1928 Lincoln Model L Collapsible Cabriolet

In 1917, Henry M. Leland was 74 years old and it was the year he founded the Lincoln Motor Company. He named the cars after his favorite president.

This Holbrook Cabriolet was delivered new in Paris and is one of the more complex custom-bodied cars of its period. Transformable from a fully enclosed formal car, to a town car, to a fully open car, this body by Holbrook requires careful study to fully appreciate the intricacy of the entire top mechanism. It offered its buyer the ability to own one single car that could be used for a variety of purposes.

Just 12 Fully Collapsible Cabriolets were built by Holbrook for Lincoln between 1927 and 1929 and this is one of two still in existence. Holbrook, a reputable New York coachbuilder, was in expansion mode throughout much of the 1920s; in addition to its original focus on building one-off custom bodies for well-off individuals and luxury chassis builders, it began to supply semi-customs and even production bodies to select manufacturers, including Lincoln in 1923. Holbrook's most popular body style built for Lincoln was a Collapsible Cabriolet, which debuted at the 1925 New York Automobile Salon. Based on the Holbrook Brougham, the Collapsible Cabriolet had a removable chauffeur's top and a rear compartment with a top that folded down like a landaulet. Soon, this came in Semi-Collapsible and Fully Collapsible versions. This Lincoln Model L, now with the larger engine displacing 384.8 cubic inches that had been introduced late in 1927, was built to fulfill a special order from the Peruvian ambassador to France. The car has been owned by Elfred Prada and Ludi Hinrichs, and it passed into the current owner's possession in 1988.