The Club’s History
The Lincoln-Zephyr Owners Club (LZOC) was founded in 1968 and is focused on Lincoln cars utilizing the HV-12 engine. The cars were produced from late 1935 through the summer of 1948, except for the War Years 1943, 1944, and 1945.
The LZOC usually conducts two meets per year, often as a combined meet with other Lincoln-related clubs, such as the Lincoln Owners Club (focused on the early classic Lincolns from 1922 to 1939), the Lincoln and Continental Owners Club (catering to all Lincolns, including more recent models), the Road Race Lincoln Register (for owners of the 1952-55 Pan-American Road Race styled Lincolns), and the Lincoln Motor Car Foundation which is committed to collecting, preserving and sharing the heritage of the Lincoln automobile.
The Club publishes a quarterly magazine, The Way Of The Zephyr, which contains feature articles, technical advice, letters from members, and classified ads for cars, parts, and services.
The Lincoln-Zephyr’s History
Introduced on November 2, 1935, as a 1936 model, the Lincoln-Zephyr was extremely modern with a low raked windscreen, integrated fenders, and streamlined aerodynamic design. The name “Zephyr” was derived from the Greek Zephyrus, the God of the West Wind. It was one of the first commercially successful streamlined cars. The Lincoln-Zephyr succeeded in reigniting sales at Lincoln dealerships in the late 1930s. Annual production in any model year was never large, maxing out at 30,000 in 1937, and totaled approximately 182,000 cars over the ten years the Make existed.
Production of all American cars halted in early 1942 as the country entered World War II, with Lincoln producing the last Lincoln-Zephyr on February 10. After the war, Lincoln dropped the Zephyr name and continued producing cars as Lincolns.
The Lincoln-Zephyrs and post-war Lincolns were based on the HV-12 chassis and used a valve-in-block V-12 configured engine similar in cross section to the Ford V-8. The HV-12 chassis was produced from late 1935 through the end of the 1948 model year.
The Club’s Leadership
President — Jim Blanchard
Secretary — Todd Calder
Treasurer — Jeff Booth
Magazine Editor — Richard L. Cole/Graphics Ltd.
Foreign Correspondent — Colin Spong
LZOC West Chapter President — Ray Brez
LZOC Central President — Ronald N. Schneider
LZOC East President — Todd Calder
Membership Management — Cornerstone Registrations
Chief Judge — Jerry L. Emery
Website Manager — Michael Davis
Board of Directors:
Directors 2025-27: Jim Blanchard, Tom Brunner, Todd Calder
Directors 2026-28: Lee Craig, Jerry Emery, Carolyn Henderson
Directors 2024-26: John McCarthy, John L. Sweet III