Curves of steel: Sleek, slick and aerodynamic

Phoenix Art Museum's exhibit explores the influence of streamlining and aerodynamics on car design throughout the 20th century. Exhibit to run April 1 to June 3, 2007.

1938 Lincoln Zephyr
1938 Lincoln Zephyr
The Zephyr, named after the streamlined Burlington Zephyr locomotive, was introduced in 1936 as a low-priced entry-level Lincoln. It was the first American production car to use what is now called unibody construction in which the car's body is an integral part of its structure, not just an overlying shell atop a frame.

The Zephyr's beautiful lines showed the influence of Edsel Ford, Henry Ford's son and head of Ford Motor Co. at the time. Edsel was one of the first American auto executives to understand the importance of design.

The 1939 coupe version is considered by many to be the handsomest Zephyr of them all.

Edsel requested his own modified version of the Zephyr to be used as his private car. That version went into full production in 1940 under the name Continental.

Ford brought back the Zephyr name for the 2005 model year. Again, it was an entry level Lincoln. The name was quickly dropped, however, in favor of the initials MKZ.


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.