Believe it or not, this beautiful roadster was discovered on eBay with pieces scattered about in a back-woods Florida garage. The eBay listing had only been up 20 minutes before John Fleming found this extremely rare car and was drawn to it harder than Rhett Butler falling for Scarlett O’Hara. Even with John’s extensive history and background with classic cars, he has only seen two in existence. Right away John contacted the seller and traveled to Florida, trailer in tow, from his small hometown in Oklahoma.
After getting the Zephyr and all its pieces back to Oklahoma, John called upon his tight network of friends to help with fabrication, paint, and body work. Everything was hand-built to perfection. Stripped to the frame, the Zephyr underwent four years of detailed crafting and modern restoration. Now the Zephyr sports a TCI front end suspension and Currie 9-inch Ford rear end attached to a custom-built frame. Disc brakes are in place at all four corners.
Hours of sheet metal work include custom fabricating the inner fenders, firewall and fitting a custom exhaust. A nice touch are the running boards customized so that the inside boards look exactly like the outside ones.
Small design elements only noticeable by someone with a discerning eye for detail are a raked windshield set back about 3 inches, a custom made convertible top to match the new windshield angle, a pie-shaped front hood, frenched headlights, shaved door handles and hood ornaments.
The Zephyr’s its deep purple blush is achieved by using a dark cherry color from the Hyundai paint catalog as a base coat, followed by a topcoat of black. The bold interior color, Tangelo, was chosen by John’s wife.
Hidden underneath the hood is a blown Ford Lightning motor that came with the car. It was fully rebuilt to a humble output of 390 hp. The crate motor is capable of more power, but John knows the car won’t be driven at high speeds due to its show car status.
After nearly four years of construction, the Lincoln Zephyr was ready for its first classic car show in Pomona, Calif followed by Daryl Starbird’s National Rod and Custom Car Show in Oklahoma this year. John’s hard work and detail to attention earned him a top 5 finalist position at Goodguys‘ All-American Get-Together in March for Custom Car of the Year and a coveted spot on the center lawn.
See Vintage and Classic Parts for 1939 for Lincoln Zephyr for sale on eBay.
