Roster and Gallery
1940 Lincoln Zephyr Continental
Some readers may think that the inclusion of the "Zephyr" name (Lincoln Zephyr Continental) is incorrect. The fact is that only in 1940 was this the true full name. The Continental became it's own model in 1941, with it's own tooling, and the Zephyr name was dropped.
John furnished the following information about this rare Continental Coupe. He was attending the Early Ford V-8 Club annual Swap Meet/Car Corral/Barbeque at Nick Alexander's in Los Angeles (Nick is known for his early Ford/Mercury Woodie collection). There in the courtyard was this Black 1940 Lincoln Continental, and on the windshield was a for sale sign. John was aware of and liked the pre-war Lincolns, especially the Continentals. By the time he returned to the courtyard after eating and viewing Nick's Woodies, the car was gone. Just as well, thought John - "I probably couldn't afford it anyway; and don't need another car." But then he saw it being loaded on to a trailer bound for Richmond, CA, near Oakland in Central CA.
According to John, he couldn't sleep; the possibility of owning such a rare classic car, number 44 of 54 Lincoln Continental Coupes, "hand cobbled" together from Zephyr bodies from May until June, 1940. There were 350 Continental Cabriolets (Convertibles) built that year. He managed to eventually get things together, and in October of 2006 the car was in his driveway.
According to John, It's not yet in showroom condition. "It's drivable" says John. "I've gone over the brakes and the cooling system, but it does have a rod knocking in one of the front cylinders." He goes on to say that eventually he will get the car (functional art he calls it) back in top showroom condition.
Additional Information: The Continental Coupe weighed in at 3,850 lbs. and was priced at $2,783. Power was from the newly developed "H" series Lincoln Zephyr V-12 engine delivering 120 BHP at 3,500 rpm. The engine used a Holly 2 bbl. down draft carburetor with automatic choke and had a four main bearing crankshaft and hydraulic valve lifters.
Converibles were normally provided with full leather seating interiors. Coupes could be ordered with either full leather or combination Bedford Cord Fabric with leather bolsters. A range of standard body and interior color combinations were offered but custom factory orders for body and interior colors were easily accomodated to customer satisfaction.