To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Amelia
Island event, 6 - 7 March 2020.
Estimate:
$60,000 - $70,000
- Elegantly styled coachwork in wonderfully subtle colors
- Equipped with its correct Beals & Selkirk luggage trunk
- Well-maintained older CCCA Senior Premier restoration
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
The 2,269 Lincoln Model KBs built in 1932 and 1933 are widely
considered the finest Lincoln automobiles ever built. They were
powered by the company's first V-12, a massive 448 cu. in. mill
with fork-and-blade connecting rods that was virtually hand-built
to order and produced 150 horsepower with peerless smoothness. The
Model KB was capable of a top speed of 120 mph, a speed comparable
to such greats as the Duesenberg Model J and Marmon Sixteen-making
this one of the great motor cars of the Classic Era.
This Model KB is a handsome seven-passenger sedan with factory
coachwork featuring beautiful cloth upholstery on both the front
and rear seats and no division window in between. It was acquired
by renowned collector Jack Dunning in the early 1980s from the
widow of its longtime owner, who had disassembled the car for
restoration but never completed the work. The project was brought
to Mr. Dunning's longtime restorer, Ed Cobb of Washington Court
House, Ohio, who performed a body-on restoration of the car in this
elegant and subtle two-tone color scheme. Even the trunk is a
correct, very rare Beals & Selkirk unit, with four pieces of fitted
luggage tucked within.
The restoration won its Primary First prize in Classic Car Club of
America judging in 1985, eventually achieving Senior Premier status
by 1995. Yet it was no mere showpiece; Mr. Dunning drove it on the
Colonial Coast CARavan in 1985, and it received the Crosset Award
as the finest automobile on its first CARavan. He would later
comment of the car, "Edsel Ford's influence is clearly seen in this
car; he had a lot of class, and that is clearly reflected in the
design of the '33 Lincoln, where the body lines follow the curve of
the running board. The interior is very elegant and very
understated, same as the body. I think it is the best-looking sedan
that Lincoln ever built, even better than the custom jobs."
That should stand as the last word on this beautiful,
well-maintained automobile, which awaits participation in its next
CARavan with seven happy passengers tucked aboard.To view this car
and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM
website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am20.
