Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I've been helping a friend on a 1935 Lincoln Model K. It has the 414ci, 150 HP V12. I am looking for some thoughts on the merits of the Packard V12 vs. the model K, or vice versa. Thanks in advance for the tire-kicking, and BigKev, please correct me if this is too far off topic for PackardInfo.

I thought about posting this on the AACA forum, but it seems this forum is more active and very informed.

Far from being "off topic," your post is precisely the sort we'd like to see more of. Blindly worshipping anything with a Packard label, as though Packards came from a vacuum, hardly serves us. All industry engineers were members of the SAE, executives socialized, golfed together, etc.
From a 45-year immersion in vintage autoholia, a quick summation would be that the Packard and Pierce Arrow V-12s, and the Marmon V-16, were the more powerful, faster of the outsized, heavy iron classics. (The comically expensive Duesenberg J was obsolete shortly after its debut, it taking eight years for them to sell a mere 480.)
Packards were the epitome of refinement, Pierce Arrows more robust. Packard had a more modern chassis than Lincoln and most of the lot other than the Chrysler Imperial, but the big Lincolns had the finest craftsmanship; for example, chrome-plated brass interior fittings where Packard and Cadillac used pot metal.

This is of course hair-splitting. All were fine cars, though for the prices charged, they should've been. They are also more akin to silky fire trucks than automobiles, but of course impressive all the same.
Engineer and automotive historian Maurice Hendry suggested that if period Lincoln K, Packard and Pierce V-12 chassis displayed together, it would hard to discern one from the other beyond Henry Ford's belief in torque tube drive.
They were all done in by more egalitarian times and engineering advances which made more rational, more affordable, nimbler, snappier, often faster cars more attractive. The differences in these later cars is where things got interesting, the marketing more sophisticated, as it continues today.
Beware of nest-feathering marque buffs giving skewed, biased information.

Your One Twenty is among the best cars of the era's industry on a dollar or any other basis, Consumer Reports, who always got it right, giving the 282-ci-engined cars their Best Buy rating in their price class each year from 1938-47. But it took the economic horror of the Depression to wrest such cognac from a maker of expensive production cars headed by former cash register company executives accustomed to fat margins, aided by GM production men brought in to cost the 120, who wound up running Packard to the Company's detriment, though all independents were doomed and Packard buoyed by defense contracts as they faded.

Ken

The Lincoln Model K V-12 414ci was designed initially as a 382 ci for the '33 KA, a lower-priced companion to the magnificent 1932-'33 Model KB V-12 448ci. The K engine is still the old multi-piece build: barrel crankcase with cylinder jug blocks but does have side-by-side connecting rods that superseded the fork and blade that was a Lincoln trademark. Of the multi-cylinder '30's engines, it was in the mid-range size and horsepower. It's forte was developing high torque at low rpms for the ability to be driven very smoothly with a minimum of shifting and untoward fuss.

Both Lincolns were major financial drains which only continued under the patronage of Edsel Ford. Fortunately, old man Henry didn't cut the money off as Lincoln was beleaguered Edsel's only creative outlet. As such, he kept the Lincoln chassis clothed in more magnificent custom coachwork than any other luxury make save maybe Stutz and Duesenberg.

Of the other Lincoln V-12, the H-Series, its a four cylinder extension of the Ford flathead V-8, with all the deficits that engine had magnified. Enthusiasts have labored to correct or minimize the worst of its problems. But, its a very different animal than any prior Lincoln engine, one that needs the revs kept high to get decent performance. The 120 282 is light years a better engine.

Steve

Did the big Lincolns use the transverse leaf springs like the Fords?

Pic of 34 Lincoln front suspension also lincoln to nice set of detail photos does not appear to be low priced car.
https://stlouiscarmuseum.com/inventory/listing/1934-lincoln-ka522-a-2-4-passenger-rumble-seat-coupe/

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Thanks Acold looks to be the conventional parallel leaf springs then.
John

The Lincoln K series engine and chassis are neck and neck with Packard in my humble opinion. The are both downdraft, which makes them better than the Cadillac V-12 and V-16, at least to me. Very torquey, smooth engines, and the whole car is turned out beautifully.

Thanks for all of the insights. I did notice the parquet wood was beautiful, but I don't like grill as much!