(first posted 4/27/2018) Jason Shafer recently wrote an excellent post on the 1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst and in it he included an early historical account about George Hurst. As I was reading this post, I had started researching information for my Lincoln Continental article. These two articles instantly triggered a memory about George Hurst’s early years. While George Hurst will forever be associated with Oldsmobile and high performance shifters from the muscle car era, how many know that the first car he specialized in was the Lincoln Continental?
One of George Hurst’s early motor mount conversions
Prior to partnering with Bill Campbell, George Hurst specialized in engine swaps. In 1954 George Hurst attended the speed trials in Daytona Florida. Here there were many racers that used old affordable cars, favoured for their typically light bodies with modern powerful OHV V8s swapped into them. He observed that many of these custom swaps were poorly done. The engines often sat too high which caused a shift in the center of gravity making handling unsafe at high speeds, sometimes resulting in crashes. George thought that he could do a better job and began to specialize in making engine mount kits, which were designed to have a low center of gravity.
Along with creating his specialized engine mounts, George was also performing drive line swaps for customers. He built a four car garage on his property in Abington, PA to perform these conversions. Several of his customers were wealthy people of Eastern Pennsylvania, many of whom favoured the 1940-48 Lincoln Continentals. This resulted in him specializing in power train swaps for the Lincoln Continental V12s. By the mid 1950’s the Continentals were already considered to be somewhat collectible. However, it was well know that the Lincoln flathead V12 was not a reliable engine, having issues with overheating and premature engine wear. Furthermore, it was quite weak in comparison to modern OHV high compression V8’s. While many people wanted to own one of these classic Lincolns, they also wanted a reliable and more powerful drive train.
This Continental has a Buick nailhead V8 swapped in place
The history of when George started doing Continental engine swaps is somewhat unclear. It seems he started to do these engine conversions sometime around 1954. He would typically use Cadillac or Buick V8 engines, and he’d also update the transmissions and rear axles. George seemed ever concerned with safety, and so he typically performed brake upgrades to help stop these heavy cars with their new-found power.
This particular car that is the subject of this post is one of the first Lincoln Continental conversions that George performed. This car was purchased as a used vehicle by Walter Smartt MD, who was a Captain in the US Air Force serving as a flight surgeon. Dr. Smartt bought the car in 1953 for a sum of $1850 ($17,291 adjusted). He drove the car for approximately one year in stock form, but the V12 engine was tired and the maintenance costs were high. He complained that the engine had excessive fumes and was generally unpleasant to drive. Dr. Smartt loved the car but was not happy with the car’s performance and decided that he needed to update the engine.
George tore the subject car down significantly to perform his modifications
In June 1954 he brought the car to George Hurst, who was operating out of his four car garage in Abington, PA. He had already earned a reputation of being a proficient engine swapper. Initially Dr. Smartt’s car started off as a simple engine update, but ended up perpetually growing into something much more. Both Dr. Smartt and George Hurst liked the Continental’s lines and wanted the car to remain stock in appearance. Hurst and Dr. Smarrt decided the best course of action was to update the remainder of the car to meet the standards of the contemporary luxury vehicles of the mid 1950’s.
After the extensive rebuild, Dr. Smartt’s Continental ended up with a Cadillac Eldorado 285-hp 365cid dual quad V8 engine. At the request of Dr. Smartt, the valve covers and air cleaner housing were copper plated. George wanted a strong reliable transmission and the ’49-51 Lincoln transmission had the reputation as being one of the strongest. So he collected several used transmissions and rear axles from these Lincolns to obtain the best parts. He built a transmission with an overdrive unit attached, and a rear axle with a 4.27:1 gear ratio.
Ever concerned with safety, George upgrade the brakes on the Continental to more modern brakes from a ’51 Lincoln. They remained non-power assist but were considerably stronger than the stock brakes. Also concerned with vehicle handling, he set the Cadillac engine further back in the chassis, resulting in a claimed near 50:50 weight distribution (2670 lbs front, 2640 lbs rear). George kept the front suspension stock, but he upgraded the rear suspension using Jaguar shock absorbers for better ride control. He installed custom chrome-moly heat treated radius rods along with a titanium track bar.
Other upgrades include a switch to a 12 volt electrical system, a dual coil ignition system, and water injection. George claimed he used parts from over thirty different cars, including a Hudson heater, power windows from a Cadillac, an Oldsmobile radiator and a Buick fan shroud. George even engineered a custom fresh air system where air from the lower grille was carried to the interior through tubes mounted outside the engine compartment so the air would remain cool. The air intake system included a trap to separate rainwater from the fresh air intake.
The interior was a completely custom, with hand-finished leather upholstery, which alone cost $2000 ($18,600 adjusted). The convertible top was refinished in white Orlon, lowered 1 ½”, and had a modern electric/hydraulic cylinder mechanism installed. To ensure a quite ride, all rubber seals were replaced, and additional insulation was added. The car was refinished in black lacquer while all the chrome was also refinished.
The car was a very well done quality piece and it really demonstrated George Hurst’s engineering and fabrication skills. It was a car built by a man of true vision and talent. The car was so well received that the Lincoln Continental’s Owner Club awarded it in 1956 with the best Continental engine conversion award. How many classic car clubs have that category today?
Dr. Smartt and George Hurst with the award for best engine conversion from the LCOC
The car was also tested by Motor Trend magazine, who praised the car for its power, ride, braking, roadability and overall top notch craftsmanship. They reported it accelerated with the contemporary cars of the day, while still able to achieve 16 MPG. To quote Motor Trend they stated “It’s difficult to write anything derogatory about the car from a classic stand point because it approaches perfection.”
This plaque is attached to the subject car
This Lincoln remains in existence today and it seems that it’s been for sale for some time, with an asking price considerably higher than a typical Continental. It appears much as it did in the mid-1950s with the only change being the addition of the rather ungainly horns on its fender tops.
I wasn’t able to obtain the history of the car from Dr. Smartt’s ownership until today, but it seems it’s only accumulated about 30,000 miles. It is a marvelous piece of history and hopefully someone will recognize its importance and continue preserve it.
first suggestion for preservation, get those horns off the hood… Yikes, why are they there?
Lovely car otherwise, hope it gets a good home.
+100!
I certainly breathed a big sigh of relief when it was revealed that those blasted horns weren’t George Hurst originals!
I’m late to the discussion; however, unless there were two of these with air horns, my father owned it (twice, actually) during the ’60s. He put the horns on after a nasty collision for which, he said, he was not at fault. I recall him walking into the house, holding the hood ornament in front of him in one hand and announcing: “Well, this is all that’s left of the Continental.” Police told him to remove the horns soon after the car was back on the road, but Dad got away with just rendering them inoperative. To be honest, I always liked them.
With the Cadillac engine the car was pretty fast. Dad broke the speedometer cable on a long straightaway–possibly sloping–during a trip from Detroit to Florida. Estimated he was going over 130 MPH. (That he claimed to have been doing an indicated 134 MPH when the speedo stopped working comes to mind, though I may be wrong about this.) His mechanic told me the broken end of the cable, where it had entered the speedometer, had unwound and balled up so badly it looked like a bird’s nest when he took it out.
The Continental of the 40s was a strange combination of elegant styling and a brittle, poor-performing engine. A lesser car would have been junked quite soon and a better mechanical design would have made the car a more sought-after classic than it already was. Anyone who wanted to specialize in engine swaps in those days just had to have these Connies on their radar.
So was this the first “restomod”? 🙂 Seriously, it is hard to see the difference between this car and a modern classic running an LS1 Chevy V8 with disc brakes, a/c and suspension upgrades.
I suspect it wasn’t exactly the first, since in the post-war years there was a lot of activity in modifying older pre-war cars with updated components. Obviously, many of them fall into the genre of hot rods, but it extended to lots of other cars and approaches. It was a very fertile time, and there seemed to be a huge amount of energy and interest in modifying cars of all kinds, to create sports cars, hot rods, and more luxurious ones like this.
Just one example from the top of my head, the Studillac: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/the-studillac-tom-mccahill-tests-the-caddy-powered-1953-studebaker/
I was thinking of calling this car a “restomod” in the heading of the article, since I agree with you it really does fit the definition. Ultimately I decided against it because of the negative connotations many associate with Resto-mods and I didn’t want people to mistake this as a modern day customization.
While there was lots of engine swapping going on in this era, few took the modifications as far as George did on this car. He really touched almost every aspect of the car and improved it in one way or another. I guess he had the benefit of having a fairly well-off client to work with. There was some serious money spent on this car, far more than a typical hot rodder could afford. Dr. Smartt made a comment that he wanted it to be his equivalent to the Continental Mark II, if that gives you an idea of his investment.
Interesting article
The one thing that has always surprised me about American conversions is that they put engines of different makes into their cars
I know the car is a Bitsza (bits of this, bits of that) but personally I would have wanted to keep it all Lincoln with a later model Lincoln V8, somehow it feels more pure
The nearest I came to a custom was a BSA Bitza motorcycle, Goldstar frame, A10 650 engine with Aluminium heads and Spitfire cam, but it was the best of BSA parts to make a great BSA bike, the closest I could get to a genuine Rocket Goldstar
I see lots of examples where Chevy V8s are put into Fords and that just seems wrong to me, I cannot imagine the Aussie racing set putting Holden engines in a Ford Falcon
There are companies in the UK that significantly upgrade classic cars, Vicarage Mk2 Jags for example, does anyone do that for early 60s Lincolns in the US?
American conversions are probably less adverse to swapping parts from another company but only for certain things. We do see engine swaps using the ubiquitous SBC motor into anything and everything as those engines were readily available, cheap, and had tons of aftermarket parts available. Now that cost for a Ford or Chrysler crate engine are similar to a GM, we see less and less use of another manufacturer’s engines in a car. We used to see front suspension swaps that used Ford’s unloved Mustang II as the donor, but now aftermarket companies make their own version of that suspension setup so donors are not needed. Plus, a lot of it comes down to familiarity and personal tastes.
In the 50s the Lincoln Y block V8 was kind of an also-ran in terms of performance. The Cadillac and Chrysler V8s were where the action was in the world of big expensive high performance engines. I would expect a Lincoln V8 in a straight swap, but for the kind of massive upgrades being applied to this car, the Cadillac V8 with triple 2 bbls does not surprise me for that era.
During this era, there was lots of brand mixing when it came to engine swaps. I don’t think people then stuck there nose up at it as much as they do today. George Hurst’s personal 1956 Chevrolet had a nailhead Buick swapped in place.
I also agree with JP, that the Lincoln Y-block did not have the performance reputation of the Cadillac V8 of this era. George intermixed parts to get the best parts regardless of brand. I don’t see a Y-block any easier to swap than the Caddy V8, since the Lincoln V12 and the Continental had no relation to the newer Lincolns other than the name.
Mixing & matching different brands of engines & cars is one thing.
Get a load of what this guy plans to do!
http://www.460ford.com/forum/42-general-tech/114796-ls1-heads-sbf-yeah-can-done.html
Thank you for the shout-out.
This helps give some depth to Hurst’s making of engine mounts. Given his invention of the Jaws of Life, and its inherent safety origin, his making such a motor mount for a lower center of gravity is definitely a sign of things to come from him.
The final product is great but Lord help the person who is seeking parts for it. It’s what a coworker would called Johnny Cashed – it’s been built one piece at a time from all kinds of cars.
George Hurst seemed to have safety on his mind. Along with his low center of gravity engine mounts, big brake conversions, handling upgrades, jaws or life, he also had the bumper guards for the VW vans. He designed these after seeing someone get injured in a crash with a VW van. The intent was to offer more protection to the driver.
After Mr. Hurst designed the VW bumper (for the shop company VW van originally), VW learned about Hurst VW bumpers and VW used (hijacked) his design. They became standard equipment on VW buses manufactured in Germany.
Same thing happened after Mr. Hurst passed away in 1986. His business partners went on to produce the George Hurst Level Wind.
Mr. Hurst was amazing. To think that the inventions he designed, were achieved without an engineering degree or a full high school education.
I couldn’t be more proud of him!
https://youtu.be/TvzDDMVGoKI
My small personal library of car books includes a thin paperback titled “Practical Engine Swapping.” Some big factors that affect the choice of a donor engine include front vs. rear oil sump, starter location, design and placement of exhaust manifolds, etc. The front vs. rear sump question alone would often rule out certain engines due to the design & placement of the front suspension.
This may explain some of the mismatched brands of bodies & engines.
Smartt obituary (2016):
Dr Smartt outlived George Hurst by 30 years then. Wonder if he kept the Lincoln to the end.
I am normally opposed to these engine swaps, but in this case it makes good sense. My father had a 1947 Lincoln (sedan) and the V-12 was nothing but trouble. He managed to keep it for two years, ending up trading for a 1949 Buick Roadmaster sedanette, a real beauty with a straight eight!
“The air intake system included a trap to separate rain water from the fresh air intake.”
Geez, he thought of everything, didn’t he!
It reads like he went thorough every conceivable system, and worked to improve it to the utmost of what was possible back then. Wow!
I don’t know what’s crazier: the owner putting those semi-trailer horns on the fenders (completely ruining the aesthetics and originality), or thinking it’s still worth a lot with them.
Otherwise, it ‘was’ a very nice, tasteful,l early Hurst custom.
I was all set to ignore this article because of those horns – sure glad I didn’t though. Incredible!
Those horn’s are a BIG turn-off and hopefully they didn’t keep too many people form reading the article. This car is an interesting piece of history which is why I decided to write this up.
Love it. Great piece of automotive arcana. That is a restomod. No two (or thirty) ways about it.
It is interesting that the Continental was considered to be a modern classic quite soon after production was ended. The Classic Car Club accepted these, even though most of their other preferred cars were early pre War II models. The Cadillac OHV V8 was considered to be a high performance unit right from the start, (1949) and they were used in the Allard sports racer as well as famously in the Studellac. The Buick Nailhead also had a strong performance cred right from the beginning, Max Balchowsky used it in his famous “Old Yeller” racing specials. These two motors were well respected and desirable power plant choices until the early 1960s. The Chrysler was also a strong performer from this period.The small block Chevy didn’t really take off until the 327’s were used in the Corvette. The small displacement Chevy couldn’t provide enough torque to adequately power a 5,000 lbs. car. Tuners preferred big blocks.
This Continental is something like the Ring brothers or Troy Trapanier would build today. It’s really something. I saw article in a Book reprint pf Hop Up magazine featuring a 1942 Cadillac that had a Marmon V16 engine transplanted into it. The car’s body work was also customized.
What a great story about Mr. Hurst and this Lincoln! I hope that his many accomplishments and great legacy never fade from automotive history.
In 1983 I was in contact with George Hurst. He was putting together a new business venture, George Hurst Transmissions. This was on the heels of the last of the Hurst/Olds creations, and it was planned to be linked to specific authorized GM dealerships, followed by independent installation centers.
These locations were to be installing and servicing Hurst modified, performance built automatic transmissions. I was told that the market was intended to start in the southeast U.S. (Atlanta region), and extend north and west from there.
During that period is when I was corresponding with Mr. Hurst about potential employment. Sadly, the outside funding needed wasn’t available, and the venture soon ended. The letters that I received from Mr. Hurst during our discussions are some of my most prized possessions.
On rereading this, what struck me was that the car was only eight years old when George Hurst started work on it, and that according to Dr Smartt, already ‘the V12 engine was tired ….had excessive fumes and was generally unpleasant to drive.’
Made me realize just what a poor engine that ‘flatty-and-a-half’ was. No wonder Lincoln came off so poorly in comparison to Packard or Cadillac.
Great article ! I love the details .
It says no power brakes yet the Hydrovac brake booster is clearly visible .
-Nate
Interesting article detailing one of the better approaches to updating the Lincoln Continentals for improved drivability and reliability. George Hurst led the way on that process better than most.
The Series H Lincoln V-12 was such an ill-conceived, underdeveloped design it could only have survived in application as long as it did in a make of car considered by its company to be peripheral to the overall profitability of that company. Lincoln was Edsel Ford’s baby, a place for him to divert his attention so as not to meddle in the operations of the all-important Ford cars and truck, except of course styling.
It was only the powerful appeal to the Lincoln Continental design that allowed those cars to survive.