To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Guyton
Collection event, 4 - 5 May 2019.
Estimate:
$100,000 - $150,000
- One of the most dramatic coachbuilt Model L Lincolns
- Remarkable one-off, elaborately engineered coachwork
- Formerly of the Reverend T.L. Osborn and Imperial Palace
collections
- Accompanied by factory build documentation and a fascinating
history file
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
It is a tale stranger than fiction: how a one-off Model L Lincoln,
perhaps the most unusual and highly detailed coachwork ever on that
chassis, wound up in an evangelist's museum on the Oklahoma plains,
alongside shrunken heads and native canoes.
The tale begins with Thomas E. Sharp, a multimillionaire rancher
and telecommunications pioneer in the San Diego area. He
commissioned the creation of his Lincoln from the Walter M. Murphy
Company of Pasadena, California. Most famous as a future builder of
Duesenberg bodies, Murphy began as a Lincoln distributor, and had
turned to coachbuilding in a desire to improve the cars' rather
staid lines for their West Coast clientele.
Staid, the Sharp car definitely was not. Custom-bodied in aluminum
with a skiff-like pointed rear deck, it featured a combination of
solid brass and nickel trim, including handmade exterior hardware
and a complex arrangement of folding windows that, when in place,
converted the car into a virtual limousine when the top was raised.
Many of the interior fittings were gold plated. The front doors
were cut deeply into the cowl, clearing room for the lanky Mr.
Sharp's legs. Most impressive was the interior, which configured,
through an ingenious system of folding and sliding seats, into a
reasonably comfortable twin bed - ideal for a day's rest at the end
of a long journey in rural California.
A wonderful photograph in the file depicts Mr. Sharp with the car
when it was a new automobile, and a registration document
identifies it as having been roadworthy in his ownership as late as
1954. The Lincoln reportedly remained in his care until the early
1960s, and was then acquired by the Reverend T.L. Osborn of
Oklahoma.
The charismatic Reverend Osborn was a prominent evangelist of the
era who traveled the world preaching to the masses and brought back
numerous artifacts - including the aforementioned shrunken heads
and native canoes - for his World Museum. When not spreading the
good word, he and his wife, Daisy, were great Lincoln enthusiasts
and amassed a fine stable of Model Ls. "The King," as they dubbed
it, was a special favorite, and was restored by Mrs. Osborn's
brother, Robert L. Washburn, with the body moved to the present
Model L chassis, no. 40539, chosen for its desirable feature of
four-wheel brakes.
After many years winning awards all over the country and being
featured in numerous magazines, the Lincoln was acquired from the
World Museum in 1981 by Larry Casey of Tennessee, then in 1983 by
the Imperial Palace of Las Vegas. Fred Guyton bought the car from
the Imperial Palace in 1998.
The fabulous Lincoln, still in good overall condition, has been
unshown in recent years, and its location was unknown to even many
devoted Model L connoisseurs. It is thus offered here truly "fresh
to market," accompanied by a thorough and fascinating history file,
including numerous restoration photographs and many articles from
the 1960s and 1970s.
There is no other Model L quite like it - and that was the idea.To
view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/gc19.
