Conti

Lincoln Continental grille badge, originally uploaded by William 74.

Formed in 1915 by Henry Leland (one of the founders of Cadillac), Lincoln was purchased by Ford in 1922 to give it something to fight Cadillac.

The Continental was introduced in 1939 as Lincoln's top-line model. Initially developed as Edsel Ford's personal vehicle, the car proved so popular with his friends that it was decided to put the car into production. These first 1940 Contis were essentially hand built cars, with the body panels all hand-formed, as the dies for producing sheet metal forms hadn't been delivered. The attack on Pearl Harbor put a halt to production, which was picked up again postwar and lasted until 1948. Besides being exclusive and rare, these were also the last V-12 cars produced in America.

This sad car is, I think, a postwar example (about 400 coupes and convertibles were built in 1939-40). It was in really sad shape-rusty, with bits of trim and interior from newer cars, the wrong hubcaps, and terribly dull chrome. Still, it looked pretty dignified, as it sat in front of a garage somewhere in the northwest suburbs. It disappeared soon after.