Henry Ford acquired Lincoln in February 1922 and it became the flagship marque of Ford Motor Company. Edsel Ford became company president in June 1922 and his fine eye for design was most apparent at Lincoln after 1925 when the old Leland-era bodies were finally phased out. Edsel consequently looked to America’s finest custom coachbuilders to provide limited-production coachwork for the sophisticated Lincoln Model L chassis, including such respected names as Brunn, Judkins, Willoughby, Murphy and Locke.

Among the Lincoln roster of coachbuilders during the era, Locke and Company primarily provided open bodies, including roadsters and phaetons. During this era, Lincoln did not endorse the concept of model years. They explained, “There are no yearly or periodic Lincoln models; the Lincoln has reached such a state of development that drastic changes are neither necessary or desirable. Whenever it is possible to achieve an improvement in the Lincoln, it is made interchangeable with previous design”. The 1928 model year did see Lincoln introdue an engine oil-filter and conical valve-springs. Styling changes included cowl-lights shaped in the same form as the front and rear lamps, chrome-plated bumpers and five-stud steel-spoke Buffalo wire-wheels.

The Model L Four Door Sport Touring – Seven Passenger sold for approximately $4,600 when new; 323 examples were built by custom coachbuilder Locke. The body is all-aluminum. Power is from a 384-cid. 90-hp V-8 engine with an updraft carburetor. It is connected to a three-speed sliding-gear manual transmission. The chassis wheelbase measures 136-inches and is comprised of a solid front-axle, full-floating rear-axle, front and rear leaf-springs, along with four-wheel, internal-expanding mechanical brakes.

This desirable Lincoln is finished in wine red with black fenders and a black leather interior. Among the features of this car are dual sidemount spare tires, twin Pilot-Ray driving lamps, dual mirrors, cowl-lights, a top-hinged front windscreen that opens like a roadster, wind-wings, jump-seats and a rear-mounted trunk-rack with trunk. This is representative of an older restoration that is driven and enjoyed. The Lincoln can continue to be enthusiastically driven or utilized as a solid platform for an award-winning restoration.