- Offered from the William B. Ruger Jr. Collection
- One of just three known surviving examples
- Known ownership history since new
- Fresh engine rebuild by Fran Roxas
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
William B. Ruger was an avid collector of the multi-cylinder
Classics of the 1930s and was particularly passionate about the
twelve-cylinder Lincolns, of which he owned and enjoyed several
very fine examples. The last Lincoln V-12 in his collection was
this car, the very rare seven-passenger touring built by Willoughby
of Utica, New York, a firm more renowned for their closed limousine
bodies. Willoughby produced this style for the Model K in 1937,
1938, and 1939 only, and production each year was severely limited.
Today only three examples of the body style have survived: the
example offered here, another 1937 model, and a single 1938
model.
According to previous owner Sam Kingston, this seven-passenger
touring was built for Russell Leffingwell, chairman of the board of
J.P. Morgan & Company, who used it for travel to his summer house
on Lake George in upstate New York. In the mid-1940s the car was
sold by the family to the late Curtis Blake, co-founder of
Friendly's and an avid automobile collector. Blake in turn sold the
car in the late 1950s or early 1960s to Mr. Kingston's grandfather,
who knew the Lincoln well, having been a neighbor to the
Leffingwells at Oyster Bay, Long Island. Mr. Kingston then
inherited the car in 1998 and sold it to Mr. Ruger in 2018.
Reportedly, Mr. Ruger, too, was attracted by location, having lived
only a few doors down from the car's onetime home.
In 2001-02, Mr. Kingston had the car refinished with new leather
upholstery and top, new chrome, and a new wiring harness. Mr. Ruger
proceeded to improve it further with his usual attention to
mechanical detail, commissioning a rebuild of the year-correct
Model K engine by Fran Roxas�the very last job completed by Mr.
Roxas prior to his retirement, at a reported cost of $40,000. The
car remains in good overall condition, with older paint and
interior, undercarriage that appears very original, and, obviously,
a fresh engine compartment. It would be an ideal summer tour
vehicle for its new owner�exactly the sort of use that Mr. Ruger
could have been expected to give it.To view this car and others
currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/hf19.
