Location: Auburn, Indiana

$60,000 - $75,000 USD | Not Sold

120-hp, 292-cid, L-head V-12 engine, three-speed manual transmission, solid front axle with transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring, live rear axle with transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring and torque tube, and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 125-inches.

If E.T. “Bob” Gregorie gave life to the Lincoln Continental, surely Edsel Ford was its godfather. The Zephyr, which had its roots in John Tjaarda’s “Sterkenberg” studies of the late 1920s, became the savior of Lincoln at its 1935 introduction, a time when the big Model Ks were selling barely 2,000 cars a year. A semi-unitary sedan or coupe, the Zephyr used a small V-12, at 267 cubic inches, hardly half the size of the Ks engine, and, more importantly, sold for a third its price. Lincoln sales promptly rose by a factor of six.

Returning from Europe in 1938, Edsel sketched for Gregorie a concept that he wished to build on a Ford chassis. Gregorie did detailed drawings based on a Zephyr convertible instead, and the result was the Continental. The hood and fenders were extended about a foot and the car sectioned horizontally by four inches. The bustle-back, with outside “Continental” tire, are the finishing touches. The car was built and Edsel took it to Florida that winter. Legend says that his friends were so taken with the car that 200 of them placed orders. True or not, the Continental went into production in December 1939, and a coupe version soon followed.

Production was modest, just 404 in 1940 and 1,250 the following year, but it had the intended effect: a trend. Jackie Cooper had one; Frank Lloyd Wright and Raymond Loewy both bought them to customize for themselves.

This Lincoln Continental in dark green is an older restoration that has been gone through from bumper to bumper within past six months and features a rebuilt transmission, rebuilt brakes and a major tune up. Additionally, it features original cosmetic factory installed accessories. Over $10,000 has been spent on improvements to return car to like new.

https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/as12/lots/r206-1941-lincoln-continental/