Life, 1929-05-10 · page 29 of 44
Life — May 10, 1929 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a **Lincoln automobile advertisement** from Life magazine (page 27). The page promotes Lincoln cars by emphasizing their custom design as a core business philosophy. The text names actual luxury coachbuilders of the era (Judkins, Brunn, Willoughby, Dietrich, Derham, Le Baron, Locke) whom Lincoln hired to create distinctive bodies. The three photographs show examples of custom Lincoln vehicles, including the featured "Judkins 2-Passenger Coupe." The advertisement's rhetoric positions Lincoln as both an artistic and engineering achievement—claiming the cars represent "art," "grace," and "performance" achieved through meticulous craftsmanship. The closing quote—"as nearly perfect a motor car as it is possible to produce"—functions as the campaign's central claim. For modern readers: this reflects a pre-mass-production luxury market where wealthy buyers could commission bespoke car designs from named artisans, a practice largely extinct today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CUSTOM- DESIG NING IS A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF LINCOLN POLICY In THE designing of automobile bodies, as in everything else, there is an art... and that art has been mastered by comparatively few men. These men are the leading custom body designers, and their skill is reflected in every car that leaves the Lincoln shops. The sweep and grace of Lincoln bodies, their distinguished air, their luxury and comfort of ap- pointment . .. all those qualities which in their aggregate go to make fine coachwork have been achieved by the most subtle align- ment of line and mass, Judkins — ..- Brunn ... Willoughby ... é meet THE JUDKINS Dietrich ... Derham ... Le Baron % ‘4 “daha pesint aaa . Locke . . . such talents as =: < individual design, notable for these have been enlisted to make 5 ness There tra larg luggage Lincoln the smart and beautiful UN } ren a Berend motor car it is, And beneath this rich exterior is theLincoln chassis ... a mechanism equally distinguished . . . made with watch-like accuracy ... pow- erful, lasting, swift. So that when your eye is drawn inevitably to the Lincoln upon avenue or high- way it sees not simply an automo- bile of surpassing beauty, but one of surpassing performance also . . . a masterpiece of art and engineer- ing... “as nearly perfect a motor E = : =— car as it is possible to produce.” “AS NEARLY PERFECT A MOTOR CAR AS IT IS POSSIBLE TO PRODUCE" rue LINCOLN Ae Sag comicbooks.com