Lincoln's 1946 Postwar Facelift

The Lincoln-Zephyr was introduced for the 1936 model year as a streamlined, upper-middle price bracket addition to the luxury Lincoln line that was slowly fading away due to the Great Depression of the 1930s.  It was successful, and the classic K series Lincolns were phased out after the 1939 model year.

Even though the large Lincolns were gone from the Ford Motor Company portfolio, the name Lincoln-Zephyr persisted through the war-aborted 1942 model year.  The first Zephyr generation lasted 1936-1939 with a major facelift for 1938.  They were redesigned for 1940, and facelifted in 1942.  When production resumed following the war for the 1946 model year, the name "Zephyr" was dropped and Lincolns were simply named Lincoln.

Those 1946 Lincolns were given a facelift of the 1942 design, and remained essentially unchanged through 1948.  A complete redesign appeared in 1949.

This post deals with that 1946 facelift.

In the Gallery below, a 1947 Lincoln represents postwar 1946-1948 Lincolns: they were virtually identical.  The cars in the images were listed as for-sale on the Internet.

Gallery

The 1942 facelift included larger, "suitcase" style fenders and a redesigned grille,

Postwar Lincolns such as this 1947 model received a new grille that fitted within the confines of the 1942 version.  Even though the appearance is notably different, it was an inexpensive job because little or no front end sheet metal re-tooling was needed.

Besides the new grille and front bumper, a front end change was deletion of the small air vents on the sides of the hood.

Side details are essentially the same, though note that the hood ornament is new.

Minor detail changes for trunk lid features along with a new bumper design.