Henry Leland was an early partner in the Henry Ford Company and went on to become the manufacturer of Cadillac cars as an early luxury automobile.
In 1920, the brilliant engineer founded the Lincoln Motor Company to meet the needs of the well to do.
The first 500 Lincoln cars were open cars – tourers and roadsters. Then Lincoln began turning out closed cars. The biggest and most luxurious Lincoln released as a 1921 model was the Model 106 Suburban Limousine. Leland ordered 101 bodies to be built by the Anderson Electric Car Company of Detroit.
They would be assembled on the 136-inch Lincoln chassis and fitted with Leyland’s 357 cubic inch V8 engine, a revolutionary power plant capable of producing 81 horsepower.
When the automobile was announced to the public, the company soon had 1,500 orders, and the plan was to produce 20,000 cars in 1920-21. But there was a long delay of five months before the first car was unveiled in September, 1920, and by then, the excitement was gone, a recession was just starting and there was a glut of new cars on the market.
Real wood wheels carry the 1921 Lincoln Suburban Limousine.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
The base Lincoln, a seven passenger touring Type 101, sold for $4,600. The 106 limousine listed for the princely sum of $6,600 at a time when a Model T Ford sold for $415 and other high end closed cars sold for $760.
Mechanical engineer Bill Wybenga, who lives outside the Lake Ontario town of Picton in Prince Edward County two hours east of Toronto, believes his 1921 Lincoln Suburban Limousine is the only one remaining from the 101 built. He bought it in 2007 at Ron Fawcett’s movie car auction as a basically complete running and driving car that needed restoration.
His limousine has body number 35 of the 101 built. It was driven off the Lincoln assembly line in late May, 1921. By November of that year, the Lincoln Motor Company had become the victim of a deep recession, protracted tax disputes with the federal government and Leland’s obsessive pursuit of perfection. The Lincoln Motor Company went into receivership and shut down completely.
Lincoln manufactured just 3,000 cars in just under a year while Ford was making 3,300 Model T’s a day.
Henry Ford bought Lincoln on Feb. 6, 1922, and took over production of the automobiles.
The design of the motor and chassis developed in 1920 was used up to 1931 with little change in a period when there were massive changes in technology throughout the industry. That in itself is a real testament to Leyland’s original design.
When Bill Wybenga disassembled the old limousine for restoration, he discovered the body had been transferred to a 1926 Lincoln chassis that was built in late-1925 for a five passenger model.
A massive 357 cubic inch V8 engine delivering 81 horsepower motivated the massive limousine.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
He knows little of the history of this massive car except that records show it was first registered in Ontario in April 1974 by Bento Desaojose, who is believed to have lived in Toronto. He has never been able to find out anything about that owner or any other pervious history.
These were chauffeur-driven limousines with a huge rear passenger compartment featuring pull down blinds, reading lights, pullout hidden jump seats and a glass divider window into the chauffeur department — a window that could be rolled down.
Standard equipment in all these formal cars was a hidden microphone for the ‘dictagraph transmitter’ so passengers could give instructions to the chauffeur without winding down the divider window. The cars also had an air compressor with hose for inflating tires and a portable trouble light. Bill found the location of the intercom’s speaker-horn behind the chauffeur’s head. It was clearly visible in the old upholstery which had been covered up with a red velour material.
The coil for the microphone was still mounted in the woodwork on the right side of the rear cabin — the gentleman’s side along with the remains of the cigar lighter. The original push-button to activate the microphone was found in a drawer under the driver’s seat.
The car has been wired so that both these items can be easily added when the correct components are found. Bill has located a period-correct ladies’ vanity case and a gentleman’s smoke set with a lighter and the speaker horn.
“As I worked on the car, I was impressed time and time again by the workmanship and detail that went into the design,” Bill says.
The stately 1921 Lincoln Suburban Limousine represented the peak of luxury in its time.
PNG Merlin Archive, Driving
“For instance, the frame cross members are not only riveted but also splined to the deep channels, and the torque tube drive system is about seven inches in diameter at the differential compared to about four inches for a Ford Model A.”
All the work on the car was done in Eastern Ontario. Master upholsterer Nando Defrancesco replicated the original interior which was in tatters. Trenton Collision did the body and paint. Bill had the frame sandblasted and painted by Darren Green of Shannonville.
Bill has the original sales literature which shows the interior of the rear compartment which has been replicated.
The original upholstery was still on the jump seats under the red velour and enough of the driver’s seat material was left to duplicate.
Since there is only 71,000 miles showing on the odometer, the limousine’s running gear didn’t need rebuilding. Bill disassembled and detailed the engine and other components before reassembly.
The bumpers, drum headlights and radiator shell are nickel plated and just had to be polished. Some small hardware items were found through the Lincoln Owners Club and at the Hershey Swap Meet in Pennsylvania. Some small parts that were missing had to be recast with patterns made from original parts.
The first show for the freshly restored 94-year-old Lincoln limo was at the dedication of the Lincoln Motor Car Heritage Museum at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Mich.
Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com
