The United States was fighting in the Second World War for the first time in 1942. It immediately redirected all the resources that were not already being used to produce war for the Allies after entering the conflict in December 1941. Including the locations of the nation’s top automakers.
Just to give you an idea of what that meant for civilian car production, consider the fact that from the output high of some three million units made for the civilian market in the year Japan attacked, numbers dropped to less than half that the following year – and that was mostly because 1942 model year cars started being made in the summer of 1941.
Officially, the American Department of Defense put the entire vehicle production output during the war years (that means until 1945) at just… 139 new cars.
All of America’s carmakers were affected, including Lincoln. Already a brand meant for the best and richest among us, it was never one to roll out vehicles for the masses, but the constraints of war meant it only made 136 Continental models in convertible guise for the 1942 model year. And we just stumbled upon one of them.
Lincoln had begun producing Continentals in the required quantity in 1940, but was forced to halt production of the first generation in 1942, and it didn’t start up again until 1946. Accordingly, this car qualifies as a very rare pre-war luxury car, the kind that collectors typically compete aggressively for.
The vehicle is designed in that colorful, endearing manner of the time, with a distinctive blend of rounder lines (on the front end, fender skirts, and rear) and sharper edges (the metal and glass around the bodywork).
It wears colors that make it look like it would be used for some covert missions in the desert, which would be something called Chetwynd Beige over a Burgundy leather interior, as if attempting to make it even more obvious that it is a car born in some of humanity’s darkest years.
A 305ci engine, which is in turn managed by a three-speed manual transmission, propels the vehicle along on full-size covers and whitewall tires. Since Lincoln only offered a 292ci engine at the time, the engine in this vehicle is brand-new, and the overall mileage is little over 62,000 miles (99,700 kilometers).
The car as it looks today is clearly the result of restoration work, with the tan top, the carpeting, and paint being new. As touches of uniqueness and luxury, it boasts an in-dash clock and gold instrumentation.