Listed here on Craigslist in Roanoke, Virginia is a highly sought-after classic car, a 1942 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet with V-12 power. It’s a restoration in progress, being sold due to health issues, with an asking price of just $5,000. Someone should snap this up if it’s real. Thanks, Beyfon, for the listing.
Only 136 of these cabriolets were made in 1942, for obvious reasons. These handsome luxury models picked right up after World War II. The car, originally painted Sheldon Gray Metallic, is numbers-matching and clean-titled; the engine turns freely, and much work has been done. The body has been soda blasted and primed. The frame is reported to be “in great shape.” The car comes with a plethora of parts, the hubcaps, and all the missing chrome.
The hydraulic power top has been refurbished, as have the speedometer and window motors. The front bumper was replated. From the photos, the car looks like it’s been sitting for quite a while since it was primer-painted. But from what we can see in these not-so-great photos, it’s pretty straight. The hood fit is off, so the bonnet may just be sitting in place. And the interior looks serviceable, too. The new owner would have to get it running, paint it, and go through the brakes and suspension. The transmission is of unknown quality, as is the top canvas. So there are unanswered questions, but it could be a really great result when it’s all done.
The Continental was commissioned for Edsel Ford, company president in 1938. Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie used the Lincoln Zephyr as a starting point and designed a one-off convertible—the sketch reportedly took an hour. Edsel got the car in Florida, loved it, and declared he could sell a thousand of them. Most of the early 1939s are cabriolets, but there were a few coupes, too. Only two dozen were basically hand-built in 1939, and another 400 in 1940, when production started in earnest.
The body didn’t change much over the years, though pushbutton door releases debuted in 1941. For 1942, though, the grille was revised and the fenders somewhat squared off. Production resumed in 1946, but that’s another story.
Power in 1942 came from a slightly beefed-up 306-cubic-inch (five-liter) flathead V-12, producing 130 horsepower. The same engine, known for its exceptional smoothness and quiet operation, powered the Zephyr that inspired the Continental. It connected to a three-speed manual, with an optional Columbia overdrive.
These cars are quite rare. In addition to the 136 cabriolets, only 200 club coupes were produced in 1942. Many of these cars got V-8 engine swaps, because the V-12 had thin cylinder walls and cooling issues. So finding one with its original powerplant is quite welcome. One of these ragtops, fully restored, sold for more than $112,000 last year. Classic.com puts an average 1942 at $20,676, but convertibles are worth much more.
It’s hard to know how a buyer could go wrong with this car. Even if getting it back on the road doesn’t work out, it’s worth $5k as a parts vehicle.
Short production run as tooling had to go to war production. Back when all of American felt the war on a personal level so our leaders could only go to war if it was truly needed. No war since has met that criteria. Perhaps that explains so much of our world today.
That ramcharger in the background looks neat
I believe it would look great if it gets restored. The $5 million question (for inflation), is there anyone that has the time and money to finish it, assuming all the parts are there.
At 5 grand I think the seller is being very realistic. From the looks of things they have more than that in it. If someone knows how to put it together and can do a lot of the work themselves it could be a worthwhile project. One question I have though, if you drop something in the back of that trunk, how do you get it out? Maybe just drop one of your kids in there? Definitely style over utility.