When George Munro first saw the 1940 Lincoln Zephyr Club Coupe under a tree in Newburyport, Massachusetts, he saw past the shell to the potential it held. He'd been looking to take on a Lincoln restoration project, and this vehicle – which was missing its fenders, hood and doors, with only half of an engine -- was absolutely that.
George began looking for that special car back in 1957 with a plan to find a similar vehicle to replace his 1941 Lincoln four-door sedan, though he soon became enamored of the Club Coupe's styling once he saw a photo. Since he knew the vehicle's potential, George decided to tackle the challenge of turning the jumble of parts into a completely-restored vehicle. He succeeded, after 17 years and two attempts.
George was still working as a long-haul truck driver when he started the project, meaning he only had vacations and weekends to work on it. He slowly took apart the vehicle and gathered necessary parts as he could find them. Once he acquired the original specs from the Lincoln archives he could begin restoring the vehicle to original factory settings in earnest – down to even the most minor details.
The work of 12 years was almost totally lost when a fire ripped through George's home and garage. Somehow the Club Coupe was still mostly intact, but George had lost all progress made with the upholstery, brake work and engine parts.
“When you look in and see what’s supposed to look like (a car), and it’s only this high off the floor, it’s a little discouraging,” George noted, while gesturing at knee level. “But you go in there, and you dump it in a dump truck, and dry away your tears — and you keep going.”
After the fire, George spent five more years working on the car. In August 2015, he finally finished his restoration and could relax and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Since completing the restoration, he's driven the Club Coupe to five Lincoln owner's club meetings -- including a meeting that required a 2,800-mile trip to Michigan. Fortunately, George says that the car's ride is "…like sitting in your living room."
George has owned many cars through the years, fixing them up, selling them and moving on to the next. However, he's sure that the Club Coupe is one he's going to keep.
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