Lincoln Zephyr

Encyclopedia : L : LI : LIN : Lincoln Zephyr

Lincoln Zephyr Series HB 1937, USA

The Lincoln Zephyr is a brand name of automobile from the Lincoln automobile division of the Ford Motor Company. It was the lower priced luxury car of the Lincoln line and served a purpose somewhat the same as Cadillac's smaller LaSalle. It is noted for being one of the first successful streamlined cars after the Chrysler Airflow.

1936-1942

The Lincoln Zephyr was originally produced from model years 1936 through 1942. It was initially offered for sale in November 1935. The car was available as a coupe or a sedan and a convertible was added after the first model year. The name was discontinued due to the switch to war-related production during World War II, and not revived by Lincoln after the war. The post-war Lincolns were the continuation of the pre-war Zephyr. The Lincoln Continental was developed from the Lincoln Zephyr, prototypes built from the 1939 Lincoln Zephyr and production versions based on the 1940 and updated each model year. Annual production for any year model was not large but accounted for a large portion of the Lincoln brand's sales. In its first year, 15,000 were sold, accounting for 80% of Lincoln's total sales.

The Zephyr was powered by a small V12 engine. The 1936 to 1939 models were 267 in³ (4.4 L); 1940 and 1941 were 292 in³ (4.8 L); 1942 and early 1946 were 306 in³ (5.0 L) and late 1946 to 1948 were 292 in³ (4.8 L). The original engine had 110 hp (82 kW) and gave the car a top speed of 90 miles per hour (145 km/h). The body was monocoque construction and very rigid, but surprisingly light for its size. The first model had a weight of 3,350 lb (1,520 kg).

Suspension was transverse springs front and rear, already seen as outdated when the car was introduced. Brakes were steeldraulic for 1936 to 1938; 1939 and onwards were hydraulic. The Zephyr was the first Ford product to have an all-steel roof.

2006

2006 Lincoln Zephyr

See Lincoln MKZ for complete details.

For the 2006 model year, Lincoln introduced a new Zephyr as its entry-level luxury car to fill the void left by the discontinued LS V6. The Zephyr (along with the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, which share the same platform) are built in Hermosillo, Mexico, making it the first Lincoln car built outside of the United States.

After just a few months of production, Lincoln's dealers sold only 4,895 Zephyrs through the beginning of February.

For the 2007 model year, the Zephyr will be redesignated the MKZ ("Mark Z"), following Lincoln's new naming convention of using MK ("Mark") with alphabetical abbreviations instead of traditional names (eg: the MKX ("Mark X") crossover, originally to be designated the Aviator). Along with a new name, the car will receive minor cosmetic changes as well as a new, more powerful engine.

• [Ford Press Release]
• [Detroit News article]
• [Where are the Zephyrs?]

See also

• Ford Zephyr
• Mercury Zephyr
• Lincoln MKZ

References

1. "Jewels at the Javits: Sparkling Luxury Cars Jostled Brawny SUVs to Capture the Limelight at the Most Popular U.S. Auto Show", an article on page twenty in the "News" section of the June, 2004 issue of Automobile magazine
2. "The Lincoln motorcar, sixty Years of Excellence" by Thomas Bonsall.

External links

• [Lincoln Zephyr Owners Club]
• [Lincoln Zephyr on CanadianDriver.com]
• [2006 Zephyr home page]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.