The Lincoln K-Series V12, often referred to simply as “Ford’s K Series”, was a line of high-end luxury cars built by the Lincoln Division of the Ford Motor Company during the economic depression of the 1930s. Specifically, the Lincoln K-series vehicles were manufactured between 1932 and 1939. It was an ultra-luxury premium product that was delivered and marketed in the automotive market at the wrong time. Perhaps you could say that “there are always people with money” and it is important to have a flagship for your brand; in this case, the competition was against Cadillac V12 road cars; however, Ford and its Lincoln division fought valiantly to keep the asking price below the $ 4,000 mark.
The history of the Lincoln K-Series V12 model line is as such. Mr. Henry Leland had resigned from Cadillac in 1917, just after World War I ended, and developed a new automobile for 1921 which he named “Lincoln.” Lincoln was not yet part of the Ford empire, it was its own entity. This time period in terms of the auto industry in the US and around the world was one of “consolidation” where smaller and more enterprising auto manufacturing firms were eaten up by bigger concerns with more financial resources, of marketing and sales. Lincoln was one of those entities that was acquired by Ford in 1922.
Henry Ford himself was happy to allow the Lincoln division of his company to continue making small amounts of exclusives for more than ten years before the first “Ford-Lincoln” (the Zephyr) was designed. The new management continued to build “Lincoln V8s” for ten years, but in 1932 they announced the splendid and rather exclusive K Series cars, one of which, (specifically the KB model), received a 7.3-liter V12 engine.
These cars were beautifully made and were downright impressive rather than simply attractive to look at and admire as elements of the road. Their precision engineering in quantity and production was obvious, but they were simply one of seven “V12s” on the American auto market in 1932. Therefore, the sales figures were low. Just over 2,000 were sold in the automotive sales and marketing year of 1933. Although the KA, which had been powered by a V8 engine, acquired a smaller edition of the 6.2-liter V12 in 1933, it only had a $ 2,700 retail price, which put it on the luxury end of the auto market out of reach of what it was. later considered “rich” (but impoverished) Americans. Still, there was a lot of interest in technical details in general.
The chassis and suspension were completely conventional, but the engine was a mix of old and new. Technical details included a 65-degree angle between the benches (60 degrees was the norm then and would be perfectly balanced), side valves and removable cylinder blocks in a light alloy crankcase. There was synchronization in the gearbox (the entire United States was following GM’s example from 1928) and a freewheel function in the setup. Surprisingly, the brakes were mechanically actuated, but had a vacuum “servo” to assist the driver or chauffeur.
In 1934 a new Lincoln model was announced to replace the original KA and KB; This had a slightly smaller 6.8 liter (414 cubic inch) engine, aluminum cylinder heads, and a top speed of 100 mph. There was still a major redesign a year or two later in the future. However, sales continued to fall and decline with the last of the K Series Lincoln V12s built and launched at Ford-Lincoln production facilities in 1939.
However, this product had established the Lincoln name and exclusive marquee. Ford designed Lincoln-Zephyr, which carried this prestigious brand that was both an ultra-fast vehicle and filled a lower car market price niche on the roads. It began to be sold as if it were the Ford Mustang of its time. So even though the Ford-Lincoln K-Series V12 was a case of a great product it came up against fierce competition and a higher price than most potential customers in its market could afford. However, the Ford-Lincoln K12 V12 set the stage for the founding and success of the Lincoln division of the giant Ford Motor Company, which served as Ford’s prestigious high-end premium faceplate.