This car is a rare sight anytime, anywhere as Lincoln Cosmopolitan Town Sedans were only manufactured for a short time. This particular car was purchased by Tom Wood of Redmond, Washington, from the LeMay car museum and he’s had it for 7-years. He bought it at auction and was told that it was sitting at the museum for 12-years before he bought it.

The build is a sort of modern take on a joke from the 1950s. “Back in the ‘50s people would put Cadillac motors in these cars,” Tom said. “It was a cheap way to get more power. So the build is a sort of tongue-and-cheek play on that.” It also doesn’t hurt that Tom was able to get the engine through GM as a Connect & Cruise package, so it was a simple “install and go build.”

Before getting this car, Tom had only seen pictures of the Lincoln. “They only made them for 6-months,” he explained. This sat under an open sided barn with a roof for years. When Tom got it from the auction it was all stock with the stock engine and 3-speed overdrive transmission. Now, along with the supercharged CTS-V engine, the transmission is a 6-speed automatic with paddle shifters!

Tom was trying to find a powerplant for this right after hurricane Sandy and he was looking online for a wrecked CTS-V, but they all traced back to the east coast. “I did not want to get one that had been underwater,” Tom explained.

After looking for a motor for a few years, that was when he went to GM and just bought the CTS-V engine through connect-and-cruise. He could have gone with the Corvette motor for a little more power, but the idea of the Cadillac powered Lincoln was just too good to pass up!

For a transmission, Tom got a TCI 6×6-speed automatic with paddle shift and the rearend is a Ford 9-inch with 3.73:1 positraction gearing. The build sits comfortably on an Art Morrison sub-frame with Ride-Tech air ride and the stopping power comes from Wilwood 4-wheel disc brakes.

“This was a 6-volt car with positive ground,” Tom said.  He wanted to dash to keep the stock look so he sent the radio to one place and the clock to another so that they could be modified to work with eh 12-volt system. “That way I could keep the dash look.” He also sent the gauges out to Speedhut to have the refurbished and modernized.

“It drives like a new car,” Tom explained. With all of the custom upgrades and modifications, it’s not hard to see why. It’s a luxury car that was modernized with all luxury components, so not only does it drive with the power of the supercharged CTS-V engine, it’s got the cruise of a big, beautiful old Lincoln.

The body is in the stock configuration, it has not been shopped, channeled, or changed in any significant way. They had all new glass made for the windows and they added the visor and custom made the rear wheel skirts. Other than that, the look is basically true to factory. It’s a beautiful car though, so why would you really need to change all that much? It’s also such a rare find, that even without any real customization, it’s not like you’re going to run across another one at a show.

The bodywork and paint was done by Mike Lavalee and Able of Killer Paint out of Snohomish, Washington, the interior was done by Leo’s Upholstery in Sunnyside, Washington, and all the fabrication work was done by the owner, Tom Wood, and his buddy, Steve Howard. This is a really cool build that has seen a lot of custom work that was tastefully done as to not take away from what the car is. The ’49 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Town Sedan is a rare car and Tom did a great job honoring it’s rarity while still making it into something of his own. This beauty exemplifies what it means to be an All Out Custom build!