{"id":2666,"date":"2005-12-14T03:03:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-14T08:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2005\/12\/lincoln-lincoln-i-been-thinkin\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:02:04","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:02:04","slug":"lincoln-lincoln-i-been-thinkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2005\/12\/lincoln-lincoln-i-been-thinkin\/","title":{"rendered":"Lincoln, Lincoln, I Been Thinkin’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1936<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve always been glad that, in several erratic attempts to market a little Lincoln, Ford Motor Company has not wasted the name “Zephyr.” Both the Versailles<\/a> and the more recent LS<\/a> seemed a little too commonplace to claim the name of the revolutionary low-priced Lincoln introduced for 1936. The Versailles was a Ford Granada<\/a> with a bustle; the LS an S-Type Jaguar<\/a> masquerading as a Mazda. Thankfully the Mercury Zephyr, a Fairmont with gills<\/a>, was eminently forgettable. But now there is a new Lincoln Zephyr<\/a>. Does it deserve the mantle?<\/p>\n

The first Zephyr was right from outer space. Based on John Tjaarda’s streamlined “Sterkenberg” studies<\/a> of the 1920s, it was given edgy lines from E.T. Gregorie’s<\/a> pen. “Bob” Gregorie, the former yacht designer hired in 1932 by Edsel Ford, formed Ford’s first styling studio and was responsible for the Model Y Ford
\n<\/a> for Britain, scaled up for the 1933-1934 Model 40<\/a>. Gregorie’s cues for the Zephyr were applied to the 1937 Ford<\/a>, and of course from the Zephyr sprang
\nEdsel Ford’s immortal Continental<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The
\n1936 Lincoln-Zephyr<\/a> (FoMoCo hypenated it – usually) is the purest form of the design, with its
\npointed prow<\/a> and
\nsloping tail<\/a>. The
\nspare tire<\/a> hides just inside the trunk, just waiting to burst forth, Continental style (which, in fact, it must if one is to stow any luggage). The
\ninterior<\/a> is Ford gone ultra art deco, to the extent of Aiflow-like
\nchomed seat frames<\/a>. To be a Lincoln in 1936 meant
\nV-12 power<\/a>, and the Zephyr got a 267 cubic inch unit owing much to the
\nFord V8<\/a>. The little 12 had a reputation for frailty, but driven hard with frequent oil changes it gave good service.<\/p>\n

The new Zephyr draws mixed reviews. Based on the Ford Fusion<\/a>, which is in turn derived from the Mazda6<\/a>, it’s hardly revolutionary. AutoWeek<\/a> summed it up as a kinder, gentler Fusion<\/a>. Automobile<\/a> magazine (January 2006) panned it, saying the Fusion and its cousin, the Mercury Milan<\/a>, are “better deals for buyers of any age.”<\/p>\n

Which leads us to ask: What Would Gregorie Do? For one thing, he’d put a point on it. No faceless blobs for Bob Gregorie, let alone a caricature of the
\n’41 Lincoln grille<\/a> made to resemble a
\ncowcatcher<\/a>. No corporate Duratec V6, either. The car should have an aluminum V-12 with lots of camshafts, though perhaps not the 4.3 liters of its ancestor. Even a small V-12 is probably impractical for transverse front-wheel drive, so make it a rear-driver, through six-speed automatic. Put the spare tire in a pointed tail, and make sure the seats have chrome frames. And do it all without making it look “retro.” A tall order? Let’s ask Robert Cumberford<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always been glad that, in several erratic attempts to market a little Lincoln, Ford Motor Company has not wasted the name “Zephyr.” Both the Versailles and the more recent LS seemed a little too commonplace to claim the name of the revolutionary low-priced Lincoln introduced for 1936. The Versailles was a Ford Granada with….<\/span>
Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3408,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666\/revisions\/3408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}