CHAPTER THREE

 

LINCOLN SURVIVES

    A Chrome Greyhound

        Leads The Way

 

    Edsel Bryant Ford was fifteen years old when he and his friends,

Charles Van Auken, William Theisen, and James Smith began research on

building an aero vehicle.  At a barn near Woodward Avenue in Detroit, they

constructed a single-place high-wing monoplane.  It was powered by, what

else, a twenty-eight horsepower Ford Model T engine.  Their airplane first

flew from what is now the sight of the Dearborn Country Club, and once

again from historic Old Fort Wayne.  It was damaged during a hard landing

on the second flight, and was not rebuilt.  Edsel never actually flew in

it.  As a teenager, Edsel Ford was encouraged by his father to tinker with

mechanical things.  At age sixteen, he built his first hot rod (then called

a "speedster")  from a Model T Ford.  The finished speedster looked a lot

like an early Stutz Bearcat, and was powered by a six-cylinder engine. 

Edsel lost a fingertip to a machine lathe during its construction.  Years

later, E.T. Gregorie designed two custom speedsters for Edsel, one of which

(the Model 40 Speedster) he kept for the rest of his life.

    In 1923, Edsel received a letter which read simply, "I should like a

thousand dollars, and I can only promise you one thing, you'll never see

the money again!"  It was signed William B. Stout, Inventor.  The Fords

received thousands of such requests, and rarely responded.  Edsel did

answer this letter and enclosed two one-thousand dollar checks, one each

from himself and his father.  Thus began Ford's association with W.

Bushnell "Jackknife" Stout and his all-metal airplane company.  Stout was

the grandson of David Bushnell who is credited with having perfected the

modern naval submarine.

    In 1927, three months before Charles A. Lindbergh flew nonstop from New

York to Paris, the first all-metal Ford Tri-Motor was completed.  Pilots

nicknamed it the "Tin Goose" because it boasted an all-metal construction

at a time when most aircraft were constructed of fabrics and woods, and

because of the "Tin Lizzie," a nickname given its distant cousin the Model

T Ford.  The Ford Tri-Motor was one of the most reliable and efficient

transport aircraft ever built.  It saw service throughout the world, and a

few are still flying even today.  The Ford Motor Company purchased the

Stout all-metal airplane company, and later built engines for the

deHaviland aircraft.  Technically, however, Woodward Avenue and Edsel's

monoplane would remain the first Ford aircraft facility.

                             NINETEEN-TWENTYTWO

    On June 10, 1922, the new president of Lincoln Motor Company was

twenty-eight-year-old Edsel Ford.  At twenty-one, he had become a director

and the treasurer of the Ford Motor Company.  After Henry Ford's scrape

with the stockholders in 1919, Edsel was elected to the Ford presidency. 

Henry still owned enough stock to remain firmly in control, and it was well

known that he still ran things.  The original Lincoln Motor Company was a

Delaware corporation.  After Judge Tuttle's ruling, Lincoln was

reincorporated as a Michigan corporation.  The officers of the new Michigan

company from February through June were Henry Leland as president, Wilford

Leland as vice-president and general manager, and Edsel Ford as second

vice-president.  William T. Nash was secretary-treasurer, and B.J. Craig

was the assistant secretary-treasurer.  Both represented the Fords'

interest.  In June, shortly after he became President of Lincoln, Edsel

selected Ernest C. Kanzler as his vice-president and general manager.  The

Lincoln Motor Company was discontinued as an operating corporation, and the

Ford management people moved in to handle all matters from purchasing of

parts to marketing and distribution.

    Production was at an all-time high.  Ford sent quality control

inspectors to work with Brunn Body Company in Buffalo, New York.  Brunn had

been commissioned earlier by Leland to improve the Lincoln's esthetic

appeal.  Edsel was very much interested in continuing along these lines. 

Model L Lincolns were shipped in enclosed railroad cars and wrapped in

protective paper.  Dealers were instructed to have at least seven men ready

to carefully unload and unpack each new automobile.  One hundred and fifty

Ford dealers were given immediate appointment as Lincoln dealers.  The Ford

Company subsequently restructured their dealership plan in the metropolitan

areas to create Lincoln only dealers.  This concept of organization remains

largely intact to this day, and in small towns Ford-Mercury-Lincoln

dealerships are still overseen by the regional Ford district office.

    The following story was related in Floyd Clymer's Motor Scrapbook. 

Seems an individual had purchased an early Leland Lincoln from a dealer in

Colorado.  The distributor in Denver become a Peerless dealer after the

Ford takeover of Lincoln.  In the meantime, this particular Model L

seven-passenger Touring developed problems with rear springs, and the

engine continually overheated.  Contacting the district manager of the

local Ford facility, the owner found them very willing to make good on any

defects in the car.  The manager suggested he bring the car into the nearby

Ford assembly plant as they would need to keep the car for several days to

make the necessary repairs.  After about three days, the owner decided to

see how the work was progressing.  When he looked in, there was his

Lincoln, jacked-up, with its engine out, and surrounded by about thirty

Model T Ford mechanics from various Colorado Ford agencies.  They were

being trained on the borrowed Model L.

    As mentioned before, the Ford Motor Company quickly dropped the price

of new Model L Lincolns.  The cylinder heads were redesigned for better

cooling, and cast-iron pistons replaced the aluminum ones.  By the end of

1922, the 136 inch wheelbase chassis became standard, as did Handaille

hydraulic double-action shock absorbers.  These shocks were commonly

referred to as "Ho-Dye."  An optional 4.90 to 1 rear axle ratio was

available, and was termed the "mountain rearend."  The engine was

officially rated as ninety horsepower at 2800 RPM.  The new radiator badge

reading FORD above the LINCOLN name and DETROIT below replaced the

LELAND-BUILT shield and cluster.  An optional Moto-Meter radiator cap,

which had also displayed the Leland logo on earlier models, was

discontinued.

    Most 1922 models were carry-overs from the 1921 models, and many were

assembled from parts already manufactured.  Twenty-five different body

styles were produced, but only about a dozen were built in any volume.  The

American Body Tourings and Phaetons were the most popular body styles, with

the Murray and Lang Sedans close behind.  Probably the two most

photographed Lincolns of this era were the 130 inch wheelbase five-window

coupe, with its large rear-seat passenger window, and the rather standard

Touring model.  The Phaeton is, for the most part, a deluxe version of the

Touring.  The original Lincoln sedans were about as close to a shoe box as

can be built, and still have an engine hood and wheels.  This style had

been the industry standard for some years, but newly designed less "boxy"

styles were beginning to appear on the market.

    The tire rims on the Model L unbolted at the outside edge of the

spokes, so the traditional rear mounted spares were hollow rims without

wheels.  The rear of the top on the open Touring sloped up and rearward,

giving the appearance of being nearly ready to collapse backwards at any

moment.  A large sideways V cutout in the top was beside the rear-seat

passengers, who rode uncomfortably above the rear axle.  The top required a

supporting post, an unattractive feature common to many period designs.

    The Brunn Cabriolet Town Car with an open chauffeur's compartment was

traditionally styled, but a nevertheless impressive automobile.  These body

styles were referred to by other designers as "Sedanca DeVille" which

translates into Sedan of Town.  Lincoln called them Town Cars.  The Sport

Roadster model utilized a sloping windshield and a California style top

with coach bars.  Its trunk was about as long as the hood, and slopes

sharply rearward housing a large rumble seat.  Dual rear-mounted spares

were optional.

    Walter M. Murphy of Pasadena, California, was one of the first

independent coachbuilders to recognize a golden opportunity for styling

improvements on the mechanically excellent Model L.  He advertised and

displayed a four-passenger Coupe with carriage roof, and a long-bodied

custom Sedan with dual side-mounted spare tires.  Murphy thought that

whitewall tires greatly improved the looks of the Model L, and he used them

extensively.  In early production when they were available, use of the

longer wheelbase chassis facilitated the rear seat being placed forward of

the rear axle.  This allowed a slightly more comfortable ride, and provided

more space for the traditional footlocker trunk or dual rear-mounted

spares.  External wind wing-windows began appearing on Tourings and

Roadsters.  The Phaetons had adopted the full body beltline mold which was

used on many popular models in the early 1920s.  It extended the hood mold

line through the cowl and around the body.  Metal disc wheels were another

popular new option.  Late in the model year, the Judkins Coupe was

introduced.

    During the 1922 model year, no major changes in design were made to the

Lincoln which continued to be referred to as the Model L.  The changes that

were made were logistical in nature, mainly directed toward more efficient

production.  The engine blocks, for example, were now cast at the Ford

facility in Rouge.  At serial number 6030, larger brake bands were

installed.  As always, an effort was made to make the new parts

interchangeable with the old ones.  Minor changes in block and cylinder

heads were made at serial number 7820, and a new quieter timing chain was

installed at serial number 8500.  Emphasis was placed on producing the

larger body styles like the seven-passenger Sedans and Limousines.  H.H.

Babcock Company was added to the list of custom coachbuilders.  The most

notable change in Model L marketing strategy was the August announcement of

an even lower price for the seven-passenger Touring.  Other

across-the-model-line price reductions followed.  Between February and

year-end, over five thousand new Model L Lincolns were produced.

    Leland's Lincoln was believed to have failed because of its pre-World

War I Cadillac styling, but the real problem was far more complex.  Sales

manager Getsinger's advice to Henry Leland to engage professional

coachbuilders to improve the styling on the Model L proved sound.  It later

made Lincoln an innovator in the coachbuilt field, and put them on the road

to better styling.  One British automobile journal ran a picture of a

Leland Lincoln Coupe with the caption, "Pleasantly Ugly!"  If the Leland

Lincoln was ugly, but mechanically superior, then for Edsel Ford it was a

marriage made in heaven.  Styling was what he wanted to do most, and he did

it in spades.

    Whether or not Lincoln had become the luxury car of the Ford line

because of the series of events between the two Henrys cannot be

determined.  One thing seems certain, however, had Edsel Ford never gained

control of Lincoln Motor Company, he would have surely started a luxury

motorcar line of his own.  The Lincoln was simply a good buy on a good

design.  Some months after the Ford takeover, Henry Leland was reported to

have asked Ford to allow him to repurchase Lincoln for the bankruptcy sale

price.  Henry Ford was said to have replied, "Not for ten times what I paid

for it!"  The Leland family's side of this story is chronicled in the book

Master of Precision by Mrs. Wilford C. Leland and Minnie Dubbs Millbrook.

                            NINETEEN-TWENTYTHREE

    The early 1923 model Lincolns had painted bell-shaped headlight and

taillight housings.  Earlier models had painted drum-type light

assemblies.  This was further confused by the fact that in April of 1923,

they returned to the chrome-plated drum type light assemblies and chrome

bells became optional.  The windshield frames were redesigned to reduce

vibration.  Because these parts were interchangeable from model year to

model year, they are of very little help in trying to identify a particular

vintage.

    Sixteen different body styles, Types 111 through 133, were now made

available.  These were produced by Lang, American, Judkins, Fleetwood,

Brunn, Anderson, and Towson.  The latter two companies were subsequently

merged into Murray Corporation of America.  Edsel Ford directed LeBaron of

New York to create a series of custom bodies for the Lincoln.  Edsel's

personal one-off turret body Coupe was built this year.  It had a

convertible cloth top with coach bars.  The Coupe's body resembled a

rocking chair, the trunk deck was low and flat.  Accessories included wire

wheels, rear-mounted spare, and whitewall tires.

    For the most part, Edsel had a free hand with styling design at

Lincoln.  Mechanical engineering design was primarily the responsibilities

of Charles Sorensen.  Edsel was, however, directly responsible for bringing

Clarence W. Avery to work for Ford at the Highland Park plant.  Avery had

been Edsel's manual training instructor at Detroit University, and

eventually masterminded many of Ford company's mass production concepts.

    Edsel Ford had a flair for styling and good taste.  Why not?  He was

raised in affluence, and had circulated with the creme de la creme of

society in the U.S. and abroad.  Edsel was to give Lincoln that touch of

class, conceive the original Continental, introduce the Mercury and

generally influence Ford styling for the next three decades.  Whenever

possible, he hung out with the styling design group at Ford. Unlike his

father, he was characterized as easygoing and diplomatic.

    The Lincoln legend would now grow and mature.  When viewing an old

Lincoln sedan, you may have overhead someone who did not even know the

make, refer to it as a "gangster car."  The Lincolns were popular among rum

runners and police squads alike, but Hollywood was largely responsible for

this image.  (Picture, if you will, the speeding black sedan with a guy

leaning out of the window, firing his pistol to the rear.  Close behind, in

hot pursuit, comes the law in an open Touring model with the officer in the

right seat firing away at the escaping sedan with his Thompson submachine

gun.)   This era for the Lincoln was right out of a Damon Runyon short

story.  One can almost imagine the "Three Wise Guys" speeding through the

Jersey countryside in a Model L sedan.  It may have been the gangster Al

Capone of whom it was related that, upon being involved in an accident in

his large sedan, paid the driver of the other vehicle for the damages on

the spot.  Bizarre, indeed, for a man who was a crook to pay an automobile

accident claim, but those were the times.

    According to a famous axiom, "the road to hell is paved with good

intentions," and is a good way of explaining the era into which the Lincoln

automobile was introduced.  From January, 1920 until 1933, when the

Eighteenth Amendment was repealed, the Volstead Act had fostered

Prohibition.  This was the golden age of crime in America.  Illegal booze

became the country's number one industry.  Without modern radio

communications and other law enforcement aids, it was easy for rum runners

to escape capture in high powered automobiles.

    The City of Detroit authorized its Police Patrol Squadron to upgrade

its motorcycles to some type of high performance automobiles so the police

could chase down affluent mobsters driving Packards and Lincolns.  The

police department staged a competition for prospective patrol cars.  There

were ten automobiles entered in the trial.  On the half-mile and two-mile

runs, the Lincoln bested all entries with an average top speed of eighty

miles per hour.  From a running quarter mile, the Lincoln finished second. 

Without exception, police test drivers selected the Lincoln for its

superior cornering ability.  The Lincoln became the official car of the

Detroit Police Department's Flying Squadron.  Lincoln engineers fine-tuned

the engine, and installed four-wheel brakes, but otherwise the cars were

stock.  Mostly, the Brunn designed Touring models were used for the Police

Flyers.  Front wheel brakes did not become standard on the Model L until

1927.   Upon delivery, the Police Flyers were equipped with a bulletproof

windshield, special spotlight, and gun rack.  These cars were renowned by

assailants and law officers nationwide.  This kicked off a sales and

marketing campaign by Lincoln based on its new found high-performance

reputation.

    The styling plan for 1923 was centered around dropping the less

attractive models, and developing those which showed promise.  The

seven-passenger, seven-window Sedan with sun visor and crank-out divided

windshield had triangle wing-windows ahead of the front doors.  The door

arrangement was of the unique front-front type.  Fancy double-rail bumpers,

lots of chrome, and a contrasting pinstripe accented this stately Sedan. 

The top on the Touring model was modified to break slightly in the middle,

eliminating the old leaning-back-look.  The support posts on the Phaeton

and some Tourings were moved rearward, forming an inverse V coach bar.

    The Sedans received larger windshields for better visibility, but

retained their crank-out ventilation feature.  A slimmer, more graceful

exterior sun visor was added.  Metal disc wheels were optional.  In

addition to their utility, they looked very good on certain models. 

Judkins had earlier introduced the Model 702 Sport Coupe, which was selling

well, and continued to do so through 1928.  They also introduced a Sedan

Cabriolet with a carriage-style padded roof over the rear compartment.  It

had wires, canvas covered dual sidemounts, and was nicknamed the Opera

Coach.  It was a "pumpkin coach" motorcar worthy of Cinderella.

    Guider-Sweetland custom coachbuilders of Detroit, Michigan, offered a

pillarless four-door Sedan with three rows of seating, much like a modern

Suburban or station wagon.  Omitting the pillar (center roof and door-frame

post) between the rear and front doors reflected this coach shop's work as

ambulance builders.  Many of their models were patterned after the work of

designer Lancia Augusta.

    Inventor Thomas A. Edison purchased a Model L Touring, and fitted it

with a special type of headlight that he felt worked better.  The Highland

Park Police Department had several long wheelbase chassis models built into

paddy wagons  Their front ends' back to the windshield were standard

Lincoln.  These wagons were equipped with dual sidemounts, and used the

traditional oval centered Lincoln front bumper.

                            NINETEEN-TWENTYFOUR

    For 1924, the bell or tea cup-shaped headlamp assembly was dropped in

favor of a nickel-plated drum style.  The radiator shell was raised

slightly, which tended to straighten out the hood and cowl lines.  This

greatly improved the looks of the Model L's front end.  (By comparison, it

is similar to the familiar change which occurred between the 1929 and 1930

Model A Ford's front ends.)  The new radiator shell was nickel-plated.  The

thermostatically controlled radiator shutters (louver veins) were

positioned vertically in the grill.  The new fenders were now full crown

and wider.  The molded border around the fenders was eliminated on all

models except the Judkins Coupe.  The familiar LINCOLN oval emblem replaced

the FORD-LINCOLN-DETROIT radiator badge.  Cowl lights were smaller than

earlier models, and painted.  Disc wheels, rear bumpers, Rudge-Whitworth

wire wheels, side-mounted spare tires, dual rear-mounted spare tires, spare

tire covers, and painted radiator shells were optional.  The wooden

artillery wheels were painted to match the body color with a contrasting

pinstripe.  Wood grain finish was optional.  Drivetrain improvements were

made to the camshaft, clutch, flywheel, and valves.  A timing mark was

added to the engine.

    Prices were slightly increased in July, and ranged from between

fifty-five hundred and eight thousand dollars per automobile.  It is

questionable whether Ford ever made money on the Lincoln.  The actual facts

are denied us because of the company's crude to nonexistent methods of cost

accounting.  On occasion, receipts were literally weighed on a scale to

determine the approximate cost of producing a given model.  Many man-hours

were spent finishing and testing the Lincolns.  Models were more likely to

have been priced rather arbitrarily by the market which Ford wished to

target, than by the actual cost of production.

    In November, the Prince of Wales came as a guest of the Fords to tour

the Highland Park facilities.  The chauffeur-driven Brunn seven-passenger

open Touring was pulled right up on the loading dock.  Ford czar Charles

Sorensen sat in the jump seat with Edsel, Henry and the Prince seated aft. 

It was an opulent day.  The escort caravan included a Fleetwood Town Car

and a Brougham Limousine.  Henry Ford always enjoyed hobnobbing with the

rich and famous.  One testament to this was the "Chuckwagon Cook Truck"

which Henry Ford had built on a 1921 Lincoln chassis.  President Warren G.

Harding, Harvey S. Firestone, Thomas A. Edison, John Burroughs, and Henry

Ford used it on many of their famous camping trips.  It now resides in the

Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan

    An untrue but humorous story about one of these trips is that, while

passing through a small town, Henry's Lincoln started running rough. 

Pulling into a local garage, he asked the mechanic to have a look at the

car.  As Henry Ford and his three famous friends looked on, the mechanic

indicated that it was mechanical trouble.  "I'm Henry Ford, and I build

these cars.  Its not mechanical trouble," explained Mr. Ford.  "Well," said

the mechanic, "I believe then, it must be an electrical problem."  "No,"

said Mr. Edison, "I am Thomas Edison, and it is not electrical in nature." 

The mechanic, a little confused at this point, said, "Let's have a look at

the tires."  "Not that," said Mr. Firestone, "I am Harvey Firestone, and my

company makes those tires."  The mechanic stepped back, removed his hat and

scratched his head.  "What are you waiting for," said Henry Ford, "fix the

car."  "Well," said the mechanic, "I was just waiting for one of you

fellers to tell me that gentleman over there is Santa Claus."  (Mr.

Burroughs, a naturalist, was known for his long white beard.)

    The first presidential Lincoln was also built in 1924.  It was a

LeBaron sedan Touring.  An order was placed with Ralph Roberts of LeBaron

for a design to be approved by Henry Ford.  President Calvin Coolidge, it

was said, was an admirer of Henry Ford.  Actually, the car's specifications

were approved for production by Edsel.  It was pretty much a standard

Lincoln Touring right down to the artillery wheels, but did have whitewall

tires.  The new Lincoln was delivered for service in December of 1923. 

David Lloyd George, then Prime Minister of Britain, was one of the first

dignitaries to ride in this Lincoln with President Coolidge.  Silent Cal

"Keep It Cool" Coolidge seldom allowed his driver to exceed eighteen miles

per hour.  The car remained at the White House when Herbert Hoover took

office, and thereafter became better known.  Lincoln became the Marque

motorcar of American presidents for the next six decades.

    The original California style Sport Roadster was advertised with disc

wheels, dual rear mounts, and a Moto-Meter.  Its low sloping enclosed trunk

in the rear made this Coupe resemble an animal weak in the flanks.  Styling

errors like these are surely what caused Edsel, a decade and a half later,

to insist on a high trunk line for the Continental.  The Judkins California

Coupe had not made this styling error.  It sat very high in the back end

and the top was chopped slightly, giving the whole car a more massive

appearance.  These features, combined with the newly restyled standard

Lincoln hood, made the Judkins two-passenger Convertible one of the early

style leaders.  Also offered was a five-window Coupe that resembled the

Sedan.  Many of the Lincoln body styles had triangle wing-windows, and most

had built-in exterior sun visor.

    Custom coachbuilder Guider-Sweetland produced a Phaeton with a hard

top, curved third window, small coach bars, oval rear window, and rear-seat

windshield.  It sported disc wheels, dual sidemounts, and snap-on canvas

wheel covers.  The Judkins Berline moved the entire rear passenger

compartment forward, leaving more space for an add-on trunk or dual

rearmounts.  It had a front-front door opening arrangement.

                            NINETEEN-TWENTYFIVE

    By 1925, coachbuilders like Brunn and Judkins soon learned that Edsel

Ford was both a generous and demanding client.  Edsel was at least honest

with himself about the fine-performing, quality-built, less-than-beautiful

Model L.  He took positive action early in 1925.  While visiting New York,

Edsel offered to relocate the entire LeBaron carrossiers to Detroit.  The

company did not accept, but their top designer Raymond H. Dietrich did. 

Dietrich referred to himself as an automotive architect.  Ford set Dietrich

up in business, and later gave him a contract to build Lincoln bodies.  In

Dietrich's own words, "It was like receiving a bouquet and the vase to put

them in."  The addition of Dietrich and Holbrook brought to seven the

number of authorized coachbuilders designing bodies for the Model L.  

(Carrossier was the European name used for custom coach body houses, and it

was posh to use this name in referring to early U.S. coachbuilders.)

    Edsel was now firmly in control of the Lincoln Motor Company.  Until

now, the standard Lincoln bodies was being contract-built by Murray,

American, and Babcock.  The Murray Corporation of America would remain as

the prime Lincoln body builder for ten more years until outside

coachbuilding was discontinued completely.  Lincoln opened their own fine

custom coach facility in 1925, but not because Edsel was less than

satisfied with the contract builders. Indeed, the Lincoln chassis had

become the first choice in America for custom fitting.  The old-line custom

houses had lofty standards, and considered artistry their primary

function.  They had not yet grasped Edsel's perceptive view of the coming

importance of styling.  The new popularity of the Lincoln increased demand

for delivery which the coachbuilders were simply not equipped to meet. 

But, the Ford industrial complex was so equipped, very few industries

matched their capability in mass production.  Additionally, Ford management

supported the concept of more in-house control over body manufacturing.

    The first Lincoln factory-built, a Type 152 Sedan, was introduced in

1925.  It was soon followed by the Type 156 Coupe.  The new Lincoln bodies

used only number-one-grade select hardwoods in their framework.  Parts were

cut from a single piece of wood, not steam formed or joined.  Body panels

were hand-hammered aluminum, and bronze or aluminum-cast body fittings were

used.  Die-cast iron or steel fittings were not used due to rusting. 

Interior trim wood was often meticulously inlaid with diamond patterns.  To

keep pace with a growing production schedule, the Lincoln factory and plant

facilities were increased in size, and improvements were made to the

assembly areas.

    This year saw the introduction of the famous Gorham designed chrome

greyhound radiator cap ornament.  Edsel felt that the greyhound represented

speed, grace, beauty, and endurance.  He selected the Gorham Company of

Providence, Rhode Island, to produce the new mascot.  At first, the

greyhound ornament was to have been only an option, but it quickly became

standard on all Lincolns.  It even became common to see replicas of the

Lincoln greyhound on Fords, which people called, "Baby Lincolns."  Auto

accessory suppliers made cheaper versions of the chrome greyhound that

could be bolted onto the hoods of almost every make of automobile built. 

(Hood ornaments today are carry-overs from these old decorative radiator

caps.)

    Mechanical changes implemented in 1925, included a smoother emergency

brake with longer handle, and a 12.6 to 1 steering ratio which replaced the

15 to 1.  Front and rear bumpers became standard, and 7.00x21 balloon tires

were now optional.  Standard wheels were 6.00x21 with an overall dimensions

of 33x5.  The absence of cowl lights helps to distinguish this year's

models.  Padded roofs and coach bars on hard top sedans were carried over

from carriage styles.  There were other options and trends which came in

style for the same reason.  Fold down center door pillars were one such

example.  With door windows rolled down and pillars folded out of sight, a

sedan provided the same open-air feeling of a Phaeton with a hardtop

installed.

    Production included a 150 inch wheelbase chassis, referred to as the

Type 150A.  Nine of these were used in the assembly of burial coaches. 

Type 150B chassis were used for commercial delivery vehicles.  Other models

produced were the Locke Type 151 Roadster with auxiliary seats, the Type

157 Berline Landaulet six-passenger by Willoughby, the Holbrook and LeBaron

Cabriolets, and a gross of factory-built five-passenger Sedans Type 152.  A

dozen different custom coach styles were built by LeBaron, and about the

same number by all other custom builders combined.  American Body Company

produced a little over one hundred Type 123D Tourings, and were the last of

the ABC coaches.  Holbrook introduced a Cabriolet that not only provided

for the usual chauffeur's all-weather top but also had a partially

collapsible rear coach top for the passenger compartment like a Landaulet. 

California independent coachbuilder, Walter Murphy offered the first

can-you-top-this carriage look-alikes.  On this design, the driver's

compartment was an open buggy seat with lantern style coach lamps mounted

on either side.

    LeBaron built a custom body Lincoln this year which was to become one

of the rarest and most distinctive of all the Model L Lincolns.  Its hood

mold line continued unbroken the full length of the car body.  This was a

styling concept used in Europe, but not yet adopted in America.  Piano

hinges were secured to the hood with exposed polished rivets, a method

often used by Rolls-Royce coachbuilders.  The low profile of this LeBaron

was made possible by tunneling the drive shaft through the car, allowing

for a step-down rear seat, a method used later on modern cars.  Only two

were ever built, and they are prized collector cars.  These automobiles are

benchmark examples of this period's fine coach work.

    Ray Dietrich described Edsel Ford as, "A generous and sensitive man

whose grasp of styling and understanding of the creative mind made him a

genius of the automotive art."  Ford designer Walter Teague, came to know

Edsel well and further expanded on this by saying that, "Edsel was a great

soul.  He was wise, generous, strong and simple, a combination of qualities

that mark the greatest of men.  In him an extreme sensitiveness was united

with a unselfconscious modesty that left no need for the kind of

compensations publicity has to offer."  Teague continues, "By choice, Edsel

worked behind the scenes where public eyes could not follow.  Few except

those privileged to work with him knew that among his many superb

qualities, Edsel was also a great designer."  Ralph Roberts of LeBaron

claimed that during work sessions with Edsel, a coach design was sometimes

firmed up in a single afternoon.  With other custom coach clients, this

might take days or weeks of meetings.  Referring to Edsel, Roberts said,

"He never interjected alien preferences of his own, but could put his

finger on key elements of a design, and point out what did not seem to

fit.  The design would improve and grow in these sessions, and at the end

the designer would feel assisted by a master and not criticized."

                             NINETEEN-TWENTYSIX

    The year 1926 would prove to be the best of all production years for

the Model L and Model K Lincolns.  The preceding year had been very good,

and during this year the Lincoln motorcar had come of age.  LeBaron, Locke,

and Willoughby were added to the approved Lincoln custom builders roster. 

Several of these coachbuilders had begun by outfitting custom order Fords

with special interiors.  Except for an occasional one-off and custom built,

these were the last of the coachbuilders to furnish bodies for the Model L.

    Ray Dietrich had left LeBaron, and was now heading Dietrich Custom Body

Company of Detroit.  In the beginning, Dietrich was more of a creative

designer than a coachbuilder for the parent company, Murray Corporation of

America.  Murray, of course, had built Model L bodies from the outset. 

Edsel asked Dietrich to enter a design in the Concours d'Elegance for the

1927 Paris competition.  This Concours traditionally made awards for all

types of creative designs from jewelry to architecture.  Dietrich entered a

Convertible Coupe with dicky, and it was awarded a go