It's time again for ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun.
This week the letter is Z. I am curious to see what everyone posts. Z is a hard letter. My post is Zephyr. In 1936 Lincoln came out with a new lower priced car called the Zephyr, named and styled after the streamlined Burlington Zephyr express train.
In 1934 the Burlington Railroad had introduced a sleek new streamlined passenger train called the Zephyr. It broke the speed record on the Chicago to Denver route. Two years later Lincoln tried to transfer some of the train’s glamor to its new streamlined Zephyr automobile by picturing the two vehicles side by side.
Several years ago I spent a lot of time manipulating photos to look like paintings. One of the photo/paintings was of a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr that belonged to my Dad.
1939 LINCOLN ZEPHYR
Ford Motor Company reused the name Zephyr several times. In the U.S. Ford produced the Mercury Zephyr from 1978-1983. It was Mercury's version of the Ford Fairmont.
Lincoln resurrected the Zephyr name in 2006 for it's new mid-sized luxury car based on the Ford Fusion. The name lasted only one year as Lincoln renamed the car MKZ for 2007.
2006 LINCOLN ZEPHYRIn the United Kingdom, Ford used the Zephyr name from 1950 until 1972. Zephyrs were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford lineup. The Ford Zephyr was a very popular car in Britain with over a million cars produced.
1960 FORD ZEPHYRI hope you enjoyed this short automotive history lesson and that this post didn't make you want to zzzzzzzzzzz.
Really interesting post for the Z day, Richie! I had almost forgotten those cars, the photos brought back some fun memories! Hope your week is going well! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
You absolutely did NOT put me to sleep with this post...I remember the Zephyr car but did not know about the train. Very interesting post and I love your manipulated photo! See you next week...
ReplyDeleteVery lovely cars. The history behind them is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI like the name Zephyr. I HATE the name MKZ.
ReplyDeletegood choice.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
I am still awake! I found your commentary about the many sides of Zephyr cars interesting.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for visiting my blog and leaving such a nice comment.
I had forgotten about the Zephyr car too. Fascinating history and I love your "painting" of your Dad's car.
ReplyDeleteThis was just delightful and interesting. And the painting is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a history of the Zephyr cars.
Wow! There are so many different Zephyrs!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for the letter Z and a very informative post. I enjoyed the photography and narrative.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the history lesson and the great photos. I learned something new today :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks again :-)
~Ron
Most interesting! I like the manipulate photo very much.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who decides on the names for cars?
Fascinating post, especially the photo of the car and the train. I love trains, and old cars. Great fun. Thanks!
ReplyDelete-- K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
Good work with a tough letter. I am showing my age for I really like that 1960 model.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this informative post accompanied by beautiful photos of Zephyrs.
ReplyDeleteIt WAS a lesson for me; I didn't know any of this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the illustrations too.
Super 'Z' post, Richard. I'm not quite old enough to remember the 1939 Zephyr, but probably would if my family had owned one. We had a 1936 Chevy.
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting and news to me. It is especially interesting since we have a car named Zafira, made by Opel, GM's European subsidiary. I think I used for a Z once, too.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping someone would post a Zephyr. And this is an excellent one!
ReplyDeleteA ride down memory lane! What fun it was - thanks for the delightful photos - love the painting, too!
ReplyDeleteWe had a Zephyr back in the 70's. Didn't keep it long.
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love the photo manipulation of your Dad's Zephyr! it's a beaut!
ReplyDeleteI prefer by far the very first model !
ReplyDeleteFantastic entry that I could learn a lot about Zephyr. My favorite is the one in 1960's. That's a classic beauty! I could easily tell that it was very popular in Britain.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, commenting on my entry, and have a wonderful day.
Yoshi
I like the older models myself. You did a great job 'painting' that image of the 39 Zephyr.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the train and car, an evocative name for a car, wonder if they went like the wind.
ReplyDeleteGreat Zephyrs. My aunt had the 1960 Ford Zephyr. Same colour too.
ReplyDelete