Not unlike Packard with its One-Ten and One-Twenty series and Cadillac with the LaSalle, Lincoln introduced a lower-priced line to help it endure the tough times following the stock market crash in 1929. Debuting in November 1935 as a 1936 model, the streamlined Zephyr shared its name with the newfangled diesel trains on the Burlington Railroad and featured a new 110-horsepower V-12 derived from Ford’s flathead V-8. John Tjaarda of the Briggs Body Company is credited with the car’s advanced design, aided by Edsel Ford and a young designer, Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie.

Despite the car’s svelte good looks, Ford Motor Company executives were never happy with sales. Yet, of 18,994 Lincolns sold in 1936, 17,715 were Zephyrs, arguably keeping Lincoln alive. In 1939, 21,000 were built, including 2,500 three-window coupes, the first to include hydraulic brakes.

The example offered here was formerly owned by Paul Teutul Jr., of American Chopper fame and a well-known Zephyr enthusiast. It was the feature car in episode 13 of season 8 of Velocity Channel’s Chasing Classic Cars with Wayne Carini and was also featured in a Hewlett-Packard commercial, “Making a Mark,” in which Teutul is seen driving it along New York’s Hudson River. It went on to join a prominent Central California collection from which Clive and Janet Cussler acquired it in early 2017.

The car’s older restoration is still very attractive in its elegant black exterior over a gray broadcloth interior, with a gorgeous headliner, door panels, and rear storage compartment, as well as a magnificently restored dashboard with the eye-catching large round central binnacle and the one-year-only shifter arm that connects through the side of the center console. Desirable options include a radio, cigar lighter, dual side-view mirrors, a driver’s side A-pillar-mounted spotlight, and a Columbia two-speed rear end, a popular addition which allows for effortless highway cruising.

One of the most famous and beloved Art Deco American cars, the Zephyr is a popular basis for customization, especially the high-style three-window coupe. This one has fortuitously survived in stock form and is all the more beautiful for it. It truly does look as if it is moving even while standing still.