It All Started with an Idea

1932 Lincoln KB Speedster. This bespoke beauty epitomizes design from the Classic Era of coachbuilt cars. Plus, it’s a speedster! Lincoln photos courtesy Patrick Ernzen ©2016 RM Sotheby’s — 1932 Lincoln KB Speedster. This bespoke beauty epitomizes design from the Classic Era of coachbuilt cars. *Plus, it’s a speedster! Lincoln photos courtesy Patrick Ernzen ©2016 RM Sotheby’s*

First of all, the speedster (see above) at the center of this story is not a production car; it’s a Lincoln that never was but should have been. All it took was the spark of an idea between two friends, and – voila – the idea for the Lincoln KB V-12 Speedster was born!

Lincoln collector Greg Bilpuch and his friend, David Holls, a retired Director of Design at General Motors, had both decided, perhaps on a whim, to construct a classic boulevard-style Lincoln speedster that epitomized styling from the golden years of classic automobile design, which were 1925-1940. Production prototypes (see below) and bespoke designs from coachbuilders rolled out during this era. These were exciting years for automobile design!

1933 Packard “Brown Bomber” prototype. Elements from this test mule would inform Packard design up to 1940, as different types of rear end treatments and fender designs (including pontoons) were evaluated. photo courtesy of the Bettman Archive of Au… — 1933 Packard “Brown Bomber” prototype. Elements from this test mule would inform Packard design up to 1940, as different types of rear end treatments and fender designs (including pontoons) were evaluated. *photo courtesy of the Bettman Archive of Automotive History, Detroit Public Library*

Artful designs reached a crest during this period, as design ateliers in Europe and the United States built commissioned works for well-heeled clientele who wanted something more than what the factory offered. The late nineteen-twenties saw the world awash in cash and credit, and folks exploited that new-found wealth. They bought big houses, they went on long trips.

…and they commissioned custom cars, some of which were oversized, Art Deco-styled speedsters that were more attuned to cruising the boulevards than scrapping at the local track.

1930 Cord L-29 Speedster at the ACD Museum. A bit over the top, but this was what the 1930s-era Luxo speedsters would turn out like, each rendition competing with the last one to out-glitz.

1930 Cord L-29 Speedster front end. As one can see, there was a lot going on with this boulevard speedster, and all of it was the very latest that technology could offer.

This coachbuilt era had inspired well-known contemporary hotrod designers such as Rick Dore of RD Kustoms and Terry Cook of Delahaye USA, part of a topic that we had broached in journal post 16, Neoclassic Speedsters.

Cook and Dore are a pair of inspired hotrodders who produce exquisitely souped-up speedsters, and an example of this is Cook’s Bugnotti Speedster, which borrowed the boattail of the Auburn 851 Speedster, added a classic Bugatti front grill, and scored the idea for using pontoon fenders from a Fagoni & Falschi-designed Delahaye. The Bugnotti, as drawn by Chip Foose and detailed by Terry Cook, mates a classic body emblematic of the coachbuilt era with a modern hotrod.

Bugnotti in blue. This breath-taking hotrod creation drew upon Art Deco design cues from famous ateliers of the 1930s. photo courtesy Delahaye USA

But that’s not where Bilpuch and Hollis were heading. Instead, they penned an idea that used the same classic inspiration but resulted in a more conservative, understated design, a speedster that makes us wonder: is this a real car from the 1930s?

And in many ways, it is.

1932 Lincoln KB Speedster with the top erected.

Lincoln Heritage

Henry Leland, a consummate perfectionist who had been chief engineer behind the 1903 Cadillac, had left Cadillac in 1917 to form his own company, named after his favorite U.S. president. Lincoln the company had initially been organized to produce Liberty aircraft engines for the war effort, but when WWI ended in 1918 and government contracts for engines dried up, Leland pivoted to producing cars.

Precision engineering informed all of Leland’s work, but production deadlines were not his forte. Thus, when Lincoln car production stalled over issues about level of precision, creditors demanded their money, receivers put the company up for sale, and…

Henry Ford stepped in, bought the company, promptly fired the Lelands, and then turned Lincoln over to his son, Edsel, to improve the company and manage it. Edsel would become known as a humanistic, inspired general manager with a flair for design, and Lincoln went on to thrive as a luxury brand.

For 1932, Lincoln featured two engines to expand its Model K line (begun in 1930), and so a V-8 was installed in the 136-inch KA chassis, while a V-12 went into the 145-inch KB chassis. The V-12 KB had been launched as a direct competitor to its rivals, Marmon, Cadillac, Packard, and Auburn, all with V-12s. All of them were gunning for the same luxury market, and all did it in the headwinds of a depression.

Auburn and Marmon would succumb to the post-depression Threadbare Thirties, while the other three companies would limp on until the boom years of wartime production beginning in 1941 would lift their respective fortunes. In an effort to economize but still compete in the luxury market, Lincoln would drop both its V-8 and V-12 in 1934 and issue a redesigned V-12 that powered all of its models through to 1942.

1932 Lincoln KB V-12 Sedan. The grill treatment was still 1920s, as were the fenders, hood line, and so on. Lincoln was very conservative, and this was how they entered the uncertain times of the Threadbare Thirties. photo courtesy Pinterest — 1932 Lincoln KB V-12 Sedan. The grill treatment was still 1920s, as were the fenders, hood line, and so on. Lincoln was very conservative, and this was how they entered the uncertain times of the Threadbare Thirties. *photo courtesy Pinterest*

Eyes on Designers

Bilpuch and Hollis drew upon the ideas shared among several designers of the Art Deco period of classic coachbuilding. The work of Thomas A. Hibbard and Howard “Dutch” Darrin are cited by others as directly responsible for the design elements of this speedster, but the truth of the matter is that both Hibbard and Darrin, long before they had opened the design firm of their name in Paris in 1923, had arrived from varied and separate backgrounds that informed their respective design aesthetics.

They were influenced by others around them in their field, and in turn, Hibbard & Darrin would influence others as well. Borrowing ideas was part of the design culture, and it remains so today.

Hibbard had labored under or partnered with other masters in automotive design, such as Raymond Dietrich, to earn his automotive design chops, while Darrin was a combination of engineer, entrepreneur, and aesthete who had played polo, dabbled in antiques, and became a WWI flying ace. They bonded during a cruise to Europe, decided to open an automotive design architecture office in Paris, and literally stepped into one postwar opportunity after another. Hibbard could design, Darrin could sell, and they both possessed exquisitely good taste in what made a luxury car luxurious.

H&D soon landed a Minerva dealership. They drew up and sold bespoke designs to Minerva clients that Van den Plas or D’Eteran Freres would construct for them. They thrived and then opened a design office in New York. H&D would also execute designs for other makes too, such as Rolls-Royce, Auburn, and Duesenberg.

Hibbard & Darrin created several design innovations that were soon adopted by other designers, as ideas were often copied or stolen. H&D further developed the patented spun aluminum disc wheel cover, a popular move away from wooden spokes and wire wheels, which the discs hid from view. They introduced wide aluminum trim, and also developed “Silentlyte” aluminum body panel pieces using a French aluminum alloy called “Alpax” that was able to withstand the stresses placed on car bodies. Their Silentlyte panels modularized body construction among similar-sized makes and allowed H&D to pioneer the move away from the extensive use of hardwood in automobile construction. Metal was the future.

H&D’s success continued for almost ten years, and after their studios had closed in 1932 due to the depression, both Hibbard and Darrin would go their separate ways, yet still inform the design of automobiles while working in other firms.

Nuts & Bolts

While Holls penned out a design of a classic era speedster, Bilpuch contacted and hired Marcel DeLay of Corona, California to execute its fabrication and assembly. Detailing and paintwork were done by Classic & Exotic Service of Troy, Michigan. Total time from paper to completed project was 3 ½ years.

The V-12 engine that they had sourced was placed in a KA chassis (136-inch) that had been rescued from an uncertain fate as a tow truck. The 448-cu.in. power plant was worked over to increase its output to 175 horsepower, and although a torque figure was not reported, the number of cubic inches point to plenty of that!

A three-speed transmission transmits the grunt and a modern air suspension smoothes out the ride. Four power-assisted brakes provide stopping power.

Fame, Fortune, and a Future

The completed car exhibits many design cues that were tastefully inspired by coachbuilt cars of the classic era.

• For instance, the aluminum deck is similar in concept and overall shape to the deck of the Murphy-built 1930 Duesenberg Torpedo Convertible Coupe Speedster. But, it’s also different.

1930 Duesenberg Boattail Speedster, also known as a Torpedo Convertible Coupe. There were only 10 known Duesenberg speedster designs named as such by factory-sanctioned coachbuilders, and this short chassis Murphy-built example was one Duesenberg’s … — 1930 Duesenberg Boattail Speedster, also known as a Torpedo Convertible Coupe. There were only 10 known Duesenberg speedster designs named as such by factory-sanctioned coachbuilders, and this short chassis Murphy-built example was one Duesenberg’s approved designs.

1932 Lincoln KB Speedster as seen from top. The chined ridge along the aluminum rear deck adds definition and elegantly breaks up an otherwise large amount of polished aluminum. Wide aluminum trim was an H&D design element.

1932 Duesenberg Murphy-designed Torpedo Convertible Coupe. Note that the large expanse of aluminum of the rear deck lacks that ridgeline as found on the Lincoln.

…same car as seen from top. Trim like this was inspired by the aero movement of the time.

1932 Duesenberg Torpedo Convertible Coupe seen from the side. Note the difference in styling cues from the 1930 Speedster. As with the Lincoln KB Speedster, black always looks understated but sharp when paired with shiny metals!

• The pontoon fenders were an aero design element emanating from European designers in the early 1930s in reaction to the burgeoning interest in all things aviation. While Murphy hung onto classic fenders from the 1920s into the early 1930s as seen in the photos above, Figoni, Fernandez, and others were already branching to this design element, and each execution of pontoon was unique.

Bilpuch and Holls knew that they had to tap this latter vein, and their result is quite elegant.

• The wheel discs, as aforementioned, were innovations popularized by Hibbard & Darrin, and they cap off the many elegant and understated elements of this exquisite send-up of a 1930s-era luxo speedster.

What transpired from this collaborative project captures a lost era of automobile, an archetype of what made a car a car back in that time.

Others immediately recognized its iconic quality. Soon after completion, the 1932 Lincoln KB Speedster would earn a second in its class at Pebble Beach in 1999, losing out in a tie-breaker. It has since competed in shows and in driving events, and won awards and recognition for its design and execution. Certainly this is a car needing to be shown and driven. But no more towing other cars!

Thanks to RM Sotheby’s for use of their auction photographs from the 2016 sale of the 1932 Lincoln KB V-12 Speedster. All photographs from this collection are credited to and the property of Patrick Ernzen ©2016 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

The photo of the 1930 Murphy-bodied Duesenberg Torpedo Convertible Coupe Speedster is courtesy of the ACD Museum archives. Other in-person photos of a similar Duesenberg Murphy-bodied Speedster, as well as the Cord L-29 Speedster, were taken at the ACD Museum by this author and protected by copyright.

An image of a factory-bodied 1932 Lincoln KB V-12 four-door sedan is courtesy of Pinterest.