The Car That Saved Lincoln The Depression had crippled the U.S. luxury car market, relegating Lincoln to a money-losing minor division of Ford, producing barely 40 cars per week. Cadillac and Packard were the first to react, both coming out with less-expensive models in the LaSalle and the Packard One Twenty. Briggs Manufacturing Company, who provided Ford with the Lincoln bodies was as concerned as Ford. They assigned John Tjaarda to produce a dream car in 1933 that could be used as the basis for a lower end Lincoln. This car, with some modifications (Henry Ford nixed the rear engine), became the Zephyr, named after the first streamlined train, the Burlington Silver Streak Zephyr. The car was an immediate hit producing about 20,000 cars per year in the late 1930’s. The public, which at the same time was rejecting the streamlined Chrysler Airflow, loved the Zephyr’s look from the hidden running board to the distinctive “waterfall” split grille. But as with most Ford cars over the years, the real magic was under the hood and in the price tag. The Zephyr was priced between $1500 and $2000 (this 1939 Convertible Coupe cost $1747) and was by far the least expensive V-12 on the market. Fully Wired 267.3 Cubic Inch V-12 Engine Provided 110 Horsepower
Gave Birth to the Continental Edsel Ford, then president of the Lincoln division, was so enamored with the ’39 Zephyr Convertible Coupe, that he had 2 of them made especially for his sons. It was this model that provided the basis for the first Continentals a few years later.
