(EXPANDED FROM 4/11/2022)
The 1936-42 Lincoln-Zephyr is a more important car than is commonly assumed. Not only did it offer notably advanced styling and engineering, but it also represented the Ford Motor Company’s first meaningful attempt to compete outside of the low-priced field — and eventually surpass Chrysler as the second best-selling automaker.
In general, Chrysler didn’t lose altitude so much as Ford belatedly started to compete in a broader cross section of the market. However, the Zephyr did represent an upset victory over the ill-fated, 1934-37 Chrysler Airflow.
Both cars were products of the streamlining era in American automobile design. As a result, Zephyr, much like the Airflow, was unusually aerodynamic. However, the Lincoln was more than 800 pounds lighter than the equivalent Chrysler — and looked much better.
More than twice as many Zephyrs left the factory during the nameplate’s seven-year production run as Airflows offered through the DeSoto and Chrysler brands. This was pretty remarkable because the Zephyr lineup was mostly higher priced than the Airflow’s. Even more remarkable was that this was Lincoln’s first mass-market entry.
Zephyr turns Lincoln into a mass-market brand
Prior to the Zephyr’s introduction in 1936, the Ford Motor Company’s only other U.S. passenger-car entry beyond its low-priced Ford was the Lincoln. Even in the roaring-20s this was a second-tier luxury car brand. The Great Depression had so decimated sales of luxury cars that by 1935 Lincoln produced less than 1,500 units.
The Zephyr not only saved Lincoln, but it took the brand to new sales heights. In 1938 Lincoln/Zephyr even came close to catching up to Cadillac/LaSalle. Alas, after that point sales leveled out while Cadillac output soared until 1942, when World War II mobilization began.
Zephyr sales may have been dampened by reliability issues with the car’s V12 engine. In addition, even when the Zephyr was introduced it had archaic features such as solid axles and a torque-tube drive. Mechanical brakes weren’t switched to hydraulic until 1939 — and only after much resistance from Henry Ford (Bonsall, 1981).
Thomas E. Bonsall also noted that the Ford Motor Company’s acrimonious fight with organized labor may have “turned thousands of would-be buyers away from Ford products” (1981, p. 105).
Despite all of those disadvantages, the Zephyr still turned Lincoln into a mass-market brand.
The success of the Zephyr arguably paved the way for the introduction of the Mercury brand in 1939. And as Ford began to compete in larger portions of the U.S. marketplace, that would eventually give it a decisive advantage over arch-rival Chrysler, which outproduced Ford from 1937-48.
This is one reason why I would suggest that some historians go too far in blaming Chrysler management for the automaker falling behind Ford in postwar sales (go here for further discussion).
A much lower price helps fuel the Zephyr’s success
The Zephyr was an immediate (albeit minor) hit. In 1936 almost 15,000 cars left the factory. Production doubled in 1937. Output then hovered in the 20,000-unit range for the rest of the Zephyr’s production run, which ended in 1942.
Zephyr production soared above the much-higher-priced Lincolns, which had never topped 9,000 units per year. The Zephyr even outproduced Cadillac’s junior brand, the LaSalle, for a number of years.
The Zephyr was positioned at the top end of the premium-priced field. For 1936 list prices clustered around $1,300, which was within the same ballpark as a Buick Roadmaster, Chrysler Airflow Eight, Packard 120 and LaSalle.
This was new territory for Lincoln, whose entry-level prices had not dipped below $3,200 in the first half of the 1930s. In contrast, Cadillac’s entry-level prices were cut in half, from $3,295 in 1930 to $1,645 in 1936.
The above graph compares list prices in 1936 and 1940, the latter of which was the last year the LaSalle was in production. The Zephyr’s prices were consistently higher but the two brands were roughly competitive — and somewhat above the Packard 120’s.
Note that 1940 was the last year for Lincoln’s K Series. Sales had trickled to only 133 units for the sprawling lineup, whose prices stretched from around $4,900 to more than $7,000. This was roughly comparable to the Cadillac Sixteen, which would also disappear at the end of that year. The Packard Twelve had been dropped in 1939. This was very much the end of an era.
By 1941 the Zephyr’s base prices rose to upwards of $1,400. This was similar to Cadillac’s new Series 61, which effectively replaced the LaSalle. The Lincoln lineup was rounded out that year with a Zephyr-based, top-end sedan called the Custom ($2,704) as well as the Continental ($2,812 for the coupe). Both cars sold in small numbers but, as we discuss further here, the Continental would turn out to be the granddaddy of personal coupes.
1936 (left image) and 1941 Lincoln Zephyr ads. Click on images to enlarge (Old Car Advertisements).
Lincoln mostly sticks with Zephyr market sans name
When Lincoln production resumed in 1946, the Zephyr name was dropped but the basic body was maintained through 1948. Models were referred to by their body style, such as the Lincoln Sedan, Club Coupe and Convertible Coupe.
Sales may have suffered partly because squared-off styling dating from 1942 had all of the charm of a waffle iron. To make matters worse, Lincoln was the only American passenger car that still had an old-fashioned flat windshield — even the lowly Ford had a V-shaped windshield. And while the Lincoln’s unit-body construction was still advanced for the U.S. auto industry, the rest of the car suffered from increasingly archaic mechanical features (Bonsall, 1981).
In addition, the list prices for entry-level models hovered around $2,300, which was similar to a mid-level Cadillac Series 62. That lasted until 1948, when Lincoln increased prices so much less than Cadillac that it was once again positioned primarily in the upper reaches of the premium-priced field.
After the introduction of an all-new design in 1949, Lincoln continued to straddle the premium-priced and luxury-car fields. It wasn’t until another major redesign in 1956 that Lincoln prices shifted upwards to more directly compete against Cadillac. So at least in pricing, an entry-level 1955 Lincoln was the spiritual heir to the 1936-42 Zephyr.
Also see ‘1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game’
In one other respect the Zephyr proved to be a short-lived experiment for the Ford Motor Company. Never again in the 20th Century did the automaker offer a U.S.-developed car in the upper reaches of the premium-priced or luxury classes that displayed much engineering leadership. Lincolns and high-end Mercurys have henceforth been sold primarily on styling, luxury and a prestigious image.
The Zephyr was arguably the product of an unusual moment in Ford Motor Company history, when Edsel Ford had the relative autonomy to develop an innovative car with the help of the forward-looking designer John Tjaarda (Bonsall, 1981). Edsel died in 1943 at the age of 49 (Wikipedia, 2024a). Might the trajectory of Lincoln have looked meaningfully different if Edsel had lived long enough to take over the Ford Motor Company from his aging father Henry and lead it through the 1950s?
NOTES:
This story was originally posted Dec. 1, 2019 and expanded on April 11, 2022 and Aug. 30, 2024. Prices and production data are from the auto editors of Consumer Guide (2006), Bonsall (1981), Gunnell (2002) and Wikipedia (2024b). Price graph does not include Chrysler Imperial models.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International, Lincolnwood, Ill.
- Bonsall, Thomas E.; 1981. The Lincoln Motorcar: Sixty Years of Excellence. Bookman Dan!, Baltimore, MD.
- Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975. Revised 4th Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Langworth, Richard; 1986. The Complete History of Ford Motor Company. Beekman House.
- Wikipedia; 2024a. “Edsel Ford.” Page last edited Aug. 24.
- Wikipedia; 2024b. “Lincoln-Zephyr.” Page last edited March 25.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Lincoln (1937, 1941)
- oldcarbrochures.org: Lincoln (1936, 1946)
One reason the Zephyr doesn’t receive full credit for its advanced engineering features is that Edsel Ford couldn’t overcome his father’s stubborn resistance to hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension. Cadillac and LaSalle adopted both in 1934, and the Packard 120 had both when it debuted in 1935 (the senior Packards would adopt those features for 1937).
The Zephyr didn’t get hydraulic brakes until 1939, and Lincoln wouldn’t get independent front suspension until its first postwar design debuted as a 1949 model in mid-1948. Henry Ford I’s stubborn reluctance to adopt those features gave his company’s products a reputation for being outdated mechanically by the eve of World War II.
Yup. In addition, Richard Langworth wrote that the V12 had teething problems that sullied the Zephyr’s reputation. He also pointed to Lincoln’s relatively weak dealer network, which “wouldn’t be rectified until Lincoln-Mercury Division was formed after the war” (1987, p. 136).
In discussing why the Zephyr lost altitude in the early-40s, Langworth noted that Lincoln kept in production the same basic design longer than its rivals. He also pointed to GM’s ditching of the LaSalle in favor of an entry-level Cadillac that was lower priced than the Zephyr.
Langworth’s first point is well taken, but I wonder how important was the second point. The Zephyr wasn’t a stand-alone companion brand — it was sold as a Lincoln. Indeed, by the 1940 model year the brand’s entire lineup was based upon the Zephyr’s platform — including the Continental and Custom (the latter of which effectively replaced the K Series).
Regarding the dealer network, it’s my understanding that in the 1930s most Lincoln dealers were located in metropolitan areas where the bulk of luxury cars were sold. Rural and small-town Ford dealers did not want Lincolns, as they were very difficult to sell in their respective home markets, even prior to the Great Depression.
I’m sure that the urban dealers welcomed the Zephyr, but I wonder if the rural and small-town dealers still found it hard to sell, despite its lower price (compared to the “senior” Lincolns).
Hmn. This may have become the reason for Mercury. An upscale entry with ties to Ford parts bins.
Okay, but the premise that Chrysler was blunted singularly by the 1936 Zephyr that was essentially underpinned by a longer-wheelbase Ford ladder chassis with solid axles and mechanical brakes is not totally true. If one asserts that the DeSoto brand was significantly hurt in 1934-1935 by the Airflow styling, well okay. If one looks at the impact of 1930s aerodynamics, from the Pierce-Arrow and Cadillac to the co-owned (Pierce) Studebaker to the Airflow to the Zephyr, it’s an evolution in details. Chrysler, in my opinion, lost market share by many cuts, the biggest of which was the 1934 DeSoto Airflows (only style offered). The launch of the lovely 1939 Mercury Eight rectified a number of shortcomings with Ford, but all it really did was draw Ford more competitive in a feature-for-feature shopping comparison with Chrysler products. In 1938, was Ford the only domestic auto manufacturer offering standard equipment mechanical (only) brakes ?
You’re creating a straw man and kicking it down. I didn’t say that the 1938 Zephyr singularly blunted Chrysler. I argued that the Zephyr was more successful in the marketplace than the Airflow — in spite of its engineering limitations.
I guess I misunderstood, but then, I have never driven a Zephyr or 1946-1948 Lincoln. In that sense, you are correct, I kicked my own straw man ! My apologies.
Two things stand out to me from the charts. First, I never realized that Packard solidly outsold Cadillac in this era. Second, what happened between 1936 and 1940? The price range for all the cars expanded massively except for Buick, which had by far the largest price range in 36.