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From 1964 on, this added section was 34 inches long, which produced a wheelbase of 160 inches -- though at least two cars were built with a stretch of just nine inches for owners who wanted something that would be appropriate as a chauffeur- or owner-driven car. It remains a mystery as to whether there were two different chassis, or if Zagato had only modified the prototype, which was probably the case. Based on the test results and Skip Lehmann's enthusiasm, Ford signed a contract and immediately ordered two more 1963 Lincoln Limousines based on the 1963 Lincoln adapted by Lehmann and Peterson. The 1964 and 1965 Lincoln limousines made by Lehmann-Peterson continued to succeed. In fall 1970, Lehmann-Peterson was forced to close its doors. Skip this step if she's not close to her father, or if you think it would make her uncomfortable. Of all the places fate could have taken Skip Lehmann during that fall, it chose to route him through a Chicago garage.

Peterson had rebuilt the car in just a few weeks; Skip Lehmann was impressed. Thus, the engineering department gave the car an acid test whenever possible. Soon an agreement was reached that allowed Ford to extensively test the car for the equivalent of 100,000 miles. Lights to illuminate the pope when inside the car. Flag holders on both front fenders for United Nations, U.S., and papal flags, plus lights to be shown on them at night. A more streamlined pale green fastback sedan with hidden front wheels was advertised "for winter touring." While the beige-and-maroon, long-deck, four-window sedan "for rapid travel" brought to mind a zeppelin, the four-window sedan with rear suicide doors echoed a Hooper-bodied Rolls-Royce in its black and dark blue livery. The sheet-metal concealed an independent front suspension with wishbones and a rear swing axle. Now, more than ever, his attention was focused on keeping the company on this upward swing. The rear bumper was hinged so that it could swing down to form a platform that was operated hydraulically so it could be adjusted to the optimum height for the men standing on it.

For normal entry and exit, the rear doors opened and closed in the conventional ma­nner. Some of the extra gadgets on the convertible include a spring device to open the doors like that of the first Lincoln Continental. For 1964, its first full year, Lehmann-Peterson ran off 15 Lincoln Continental Executive Limousines. The final Lehmann-Peterson limousines were made in 1970 from the new body-on-frame Continental. Furthermore, Lincoln began advertising the limos in its brochures in 1965 (though for some unknown reason they weren't included in the 1968 and 1970 literature). In 1965, they began turning out a revised version called Avanti II. Attractive solutions like a spare tire that could be pulled out of a small compartment under the radiator or dashboard instruments hidden under a lid were proof of Rapi's devotion to details. But you're going to have to shell out big bucks for them. Indicative of his delusion was that the going price of the Touring-bodied two-door sedan was about $10,000; the most expensive chauffeur-driven limousines offered by Cadillac and Packard in 1947 cost slightly less than half that. Thanks to George Lehmann's financial backing and Robert Peterson's practical know-how, Lincoln was presented with an opportunity to compete with Cadillac and Imperial for the limousine trade in the 1960s with the 1963-1970 Lincoln Limousine.

Robert Peterson later went on to produce Cadillac limos for Maloney Coachbuilders, also in the Chicago area. To follow the story of the Lincoln limos into 1964 and 1965, continue to the next page. Delivered in fall 1967, the Lehmann-Peterson Secret Service cars featured the grille and other trim parts from the 1968 Lincoln. As the Secret Service didn't take delivery of the convertibles until October 1967, the cars were trimmed as 1968 models. It added to the overall lines of the limo, plus helped to break up the mass of glass seen in profile on earlier models. At lunchtime, they would jam the car full of people and speed it over various test-track road surfaces, finally launching it off built-in rises, all in an attempt to break it. Rapi and his team had nearly achieved the impossible: the genesis of a novel luxury car satisfying the highest technical and design standards under the most extreme circumstances. Surely this set of circumstances would send him down one interesting path or another in life.