1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan

During the Cosmopolitan's brief production lifespan after the war, produced from 1949 through 1954, it served as the company's flagship model. Styling features included frenched headlights and taillights, rear-hinged suicide doors on the sedan body styles, was devoid of running boards, and fenders and doors enclosed together.

The entire Ford Motor Company lineup had introduced new styling for 1949, with the Lincoln model lineup including a Mercury Eight-based model and the larger Cosmopolitan resting on an exclusive wheelbase and wearing a unique body. Along with the four-door body style, the Cosmopolitan included a two-door coupe in both standard and Capri trim levels, and a two-door convertible with seating for six. Prices in 1950 ranged from $3,190 for the two-door club coupe and rose to nearly $4,000 for the convertible. The Capri Coupe was approximately $200 more expensive than the club coupe and added a padded leather roof, additional chrome trim, and custom interior.

The 337 cubic-inch Ford Flathead V8 used to power the Lincoln and Lincoln Cosmopolitan were shared with the Ford heavy truck line. It had a 7.0:1 compression ratio, a Holley two-barrel carburetor, and delivered 154 horsepower at 3,600 RPM. A three-speed manual transmission was standard. Ford had experimented with an automatic known as Liquamatic in 1941, but as it entered post-War production, it was without an automatic. They approached Packard about using their Ultramatic transmission but Packard was unable to satisfy production levels, so instead, Ford purchased GM HydraMatics. The Hydra-Matic became optional mid-1949, and available on Ford and Mercury automobiles for 1951. Lincoln continued using the Hydrmatic until 1955 and 1951 was the final year that Lincolns were offered with manual transmissions until the 2000 Lincoln LS.

The 1951 base Lincoln had a 121-inch wheelbase and the Cosmpolitan had a 125-inch wheelbase. At 222.5 inches in length, the Cosmopolitan was 7.7-inches longer than its sibling. Styling between the two was similar, with the Cosmopolitan occupying a larger footprint and wearing more chrome trim, especially on the front fenders. Electro-hydraulically operated windows and front seat was standard equipment on the Cosmopolitan and optional on the standard Lincoln. Options included a radio, power antenna, heater, and whitewall tires. The three-speed manual was standard and the overdrive system and Hydra-Matic were optional.

The four-door sports sedan body style was the most popular Cosmopolitan in 1950, with 8,332 examples built. The club coupe was the second most popular with 1,315 examples sold, followed by 536 of the convertible and 509 of the Capri coupe.

Mild updates were applied to the Cosmopiltan a year later, mostly removing some of the trim on the front fenders before they received a complete restyling for 1952 and the list of body styles dwindled to two - a sedan and hardtop sport coupe. Mechanical changes included a ball joint front suspension and an overhead-valve 317 cubic-inch Lincoln Y-block V8 with high-compression backed by a single transmission - the four-speed Hydra-Matic. The 317.5 CID V8 of the 1953 Lincoln delivered 205 horsepower, an increase of 45 hp over the prior year, and for its final model year, the Cosmopolitan grew an inch in length and width.

In 1952 and 1953, Lincoln won the top four spots in the Stock Car category of the Pan American Road Race. In 1954, they took first and second place in the grueling race. They won two of the 19 NASCAR Grand National Races in 1950.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2020