CHAPTER SEVEN

 

THE ORIGINAL CONTINENTAL

    A Ford That

        Was An Edsel

 

    If its father was Edsel Ford, then surely its mother was the Zephyr. 

The birth of the Lincoln Continental is a story that has been told and

retold by Lincoln and classic car buffs alike.  No other automobile has

been held up to such general acclaim for its styling, as has the

Continental.  It invokes an aura that sets it apart from the commonplace. 

Its praises have been sung by admirers from Frank Lloyd Wright to John

Steinbeck.  Modern art museums, publications, and the general public have

all praised the styling of the Lincoln Continental.  In 1946, it became the

basis for industrial designer Raymond Loewy to create two of his dream

cars.

    Most automobile historians record that Edsel Ford commissioned this new

design upon his return from The Continent (Europe) in September, 1938. 

Indeed, the go-ahead to build a one-off custom Continental automobile for

Edsel was given at this time, but the story goes back much further.

    The Henry Ford Museum archives at Greenfield Village have preserved

many of Edsel's personal drawings and sketches.  Some of these articles

date back to when Edsel was only ten years old.  A scrapbook, beginning

with newspaper clippings from 1911, contains a brochure entitled "The

Continental Pneumatik."  Other clippings are of the Austro-Daimler, the

Apollo, and other classic European designs.  By the time the scrapbook

reaches 1918, Edsel was collecting American coachbuilts like George

Brokaw's Canoe Roadster Marmon, William Wrigley's Semi-Touring, and the

Vanderbilts' Custom Locomobile.  There are also paste-ups of special

coachbuilt bodies for the Model T Ford.  The useful and appealing features

of these various automotive styles were measured, and annotated by penciled

in notes.  Features like the fenders on a Vauxhall, and the windscreen on a

Grand Prix racer were circled.  These notes and the scrapbook represent

Edsel's early interest in styling and design.

    Edsel was to develop a keen eye for the classic and a disdain for the 

mediocre.  He became not the mechanical tinkerer his father was, but a

connoisseur of art objects.  The establishment of Lincoln as a marque and 

the creation of the Continental were primarily due to three factors.  Those

factors being the Man (Edsel), The Idea (the gathering of creative people

around him), and The Means (the vast Ford empire).  Walter Dorwin Teague,

an independent designer who worked for the Fords and with Edsel for many

years, said of him "Edsel was a truly great soul.  By choice, he moved

quietly behind the scenes at Ford.  It was no accident that Edsel Ford, in

his lifetime, would dynamically affect Ford styling and produce the world's

most highly praised motorcar."

    The story of the early Ford designers is really a trilogy.  Ray

Dietrich, John Tjaarda, and Bob Gregorie were all supported and encouraged

in their work by Edsel Ford.  Eugene Turenne "Bob" Gregorie, Jr., a

twenty-three year old yacht designer, came to work at Ford in 1931.  Bob

Gregorie and Edsel Ford were kindred spirits.  Sometimes they would talk

for hours, seated among old dusty prototypes, about boating and things of

common interest.  To this day, Bob Gregorie never speaks of Edsel except as

"Mr. Ford."  Bob Gregorie and some other young designers had established

Ford's first styling design department under the blessing of Edsel Ford. 

It was in this department that Edsel escaped from the pressures of his

office.  Here in 1935, Gregorie and Ford first discussed the possibility of

producing a European style of automobile within the Ford line.  This

concept, for a completely new motorcar, was discussed off and on for

several years.  Edsel consistently referred to it as "the Continental."

    Eugene Gregorie had been called Bob from an early age.  His father was

the son of a South Carolina plantation owner.  Educated in New York, the

senior Gregorie was an automobile hobbyist.  The family owned a Bugatti, a

Pierce-Arrow, and other makes.  Growing up on Long Island, Bob developed a

keen interest in both cars and boats.  In 1927, he went to work in Bayonne,

New Jersey, for the builders of Elco yachts and a year later as a naval

architect in New York.  Pursuing an interest in automobile styling, his

next job was at Brewster, where he was assigned to the Rolls-Royce coach

design group.

    On his twenty-first birthday, Bob Gregorie boarded the night ferry to

Albany.  He interviewed at Franklin Motor Car Company.  Ken Haven, chief

designer at Franklin, had no openings.  He suggested that Gregorie talk

with Ray Dietrich, who was there on business.  The two men met and visited

in the lounge that night on the return ferry to New York Central.  Dietrich

arranged an introduction for Gregorie at Pierce-Arrow, but the next day Bob

found an opening at General Motors in Detroit.  The Great Depression

deepened and a series of odd, part-time jobs followed.  That summer,

Gregorie traveled in his father's Pierce-Arrow back to the family

plantation for an extended visit.

    In January of 1929, a job opened up under Henry Crecelius at Ford. 

Gregorie worked first on the Model Y English Ford, and then on the KA and

KB Lincolns.  John Crawford, a Ford shop master and Edsel's personal

production advisor, rounded out this early project design team.  Crawford

referring to Gregorie, said that "He was a young man with good ideas." 

Edsel took Gregorie under his wing, handled him with kid gloves, and gave

him the freedom to be creative.  Gregorie would sometimes not keep a

regular work schedule, but instead drive for hours through the Michigan

countryside working out an idea in his head.

    When Gregorie joined Ford, there were no clay mock-ups, and body

bridges were not used.  Component parts were designed and built

individually.  The first major design task assigned to Gregorie and his new

group was to restyle the front end of the Briggs Zephyr.  He used to joke

with Edsel about the nose of the Zephyr being just an upside down boat

prow.  The Continental which would later evolve from this design would

itself resemble a sleek land cruiser and have a yacht-like style.

    The concept of automobile styling is commonplace today, but in the

1920s and the early 1930s, it was a radical new idea.  It was, however, a

logical development in the evolution of automobile design.  The Dietrich

design for the Model L greatly influenced the styling of the popular Model

A Ford.  The Tjaarda concepts for the Model H were affecting the styling

for the total Ford product line.  The new group headed by Gregorie was the

first real styling and design department at Ford or Lincoln.  The air in

the new department was thick with foreign accents.  Ford was hiring many of

the laid off designers from the now defunct coach building companies.

    In 1927, Cadillac experienced disappointing sales with its new models. 

Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr., president of GM, retained California custom

body stylist Harley Earl to design the new LaSalle.  This was a calculated

and direct attempt to appeal to the auto buyer's visual sensibility.  It

also resulted in the establishment of the "Art and Colour" section at

General Motors.  Thus, Lincoln and Ford were now following suit.  For the

next eight years, Bob Gregorie would style everything from Ford trucks to a

woman's dress for an automobile show.

    On one of Edsel's trips to Europe, he purchased an English sports

roadster.  Upon returning home, he made a big fuss over its classic lines. 

Gregorie decided that it was now time to incorporate into a single design,

many of the features which he and Edsel had discussed.  The "Continental

look" was to be characterized by a long hood, sweeping front fenders, high

narrow grille, thin bumpers, and special interior trims like piping.  A

short rear deck and blind quarters were also very much part of the

Continental look.  By late 1937, a now familiar classic form began to take

shape.

    At first, both men had considered only that the sporty new car would be

built on a Ford chassis.  Neither really considered it a luxury motorcar,

at least not in the beginning.  Two major problems arose.  First, the Ford

Company resisted anyone, even Edsel and especially Gregorie, making

proposals for new models.  Second, the long hood effect of the new design

simply would not fit on the shorter Ford chassis.  The logical choice was

the new lightweight Lincoln Zephyr.  Gregorie could influence the design of

the Zephyr, as he was already working on the 1940 model design changes. 

Edsel also had a rather free hand with Lincoln, which he did not have with

the company's main line.  Gregorie did some yellow crayon sketches,

superimposing the new Continental's lines over a Zephyr blueprint.  These

one-tenth scale blueprints were commonly referred to as package drawings.

                            NINETEEN-THIRTYEIGHT

    In November of 1938, a one-tenth scale clay model of the Continental

was completed.  There were some similarities to the Cord styling,

particularly in the fender lines and in the boxlike body.  There the

similarity ended, as the Cord hood lines lacked the smooth transitional

form of the Continental.  The spare tire was exposed behind the trunk. 

This caused some of the Ford stylists to be concerned, for they felt this

was not modern.  Ford designer Martin Regitko, formerly with Willoughby

Coachbuilders, even made some sketches enclosing the spare.  Edsel

considered it briefly, but turned the idea down because he felt that it did

not look continental enough.  All good designers look for styling focal

points.  They know that the human eye seeks a place to rest or focus when

viewing an object.  The Zephyr and the early Continental hoods come sharply

to a point.  From the front, this becomes the focal point.  The spare tire

hump, retained on Continentals to this day, becomes the styling focal point

from the rear.  One can experiment with this by glancing at various car

silhouettes.  View, for example, an older Cadillac which attracts the eye

to its tail fins.  A Mark II, from the side, will focus the eye on the aft

part on the top behind the rear-seat window, near the small fender bump. 

Edsel may have been conscious of these styling concepts or, like many good

designers, he may have just developed an instinct for that sort of thing.

    The rear deck of the new Continental was raised as high as possible

while maintaining the sleek lines of the Zephyr.  On the original scale

model, the grille concept looked much like the one Gregorie had designed

for the new Mercury which was introduced on November 4, 1938.  To retain

its compatibility with the Zephyr, the Mercury grille concept was dropped. 

In retrospect, this was probably a very good choice.  It is probable that

the many early discussions on the Continental, gave rise to the concept for

the midsize Mercury.

    It was not unusual for Edsel to have custom cars built for himself each

year.  In fact, it was the norm.  Since 1932, Gregorie had personally

designed two of the specials which were built for Edsel.  Neither received

much acclaim or were ever considered for production, and both had been on

Ford chassis.  The first of these Speedsters was built in 1932, and it

appeared in a November 1933 issue of the English publication Autocar.  The

Roadster resembled a Model B street rod.  It had a boat tail rear deck,

teardrop fenders, and an all-aluminum body.  It was started at the Dearborn

engineering lab, but shuffled off to the Lincoln plant where it was

completed.  The car was often parked in the gardener's shed when Edsel was

at home to keep it out of Henry's sight.  His father disliked Edsel being

involved in these types of projects.

    The second car, called the Model 40 Special Speedster, sported a long

hood, V-shaped rearend and motorcycle fenders.  Its design was similar in

appearance to the most modern race cars of this period, and may have set

the styling trend for the English Allard and similar sports cars.  The

Model 40 Special Speedster was purchased outright by Edsel and delivered to

him on September 21, 1934.  The car was extensively photographed bearing

1934 Michigan license plate number F988.  The car was painted dark grey

with a grey leather interior.  It sported a machine-burnished instrument

panel, a decorative finish used on airplane metals of the time.  In fact,

the Model 40 was assembled at the Ford aircraft factory.  In 1940, a scale

model of the Speedster was rendered and photographed with an updated

two-part grille.  FMC photo #14531, dated 3-21-40, has scrawled across it

in Edsel's handwriting "EGT, this form is very good, but wonder if two

grilles should join?  Edsel."  A grille of this design was installed on the

Speedster in 1940, and a similar grille pattern was used on the 1942

Lincolns and Lincoln Continentals.

    The Model 40 remained in Edsel's personal collection until it was sold

at auction in June, 1944.  It was listed in the auction brochure as "Ford

Special Speedster #18-1022711, thirty horsepower."  It sold for $1,000. 

The car surfaced for awhile in Hollywood in 1952, where it was photographed

by Auto Sport Review with actress Lynn Bari at the wheel, and was more

recently owned by Earl Pallasch.

    Before leaving for Florida to winter at the family estate in Palm

Beach, Edsel reviewed and approved the final designs for the new Zephyr

Cabriolet.  Edsel continued to refer to it as the Continental, and the name

finally stuck.  The name Continental had previously been used in the

automotive industry, but clearly Edsel was not alluding to any of these.

    One of the most familiar being the Continental engine manufacturing

company.  In America, there were four early companies incorporated under

this name.  The companies were Continental Automotive of New Jersey in

1899, Continental Motor Vehicle of New Jersey in 1903, Continental Motor

Car of Illinois in 1907, and Continental Motors of New York in 1914.  It is

doubtful that any of these companies ever produced an automobile.  In 1907,

the Continental Motor Company of Chicago, Illinois, did produce a

Roadster.  Another company, Continental Automobile Manufacturing of New

Haven, Connecticut was originally called University Automobile, probably

for Yale University.  They built a Runabout and a rather large Touring

model.  In 1907, while on a spring tour in his Continental, C.S. Johnston

was arrested in Richmond, Indiana, for speeding and later collided with a

trolley car in Dayton, Ohio.  The Indiana Motor Manufacturing Company built

several models of Continentals between 1909 and 1914.  It later became

known as Knightstown, and the company produced a kit called the Ultimotor

for converting carriages to autos.

    Rolls-Royce designated one of their Phaeton II bodies as a Continental

in 1931.  They also used the name Continental for a series of streamlined

Bentley coach bodies which they produced years later.  A rather latecomer

was the successor to the DeVaux-Hall Motors of Grand Rapids, Michigan,

which became the Continental Automobile Company.  In 1933, they produced

over three thousand six-cylinder motorcars called the Flyer and the Ace. 

They also produced a four-cylinder Beacon and Red Seal.  In 1934, only the

four-cylinder version was continued and the company failed shortly

thereafter.  The latter is noteworthy in that some motorcar reference books

state that the Continental was first produced in 1933.  This, of course,

was a reference to the DeVaux-Hall, not the Lincoln Continental.

    Ford body engineers Henry Crecelius and Joe Galamb were asked to review

the scale model and drawings of the Cabriolet to see if they felt that it

could be built on the Zephyr chassis.  They both agreed that it could. 

This may have been the first clue that Edsel was considering building more

than just one or two Continentals.  Work on the first Lincoln Continental

proceeded from full-scale drawings.  It was to be built of as many standard

Zephyr parts as possible.  The car was easily lowered three inches because

the original design for a Zephyr convertible had a three-inch sub-floor.  A

special firewall box insert was constructed to extend the hood twelve

inches.  The running boards were removed completely.  There was much

cutting, welding, and a lot of lead filling.  A four-inch horizontal strip

was cut out of the doors and side body.  Body parts were formed on wood

framed dies.  Small parts like windshield frames were made from aluminum

castings.

    Some early reports state that the instrument panel on the first

Continental was a prototype planned for use on the new Lincoln Custom

Limousine.  In fact, the panel was a standard 96H Zephyr with the lower

console removed.  The clock was relocated to the center of the glove box

door.  The floor shift remained, but the shift lever was modified for panel

clearance.  A radio was installed in the standard location, but the car

lacked an antenna and speaker grille.  The outside door handles were of

unknown origin, but the rest of the car was basically a 1939 Zephyr.  The

nose plate read "Zephyr," and the chrome nose bar between the grilles was

omitted.  The cloth top and bows were stock from a standard Zephyr

convertible coupe.  The comet (ball and spire) hood ornament appeared for

the first time on this car.  Due to the body stretch, the steering wheel

was mounted very close to the windshield and panel.  (Ford engineers

generally referred to the firewall as a dash, and the dashboard as an

instrument panel.)

    The first Continental was very heavy.  It weighed almost 5,000 pounds. 

It was 210 inches long and sixty-two inches high with the top up.  It was

built from a 96H Zephyr chassis scheduled to be a Type 74 Convertible, and

it was serial number H74750.  The car was originally yellow, and was

repainted Eagle Grey and trimmed with grey leather (as were many of Edsel's

personal cars).  It was ready on March 1, 1939, and was shipped by railway

car to Edsel in Florida.

    Edsel drove the car around Hobe Sound in Florida that spring and many

prospective buyers, friends, and acquaintances inquired as to how they

might order a custom-built Continental Cabriolet by Lincoln.  Edsel phoned

Gregorie back in Dearborn complaining that the car leaked like a sieve, and

was a bucket of lead.  Build two more, he told him.  These cars were

supposedly ordered for his sons, Henry II and Benson, according to an

account given some years later by Ford Company historian Owen Bombard and

quoted in a book titled The Lincoln Continental.  It is relatively certain,

however, that Edsel and Gregorie had planned to build an additional

engineering prototype all along.  Ordering additional bodies in the family

name temporarily kept the cars from being considered prototypes, and might

have saved some bandying about in the Ford Company hierarchy.  It is not

believed that the second of these two cars was ever built, and it is

doubtful that either son ever took delivery on a 96H Continental.

                            NINETEEN-THIRTYNINE

    In April of 1939, Edsel returned to Dearborn having already decided to

go ahead with a limited production run of five hundred Continentals.  Over

two hundred inquires had been made about placing advanced orders for the

new model.  The original Florida car was scrapped, but documentation on

this is nonexistent.  This was the year of the big Ford Pavilion at the New

York World's Fair.  Edsel did not summer at Seal Harbor, Maine, as he

usually did.  He took a place on Manhasset Bay to be near the Fair.  He

rarely looked in on a development project once it started, but Edsel

maintained a closer than normal liaison with the new Continental.  It was

the last personal custom sports car that Edsel would ever have built.

    In June, the second Continental was completed.  The car was built on

chassis serial number H82410.  This second car was used extensively as an

engineering prototype and test bed, according to Bob Gregorie who later

purchased it.  It was made from 96H sheet metal, and was built on a chassis

assigned to a Type 74 Zephyr Sedan Convertible, as was the first

Continental.  The Type 74 chassis used much stronger frame cross-members.  

This was desirable as there was no hard top to provide additional body

support.  The Series 96H and the subsequent 06H Cabriolets and Coupes

shared many Type 74 chassis parts which the 16H Continentals did not.  One

of the most notable changes was the reduction, by four inches, in the hood

stretch on the second Continental.  An effort was made to reduce the amount

of lead fill, and thus the weight.  The front fenders were shortened for

better entry access, and the trunk was noticeably higher than the original

prototype.  Both 96H Continentals used the new dual-spoke steering wheel

from the Mercury.  The Zephyrs used a three-spoke style, sometimes referred

as a "banjo" steering wheel.

    Only the second car used the new column gearshift lever.  It was

basically the test car for this new style of shift lever.  Lincoln's

version of the column shift was to be called "Finger Tip Control."  The

second car used the same customized instrument panel as the original, but

no radio was installed.  This car was photographed, in early August, behind

the old Lincoln plant on Warner Avenue.  Neither of the 96H Continentals

bore a body number, and their production quantity was grouped in with the

other Type 74 Zephyrs for the year.  Had they been assigned body serial

numbers, they would have been 96H-56-1 and -2 respectively.

    It is often related that the early Continentals were built from

full-scale drawings without benefit of full-scale mock-up.  This was true

of the first two Special Convertibles.  It was not true of the Series 06H

Cabriolets built in the fall of 1939.  The full-scale clay mock-up was

being built at about the same time as the second Special Convertible. 

Robert M. "Bob" Thomas, who went to work in the styling design department

at Lincoln in 1927, recalls working on the full-scale clay mock-up.  Thomas

relates that the studio stylists and draftsmen watched in amazement as the

armature for the new Continental was rolled in.  What was this squared-off

back end, long-hooded thing, anyway?  Most had never seen the original

Cabriolet which was built for Edsel.  Has Gregorie finally lost his mind,

they wondered.  At this period in automobile body design, engineers were

hiding spare tires, and were moving passengers to the center of the wheel

base in order to lower the car's height.  Edsel was right again, Thomas

recounts.  After the molding clay was filled in, the car looked great.

    Armature is a term used by clay modeling stylists.  It is generally a

metal frame with wood slats for attaching the molding clay.  It is roughly

the same outline as the car's body, except that it allows for a three-inch

clay buildup.  It is also referred to as a "Buck."  In the case of the

Continental Cabriolet, the armature was actually a Zephyr chassis complete

with suspension and wheels.  The real fenders and the hood were sectioned

and molded in with clay.  The trunk and rear part of the fenders were wood

slats.  Because this buck was an actual car chassis, one was able to climb

inside it.  Bob Thomas actually worked inside the armature on the

instrument panel mock-up and recalls, "We used Ford instruments, and any

off-the-shelf parts that could be scrounged up.  I remembered thinking at

the time, why are we building a luxury car out of Ford parts?  The steering

wheel column was pivoted downward due to the lower windshield line of the

car.  The instrument panel was a pretty clobbered job, at best.  Everyone

was surprised at how well it actually turned out."

    The clay mock-up was finished in late spring of 1939.  Production

design work was well under way by July.  Thomas recalls working among the

bridges set up in the design area before his departure from Ford that

summer.  A bridge is a large template showing the profile of a car's body

at various sections.  Bob Thomas is retired now, and lives in Southern

California.  He has written a book entitled Confessions of a Designer about

his experiences at Ford and other auto makers.

    In 1935, E.T. "Bob" Gregorie set up the first styling design center at

Ford.  In discussing those years leading up to the design of the

Continental, Gregorie recalls that there were not really any executives or

officials at Ford.  Joe Galamb was considered head of the body engineering

department.  He had been with Ford since the Model T days.  John Crawford

was Edsel's assistant and technical advisor, and he usually followed any

project that Edsel was interested in.  By 1936, Gregorie had built two

different sports cars for Edsel's personal use.  One was on a lowered Ford

chassis with a new special type of suspension which Gregorie himself had

conceived.  Edsel hoped to market such a car through the Ford dealers.  The

bodies would be contracted out to one of the Lincoln coachbuilders.  Ford

would supply the design, chassis, and running gear, but no suitable

agreement was ever reached in this regard.

    Gregorie purchased and retained one of the prototype sports cars after

Edsel had tired of it.  On one of Edsel's trips to England, a deal was

struck to build a similar sports car in conjunction with Jensen.  Five

prototype cars were built and shipped to England for manufacturing

prototypes.  Ford furnished the chassis to Jensen, who built these cars

until the latter part of 1939, at which time the war in Europe halted

production.

    Bob Gregorie related in a recent interview, "The fact that Mr. Ford

(Edsel) had just returned from a trip to Europe in 1938 had nothing to do

with our starting the Continental project.  We had talked about such a

design for several years in conjunction with the Ford sports car projects. 

The Ford chassis could easily have been lengthened, but it was the

suspension and weight that concerned us.  General Motors had been giving

Ford some real competition with a variety of midsize cars.  Edsel thought

that a continental-style car might fit well into the new Mercury line." 

Actually, Gregorie was the first to propose that the Continental be built

on the Zephyr chassis.  The cost of such a car would be high, and a better

price could be obtained in the luxury car market.

    Gregorie continues, "Mr. Ford (Edsel) was thrilled with the one-tenth

scale sketches and work proceeded on a one-tenth scale clay mock-up.  Most

of the actual molding on the model was done by an intern named Eugene

Adams.  The first Continental was intended only as another hand-built

custom car (for Edsel).  This scale model and some drawings were what the

car was actually built from.  As many standard Zephyr parts as possible

were used because they were readily available.  A convertible chassis was

used because of its additional frame bracing.  As to whether it was a

two-door or four-door convertible, one couldn't really tell.  The Zephyr

unit body was little more than a shell holding the wheels on."

    Gregorie seems to remember the custom built Zephyr Cabriolet being

loaded onto a Ford Company transport truck for shipment to Florida. 

Gregorie said, "They had these trucks for hauling show cars around.  Mr.

Ford (Edsel) called from Palm Beach and instructed us to go ahead with a

second car.  His wanting to build two cars for Benson and Henry II was just

another one of those tales that got started."  The Ford sons had their own

cars.  Young Henry's car was a 1937 Zephyr Coupe.  On several occasions,

special equipment like dual exhausts or a custom steering wheel was

installed in these cars.

    Gregorie recalls that, "The young Fords would see something on one of

my cars and want it put on theirs.  When Mr. Ford (Edsel) called from

Florida, we did discuss the Cabriolet leaking.  It was more on the tone of

his kidding me about it.  Yes, the car was heavy, probably about a thousand

pounds heavier than a regular Zephyr convertible.  What else would you

expect with all that solder fill?  That spring and summer, we built the

second prototype Continental."

    With the Model K Lincoln, Edsel had kept the coachbuilt era alive an

extra decade beyond the time it would have died a natural death.  His

private goal was to merge the styling of a custom built automobile with the

technology of a production model.  The Continental would be the last

vestiges of that dream.  A major factor in the decision to produce the

Continental was the discontinuation of the Model K.  Its departure had left

open a bay in the production line which had been specially set up for

custom cars.  In addition, Lincoln had all these very talented custom body

workers on the payroll who had worked on the Model K.  The go-ahead was

given to start a limited production run of the Continental.

    Gregorie's group got busy on the full scale clay mock-up and a set of

working drawings.  Gregorie explained that, "The second car was extensively

tested by engineering and used by my design group for dimensioning.  The

power plant was left up to ol' man Frank Johnson, so of course, they (Ford)

stayed with the V-12 concept.  Those engines and the KV-12's always had a

rough spot in them.  It would have been nice if we could have had something

like the three hundred CID six-cylinder engine used in trucks now days. 

Back then, the twelve cylinders were needed for the prestige value."

    The number two car, the actual development prototype, was acquired by

Gregorie and he drove the car to the 1939 New York Auto Show.  It was not

displayed.  Gregorie does not recall ever seeing Edsel's Zephyr Cabriolet

after it was shipped to Florida, "most likely, it was returned to his home

on the lake (Edsel Ford's estate at Gaukler Point on Lake St. Clair).  Mr.

Ford (Edsel) had a garage there where he kept some of the cars that were of

special interest to him."  Gregorie sold the number two Continental about

two years later to a used car dealer in Detroit for $800.  This car was

located in the early 1960s by Jessie H. Haines of California.  He

extensively researched this car, and wrote several short stories about it. 

The car was recently known to be privately owned in Pennsylvania, and was

in fairly poor condition.

    A photograph dated 7-13-39 shows the first full-scale clay mock-up of

the new Cabriolet.  Sheet metal forms were now based on the 06H body

styling.  Early Continentals, and to some extent virtually all

Continentals, were custom built.  Much hand finishing work was required. 

Upon close inspection of an early 06H Contiental, body numbers might be

found in many locations on the car (written with crayon on the inside of

doors or stamped on the flange of a fender).  These early parts were fitted

to a given body and needed to return to that particular car after being

painted.  Continental production bodies serial numbers one and two differed

in many minor details from number three and subsequent cars.  Some experts

contend that these first two 06H cars were actually the first true

prototypes for the Continental.  They are also often confused with the two

96H Continentals.

    By late fall of 1939, a facsimile of an assembly line had begun to take

shape.  It was said that, on occasion, Henry Ford would look in on the

Continental production and just walk away shaking his head.  Twenty-five

cars were produced by the end of the calendar year.  Some Continental buffs

regard these as 1939 models, but Ford considered them only as the first

part of the 1940 model Continental run.  This new Lincoln would have been

an excellent opportunity to make some improvements to the Zephyr drive

train.  Edsel just was not willing, it seemed, to buck the Ford people on

two issues at the same time.  Styling was dearer to his heart.  Besides,

using as many standard Zephyr parts as possible assisted in holding the

development costs down.

    At the Ford Rotunda on October 2, in Dearborn, the new top-of-the-line

Zephyr Continental Cabriolet was announced.  It is interesting to note that

the first 1940 Continental (serial number H85825) is shown on Ford

production records as not being completed until October 3.  It was painted

a Tropical Sand color with a tan cord and leather interior.  Proponents of

the "additional cars" theory, conclude that the Continental shown on

October 2, was of unknown origin, or possibly a Ford family car.  Other

possibilities are that it was the engineering prototype, or it was the car

recorded as being produced on the following day.  The possibility also

exists that no Continental was actually on display during the announcement,

only art work.  The most likely conclusion, however, is that production

model Number One was on display for the visiting dealers and Ford Company

executives who attended the announcement.  Rumors persist that several

other Zephyr Continentals, in the eighty thousand serial number range, were

produced.  Exhaustive research by automotive historians and hobbyists have

failed, however, to substantiate this contention.

    A week later, two Lincoln Continental show cars were displayed at the

New York Auto Show, and still later at the Los Angeles Auto Show. This

according to a Ford promotional release years later.  The National Auto

Show was held in New York from October 15 through the 22.  Ford was not

part of the National Automobile Association at this time, so the new

Lincoln models were exhibited earlier at the ballroom in the Astor Hotel. 

The lavish decor adorning the automobile display was designed by Walter

Dorwin Teague.  The show's theme was "Road of Tomorrow."  Fords, Mercurys,

and Lincolns were all on display.  Edsel Ford remained in New York and

personally toured the National Auto Show on October 17.  Considering that

the second production car, a green Continental (serial number H86025) was

recorded as being completed on October 10, it would have been a rush to get

it to the New York and Los Angeles Auto Shows on time.  The first two 06H

models recorded on Ford production logs had no shipping destination of

record.  It is most likely that these two cars were, indeed, intended as

show cars.  Both were part of the Harrahs Automobile Collection in the

early 1970s.

    Lincoln historian David L. Cole of California relates that the

Continental shown in New York was actually body number 06H-56-1 (serial

number H85825).  Production model 06H-56-2 (serial number H86025) was also

shown at the Detroit and Chicago Auto Shows.  No Continentals were shown in

California until the latter part of the year, and then only at dealers

showrooms and at hotels.  Cole also states, without reservation, that most

of the early eighty thousand serial numbered cars mistakenly reported to be

Continentals were actually convertible Zephyrs.  One possible reason for

this is that researchers mistake the abbreviation "CON coupe" for

"CONtinental" when in actuality it refers to "CONvertible."  Thus, there

were only two Series 96H Continentals ever built, and serial numbers H74750

and H82410 are listed on the 1939 production records as Special Convertible

Sedans.  The first two 06H Cabriolets were built in October.  They were

serial numbers H85825 and H86025, and were considered Ford Company cars. 

Harrahs has one of these cars, and will not say to whom the other was

sold.  The first Continental to be shipped to a dealer was 06H-56-3, and

was Beetle Green serial number H91688.  Completed in December, it was sent

to Long Beach for sale to movie actor Jackie Cooper.  This car was junked

some years ago and no longer exists.

                               NINETEEN-FORTY

    Production for 1940 officially began on December 13, 1939.  Continental

chassis and HV-12 engines were selected at random from the Zephyr

production run.  Thus, one can obtain only a general idea as to when a car

was produced by its serial number.  The chassis used on the Continental

Cabriolet was similar to the Type 74 Zephyr Convertible Sedan.  The engine

and drivetrain were identical except for some accessories.  The cylinder

heads on early models were brightly polished aluminum as was the intake

manifold.  The air cleaner was side-mounted on later Continentals, and

there were a variety of air cleaner styles.  Hot air heaters and overdrive

units also caused minor engine compartment variations.

    There are a few photographs in existence of early Continentals showing

certain options omitted.  The story that various trim items were not

installed on many early Continentals is probably without basis.  In fact,

there was a concerted effort to standardize these early factory options. 

Lower side moldings were retrofitted on 06H-56-1 in time for the New York

Auto Show, and a spare tire cover was added in December.  The gravel shield

on the rear bumper, and the wider rocker panel moldings were installed from

06H-56-3 onward.  The rubber boot on the lower leading edge of the rear

fenders were omitted on the first twenty or so cars.  Several of these cars

did, however, have them added later.  By April of 1940, most of the

Continentals were trimmed identically.  Standard Zephyr door handles were

used.  Push-button outside door handles did not appear until the following

year.  The license plate bracket was never located on the fender as on

early Zephyrs, as some reports indicated.  It was always centered behind

the spare tire.  Originally, the license plate light and bracket mounted to

the body below the spare, but it was attached to the bumper from March on. 

That same month, the hundred thousandth Lincoln Zephyr was produced.  This

honor was bestowed on a Zephyr Continental Cabriolet, and publicity photos

were made of the car rolling off of the assembly line.

    Henry Ford had been a close friend of Thomas A. Edison, the inventor. 

Ford held Edison in great esteem, so much so that the grounds on which the

Ford Museum is located are named in his honor.  Actor Mickey Rooney made a

movie, "Young Tom Edison."  Some of the scenes were filmed on location at

Greenfield Village.  This pleased the Ford family very much.  In February

of 1940, Mr. Rooney was invited to Michigan for a world premiere of the new

movie.  Rooney, Edsel, and members of the Ford family rode an old Civil War

train, the Sam Hill, to Port Huron (Edsel's childhood home, and the site

chosen for the movie's premiere).  Henry Ford presented the young actor

with a new Continental Cabriolet, or at least the keys to one.  Publicity

billed the car as the first production Continental, although it was body

number 134 (serial number H98800).  For many years it was assumed that this

car, presented to Mr. Rooney, had been the rather ornate Los Angeles show

car, 06H-56-2.  More recent information indicates that Edsel personally

issued the list of specifications for this car, ordering it especially for

this occasion.  The interior, including the panel and the steering wheel,

was blue.  Those attending remember the car as having been light green. 

This, however, was not the car actually delivered to Rooney in March of

1940.  The car and Mr. Rooney parted company about the time of his divorce

from actress Ava Gardner.  Four other Continentals, with body serial

numbers under fifteen, are shown as having been shipped to Dearborn.  This

sometimes meant that these cars were intended as Ford family or Ford

Company cars, but not always.  Continental body number 20, like number 134,

was marked "Home Office."  Continental 06H-56-20 was Edsel Ford's personal

car.

    The first Contiental Coupe was completed on April 3, 1940.  It was body

06H-57-1, and was installed on chassis serial number H101742.  More so than

the Cabriolet, the Continental Coupe would set the trend for Marks to

follow.  It was painted Bennington Gray, a light gray (Eagle Gray was the

rather darker gray used on Continentals).  The interior was tan whipcord

and leather.  This car was extensively photographed and used for promotion

of the 1940 Coupe.  Continental Coupes are sometimes called hardtops due to

their being first produced as Cabriolets.  In view of the fact that it was

designed as a hardtop version of the Cabriolet, this might be the most

nearly correct term.   A sad footnote to the first Coupe comes from its

original factory data card.  It reads Date Shipped (blank), Shipped To

(blank), and scrawled across the card is "Salvaged see blanket work

order."  The new Continental Coupes were introduced to the public in May. 

Less emphasis was placed on the word Zephyr, and this was an insight into

the fact that the Continental would become a line unto itself when the 1941

models were introduced in the fall.

    About one-third of all Continentals were black.  Other popular colors

were burgundy, red, capri blue, tan, green, and gray.  Special paint colors

could be custom ordered.  The most popular leather was a dark red, and was

installed on slightly over half of all the cars.  About one-fourth of the

cars had tan interiors.  The majority of the convertible tops were tan,

with black making up most of the balance.  Regarding accessories, many

Continentals had factory options which were not recorded on their data

cards.  It was a widespread practice during the forties for dealers to

complete the cars with options requested by the buyers.  Factory available

accessories were radio with cowl mounted antenna, hot air heater, Columbia

rearend, chrome wheel rings, road lights, side view mirror, and extra

bumper guards.  Standard tires installed at the factory were mostly

Firestone and some Goodyear.  White sidewalls were more frequently

installed than black walls, except right after World War II when they were

hard to get.

    These were to be the motorcars of ranking dignitaries and movie stars. 

The Continental was sleek and modern.  It had a classic dignity, something

that the streamlined Zephyr had never seemed to have up against the

Packards and the Cadillacs.  The classic lines of the Continental were to

influence the design of automobiles for years to come.  Lee Iacocca related

that, after taking over as vice president of the Ford Division in the early

sixties, he gathered a group of planners to come up with a new European

style design.  The Fairlane group, as it was called, was instructed to

design a car around an existing Ford running gear in order to save on

development costs.  (Does that statement seem to have a familiar ring?) 

The running gear was the Falcon, and the ratio of long hood to boxy trunk

was taken from the styling of the Continental.  Ford stylists Dave Ash and

Joe Oros originally called their design the Cougar.  This name was later

used on the similarly-styled Mercury.  The new car introduced in mid 1964,

at the New York World's Fair, was the very popular Ford Mustang.  Iacocca

said that he used to sit and look through a picture book of world

automobiles searching for an impressive design.  The one that he always

seemed to return to was of the original Continental.

    The new model year, 1940, saw just over four hundred Continentals

produced.  It was obvious by its popularity that the production run would

continue past the originally planned five hundred units.  Continental Type

56 and 57 were never set up to be mass produced as the Zephyr had been. 

Between its inception and its discontinuation from production in mid 1948,

just over five thousand Continentals were ever produced.  The public demand

was there and had the cars been available, far more might have been sold. 

The sales numbers might even have been respectable enough to have

interested Ford's upper management.  The dealer organization was probably

one of the keys to the Continental's low sales figures.  On occasion, a

remote dealership would be assigned a Continental and it would be shipped

to them.  He would sell it as quickly as possible, even at cost, to get it

out of his inventory.  One Continental represented his ability to inventory

three or four Fords.  Most dealers did not have the type of clientele to

whom they could market a luxury car, and many Ford dealers did not even

have the trained staff to service Lincolns at all.

    There were other changes in the Lincoln model lineup during 1940.  It

was the last year for Type 22 Zephyr Town Limousines.  These were the

standard sedans which had deluxe interiors, and a partition window between

the driver and the passenger compartment.  The big Lincoln Model K series

was also dropped from production.  Three chassis were called Specials and

were sent to Brunn for construction of custom coach bodies for the Ford

family.  Brunn also purchased four long wheelbase chassis on which to build

Type 36 Limousines.  These Specials and Brunn Town Cars were probably the

forerunner to the Types 31 and 32 Customs which would be introduced in the

fall.  For 1940, there was only one line of cars, and they had all been

called Zephyrs.

                             NINETEEN-FORTYONE

    For 1941, the Lincoln model lineup was divided into the Zephyr, the

Continental, and the Custom.  It was hoped that the Continental would

replace the sporty Model K Roadster, and that the Custom could fill the

market void left by the large Model K Sedans.  The new Custom provided

competition for the Packard 180, Cadillac 75, and Buick Limited, as well as

the Chrysler and DeSoto limousines.  All were on stretched wheel bases of

the standard models.  Hudson was building a seven-passenger sedan called

the Big Boy.  The Lincoln Types 31 and 32 Customs which were offered for

the first time this year are often confused with the custom ordered

Specials built by Brunn Town Car.

    Because of its unit body construction, the Zephyr chassis was not well

suited for custom coach rework.  Ross Cousins supervised custom design and

construction for Ford and built by Brunn for outside customers.  These

coachbuilt Specials were originally Series 06H and 16H, but several were

later updated with 66H grilles and trim.  An oversimplified explanation of

how to tell a coachbuilt Special from a Custom is that if it looks like a

Zephyr with a Model K passenger compartment it is probably a Brunn-built

Special, and if it looks like a long-bodied Type 57 Continental with four

doors, a not-so-long hood and no outside spare then it is most likely a

Custom.

    The Lincoln Custom Sedans were very large cars with roomy interiors. 

They were advertised as eight-passenger, compared to their contemporary

competitors who promoted seven-passenger Limousines and Town Sedans.  The

wheelbase of the Custom was 138 inches, and the body itself was over

eighteen feet long.  The wheelbase dimension was arrived at by a rather

interesting method.  The Lincoln overdrive unit measures thirteen inches in

length, and the Zephyr with a standard drive shaft had a wheelbase of 125

inches.  The sum of the overdrive unit and the standard drive shaft

produced a resulting 138 inch wheelbase automobile.  Thus all Customs were

equipped with overdrive.

    The primary difference between the Limousine Type 32 and the Sedan Type

31 was that the Limo had a partition window between the driver and the

passenger compartment, and the Sedan did not.  The wider front doors for

the Custom were taken from the Zephyr Club Coupe.  The rear doors were four

inches longer than the Zephyr Sedan's, and had to be fabricated especially

for the car.  The spare tire was enclosed inside a nearly vertical trunk. 

A Series 06H chrome belt line trim molding was used on the sides of the

hood so as to omit the word ZEPHYR which appeared on the Series 16H Zephyr

trim.

    Thirteen different interior appointment options were available for the

Custom.  Hydraulic power windows were also offered.  The Duro power window

pump was mounted under the driver's seat, and displaced one of the two

under-seat heater units.  The divider window was also hydraulically

powered, as was the front seat.  Brunn, who had done much of the coach work

on early Customs, usually installed padded roofs.  Thus, such a option was

offered on the Custom.  The Formal Sedan, as it was called, omitted the

rear passenger side windows and on occasion coach bars (Landau irons) were

installed in this location.  By mid 1941, all Customs were built at the

Lincoln factory, and Brunn, Inc., ceased building Customs in September of

that year.  It is believed that about fifteen Specials were built, and

there will always be some conjecture about the number of Brunn Specials and

Town Cars built, due to their confusion with Brunn's work on the Custom.

    The Lincoln Continental was no longer considered part of the Zephyr

line.  It came into its own as the Continental, offered in Type 57 Coupe or

Type 56 Cabriolet.  The Continental, like the Custom, shared the Zephyr

running gear and there were only minor mechanical differences between the

model lines.  The new models were announced on September 20, 1940. 

Continental now had its own tooling, but changes were limited since the

Continental's design had been based on the Series 06H sheet metal from

inception.  Like the Zephyr, there were numerous small trim modifications

to headlight rings, tail lights, and the addition of a chrome border around

the grille bars.  The parking lights were now mounted on top of the front

fenders and turn signals were standard equipment.  Turn signals were not

offered the year before, even as an option.  A script logo LINCOLN

CONTINENTAL was added to the sides of the hood and to the spare tire hub

cap.  The exterior and interior door releases were both pushbutton.  The

hood ornament looked the same as before, but no longer operated the hood

latch.  The hood unlatched by a pull cable and knob located under the

left-hand side of the instrument panel.  The ball-and-spire hood ornament

was now a single chrome plated bronze casting instead of two pieces.

    Interior changes were limited to cloth and color options.  Selected

interior options cost $100 extra to special order.  The instrument panel

had an artificial mahogany finish, and the plastic hardware was a dull

gold.  Parts like the ring around the door pushbutton were aluminum,

finished in gold plastic coating called "plastine."  A vacuum-lift window

system was optional, but was installed on many Cabriolet and Coupes.  The

instrument panel differed from the Zephyr, although not drastically.  Two

large dials faced the driver.  The left one was the engine gauge group, and

the right one was the speedometer.  A large radio speaker grille was

centered on the dash, and the radio dial was mounted just above.  A

matching round clock and ash tray were mounted on either side of the

speaker grille.  To the right of the speedometer were three small indicator

lights for turn signals and high beam.  They looked more like an add-on

option, but were standard equipment.

    The Series 16H came equipped with some positive suspension

improvements, including longer, wider springs, and rubber interleaf

inserts.  The rear tread was increased by two and one-half inches, a

dimensional change long needed on the Model H.  Shocks were improved, and

the mounting angle for the spring shackles was changed.  A Borg-Warner

overdrive unit was introduced, which allowed automatic shifting to a fourth

gear.  With the exception of the air cleaner mounting and the extended

firewall box, the under hood mechanical arrangement on the Continental was

essentially the same as the Zephyr.  To dress up the Continental's V-12 a

little, chrome acorn-nuts were used on the cylinder head bolts.  The

Continental body serial number placard was located in approximately the

same place as on the Zephyr.  The body number of Continentals was also

stamped on the inside flange of the rear trunk lid.  There was also a body

serial number located under the windshield seal on the passenger side.  The

year 1941 was the last in which even the standard Lincoln was called the

Zephyr.

                             NINETEEN-FORTYTWO

    The 1942 Lincolns had longer and wider bodies.  A new major grille

redesign was installed on all three lines.  The hood and grille were more

massive.  The fenders had a horizontal mold line, and were squared off at

the back.  The fender skirts now fastened over the outside of the rear

fenders instead of inside.  These larger cars were equally attractive

without their fender skirts in place, unlike the old rear wheel-well

design.  The grille was stainless steel instead of the zinc chromed alloy

casting, due to material shortages caused by the war effort.  This unique

horizontal grille bar design was used only for the short five-month

production run of the Series 26H.  All lines now used the exterior

push-button door openers.  The headlight rings had wings on both sides. The

outboard wing containing a park and turn signal light.  The matching

inboard lenses were dummies.  These cars were about eight inches longer and

wider than their predecessors.  The front tread was fifty-nine inches.  The

suspension was beefed up, and the gross weight was increased by over 200

pounds.  The engines were bored to a new larger dimension which produced a

309 cubic inch displacement engine, and developed 130 horsepower.

    In an attempt to meet the competition, Lincoln introduced the

Liquamatic automatic transmission.  There are two common misconceptions

about this early automatic transmission.  The first is that it was a

two-speed transmission, and the second is that it had no manual clutch. 

Neither is true.  In fact, the only outward clue to its installation was

the LIQUAMATIC LINCOLN emblem in place of the standard Lincoln emblem on

the glove box door.  At the heart of the new automatic transmission was a

fluid coupler.  The transmission gear box incorporated a rather unique

countershaft arrangement which allowed second and third gears to run at the

same speed.  Low gear (first) and reverse could not be engaged except by

use of the manual clutch.  Low gear was used for steep grades or pulling

loads.  When placing the gearshift selector in the second gear position,

the transmission would not shift into high.  This position was adequate for

most in-town driving, but a little hard on the V-12 engine.  The overdrive

unit which was standard with the Liquamatic could be engaged in second or

third gears.  Moving the selector from second gear to high (third) gear

could be accomplished without depressing the clutch.  This brought into

operation a governor, a vacuum valve, and a holding coil circuit which

provided automatic shifting from second to third gears at approximately

thirty-five miles per hour.  Which explains why the Liquamatic is often

referred to as a two-speed automatic transmission.

    The Liquamatic Lincoln transmissions required very accurate adjustment

to operate properly.  Whether it was a poor design or simply lacked user

acceptance was never determined.  Most units were replaced with standard

transmissions by a dealer at under ten thousand miles in service.  The

dealers were also instructed to change out the glove box emblem. 

Therefore, only the factory data card gives any clue as to a car's having

been equipped with a Liquamatic automatic transmission.

    The panel and instrument cluster were completely redesigned for the

Series 26H.  It featured a large radio speaker grille in the center,

bordered by matching control knobs.  Down the driver's side were the

headlight switch, choke, throttle, and ignition.  On the passenger's side

were matching cigars lighter and pullout ashtray.  Plastics were popular in

the early forties, so the glove box logo was edge-lighted to glow with the

panel lights on.  A new fold-down rear-seat center armrest was added.  The

Ajust-O-Matic Radio and the vacuum-powered fender-mounted antenna were

optional.  The radio could be tuned to the next station signal by means of

a touch bar or accessory foot switch.  (A favorite way for Lincoln drivers

to amuse the kids or impress a passenger was to wave their hand magically

toward the radio while secretly depressing the floor mounted foot switch to

change the radio station.  If artfully accomplished, one could get by with

it several times before the passengers being entertained caught on.)

    The 1942 Series 26H Lincolns were viewed by many Continental and Zephyr

watchers as ugly ducklings.  In the case of the larger Custom, they became

the swans of the fleet.  The 26H grille and wider fenders were very

impressive on these Types 31 and 32 Sedans.  The Custom was not continued

after the war, although it did appear in an early 1946 Lincoln factory

brochure.

    The 1942 models had been introduced on September 30, 1941.  After the

attack on Pearl Harbor, the government ordered all U.S. auto manufacturers

to conclude civilian production and prepare to support the war effort.  By

February 10, 1942, almost all of the Ford and Lincoln quota had been

produced.  The last Lincoln to come off of the assembly line was a Custom

Sedan, shown as completed on February 27.  Many of the Series 26H parts

were interchangeable with postwar Lincolns, and some models were updated

with postwar grilles as a result.  The cars from this short production

year, remain among the rarest and most interesting of all the modern

Lincolns.  Ironically, they were destined to be the last Lincolns ever

produced under the guiding hand of Edsel Ford.