Like other prestige manufacturers, Lincoln needed a more moderately-priced car to help it endure the tough times of the post-Depression era. It responded with a November 1935 introduction of the Zephyr for the 1936 model year. Its streamlined teardrop styling was credited to designer John Tjaarda of the Briggs Body Company with help from a young Ford designer named Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie. Its name echoed that of the new-fangled streamlined modern diesel trains in operation on the Burlington Railroad. The trio would be credited for fashioning the first successful streamlined car in America.
