The Lincoln Zephyr was really Edsel Ford’s baby. During the latter years of his life Edsel found himself under pressure from the whims and flights-of-fancy of his father, and he used Lincoln as his refuge from this ongoing stress. It was during his time in his refuge that he conceived the concept of the Zephyr, which was eventually designed by Eugene Gregorie from a concept developed by John Tjaarda. It was introduced in November 1935 for the 1936 model year, and remained in production until 1940. This 1940 Zephyr is listed for sale here on Craigslist. Located in Concord, Virginia, unfortunately the title is missing on this classic. The seller has listed it with a price of $5,500 OBO.

This Lincoln has been sitting idle for in excess of 30 years. The owner purchased it from an elderly lady. Her husband had commenced restoration on the car, but passed away before he could complete it. When the seller located it the car was sitting on stands in a workshop with no wheels or hubs. The owner has rectified this and the car now rolls. The body generally looks quite good. The seller states that he has given it a polish and it has come up really well. Having said that there is some work that needs doing. This section on the nose certainly needs some attention. The rest of the body appears to be quite good, with no obvious signs of rust.

The interior generally appears to be in quite good condition. Certainly the rear seat upholstery and the headliner look to be good, and should come up quite well with a clean. Some of the other trim items look quite dirty, and it is really hard to tell whether they will clean-up okay or whether they will require re-upholstering.

As with the rear seat the front appears to be in quite good order, albeit dirty. It appears that the dash is going to require restoration as it doesn’t look like the last owner had proceeded that far.

Now the frustrating part. This is as close as we get to seeing that wonderful V12 engine. The seller states that he hasn’t tried to start it (good thing, because the radiator is sitting in the trunk) but that he has wound it by hand and it does wind freely. When first introduced in 1936 this engine displaced 267ci. By 1940 this had been enlarged to 292ci, which would be the capacity of this engine. Power would then be fed to a 3-speed manual transmission. I wish that there was an engine shot because these 75 degree V12s were a real work of art.

So is this 1940 Lincoln Zephyr worth the asking price? A lot of that will depend on that fantastic V12 engine. If that can be brought back to life with little work then it might be a winner. The other factor is whether the myriad of smaller trim pieces and the grille are present as the cost of these items can add up quickly. Having said that a search of the internet shows the cheapest 1940 model that is in need of some restoration priced at $15,000. Maybe this price isn’t bad to become the owner of the car that was Edsel Ford’s passion.