
Design of the ’57 Lincoln Unmasked
By Jim and Cheryl Farrell
The Lincoln Futura is probably Ford Motor Co’s most famous concept car. It was designed by Bill Schmidt, then head of the Lincoln-Mercury design studio, after a 1952 diving vacation in the Bahamas, where he had a run-in with a shark. The inspiration for the Futura was the sea-life Schmidt saw—and that shark. The Futura was built by Ghia in Turin, Italy, as a fully functional 2-passenger car, with a double-bubble roof. Whether shown in New York City, a car show, or at the race track, the Futura was a real attention-getter. At approximately the same time Schmidt designed the Futura, he also designed the inoperable XL-500 Lincoln concept car and the ’56 production Lincoln.
Schmidt claimed the ’56 Lincoln’s design was partially based on the front end of his XL-500, but in its advertising, Lincoln-Mercury Division claimed the ’56 Lincoln’s design was based on the Futura. The ’56 Lincoln became the best-selling Lincoln of the 1950s, and it was awarded the prestigious Design Achievement Award by the International Design Institute. Most agree the ’56 Lincoln was and is a beautiful car.
A recap on the design of the ’56 Lincoln
The post-war Design Department was part of Ford’s Engineering Department, which was run with an iron fist by chief engineer Earle MacPherson. When the ’52 Lincoln was designed in the late 1940s, MacPherson decided Lincoln was no longer going to compete with Cadillac—Lincoln was going to be a smaller car and compete with the Olds 98. Henry Ford II and Ford’s executive vice president Ernie Breech, supposedly didn’t know the ’52 Lincoln was going to be smaller or no longer competition for Cadillac until it was too late to redesign or change it. (Although a little unbelievable, it’s apparently true.)
MacPherson didn’t like designers, who he thought were all a bunch of impractical dreamers. In 1952, when the ’56 Lincoln was designed, it was at least one year in advance of when its design was expected to begin. During a meeting at the Ford Design Department to pick the design direction of the next generation (1956) Lincoln, Schmidt, probably with the connivance of Breech, surprised everyone, including MacPherson, when he uncovered a clay model of a bigger and longer ’56 Lincoln proposal Schmidt had designed in secret (at least it was a secret from MacPherson). Breech immediately selected it as the ’56 Lincoln over MacPherson’s heated objections. MacPherson was unable to stop a Lincoln designed to again compete head-on with Cadillac.
Internal design department changes
Schmidt was demoted by MacPherson in a 1954 reshuffling at the Design Department. Schmidt remained a Ford designer until January 1955, when he left to become head of design at Packard—with a huge increase in pay.
In February 1955 a decision was made to make Lincoln and Mercury separate divisions. Then in May 1955, because things still weren’t going smoothly at the Design Department, Henry Ford II and Breach ordered a reorganization. Design was separated from Engineering, meaning that MacPherson was no longer in charge of Ford design. George Walker, who had been a Ford design consultant for the past nine years, was named head of the Ford Design Department, and Walker’s employee, designer Elwood Engel, became a Ford employee and Walker’s assistant manager.
One of the first things Walker did was name Gene Bordinat head of the Mercury design studio, and on Engel’s recommendation, John Najjar was appointed head of the separate Lincoln design studio. Engel told Najjar that he and Walker had chosen him (Najjar) for the job because he was “loyal” to Walker and Engel—“was their man”—and he would follow their directions.
A productionized Lincoln Futura for 1957?
When Najjar took over in Schmidt’s old studio, he had to finish up design work on the ’57 Lincoln, which supposedly had not been finished by Schmidt before he left Ford. According to Najjar, a full-sized clay model of the ’57 Lincoln was in the Lincoln studio when he got there, and he was told, probably by Engel, that it had been designed by Schmidt before he left Ford.
Najjar said that when he first saw the full-sized ’57 Lincoln clay model it had tall Futura-like tail fins on it. He thought those fins looked terrible and ruined the looks of the beautiful ’56 Lincoln. So Najjar lowered the fins by about six inches. Years later, after he retired, Najjar expanded the story by explaining that he strongly suspected that before he (Najjar) was appointed head of the Lincoln studio, Walker and Engel had revised Schmidt’s ’57 Lincoln clay model in secret by redesigning it to be a productionized version of the Futura. Najjar also reconfirmed that Walker and Engel had told him the tall fins had been placed on the car by Schmidt. Apparently nobody ever asked Schmidt if he had put the tall fins on the ’57 Lincoln clay model, but many years later he angrily claimed he did not.
Najjar and Schmidt were close friends. Najjar came to Ford’s Design Department in 1937 and Schmidt in 1940. In the years before Schmidt left Ford, he and Najjar had lunch together almost daily. Schmidt also had a side design business, and when he went to Packard, he asked Najjar to take over and run it. Although Najjar decided to stay at Ford, he and Schmidt and their families remained close. Although it’s supposition, it would be a big surprise if Najjar and Schmidt never discussed the “inconsistencies” about the ’57 Lincoln clay model Schmidt was supposed to have designed.
Both Schmidt and Najjar are now long deceased as are Walker, Engel, and most other designers who worked on the ’57 Lincoln, including Dave Ash, Herb Tod, Rulo Conrad, Bob Chieda, and Jake Aldrich. Only one of the ’57 Lincoln’s designers, Richard Schierloh, is still with us, but he wasn’t hired until Najjar and crew were almost finished with the design of the ’57 Lincoln.
Photographic record
The Ford Design Department (later renamed the Styling Center by Walker) has always taken multiple photographs of design work in progress. In 1956, most past design photos (except recent years’ photos) were gifted to the Ford Foundation, but copies were kept at the Styling Center. Unfortunately, in the 1990s, a water pipe burst in a downstairs closet where the design photos were kept, destroying the index and damaging a few of the photos.
The remaining design photos of the ’57 Lincoln are now located at the Ford Archives, except for those of the car before Najjar lowered its fins. Those photos are missing. (Other design photos are also missing, including some of the design development of the ’55 Thunderbird, which were supposedly borrowed by a now deceased Ford executive and never returned.) The available design photos for the ’57 Lincoln full-sized clay model show the cut-down fins after Najjar redesigned them, but the bumpers, grille and vents from the Futura, everything but the tall tail fins, remain.
The fins on the production ’57 Lincoln
Starting in the early 1950s, Ford’s Marketing Department employed spies to determine in advance the looks and features on rival manufacturers’ future vehicles. Included in Ford’s spy network was a middle-aged man who wore the proverbial trench coat and thick glasses. He attempted to interview every civilian who had visited rival Detroit design departments. If the person was agreeable, a Ford designer met with the spy and the visitor at a local motel, where the designer sketched the car according to how that visitor described it (those drawings were very accurate). In addition, two Ford designers were set up in a studio downstairs at the Ford Design Department to clay model the future cars of rival companies based on plans Ford Marketing obtained from a friendly tool and die maker. Several years before the ’59 Chevrolet was introduced, Ford designers built a copy of what it looked like. After seeing Ford’s clay model of the ’59 Chevrolet, Ford Division management decided to “wait and see” how the big fins sold; Lincoln Division management decided not to wait.
In 1957, all of Chrysler’s cars had big fins. Chrysler increased sales in 1957, claiming all of its cars were at least three-years ahead of the competition. Ford Motor Company knew what all ’57 Chrysler products would look like at least by 1955, when its ’57 Lincoln was being designed. The Futura’s big fins had some influence on the ’57 Lincoln, but Chrysler Corporation’s fins probably influenced them more.
Faux Dual Headlights
Late in the design process, Lincoln management decided it wanted dual headlights on the ’57 Lincoln in addition to the fins. Two Ford designers, Dick Krabo and Richard Schierloh, were asked to design them. Because not all states had changed their laws to allow quad headlights, as production of the ’57 Lincoln neared, it was decided to design “vent covers” for the lower lights on each pod if needed. By the time production of the ’57 Lincoln began, the vent covers were not needed, because someone at Ford, whose name has been lost to history, came up with the bright idea of making the lower lights smaller “driving” lights controlled by a switch on the steering column. The production ’57 Lincoln was one of the only models that year to at least looked like it had quad headlights.
Pushbutton Gear Selector
Chrysler first used pushbutton gear selectors on their cars in 1956. Lincoln planned to use pushbutton gear selection in 1957, and devoted substantial research trying to determine the best and most ergonomic way and place on the instrument panel to arrange the pushbuttons. Early in the design process, the best location was determined to be left of the steering wheel at the end of the instrument panel. According to designers, pushbuttons were not used on the ’57 Lincoln because Ford wanted them first used in the center of the steering wheel on the coming ’58 Edsel.
Small chrome fins, paint and grille changes
Ford was on a three-year design cycle when the ’56 Lincoln was designed. Thus, the ’57 and the ’58 Lincolns were originally intended to be based on the same basic ’56 Lincoln design, but updated. However, there was a marked difference of opinion at Lincoln Division and in the Lincoln’s design studio about how much to change the ’56 Lincoln for 1957—and how. Everyone at Ford Motor Company instinctively knew the ’56 Lincoln design was a winner, but most design work on the ’57 Lincoln was completed before anyone knew how well the ’56 Lincoln would sell. 50,322 ’56 Lincolns were eventually sold, reinforcing the opinion held by management and designers, but ’56 Lincoln sales figures could not resolve the question of what changes to make in the ’57 Lincoln.
Lincoln had not made a profit since 1940. When the accountants released their final figures for 1956, it became obvious that if only 1,500 more ’56 Lincolns had been produced, Lincoln Division would have made a small profit. Thus, the pressure was on to make a profit with the already redesigned ’57 Lincoln.
Bigger or smaller changes for 1957
After Najjar had lowered the fins and removed most of the other Futura design cues from the proposed ’57 Lincoln clay model, those changes did not end attempts to make further changes for the coming ’57 Lincoln. Some of the less expensive changes proposed included the use of multiple colors, add-on chrome fins, less canted fins, different grille designs (including dagmars), fender skirts, different character lines and changes to the roof line. In hindsight, that meant changes to the ’57 Lincoln were supposed to encourage an increased sales. Unfortunately, Lincoln Division management called it wrong, and at year’s end only 41,423 ’57 Lincolns found buyers.
Lincoln’s ’57 Sporty Car Proposal
By 1952, postwar Mercury sales had doubled. One of the reasons Lincoln and Mercury were made separate divisions was because Mercury showed more growth potential than Lincoln. As a result, the new Mercury Division planned a second model. The new “super” Mercury was eventually named the Olympian, and at first it was to be built using Lincoln body panels. Later the Olympian became just a bigger Mercury, but because of the Edsel debacle, the Olympian was never built.
Postwar Lincoln sales increased modestly, and Lincoln Division also wanted a second Lincoln model which presumably would result in increased Lincoln sales. Lincoln Division argued it should have been the Division offering Ford’s new four-passenger personal luxury car in 1958 (Thunderbird), first authorized in 1955, but that was not to be.
In the mid-1950s there was no budget to design a second ’57 Lincoln model, so at Lincoln Division’s direction, Najjar and crew designed a second Lincoln model on the cheap. The car looked like the ’56 Lincoln. The only changes appear to be a shorter roof structure that looked like it had been plopped on top of the large ’56 Lincoln body (the car may have had provision for a small rear-jump seat).
Either Lincoln Division or Ford’s Product Planning Committee decided the proposed ’57 Lincoln “sporty car’ was not ready for prime time. A second model for Lincoln had to wait until 1968-1/2 when the Mark III was introduced.
Link to 1957 Lincoln dealer literature and brochure.
Photos: Ford Design
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Those raised and pointy fins just don’t suit the car. Prior to the elevation they were on a good wicket, as we say in the UK.
Jim, Thanks so much for another fascinating story of Ford’s design politics !
I’ve always felt it was a shame they spent money on those God awful
“vertical” quadralights. They not only made the ‘57 look taller and narrower, but effectively lost the Futura inspired visored headlights. Instead, I think they should have spent that money to rake the trailing edge of the front wheel well back much like Cadillac did to their 1954/5 front fender for 1956. The ‘56 front wheel well shape on the ‘57 has no continuity to the rear opening. That combined with the stodgy front end makes ‘57s overall ungainly and awkward.
Oh well, they didn’t ask me, guess cuz I was about four at the time .lol
I smiled at the shot of the ‘57 coupe without quadralights . When I get time I’ll photoshop it with a raked back wheel well .
While it won’t be the timeless beauty that the ‘56 is , I’d park it next to my Futura .
Great story, That first photo with the white Lincoln just screams Batmobile.
( Sorry ) couldn’t resist.
Hello,
Actually the “sporty” two or three-passenger Lincoln images shown here were yet another incarnation of an earlier proposal based on the Mercury XM-800 concept car (drum roll, please). Johnny Najjar told me so years ago when I interviewed him. He also sent me images of the clay and designer renderings for an article I wrote on the XM-800. Unfortunately the article was sold to a big magazine but oddly never got published. No idea why. Sadly many of the original images disappeared (one sent original photos in those days) along with the original manuscript to the article. I still have some poor Xerox copies that I made.
The roof (including C-pillars and backlight) of the “sporty” XM-800 was nearly identical to the one shown here. Except that Najjar told me the roof was originally intended to be either removable or “stowable.” He said “think of the Thunderbird, Leon.”
Link to photo of XM-800, courtesy of Jim Farrell.
I have always personally felt that the 1956 Lincolns were much better styled and very sleek. Lincoln designers should not have deviated too far from that beautiful 1956 design. Among the American luxury brands for 1956, Lincoln was leagues ahead in styling. The 1957 styling was still better than Cadillac or Imperial. However, the 1957 Lincolns look smaller or shorter than their sleeker 1956 counterparts.
The story about the ’57 (& ’56) Lincoln is both captivating and accurate. I was a stylist at Ford’s Design Center from 1960 to 1981. While not involved with the Lincoln’s, in this relating, I’m familiar with the designers listed and how the cars came to be. My late brother, Howard E. Payne (also a stylist at Ford) was involved to some degree and what he shared with me supports the Farell’s telling along with what I learned as a designer in Mercury/Lincoln Studio in the early to mid-’60s.
Well done, Farells, your report was outstanding. Kudos to you.
My Uncle owned a ’57 coupe. But, even as a teenager, I preferred the ’56,
and still do. The story is intriguing because I thought it was a cost driven redo to stay up to date with the fin trend. Some of the early versions resemble the 55-56 Packards . Interesting article. I really enjoy these about car designs when I was completely nuts about cars.Thanks.
This article fails to mention the tremendous influence that Virgil Exner had on the uprise of tail fins before that Lincoln. He began his aerodynamic quest at Studebaker in 1946 and in 1948 illustrated a very aerodynamic design for a S.A.E. show in Chicago. Soon after he went on to Chrysler where he became “The Father Of the Fin.”
Virgil M. Exner, Jr.