The World’s Most Beautiful Car, Designed in 35 Minutes

January 16, 2012
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

As an adult, the younger Ford’s taste ran to European design and styling, and he sometimes had cars styled for himself. So it was not unusual that after his trip to Europe in 1938, he asked Lincoln design chief Eugene “Bob” Gregorie to design a one-off luxury car with a “continental style” for his personal use.

“Mr. Ford was in no way a designer, but he was a keen critic,” Gregorie said in a 1985 oral history interview. “He could control design by being a critic.”

Using a drawing of a Lincoln Zephyr, Gregorie picked up a yellow crayon and lowered the hood, moved the windshield back, lowered the steering column and sketched the Lincoln Continental in 35 minutes, or perhaps it was an hour, he later said.

“It was a crude little sketch,” he said.

From stock inventory, they used the Zephyr’s “waterfall” or “bow wave” grille and slightly modified the front fenders. “I think we used the standard rear fender and did the little tire on the back,” Gregorie said. “The trunk was too small for a spare, so it was the only place available we felt that it would be acceptable. As we all know, rear-mounted spares went ‘back to the year one.’ It surely was not for a styling ‘twist,’ though it apparently had that effect.”

That styling cue, of course, became known as a “Continental kit” and was a mildly popular option on various cars of the 1940s and 1950s. The Continental’s art deco sphere and lance hood ornament was inspired by the 1939 World’s Fair.

They glued together a small model and showed it to a thrilled Ford. He asked for the car to be ready for his March 1939 vacation in Hobe Sound, Fla. Ford drove the car around Palm Beach and excitedly telephoned, saying he could sell a thousand of them. He ordered a limited production run. Actor Mickey Rooney, playing the young Thomas Edison in a movie honoring Henry Ford’s dearest friend, was the first to own a Lincoln Continental, which was delivered to him on the movie set.

The Continental would become the industry’s first personal luxury sedan.

In its first production year, 1939, Ford and Gregorie’s creation sold as the Zephyr Continental, but the name became simply Continental the next year.

Artistic geniuses of the time, artist Pablo Picasso and architect Frank Lloyd Wright, were among Continental owners. Wright considered the Continental “the most beautiful car in the world.”

“One of the reasons it was a sensation was, it was bereft (of) trim,” said Gregorie, who noted Ford disliked an overuse of trim. Even the bumpers are petite. For 1941, the door handles were removed, replaced by push buttons giving the body a unique, smooth, modern look.

Production of the fussier, face-lifted, longer and heavier 1942 model was abbreviated after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and America’s entry into World War II. Continental production began again in 1946 based on the 1941 version and continued through 1948.

Recognized as a “Full Classic” by the Classic Car Club of America, the 1939-1948 Continental is one of the last-built cars to be so recognized.

One of the 850 Lincoln Continental coupes built in 1941 is offered at No Reserve (Lot #1235.2) in Barrett-Jackson’s 2012 auction event in Scottsdale.

The Continental is powered by a long-stroke 292cid V12 based on Ford’s Flathead engine producing 120 horsepower at 3,500 rpm with a 7.2:1 compression ratio, fed by a Holley two barrel carburetor, mated to a 3-speed manual transmission with a column shifter. The engine-transmission team is rated for 95 mph.

The Continental sits on a Zephyr chassis with 125” wheelbase, uses the Zephyr suspension and 4-wheel hydraulic drum brakes, and weighs in at 3,890 pounds.

Lincoln produced 850 special-ordered coupes in 1941, originally offered for between $2,783 and $2,916, and the Continental is considered quite rare.

Finished in a rich black finish with red leather interior, the Continental was restored from the frame-up over several years, and the engine was rebuilt by Curtis Graff of Great Race fame using newly manufactured heads and manifold.

The car is easy to drive and runs smoothly, featuring overdrive in second and third gears, which makes motoring comfortable at freeway speeds.

-— By Richard Gray