Streamlines Make Headlines (1936 Lincoln Zephyr)

By the early 1930s, the writing was on the wall for the Lincoln Motor Company. The Depression had taken it’s toll, and large luxury car sales plummeted year after year, causing big automobile brands like Auburn, Duesenberg, Cord, Pierce-Arrow, and Stutz to disappear by the end of the decade. Lincoln saw the change coming, and knew they had to introduce a radically new entry-level luxury car if they wanted to survive. The answer was the Zephyr, which can be argued was the most successful streamline car of the era, lasting in the Lincoln line 10 years. Yes, it was pretty, but what made it so new? Aircraft engineering and stress testing lead to the industry first unit construction, making almost 1000 pounds lighter than a Chrysler Airflow and twice as rigid as a body-on-frame car. It also featured practical innovations like no running boards, aircraft-inspired dash, and very compact V-12 making over 100 hp. The plan was to have even more radical features, but the ever pragmatic and stubborn Henry fought back against Edsel and his Lincoln team. The video below is unfortunately of low resolution and very cornball, but you can see the desire to show how new and modern the Zephyr was in 1936. I love the sped up footage to imply the car is moving super fast, and tire squealing has been muted when the car was obviously on the ragged edge of adhesion. Still, The Zephyr has always been a big winner in my eyes, not just for saving Lincoln, but for being such a strikingly pretty car that inspired many pre-war customizers.