EDSEL'S EYE; 1947 Lincoln Continental Club Coupe.(Escape Roads)

Byline: Leigh Dorrington

The only son of Henry Ford, as many sons of dominant fathers do, sought his own niche. Edsel Ford was said to have an impeccable eye for design and was largely responsible for designing bodies for the new Ford Model A in 1927.

Edsel Ford led Ford Motor Co. to purchase Lincoln from its founder, Henry Leland, in 1922. Lincolns were high-quality automobiles, and Edsel Ford ensured that many of the top coachbuilders of the day built custom bodies on Lincoln chassis. But sales of Lincolns plunged during the Depression. In response, the more moderately priced, streamlined Lincoln Zephyr appeared in 1936, priced at $1,275. Advertised as "The Newest Thing on Wheels,'' the Zephyr was powered by a 110-hp V12 developed from Ford's flathead V8; it quickly outsold the Model K. Sales of the Model K dropped to fewer than 150 cars by 1939 as orders for coachbuilt cars vanished throughout the industry.

In 1939, Edsel Ford collaborated with designer E.T. "Bob'' Gregorie to build a one-off cabriolet on the Zephyr chassis. The Zephyr Continental was a sensation, and both a cabriolet and a club coupe quickly entered production in the 1940 Lincoln lineup and were built through the onset of World War II. "Zephyr'' was later dropped from the name.

The prewar design was reintroduced in 1946 with a new "egg-crate'' grille. Lincoln built a record 1569 Continentals in the postwar seller's market. But ...