Source: Internet
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
New Lincoln Museum
Lincoln is one of America's truly great marques, but recent years have found it becoming more of an orphan at Ford, to the point where people were doubting its survival. Fortunately Lincoln seems to be rediscovering its identity with at least one new model, the MKZ, showing promise. Perhaps the best indicator that Lincoln has a future is Ford's willingness to invest in its history by supporting the new Lincoln Museum in partnership with the Lincoln Motor Car Foundation. (The Foundation was formed in 1999 by members of various Lincoln owner's clubs and retired Ford Motor Company Executives.)
A new, 20,000 square foot dedicated building is to be constructed on the campus of the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, a 90 acre park-like setting midway between Chicago and Detroit, also the setting for the Classic Car Club of America Museum, the Tucker Historical Collection and the Pierce-Arrow Museum. "This is a long overdue initiative," said Peter Horbury, Ford Executive Director, Design, The Americas. "Lincoln represents over eighty years of wonderful history and fantastic automobiles. From the early, elegant cars of the 1920's to the pure and simple Continentals of the 1960's, Lincoln has a wonderful story to tell. We look forward to helping the new Lincoln museum become an exciting and educational destination."
[Source: Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter]
Lincoln Zephyr Convention
Source: Internet
Monday, January 3, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Presidential Cars (Lincoln)
Lincoln has a long history of providing official state limousines for the U.S. President. The first car specially built for Presidential use was the 1939 Lincoln V12 convertible called the "Sunshine Special" used by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It remained in use until 1948.
A 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan called the "Bubble Top" was used by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and once by Johnson. It was retired in 1965.
The Lincoln limousine made famous in Dallas was a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible, custom built by Hess and Eisenhart of Cincinnati, and known as the SS-100-X. The Secret Service had the car fitted with a 1962 grill for aesthetic reasons. It was in use from 1961 to 1977, having undergone extensive alterations which made it an armor-plated sedan after Kennedy's assassination. A 1969 Lincoln was used by Nixon and a 1972 Lincoln used by Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush. A 1989 Lincoln was the last Presidential Lincoln as of 2004. Cadillac supplied Presidential limousines in 1983, 1993, 2001, and 2004.
The John F. Kennedy limousine also included a "Plexiglas" bubble top to be used in the event of inclement weather. The 1961 vehicle was notorious for its inadequate cooling of the rear of the passenger cabin while the bubble top was in place, particularly in sunshine. In order to prevent excessive heat and discomfort to the passengers, the top was often removed prior to parades, as was the case in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Though it was always assumed that President Lyndon Baines Johnson had the car destroyed after the assassination of President Kennedy, the 100-X was turned over to the Secret Service, Army Materials Research Center, Hess and Eisenhart, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, and Ford Motor Company for retrofitting of armor plating, permanent sedan roof, new interior, improved air-conditioning system, electronic communications equipment, bulletproof glass, a new paint treatment, as well as cosmetic alterations to remove damage incurred during the assassination, among other changes. The car is also on display at the Henry Ford Museum.
The Johnson Administration also used three 1965 Lincoln Continental Executive Limousines. Two limousines for the President and one for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, as well as a 1968 "stretch" Lincoln to be used in Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas. This vehicle is on display at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
The 100-X was modified again in 1967. Later, under President Richard Nixon, the large one-piece glass roof was replaced with a smaller glass area and a hinged roof panel. It remained in service until 1977 and resides in its final configuration at the Henry Ford Museum.
President Nixon ordered a 1969 model limousine, through Lehman-Peterson of Chicago. This vehicle also had an added sunroof so that Nixon could stand upright when appearing before parade-goers if desired. This vehicle was equipped with several features, such as retractable hand grips and running boards, options later copied by Hess and Eisenhart. This car is now located at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California.
In 1974, Ford supplied a 1972 Continental model which was stretched to 22 feet (7 m), outfitted with armor plating, bullet resistant glass and powered by a 460 cu in (7.5 L) V8 engine. This limousine was used by Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, and is on display at the Henry Ford Museum. This model was also altered a number of times during its history, including a full body redesign in 1979. This was the limousine that Reagan was about to enter during his assassination attempt in 1981.
Source: Ford
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Lincoln Futura
The Lincoln Futura was a concept car designed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company. It was built by Ghia entirely by hand in Italy at a cost of $250,000 and displayed on the auto show circuit in 1955.
Futura's styling was extravagantly impractical even by the standards of the '50s, with a double, clear-plastic canopy top, exaggerated hooded headlight pods, and very large, outward-canted tailfins at both ends of the vehicle. Nevertheless, the Futura had a complete powertrain and was fully operable in contrast to many show cars then and now. Its original color was white, and was one of the first pearlescent color treatments, using ground pearl to achieve the paint effect. The Futura was powered by a 368 cubic inch Lincoln engine and powertrain; the chassis was that of a Lincoln Mark II.
The Futura was a success as a show car, garnering a great deal of favorable publicity for Ford. It was released as a model kit and a toy, and in a much more subdued form its headlight and tailfin motifs would appear on production Lincolns for 1956 and 1957. It even played a prominent part in a movie, 1959's It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford. For the movie, it was painted red, as the pearlescent finish did not photograph well.
After that, though, the car would logically have been forgotten and perhaps destroyed, as most show cars of that time were. However, it was somehow sold into the hands of George Barris, one of the great auto customizers. As the car was never titled and was therefore uninsurable, it was parked behind Barris' shop where it sat idle for several years and was allowed to deteriorate.
In 1966 Barris was requested to design a theme car for the Batman television series, Barris then contracted stylist Dean Jeffries to build a car for the show. Jeffries worked on the design and initial fabrication for the Batmobile, using a 1959 Cadillac, but when the studio wanted the car faster than he could deliver, he turned it back to George Barris. With the short notice, Barris thought the Futura might work well, and using Jeffries initial car, decided that its unusual winged shape would be an ideal starting point for the Batmobile. Barris hired Bill Cushenberry to do the metal modifications to the car.
Barris went on to build three fiberglass replicas using the frames and running gear from 1966 Ford Galaxie cars for the show circuit, three of which were covered with a felt-like flocking finish in the 1970's. Barris later acquired a fourth replica, a metal car built on a 1958 Thunderbird.
Replica
In the 1990's, Bob Butts (under George Barris' consent) made replicas of the Batmobiles. He took one of the Barris-built replica Batmobiles and made a mold of it. Based on pictures from when the Futura was shown in the 1950's, he retrofitted one of his Batmobile replicas into the Futura. He only created one copy and since the original Futura became the Batmobile, this is the only known Futura in existence.
Bob Butts Replica as seen in Ohio November 7th 2009.
Source: Internet
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
