The LINCOLN LINK The LINCOLN LINK IN THIS ISSUE 3 One Man’s Lincoln Ad Collection 6 The London Lincoln Showroom 8 The New American Dream 11 The LMCF: A Progress Report PUBLISHED SEMI-YEARLY Volume IV, number 1 • sprIng, 2006 talented artist and stylist; he is a Contrib- FROM THE EDITOR Lincoln car guy, too, owning a utor and 1962 Lincoln convertible sedan Foundation ■ Do you like in his eclectic collection of inter- member John the cover illus- esting older cars. Sweet grew up tration of this Both artists are active in the in a Lincoln- issue? Hmmm, Automotive lovin’ home we thought Fine Art and is into his you would. Society, which second Lincoln hobby car, which The artist, publishes the has inspired him to begin writing Jack Juratovic, glorious AFAS Lincoln briefs for hobby periodi- is a former Ford stylist and is Journal, a cals. Come to his Lincoln meet also a trustee of the Foundation. publication in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in The car he illustrates is the strik- crammed 2007. ing 1937 Lincoln Zephyr owned with informa- Darryl B. Hazel has been by Foundation President Jerry tion on automotive artists and named Capizzi, which examples of their work. A two- Senior Vice was accurately year subscription is $24. If you’re President, restored to a interested, write to AFAS, P.O. Ford Motor high standard Box 325, Lake Orion, MI 48361- Company and by Roy N. 0325. We rate this quality journal President, Thorson of as a “must have.” Ford Cus- Green Valley, Of our contributors in this tomer Service Arizona. The issue, Colin Division. You locomotive is Spong lives will recall that Mr. Hazel and the power unit of the pioneering near London, Foundation Chairman Jack Eby Burlington Zephyr of 1934. Read England, on May 22, 2004 unveiled the of the relationship between the and owns Lincoln name stone blocks, res- train engine and the car on page three Lincoln cued from the old Leland built ten of this issue. Zephyrs. Two Lincoln plant that was soon to be For an excellent summary are beauti- razed. Mr. Hazel was President of the Burlington Zephyr train fully restored of Lincoln Mercury at the time. story, see Great Passenger Trains: and have become the darlings Al Giombetti’s new title is Vice Burlington’s Zephyrs, by Karl of the English old car press, President, Ford Motor Company Zimmermann, $34.95, 2004, and one is under an antiseptic and President, Ford and Lincoln MBI Pub. Co., ISBN: 0-7603- restoration. Colin is also a mem- Mercury Marketing and Sales. 1856-5. Highly recommended ber of the Foundation, serving Both moves were effective reading. as the Foundation’s Foreign March 1. Both gentlemen are Another Correspondent. Moreover, he has Trustees in the Lincoln Motor Foundation accumulated what is likely to be Car Foundation. We wish both member and the world’s most complete col- every success in new positions former Ford lection of Lincoln-Zephyr litera- in the newly unified Ford North stylist is Buck ture. He and I savored together American operation. Mook, who the history and great presence of Stay tuned, Lincoln lovers! gives us a delightful whimsical the London Lincoln showroom cartoon view of the same 1937 building back when it was still Lincoln Zephyr coupe on the standing; see his article about it back cover. Buck is not only a on page 6. —CHAD COOMBS 2 volume IV, number 1 riving through the modest neighborhood D surrounding the John and Isabelle Fischer home near Baltimore, Maryland, does not prepare you for this splendid home with water frontage and the magnificent car hobby building placed nearby. All this is the result of eight years of intense planning and construction effort by John and Isabelle. It started as a search for waterfront property with space for a dedicated car showcase building. John finally found a house located east of Baltimore in the Essex area, close by his large plumb- ing business. After persistent negotia- tions with the owner, they were able to buy what was then a house with a double BY CHAD garage, situated on COOMBS OneOne Man’sMan’s AdAd CollectionCollection 3 the lincoln link The neat but unadorned exterior of John Fischer's showcase building (below) belies the extent of the auto- motive treasures contained within. The building, which measures 30 by 65 feet, houses John's vintage Lincolns and other interesting vehicles, but also serves as a repository for his collection of Lincoln advertising, artwork, signs, and other memorabilia. You can't enjoy it if it's stashed away in a drawer somewhere! old shade tree finished and painted drywall, just overlooking the like your own home. Four insu- dock and boat lated and carefully fitted steel slips. And, no, the overhead car doors and a cen- slips are empty, tral people door provide access. as John and fam- The electrical wiring is carried ily are not into in exposed electrical conduit, all boats. Maybe beautifully fitted and attached to some day . the interior walls, to allow future Only then wiring access without having to could John start tear into the walls. Smart. It is doing something all jewel-like in appearance. The four adjacent narrow waterfront about the hobby building they only windows in this carefully lots with a single crossways lot at had in mind. It took a year and sealed building are in the five the street side and a dock with a half to maneuver through doors. They admit a reasonable six boat slips, on an inlet off Baltimore’s bureaucracy and amount of light during the day, Middle River. ordinances to obtain that pre- but the interior is brilliantly illu- John thereupon hired two cious building permit. He then minated at the flick of a switch. carpenters full time and began to hired and oversaw specialists Yes, there is a small toilet and remodel and enlarge the house in concrete, framing, siding, a telephone line. The building and configure the grounds. They insulation, roofing, electrical is unheated at present, but it moved the kitchen and added and doors, who carried out the retains interior heat in the winter two more garages, all attached to majority of the construction remarkably well, and stays cool the house. They added a second work on the building. The build- in the summer. floor and completely remodeled ing has a conventional wood The building measures 30 the remainder of the house, plus frame structure, with 2"x6" feet wide by 65 feet long, with adding a sun room and exten- uprights in the walls and trusses a 12-foot ceiling. John has a sive decking to the water side of in the rather flat but peaked reason for that 12-foot interior the house, including a separate roof with cupola. The siding is building height and the omis- fenced deck out under a lovely vinyl and the interior walls are sion of windows. Beyond keep- 4 volume IV, number 1 ing out color-fading sunlight, steam cars. He drove a 1909 he wanted maximum wall area White steamer, 1906 and 1912 to display the many Lincoln ads, Not a speck of dirt or a Stanleys, and a 1904 Grout. paintings, photographs, display He also restored a steam-driven signs, models, clocks and memo- smudge anywhere . this is Buffalo Springfield roller that he rabilia that he has collected over donated to the nearby Baltimore time. He reasons that all these a dream building for a Museum of Industry. But he are useless unless they are in full returned to his automotive first view display alongside the cars. car collector! love, Lincolns, and has never Understand, this is strictly a looked back. showcase building, not a grungy Chevrolet SSR pickup. All are This building by the Fischers restoration shop. nicely original or restored. All could well inspire similar build- John’s collection of Lincoln are spick and span and start on ings by Lincoln hobbyists who advertisements is particularly the button. All are accessible for are planning to build a suitable interesting. There are well over viewing, notwithstanding the place to display their Lincoln 250 of them, all neatly framed in two cars that are elevated on car cars and all the delightful atten- matching frames and beautifully lifts. There is not a speck of dirt dant memorabilia, including the aligned and mounted on the or a smudge anywhere. Truly, fragile Lincoln advertisements walls. He has been collecting ads this is a dream building for a car that are usually hidden away in for years, specializing in the years collector. dark scrapbooks. The Fischers 1923 through the 1960s. They John has been interested are happy to share their Lincoln are highly visible and provide a in classic cars for some time. treasures and showcase building fitting background for the cars Whereas he has collected with serious Lincoln collectors. on display. This building and the Lincolns for 10 years, he started Like you, perhaps. Call them at cars and wall displays must be with early motorcycles and 410-391-2220. seen to be fully appreciated; they represent a significant amount of planning and preparation as well as plain old painstaking work to produce a display of such com- plexity and quality. The visual impact of the whole building interior is stunning and takes time to be fully absorbed. Oh, and the cars are there, too, all seven of them—except the 1954 Lincoln Capri con- vertible which is presently in the paint shop. There is a lovely original 1951 Lincoln Cosmopolitan convertible, a 1961 convertible sedan, a 1967 convertible sedan, a 1967 Lehman Petersen Limousine, a 1969 sedan and a 1994 Mark VIII, not to mention the 1996 Grand Sport investment John and Isabelle Fischer spent years in the process of remodeling and enlarging their dream house, with special attention to the design and construction of their jewel-like Corvette convertible.