1936 Lincoln Model K LeBaron Sport Coup

[joeinbcs]

Hi all,

I'm trying to find some info, and maybe the owner of a Lincoln Model K LeBaron Sport Coupe that will be auctioned at Auburn in a few weeks.

Here's the Hemmings listing:  https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/auction/lincoln/k/2138895.html

if anyone knows this car, or the owner, or both, please contact me.

Thanks, Joe Northrop (979) 324-6432

[John_S_in_Penna]

I left a telephone message for you.

(I can tell of another example, not this one, 

which sold privately and the price it got.)

 

Edited July 26, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[K8096]

As usual, the auction people don't have their facts correct.   Lincoln never called it a "sport coupe."  It's just a coupe, and I know there are more than 4 in existence.  

Here's the three that come up right away on Google images.  I know there's a dark blue one too that was in Ohio until 15 years ago and now may be in Michigan.   There's probably a couple more as well.   

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

So was the plated grill surround an option or is that some custom work?

[K8096]

Lincoln Ks went to painted radiator shells in 1934.  Like later 30's Packards, you could get them chromed as an option.  Very few people did.  By the mid 1930s the stylists were trying to make cars look more streamlined, and the chrome radiator shell ruins that.   If I had the tan car above, the first thing I would do is take it to a good paint shop to match the color & paint the shell to match the rest of the car. 

[Matt Harwood]

The estimate on that car at the auction looks ridiculously reasonable. Did someone make a mistake or is this car hurt?

[Guest]

Thanks for the info K8.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Lincolns don't bring that much.

I figure their estimate might be high, since the

Lincoln in the auction looks to be in #3 condition.

Note the missing spare tire cover, the paint chips

on the front and on the side apron, and what looks like

a sagging door.

 

In 2010, a recent AACA Grand National winner,

a recent off-the-frame restoration done properly

and on which the owner had just spent about $225,000,

sold privately for well under $100,000.  At auction

it didn't come close to that.  It is the same blue example

as Mr. K8096 showed, and here's a picture I took at the auction:

 

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[intimeold]

I just love the look of these cars, and I too would have thought they would bring more money.  But of course the blue one selling for,  under  $100,000, is still out of my price range.

 

The closest I have gotten to the Lincolns was a 1940 Mercury; and I loved that car also.  

[Matt Harwood]

$50 grand (their low estimate) for a V12 rumble seat coupe is light no matter what kind of car it is. I bet I could get more than that for the '35 club sedan I just bought and it's probably not as nice...

[John_S_in_Penna]

The blue coupe didn't have a rumble seat;  just a trunk.

Since rumble seats were a bit passe by 1936, the

tan coupe probably has just a trunk too.  

 

It's just a 2-passenger car.

[Matt Harwood]

Interesting. I wonder if that's what affects the value. I wouldn't think so (I think all that car for just two people is pretty cool) but perhaps that is a factor. I know I'd prefer a rumble seat to a trunk, but then again, I have kids and they should have to suffer as I did in the rumble seat of my father's Model A roadster.

[edinmass]

There is a red one in Florida. Nice restoration. It doesn’t get out.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Here is a local example I saw a couple months back, really nice looking cars.

[K8096]

The coupe body was changed for 1937-39.  Vee windshield, more oval side windows, more sleek top & rear deck lines.   Nothing against the 35-36 models, but the 37-39s are a bit snazzier.  The car pictured above, a 1939 model, is a 24,000 mile original car that I've had the chance to see a few times myself.   

Edited July 27, 2018 by K8096 (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

In many people's eyes, the 1935-36 Lincolns do not look as nice as the 1937-39 models, basically because of the too-small (in relation to the huge car they sit upon) free-standing headlights. I think that is what keeps their values down (or at least it did back in the day when Classic cars were owned by average hobbyists). Senior Packards from 1935 suffer the same difficult uphill battle in gaining popularity because of their strange looking perpendicular front end with streamlined headlights (for 1936, the grille was canted quite a bit and changed the looks considerably).

In regard to the 1936 Lincoln coupe that is in Michigan, it has been meticulously restored and is owned by Peter Heydon.

[K8096]

Peter’s is a dark green 1935, not a 1936.    Not the same one I’m thinking of.   

 

Edited August 4, 2018 by K8096 (see edit history)