Mysterious Lincoln in Germany on New Year’s Day

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Almost exactly 90 years ago – in winter 1927/28 – a gentleman from Berlin spent some vacation time in the “Riesengebirge” – a mountain area in the German province of Silesia (today a part of Poland). On the occasion of New Year’s Day he sent a postcard showing him and his impressive car to a friend in the tiny village of Neustadt (Thuringia). I acquired the postcard recently having only a vague idea of the kind of automobile in the picture.

I was pretty sure that it was a US car from the mid/late 1920s – even if the manufacturers' name on the radiator badge seemed illegible in the beginning. In particular, the chunky front bumper made me initially believe it was just another of the many mass-produced American vehicles that had a huge market share in Germany back then. Well - to cut a long story short - a certain resemblance of the radiator with that of Ford’s Model A (of all cars!) made me research in a different direction which eventually resulted in a match: Lincoln – a brand forming part of the Ford conglomerate since 1922.

Suddenly, the badge on the radiator with hardly a few legible letters made perfect sense, as did the awkward-looking front bumper, the distinctly shaped hubcaps, and – most importantly – the greyhound mascot that became standard equipment on Lincolns starting in 1925.
The drum-shaped front lights – clearly outdated at that time, in my opinion – indicated a date of manufacture between 1924 and 1926, at least according to the Standard Catalogue of American Cars from 1805 until 1942 (by B.R.KIimes/H.A.Clark).

I was almost about to close this case as solved, as I noticed a detail which challenged my hypothesis – the brake drums at the front axle! They were introduced on publicly available Lincolns only in 1927, but then you would also have expected bowl-shaped front lights.
Of course, one might assume that Lincolns destined for overseas markets would have differed from cars for the domestic market in several ways. Perhaps the newly developed front lights of the 1927 Lincoln didn’t comply with some odd regulations in Europe, so Lincoln continued to mount the traditional ones on cars to be exported.

But: the story does not end here. Probably the most remarkable feature of the Lincoln with registration in the district of Berlin (“IA”) is the vertically split front window – which I was unable to find in any other picture showing a contemporary Lincoln.

What’s more, the entire body behind the engine compartment is hardly what you would expect on a luxury car. To me, this body – obviously of the sedan-convertible type – shows some similarities with crew carriers used by fire brigades or the police at that time. What also strikes me as odd is the fact that the running board is completely “occupied” by a large box – containing hunting gear, perhaps. How was the owner supposed to enter the car on this side without having to climb on the box first – a humiliating experience, wouldn’t you think?

Now it’s your turn, dear fellow enthusiasts. Can anyone shed some light on the identity and origin of this supposed 1927 Lincoln? Has a car with similar features appeared yet?

Many thanks in advance for any insights and let me use this opportunity to wish all of you a “Gutes Neues Jahr” from Germany!

Words and photographs by Michael Schlenger.

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