details further emphasize the beauty and luxury of Lincoln. They contribute to even greater enjoyment of this motor car…and to a character that is typically Lincoln in every way.
Pure vanilla, even if the car appears to be a nice shade of butterscotch. If it weren’t written in the 1940s, I’d swear that AI had a hand in it; the only thing missing is the word “iconic.”
Lincoln’s tagline in 1947 was this: “Nothing could be finer.” Buyers disagreed, and one reason was undoubtedly the Lincoln’s styling. While it still looked great, and it had been “beefed up” since its introduction as the 1936 Zephyr, Lincoln couldn’t hide that the basic design was over ten years old, an eternity in midcentury automotive terms. It also looked taller and narrower than its primary competitor, the Cadillac pictured below, and looks did not deceive.
The 1947 Lincoln Sedan was 68.5″ high, 77.82″ wide, and 218.05″ long.
In comparison, the 1947 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan was 63.1″ high (over five inches lower than the Lincoln), 80.8″ wide, and 219.2″ long. In addition to being “longer, lower, wider,” the Cadillac exhibited a more modern profile. The industry hadn’t abandoned the fastback look of the Lincoln, but it would soon be clear that the Cadillac’s more formal roofline (at least on the sedan) would point the way into the 1950s. Even though the 1947 model predated tail fins by a year, there’s little doubt that the Cadillac looked fresher than the Lincoln, even if it still had pontoon fenders front and rear.
Even so, I still have a soft spot for 1940s Lincolns, primarily due to their vague resemblance to my beloved 1940-41 Continentals, and like almost any 1940s car, the small details are where the beauty really lies. These red-accented “speed lines” leading to the taillights, the gentle swoop of the beltline trim, and the deep green paint remind us that Edsel’s influence still walked the halls of Ford Motor Company’s styling department. He may not have liked the direction of the aggressive and somewhat heavy-handed front and rear treatments, but he still would have wanted everything to be as tasteful as possible.
Aside from the styling, one could argue that Cadillac’s mechanical specification was superior as well. Although Cadillac still used L-Head architecture in 1947, their 346-cubic-inch V8 developed 150 horsepower and was available with Hydra-Matic, a definite boon for Cadillac salesmen. Meanwhile back at Lincoln, the 292-cubic-inch V12 shown above was rated at a smooth 125 horsepower, twenty percent less than its main rival; furthermore, the only transmission available was the three-speed (with optional overdrive). While the V12 can be built to be reliable, and anecdotally wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be, it had some issues when new with oil control, cooling, and crankcase ventilation. This is why so many ’40s Continentals can be found even today with 1950s OHV V8s from all sorts of manufacturers under the hood; people simply decided to upgrade and gain some power when their cars were ten years old or so. Ironically, it wasn’t uncommon to find a Cadillac V8 under the hood of a ’40s Lincoln.
All of this led to a Cadillac walkaway in sales in 1947: 61,926 Cadillacs compared to just over 21,000 Lincolns. Lincoln didn’t really start to catch up until the 1970s and ’80s, but that doesn’t mean the Lincolns of the ’40s are bad cars. In spite of their mediocre sales and aging mechanical specifications (including Ford’s old transverse leaf springs), I still take a slow walkaround whenever I see any Zephyr-based Lincoln (remember that the Zephyr name itself didn’t survive the war). They just have something special about them that I like. While Edsel too was a casualty of the World War II period, it’s clear to see that he did the best with what he had during his time at the helm of Lincoln Motor Company, and this stately ’47 in its dignified hue of “Moss Green” might be something that the boss wouldn’t have minded driving.
When I first saw these pictures I thought the paint was black, and immediately wondered if this was the car I got an occasional ride in back in the early 70s. My best friend’s father had bought it in the 60s and sold it around 1973 to a guy in Michigan. Howard’s black one was every bit as nice as this one, except for one tooth being broken out of the grille decades earlier.
It was a wonderfully smooth car, and the v-12 engine was nearly silent. He had owned other Lincolns during his teens in the early 50s, and said that was because they were really nice cars he could buy for peanuts.
One other good thing about the Lincoln is better outward vision. Look at the height of the side windows and windshield compared to the Caddy. No, it doesn’t look as sleek, but it’s much more practical to live with.
A bit hard to believe that it still had a front solid axle with a transverse leaf spring. But yes, it has its charms.
I had a notorious crotchety old landlord once for whom I worked for in the summer in exchange for rent (he must have inspired me in my future career) who still drove a ’47 or ’48 Continental convertible as his only car (this was in 1972-1973). He had two of us building a little future rental cottage out of old railroad ties (treated with poisonous creosote) and we needed some supplies so he drove me in it to the hardware store. He opened the hood to check the oil or water (he didn’t drive much anymore) and it had a later Lincoln flathead V8 in it.
Your story reminds me of watching “The Long Goodbye” with Elliot Gould as Chandler’s private eye Philip Marlowe. He was portrayed as an anachronism, driving a ’46-’48 Continental in the early ’70s and generally looking a little out of place. Not a bad movie.
I LOVE that movie. the elevator/Elliot Gould’s apartment is at 2178 high tower drive. I was actually able to go inside of the elevator but needed a key to go up. SO COOL!
I’ve had Lincolns and Cadillacs, overall IMO Lincolns held an edge over the Cadillacs. Of course they were all built before both shifted to bloated SUVS at BLOATED prices. I’m still Thinkin Lincoln, with a pristine 2007 Town Ca r Signature Limited as my daily driver. On a different note, THE BETSY, starting Tommy Lee Jones and a huge cast of screen legends, was a thinly veiled jab at the Ford Family and Company. I think it was released in the early 70s.
Nice .
-Nate
Packard and Lincoln stopped competing with Cadillac around 1937 and settled firmly into Buick territory. Can’t blame them, since the Packard 120 and Lincoln Zephyr were selling around 100k cars per year. Not bad for fairly expensive cars in the Depression.
Just for perspective, Pierce Arrow never brought out a “cheap” model. They built their cars to a standard, not to a price. They went belly up in 1938.