Any records for LeBaron-built cars?

For all pre war Lincolns you can contact the Henry Ford Museum library in Dearborn, MI.   They will have the original build sheet for your car by your serial number Kxxxx.   What body style do you have?   Coupe, conv coupe, or conv sedan?    

That is a cool car.

Very nice car. I had a customer that brought me a 1933 Lincoln KA convertible coupe to restore. That car changed my automotive appreciation and interests for ever.

May you drive and enjoy your car in good health for years to come.

That's a great car.   I have the coupe version of that which is the same body shell but with a roof on it.  Just an FYI in case you didn't know, the main body tub is steel, but the doors, deck lid, golf club door, and top of the cowl are aluminum.    The hood tops are aluminum as well, while the hood sides are steel.  LeBaron built these bodies "in the white" and Lincoln trimmed them to order.  For example, my car has a full leather interior with the leather specified to be ordered from a specific company that was in the town the buyer lived.  When you get your build sheet, it will tell you where it was delivered, original color and trim, and any accessories it had. I wouldn't re restore it. Just drive it the way it is.      

Great looking car.  Has wonderful lines.... 

If LeBaron built them "in the white" (that is, primed and delivered to factory), then is it a LeBaron bodied car, or a factory car with a LeBaron built body?  There's a difference. 

For example, just about every Pierce Arrow convertible sedan body was built by LeBaron, to Pierce Arrow design, and delivered in the white to the Pierce factory for installation on a chassis.  These are NOT LeBaron bodied cars, but rather a factory Pierce car......

I'd consider it a catalog custom, or semi custom.  It has a LeBaron tag on the passenger side bottom of the cowl and there should be a body number tag on the passenger side seat frame under the cushion.        

I agree with Jason's term "Catalog Custom".  Same with the 31 Pierce Lebaron bodies (and Stutz, etc) as 6-12 of each style was built and delivered by LeBaron for installation by Pierce.  Still coachbuilt but not exactly a full custom where the chassis is delivered to the body builder.

Hello All -- Thanks for the advice K8096 and all the encouraging comments from K8096 everyone else. I was looking at the Henry Ford Museum site, and they do have the old production records, including color, etc. This assumes of course that Lincoln did the final assembly, and since LeBaron roadsters were "catalog customs" I'm hoping that's the case.

It may be a couple weeks before I can bring the car home, but when I do I'll be sure to post some pictures. I'm looking forward to putting it side-by-side with the "baby" Zephyr and seeing how much bigger it is.

PS -- The seller said he thought the original color was a canary yellow(!), but I didn't see any signs of overspray on the underside and the dash and interior are black.  I'm hoping he's wrong, but if if the buildsheet shows he's correct, I'll have something to think about ...

Jason,  was yours originally black with red interior?

yes, and that's how it's staying.   

Well that is a tough call

Thanks to K8096's advice, I ordered the production records from the Henry Ford. They will be here in a few days, but I got them to tell me the original color was black (which I suspected since the dash is black). The original carpets and foot rests in the rumble seat area are tan, but all the seats and door panels are black. Seems unusual not to match the carpet to the seats, but who knows...

So what it's looking like until I learn otherwise, is a black car with black leather seats and door panels, tan carpet and tan top.

Just about any car looks good in black (assuming it is straight!).  You are both lucky.  Although if the Maroon is presentable I would buff it and leave it alone.

I saw an all original 1937 LeBaron coupe 20 years ago that was painted black with black leather seats and door panels, and then a tan cloth headliner and sun visors, and tan carpet.  So it appears that combination was used more than once.  That's a lot of black on a car.  If you go back to black on the paint, I'd be tempted to go with a red or maroon leather interior.  No one would knock you for it.  Most of the dash boards on the late 30's K Lincolns were painted body color, but I have seen a couple where the car was black and the dash was painted a medium grey.  One was a conv sedan and the other coupe.  Both were original cars.      

Hey K096. I'm sending you a private message.  Just want to ask you a few questions about documentation, etc. Thanks!

Follow up from the Henry Ford:

Car was originally black as indicated. Body number and type indicates it was convertible roadster built by LeBaron of Detroit and the car was shipped on 11/18/37. The sales number was 28556, but I don't know how to read this. Also, the trim code is "1309" but when I called back, the folks could not tell me what this translates into. Unfortunately, they didn't copy the original production card, so I can't confirm the fenderwells or radio, but I'm assuming they are original.

So, I've made a little progress.  I know it was a black convertible roadster, but that's it.

You should ask them to copy the original production card, both sides.   They did for me 15 years ago.  It will say things like if it had a monogram originally, the color of the pin stripe, the key numbers, axle ratio, color of the convertible top & leather.   I'd give them a call back and get that.  You don't want to rely on their interpretation of the data, you want to see it for yourself first hand.      

Do you need any parts for your car?

I have some things for that era lincoln.

Linus -- I'll be doing a detailed inventory of the car in a couple weeks so will no more then!  I'll be in touch.

sounds good. best to email me.. travellak1@netzero.net

Thanks for posting the copy of your Production Card.  It is nice documentation to have with the car. 

However, I am surprised it is still available for that year, as I thought all records before 1962 were supposedly lost in the Rotunda fire. 

Craig.

Hello Craig -- I think it was the Ford records that were lost. Evidently they kept Lincoln records in a different part of the building.