Only 725 1941 Lincoln Zephyr Convertibles were produced, and Ed Avedisian has one of the few that remain. He says that the effort he put into restoring his Volante Coach Maroon 1941 Zephyr Convertible was matched by his desire to pay homage to an old friend.
When he was a teenager, Ed shared a common love for collecting Model A Fords with a friend. Ed soon found himself intrigued by the collection of Lincolns that his friend's older brother had assembled and restored by himself. In fact, the master mechanic had refurbished all but one -- a Zephyr he'd purchased and then dismantled. The Zephyr parts were scattered all over the garage, leading many people, including Ed, to assume that the vehicle – which was jokingly called "Peter's Runner" – would spend its remaining days as a donor vehicle.
After Peter had died, his brother inherited the Lincolns and offered Ed his choice of any vehicle in the collection. Ed promptly chose Peter's Runner, desiring to remember his lifelong friend and honor Peter's dedication to the art of restoration. “It would become a memorial to him, a moving one,” Ed observed. “I was able to get the car on wheels: a fitting tribute to a truly dear friend.”
Knowing he needed help restoring the vehicle, Ed reached out to members of the Lincoln Zephyr Owners Club for assistance. With four years applying his elbow grease and their expert advice, Ed's Zephyr was finally ready to hit the road. His very first stop was at a Pennsylvania auto show, where the Zephyr won five awards – including the memorial trophy that is handed out annually in Peter's honor.
After that, there one more destination for the vehicle. Ed drove to Rhode Island and presented both the car and trophy to Peter's widow. She was delighted to see the Zephyr driving again, since it was the car Peter had driven on their first date.
Ed still drives the Zephyr, and each drive offers the reward he was seeking when he began the restoration project. “Every time I get into it, I think of my friend,” he said. “That’s an automatic.”
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