If you were struggling to make a living, the 1930's were the most difficult of all years, for the world was then in the depths of a great depression. But if you were a transportation designer, those were the best of times. The age of streamlining had arrived, affecting the style of automobiles, aircraft, trains; even the great ocean liners.
Each of these influenced the other. Airplanes symbolised speed, thus the shapes of wings and propellers and tail fins were echoed in everything from automobiles to speedboats. Cars like the Chrysler Airflow based their designs on aerodynamic theories. Boats featured hulls with sides tapering to meet at the stern; automobile designers followed with "boat-tail" rear ends.
Art deco was another influence and indeed, styles crossed over so that you could see hints of streamlining in ordinary household objects, while deco design elements appeared on both the exteriors and interiors of vehicles and passenger ships.
Into this dramatic period came the first streamlined trains. (Note: when I say "train" I mean the entire unit, from engine to the observation car at the back, not just the engine itself.)
That first streamliner, the Union Pacific's City of Salinas, was displayed at Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition in 1934. A few months later the Burlington Zephyr appeared, helping launch a diesel revolution that would eventually eliminate the powerful steam engines so dear to many hearts (including my own), and making a record-breaking run from Denver to Chicago at an average speed of 77.6 miles an hour.
While all this was happening the luxury car makers were in trouble, since the market for expensive automobiles had all but disappeared. Most of the high-rollers who'd made their fortunes in the stock market prior to 1929 were gone; the value of those stocks turned out to be just so much paper. The solution for the manufacturers of Packards and Cadillacs and Lincolns lay in developing smaller models that maintained the cachet of the marque while selling at an affordable price.
Packard moved first, with its 120 model, which would eventually become a best-seller. But the Packard 120 was, stylistically, rooted in the past. Lincoln's answer was a radically-different car with a streamlined body designed by John Tjaarda of the Briggs Body Corporation.
Tjaarda's ideas began with a rear-engine design based on the Czech Tatra. Though this concept never got beyond drawing it was enough to attract Edsel Ford, the artistic genius of the Ford family. Impressed by Tjaarda's design, he ordered the development of two prototypes with Ford V8 engines. (Those cars included integral body/chassis construction, very much an advanced idea for the time.)
The design progressed to become a Lincoln with V12 power; a 267.3 cubic-inch engine using many Ford V8 components to develop 110 hp. But before the Zephyr went into production Edsel had its front end redesigned by Ford stylist Bob Gregorie, and it was at that point that the car acquired some of the Burlington Zephyr's style as well as its name.
The Lincoln Zephyr was priced to compete with Cadillac's LaSalle, a luxury downmarket move that was paying off handsomely for General Motors. First launched as a 4-door sedan, the Zephyr range was eventually expanded to include a coupe and 4-seater convertible. A 1942 Lincoln Zephyr convertible became the featured vehicle in a 1947 Thin Man movie, although the Zephyr's production life ended with World War Two.
With its perfect marriage of streamlining and art deco, the Lincoln Zephyr was both racy and elegant. The kind of car that today's struggling Lincoln brand should emulate. Including the name. All aboard!
Philip Powell
http://vintagecars.about.com/mbiopage.htm
