I have owned this Lincoln 7 passenger Berline since 1967. The car was purchased new by a family who lived in the New York city area and had a "cabin" in the Indian Lake region of the Adirondack mountains. The Lincoln was kept at the cabin, in reality a sizeable mansion, for use when the family was in residence. The car was sold out of the family in the late 50's and passed through the hands of several persons before I bought it from a fellow member of the local antique car club.
Lincoln in the 20's is considered possibly the finest car built in America or even the world at that time. This car was designed by Ray Dietrich, one of the premier body designers of the classic era. The Lincoln body shop employed many workers as well as the head engineer from the Springfield body works, builders of the American built Rolls Royce cars. In fact most of the body hardware is the same as used on Rolls Royces.
The condition of the car was some good, some bad, when I bought it. The body being hand made of aluminum was in good shape. The steel fenders, splash aprons, and running boards were in awful shape with great rusted holes. The left rear fender had been smashed and pulled out beyond the original position. After much effort and dollars all the steel parts were restored and re-painted black as they were originally. The nickel plated parts(chrome was just coming into use in 1928) were repaired and re-plated. The original body paint, a nice shade of green, was presentable as was the interior. The engine and drive train was in good condition.
The Lincoln engine possessed some unique features e.g., aircraft styled fork and blade rods. This resulted in the pistons of both banks to be aligned instead of offset as in modern Vee type engines. This design came from the Liberty V-12 aircraft engine which was built by the Lincoln Motor Company at the end of WW I. The Vee angle is 60 deg. resulting in an exhaust sound quite different from a modern V-8. With this layout, it was claimed that the Lincoln V-8 became smoother with increasing RPM as I can attest to up to 80 MPH. Lincolns in lighter body styles were used extensively by police due to their reliabilty and speed.
Other features of interest are:I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Lincoln and I welcome your comments.
- A built in air compressor for mainting tire pressure
- Radiator shutters operated by a Sylphon tank type thermostat
- Multiplate clutch
- Division window between driver and passenger compartment
- Intercom between compartments
- Shades on all windows in the passenger compartment
- 8 day clocks in both driver and passenger compartments
- Smoking vanity on Gentleman's side
- Mirror, note pad, and pen in ladies side vanity
- Steuben bud vases in passenger compartment
- Folding occasional seats in passenger compartment
- Robe rail and robe for passengers