Lincoln
Limo – Lehman-Peterson Theory
I've done some
research into this automobile and while I haven't been able to come up with a
'smoking gun' proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is an LP I have come
up with some clues that make up a compelling enough case to convince me it is.
Serial Number: This car has a pretty low serial
number. Since LP and Lincoln worked
together co-operatively they did usually get the first cars off the line. This allowed LP to design, test, and
build it's new model, and it
would coincide with the release of Lincoln's new model.
General Appearance
Items: The sliding divider window,
panel above the sliding window, round rear window, antenna, antenna switchbox,
and armrests next to the jump seats all appear exactly as LP would have built
them. While it's not impossible
that someone else could have done any or all of these that way, LP would
definitely have done them this way.
Armrests: One of the Armrests next to the jump
seats look to be built in the same recessed fashion as LP would have built them, the other now has a radio. In an LP car these armrests would have
both been flat (like the passenger side), they would both be hinged, they would have a light in them. If a car was made with a bar
it and\or an ice chest would be in there (the bar was handled in a couple of
different ways). One armrest now
has a radio (theory on this below) and the other does not open. It would be interesting to look behind
them for evidence of either a bar or a compartment, but it's very well put together and I didn't
want to damage anything.
TV/Radio: When LP built a limo with a TV and radio
these components would have been mounted in the rear console. An LP console would have been about as
wide as the one in this car but would have been taller. LP would have installed a Sony model
5-303 (much shorter than the one in there now) inside the console and the radio
would have been mounted to the panel above. The Sony 5-303 is now known to not have
been a very reliable unit. I
believe the TV probably broke, and when the original owner sold it to Elite
they replaced it with a more reliable and state-of-the-art TV for that time
frame. Since it was larger it would
not have fit inside the console anymore so I believe they shortened the console
to accommodate the larger TV above.
Moving the TV to that location would have displaced the radio so it
would be logical that it would have been moved to the armrest.
Seats: The console was done slightly
differently in almost every picture of an LP console I’ve seen, but the
seats next to it are always the same.
They have nothing underneath them and sit a few inches off the ground
– Exactly the way our cars seats are.
Carpet: From the pictures I've seen of LP cars
it looks like they usually used a kind-of fluffy carpet. Under the rear seat there is a thin
strip of carpet that's older and different from the rest of the carpet in the
compartment. It does have a much
more 'fluffy' look and feel.
Color: From fragments of color in a couple of
well concealed places it appears that the original color of this vehicle was
Gold. The Gold exterior and Tan
interior must have been beautiful when it was new! LP catered to personal
conveyances for individuals so it seems likely to me that this color combo
would have been custom ordered for an individual and would likely have been
painted black at a later date for use as a limo-for-hire.
In conclusion, it
just seems logical LP would have been the only company who could have gotten
such a low serial-numbered car (30th produced), and that a wealthy individual
would have custom orderd a car with this color combo
and option package, used it for a few years until things started to break, then
sold it to someone else with a limo service who would have wanted a solid,
lightly used vehicle to upgrade and fix and put back into service as a limo for
hire in a limo-standard black color.
Many thanks to Dave Cline who was very helpful in my research and provided me with the following photos of LP consoles. Dave has an LP website (http://my.net-link.net/~dcline/limlpown.htm) with lots of information and pictures – check it out!
