A lot of us grow up in the shadows of our fathers, always looking for his approval or trying to upstage his accomplishments. Imagine for a moment if your father was Henry Ford the inventor of the Model T!He was one of the most pioneering men of the 20th Century and gave motoring the launching pad that it is today. Henry Ford’s only son Edsel did what any pioneers’ son would do, build a luxury car for the rich and call it the Lincoln Continental.
The history of Detroit’s birth of the American automobile is intriguing and is interwoven with Ford’s accomplishments. Edsel, who was groomed to take over the family business always had to ask dad for permission to go ahead with projects and they would butt heads often. Apparently Edsel’s idea of a fine luxury automobile didn’t include his fathers Model T. So, in 1922 he purchased a bankrupt company affectionately named after the sixteenth president of the United States known as the Lincoln Motor Company. This car builder was known for making high-end luxury cars for the rich and the purchase price was a whopping $8,000,000 and that was basically to pay off any financial debts. In 1939 Edsel needed a cool car to drive around in on his vacations in Florida so he had has his Lincoln division build him one and they called it the Continental.
This 1942 Continental spied here in my shop is very rare indeed. Since the car was useless as a war machine production stopped in early ’42 to support the war effort and only 400 were made. What makes this particular car even more rare is that it has been heavily modified with a late model V8 engine and drivetrain, electric windows, power disc brakes and even airconditioning! It definitely shows and goes!
I remember my dad’s first Lincoln Continental. As a boy I would pretend to drive it all the time. That was because it sat in the driveway and never ran..
Happy Motoring!!!
