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Many cars are named after their founders, such as Ford, Chrysler, Buick, Studebaker, Chevrolet, Nash and Willys. But Mr. Lincoln was not in the car business. The Lincoln Motor Co. was started in 1917 by Henry Leland, who in 1902 had founded Cadillac, which was acquired by General Motors in 1909. Leland named the car Lincoln in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, the man he most admired.
Things were tough in the early going for the new Lincoln company, resulting in financial difficulties. At this same time, Ford Motor’s sales of the Model T were not keeping up with General Motors, which offered more makes and models at a wide range of prices. Edsel Ford, Henry’s son, recognized the need to change and finally convinced his father to buy Lincoln Motor Co. in 1922 for $8 million, or about $120 million in today’s dollars.
Ford wanted a standalone luxury car division like Cadillac to compete with Packard, Duesenberg, Pierce-Arrow and others. Edsel Ford was put in charge of the Lincoln project, and in the first year after being acquired by Ford, 1923, Lincoln sales improved 45 percent to 7,875 units and was profitable.
Lincoln produced some great cars in the 1930s, including the Lincoln-Zephyr, with its own V12 engine. Sales zipped to new records. The first Lincoln Continental, built as Edsel’s personal car, was a two-door convertible with the spare tire mounted outside, above the rear bumper, and between the rear fenders. It was shown in Florida, generating interest among the moneyed class. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright said it was “the most beautiful car ever made.”
Probably the most famous Lincoln Continental is the 1961 black Lincoln Continental convertible that carried President John F. Kennedy on his last ride, in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963. This issue’s featured car is almost the same model.
Hayward resident Tim Finnegan, the third owner of this issue’s car, has records going back to when the car was purchased brand-new in San Mateo. He bought his 1962 Lincoln Continental convertible in 2011 for $2,500, but it didn’t look like it does today. It had been in storage in Sebastapol for about 10 years.
“When I got it, it was literally in pieces. I bought it from an estate of a man who planned on restoring the car but passed away. He had disassembled it and meticulously labeled all his screws, pieces and parts in little baggies with notes on them. This is the third ’61-’62 Lincoln I’ve had, so I could see any screw, nut or bolt and know exactly where it goes, but a lot of the parts were not included.”
Finnegan got serious about his restoration project in June 2014. He had the original 430-cubic-inch, 300-horsepower V8 engine removed and rebuilt by Pumphrey and Co. of Campbell in the South Bay.
“While the engine was being rebuilt, the car and loose individual parts were taken to the Maaco Paint Shop in San Jose for a complete down-to-the-metal stripping. It was an absolutely rust-free car.” Finnegan wanted to change the color from white to another original 1962 Lincoln color, Royal Iridescent Red. “The only way to do a color change properly is with the motor out.”
The former owner had purchased a harmonizing red leather/vinyl upholstery kit in 1996, and it was still in the original box. Finnegan replaced the Walnut Veneer wood interior trim himself, installed a matching carpet kit and seat belts and had the car rechromed. This was one of the first cars with a transistor radio. This 57-year-old Lincoln has been driven 146,000 miles and has always been a Bay Area car.
The 5,132-pound Lincoln has a three-speed automatic transmission plus some unique and cool features. It has the normal power stuff plus a power trunk that opens backwards so that when the top is down it’s hidden in the trunk. Then when the trunk is closed, a power boot covers the top. There is not much trunk space, and when the top’s down there’s almost none.
This four-door convertible has suicide doors with no center post. There is weather stripping on the rear door windows that presses against the front door windows when the doors are closed. When the rear door is opened, the rear window automatically drops down several inches so the weather stripping clears the front door window. While his car has gotten a lot of awards, it is a driver and Finnegan drives it every weekend, weather permitting.
“It’s always a work in process. For example, this car has a lot of vacuum accessories, and they all have these little vacuum lines that control the door locks, heating, AC and ventilation system, so if there is leak in one, all cease to work,” he said.
Finnegan has no plan to sell his car and figures the $50,000 he’s invested in it to be about its current market value.
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles, search for “David Krumboltz” at mercurynews.com.
