Fading Away: 1936-1939 Lincoln K

The Great Depression hasn't ended, though the economy has been slowly improving.  You are in charge of a large car maker's luxury brand that just introduced a line of upper-medium price models featuring advanced styling that promises to sell much better than your expensive V-12 line.  You could drop the latter, but that could cheapen your brand's hard-won image.  Or you might choose to retain that luxury line even though sales prospects are not good.

As you can tell from this post's title, the subject is the Lincoln K model.  Edsel Ford, Lincoln's president, opted to continue building K-series cars following the 1936 introduction of the Lincoln Zephyr.  I wrote about Zephyr's first restyling here.

Lincoln Ks were redesigned for 1937, their front fenders and headlight assemblies given a Zephyr touch.  But demand for a very expensive line of cars, many of which were given low-production bodies by major coachbuilders, continued to weaken.  The last Model Ks were built in 1939 and a few were sold as 1940 models.

This post shows some 1936-1939 designs, some with factory bodies and not the semi-customs just noted.  As will be seen, little effort was made to facelift these low-production cars.

Gallery

1936 Lincoln K Sedan - Mecum Auctions
A pre-redesign Lincoln K from the model year the Zephyr was introduced.  The car in the photo lacks windshield wipers and door handles, but otherwise seems complete enough.

1937 Lincoln K Limousine - for sale in Germany
The redesigned K.  This Limousine has a factory body with six side-windows,  The windshield is a two-piece V'd affair.  Front fenders and headlight assemblies appear to be those made for Zephyrs -- an inexpensive way to made Ks seem more modern as well as strengthening brand identity across two dissimilar designs.

1937 Lincoln K Limousine - Mecum

1937 Lincoln K Sedan - RM Auctions
Side views of a Limousine and what seems to be called a two-window sedan.  The factory body is the same aside from the number of windows and the shape of the aft doors.

1938 Lincoln K Limousine - Barrett-Jackson Auctions
This, and at least one other 1938 Limousine I found on the Internet, feature a flat, one-piece windshield.  The rest of the passenger compartment differs from the factory body shown above, looking a lot like the 1936 car in the first image -- note the windshield wipers mounted at the top and the shape of the windshield.  Perhaps some leftover '36 bodies were still used in 1938 with a dash of customizing.  The front of the car is unchanged from 1937 aside from the vents on the side of the hood.

1939 Lincoln K Limousine - Mecum
The final production year for the Lincoln K.  Few were made, and there is no obvious facelifting.

1939 Lincoln K Willoughby Sport Sedan - Bonhams Auctions
A coachbuilder '39 K.  The body looks like that of a 1937 factory sedan with less-rounded side windows.  Not far from mainstream 1939 styling fashions, but this would have seemed out of date by 1940.