1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Convertible- Barn Find!

BARN FIND!! This is an original black plate California car (sold new in California and never left the state!). The car was bought in about 1953 by an engineer from Lockheed. This was his baby!! He had several Lincolns but this was his favorite. It has always been garaged and well maintained. Always treasured and loved.(1 of 12 known extant)

There were about 1,200 of the Cosmopolitan Convertibles made in 1949.  Of the 1,200, approximately 12 are known extant and only one other is located in California.  This is about as rare as we get for a late 40’s dream car.  A 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Convertible was used by President Truman supplementing the famous Bubble Top exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum.

After exhuming this from its garage for 30 years it now drives like a dream!!  We encourage you to watch the YouTube videos below of the de-mothballing process we used to get this beauty back on the roads.  The engine fired up smooth and strong with no noises.  Amazingly, the transmission smooths beautifully through the four forward gears and reverse.  We cleaned the fuel system, tuned it up, re-cored the five (5) row radiator, installed hoses and belts as necessary, bought all new gorgeous wide white wall tires and put it back on the road.  The car runs with the confidence and elegance of a top-of-the-line Lincoln.

This car is an ideal candidate for a very simple and straight-forward restoration.  Even the wipers work, on high and low speeds!  We are tempted to restore this ourselves but we need to sell this and move onto other cars that need saving!!  We love what we do!

Back to the story…  In about 1970 the family moved to dry and warm Hemet, CA. In about 1979 the owner died and the car was parked in the family estate garage. It was last registered in 1980, having traveled about 74,500 miles.  The drivers door has a couple of service station stickers documenting the mileage in the mid-1970’s.  When driving this beauty it quickly becomes apparent that this is the original mileage.

We recently exhumed this from the family garage after spending several weeks lubricating everything thoroughly with Marvel Mystery Oil. When we removed it the car clearly had 30 years worth of dust on the exterior but the engine compartment was very clean and in great shape! He had just installed a new fuel pump and completed some other mechanical improvements.  It is now believed by us that the engine was thoroughly rebuilt before storage as the engine appears freshly painted before being stored.

This motorcar was originally painted in turquoise blue with red leather interior. Before the family bought the car it received a “used car” quality paint job in a sand color. The interior is red and the seats, carpet, door panels, dash and instrumentation are all original. The seats are presently covered with seat covers that are likely from the 1950’s.  Under the covers the original leather interior is all present however the stitching is coming undone is many areas.  The original leather may potentially be restored, but most likely would be used as perfect templates for a new interior.  We have simply kept the covers in place.

It comes complete with fully powered top, windows and seats which we are not attempting to operate (but the hydraulic pump activates well).  The top has its original boot cover still snugly snapped into place.

The undercarriage is excellent and will require substantial cleaning and detailing. As you would expect for a loved California car, there is virtually no rot on this car.  After having the car on a lift, the only evidence of rot is about a one square inch on the passengers side front quarter panel.

The chrome and stainless are in very good condition. There are a variety of minor creases and dents here and there, but this is a very straightforward car to cosmetically and mechanically restore for tour or show.

As a recent value comp, a 1951 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Convertible from the Schudroff collection sold in Monterrey at the Gooding & Company auction in August of 2009 for $137,500.  There could be few cars as easy to restore as this one.  It is a solid, great running unmolested original California car.  This can easily be turned into the nicest Cosmopolitan in existence.  It deserves it!

This is an extremely rare opportunity to own a top-of-the-line Lincoln for 1949. This Lincoln has the powerful 337 cu in flathead V-8 engine with 152 BHP at 3,600 RPM and the ever smooth and dependable four speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. It has a 125 inch wheelbase and a total length of 220.5 inches.  The previous owner, being a fastidious engineer, professionally installed an overdrive that is nearly unnoticeable to a careful inspection.

We believe this motorcar has unbeatable provenance to be an award winning concours motorcar or a phenomenal tour car for club events and weekend getaways.  It is increasingly rare to find such great and rare cars in this condition.