1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan

The Lincoln marque began life building Liberty aircraft engines during World War I. After Henry Leland sold Cadillac to Billy Durant's General Motors, he had led the charge on joining the war effort by applying his skills at precision manufacturing to the challenge of meeting the demand for World War I aircraft engines. Durant was a pacifist and declined to support the war efforts, so Leland, along with his son and his Cadillac profits, started a new company. Within ten months of establishing the Lincoln Motor Company, they were building 50 Liberty engines a day.

Following World War II, Lincoln resumed civilian production with a mildly updated version of its post-war products. The first all-new postwar Lincolns did not arrive until April 22nd of 1948. These new Lincolns were modern and streamlined, with sleek envelope styling that flowed to the rear bumper, and controversial two-piece windshields. Similar in appearance to the Mercury, the Lincolns wore more chrome trim and recessed headlights.

The new Cosmopolitan replaced the prior Continental as the top-of-the-line model. Unlike the Continental, the Cosmopolitan was devoid of running boards, and the doors and fenders were enclosed together. Body styles included a two-door club coupe, a four-door fastback town sedan, a sports sedan, and a convertible. Prices ranged from $3,190 to $3950. The four-door sedans of the Lincoln/Mercury had rear-hinged suicide doors, and the two-door was sold in standard and Capri trim.

The wheelbase measured 121-inches and they had a length of 220.5 inches. A three-speed manual transmission was standard and a 'Touch-O-Matic' was optional. A Hydra-Matic option became available later in the year.

The Sport Sedan was the most popular body style with 18,906 examples built. Just 1,230 examples were convertible, and both the club coupe and town sedan had similar sales at approximately 7,500 each.

1948 Lincolns were powered by V-12 engines, but for 1949 the company switched to a flathead, 337 cubic-inch V8 with a Holley two-barrel carburetor, and delivered 152 horsepower at 3,600 RPM.

Production of the Cosmopolitan continued through the 1954 model year, with a redesign appearing in 1952.

Lincoln had produced 73,507 total cars for 1949, dropping dramatically to 28,150 in 1950. They won two of the nine National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) Grand National races in 1949, and two of the nineteen NASCAR Grand National races in 1950.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2020