1942 Lincoln-Zephyr 3 window coupe - Not mine

[58L-Y8]

Rare '42 Lincoln-Zephyr three-window coupe offered by this individual:

 

https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/cto/d/putnam-valley-1942-lincoln-zephyr-3/7115298838.html

 

I have no stake or interest in its sale. 

[B Jake Moran]

That car is pretty cool. I can’t afford it but I’ll bet a rich Lincoln guy will pay $85k.  

[suchan]

I agree on the coolness, and the rarity is what it is, but for $85K you could get a nice '40-41 Continental drop top.

I agree with Jake, this will go to complete some rich guy's collection. To my eye, it's more extravagant than beautiful. Looks like you could fit a sheet of plywood in space between the seat and the trunk lid.

 

[FLYER15015]

Yup, it will probably go to a rich couple with a LOT of luggage.

[Lawrence Helfand]

All angles gorgeous except the front which is a weird disconnected combination of design elements that do not relate to each other. Looks like a mish mosh of ideas thrown together and the flat looking windshield is less then elegant. A split glass with a little angle would help. Side and rear are exquisite but earlier front end is much prettier. How you can go from the perfection of a  41 Continental front end to this is a mystery to me. 

[John S.]

Beautiful Lincoln. I love the 3 window body style. 

[60FlatTop]

Maybe I read too much into things, but how did a guy earn enough to own a car of that value and make a sales presentation with the portable toilet in the background?

 

Must be a third party sale. The car shows too much attention to detail for the owner to take this crappy picture.

 

[TexRiv_63]

That car always looked like a lead sled custom from new, love the lines.

[Peter S]

For those like me, with more time and sandpaper than cash, there's a promising 1948 coupe for sale at $7K in Englwood, NJ, just a couple miles over the GW Bridge from Manhattan. Supposedly runs. Has the V12.

 

 

 https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/englewood-1948-lincoln-two-door-coupe/7106352369.html

Edited May 1, 2020 by Peter S
add detail (see edit history)

[JD in CA]

Wow, what can car,  I have had a few LZ 3W before, and a convertible, never seen one of these, being a 1933/34 Ford Three Window Coupe fanatic, you can imagine I am going nuts over this one.  Thanks for posting.

 

(love the port o let comment. Good one...)

[John_Mereness]

Nice car !

[Hudsy Wudsy]

3 hours ago, Lawrence Helfand said:

All angles gorgeous except the front which is a weird disconnected combination of design elements that do not relate to each other. Looks like a mish mosh of ideas thrown together and the flat looking windshield is less then elegant. A split glass with a little angle would help. Side and rear are exquisite but earlier front end is much prettier. How you can go from the perfection of a  41 Continental front end to this is a mystery to me. 

I recall complaining about the front end of a '42 Oldsmobile a couple of years ago. I said at the time that it looked like it was designed by a committee. This Lincoln one isn't much better. On the other end of the car, however, I have to say that while I've seen the Zephyr three window body lots before, I'm used to seeing it with the earlier, smaller tear drop tail lights. I love how these later style lights integrate into the whole look. Neat trunk emblem, too.

 

'42 Olds:

[58L-Y8]

No one has commented the rear bumper guards are missing.  

 

The rapid turn from the streamlined Lincoln-Zephyr prow and organically integrated fenders to the imposing 1941 Cadillac-inspired broad horizontal format produced quite a number of stylistic mismatches.  Also some heavy, confused mish-mashes like the '42 Oldsmobile. 

[neil morse]

5 hours ago, Lawrence Helfand said:

All angles gorgeous except the front which is a weird disconnected combination of design elements that do not relate to each other. Looks like a mish mosh of ideas thrown together and the flat looking windshield is less then elegant. A split glass with a little angle would help. Side and rear are exquisite but earlier front end is much prettier. How you can go from the perfection of a  41 Continental front end to this is a mystery to me. 

 

I agree.  This is an early example of how gorgeous original designs are ruined when they are "updated" for marketing reasons.  The Zephyr coupe was perfect in '36, and managed to retain most of its original beauty with the moderate changes up through '41.  After that, yikes -- what were they thinking?

[B Jake Moran]

I can’t argue that the front end is not a step back but it isn’t ugly to me either.  The grille is 42 is decent compared to the post war ones. The grille bars are thin and smoothly disappear into the background. I suppose with the headlight surrounds they couldn’t leave it without some chrome globs.  Still not a deal breaker.  

[neil morse]

This photo of a '39 just happened to appear in another thread currently on this forum.  I rest my case.

 

[Matt Harwood]

I will admit that the '39 Zephyr is my favorite. I let a really pretty '39 Zephyr sedan slip through my fingers and regret it every time I see it.

 

 

[TexRiv_63]

1 hour ago, neil morse said:

This photo of a '39 just happened to appear in another thread currently on this forum.  I rest my case.

 

Much better.

[TexRiv_63]

1 hour ago, neil morse said:

This photo of a '39 just happened to appear in another thread currently on this forum.  I rest my case.

 

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would chop the top on a design like this.

[neil morse]

10 minutes ago, TexRiv_63 said:

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would chop the top on a design like this.

 

Agreed.  And the roof line is another thing they ruined starting in '40.  They raised the roof and made it look bulbous.  It lost that gorgeous streamlined look.  And '39 was also the last year of the great dash design with the "capstan" look.

 

[KeithHernandez]

Man is that beautiful and rare !!     I've seen a fair share of Zephyrs but never a '42.      Impressive Chrome front..  a bit more of a rich looking car than than the earlier ones.