Hughes Lincoln Brings 1 Million at Auction

1936 Lincoln once owned and modified by Howard Hughes goes for a cool 1 million at a Tulsa auto auction last week.

Originally a 1936 Lincoln Model K

Even during his lifetime Howard Hughes was larger than life, itself. It now appears that at least one of the cars that he owned – a one-of-a-kind Lincoln Model K V12, dubbed the “Aero-Mobile” - has also established itself in automotive lore.

The stunning blue and polished aluminum vehicle began life as Hughes’ personal limousine in 1936. Instead of selling it when he bought a new car, Hughes (who owned the RKO film studio at the time) set about converting it to a boat tail speedster whose main purpose would be that of a camera car capable of keeping up with airplanes while filming the high speed take offs and landings of airplanes. At least that’s one theory. Another story states that Hughes was, at the time (1937) in the process of designing and developing retractable aircraft landing gear and that the car was created in order to keep up with these experimental aircraft.

In any case, Hughes had one of his many aircraft factories out in California chop the windshield and the tops of the doors, and then had them capped in aluminum. After removing a few thousand pounds of excess weight and modifying the engine and exhaust, he also had the rear portion of the car removed and installed a custom aluminum boat tail section that covered the entire rear of the vehicle, which was then used to carry the cameras and film equipment used on location.

Hughes thought so much of the customized Lincoln that he had it preserved, along with the famous H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose” airplane, in a mammoth climate-controlled hanger in Southern California.

One more secret revealed

After a recent weeklong reunion with the Spruce Goose over Memorial Day, where it currently resides at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville Oregon, the Aero-mobile headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma where it was auctioned off by the Leake Auction Company.

"This was a very unique vehicle, and it was a privilege to auction it in Tulsa," stated Richard Sevenoaks, president of Leake Auction Company. "Howard Hughes was a very complex man and this car is a reflection of its unique creator."

The Aero-mobile is also unique in that it recently offered up another piece of history: During some recent work on the vehicle, restoration specialist Dave Caldwell, while removing the dash and glove box, came upon a credit card issued to Howard Hughes by C.D. Rand & Co. (an auto parts supplier) and signed by Hughes, himself.