Today's Lincoln certainly has its problems, brought about by a lack of product that can live up to its long and distinguished history. What the marque needs now is excitement of the kind it enjoyed back in 1955 when the Boano Lincoln Indianapolis first appeared. This spectacular one-off was created by coachbuilder Felice Mario Boano and his son Gian Paolo who, like other Italian designers of the period, saw their best chance for success in linking with a big American car company. Fortunately Boano had a friend at Ford who arranged the shipment of a Lincoln chassis to Italy, where it would become the basis of a custom design for the 1955 Turin Motor Show. The result, with its vertical-quad headlights and no visible cooling air intake, was sensational.

After the show it was sent to henry ford II in Detroit who, legend has it, gave the Indianapolis to Hollywood star Errol Flynn. According to "an article in Sports Car Market magazine" the car passed through several owners, was involved in a fire, then was acquired by a dedicated buyer who spent two years restoring the Indianapolis at great expense. During his 20 years of stewardship it was displayed at several major concours, including the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (seen here in 2001). The Boano Lincoln Indianapolis was sold to a new owner at the Gooding Pebble Beach auction last August for $1,375,000, which is probably more than Ford is spending to revive the brand.