Although Lincoln’s sales numbers continued to improve after Ford’s buyout of the luxury marque in 1922, Fords made up 40 percent of the US market; Lincoln’s share was a miniscule 0.17 percent.

The pairing of Detroit’s most inexpensive and simplest mass-produced automobiles with one its most expertly engineered, pricier, limited-production offerings was seemingly a shaky proposition.

Then along came the Great Depression in 1929, which certainly did not help matters.

Thanks to the wealth of the Ford Motor Company and Lincoln’s capable direction under Henry’s son Edsel, however, the marque continued to gain status, as did the car’s image as one of America’s leading luxury automobiles.

Unlike his mechanically minded father, Edsel had a keen eye for design and classic good looks.

It was he, along with designer Bob Gregorie, who were responsible for the handsome Lincolns of the 1930s.

The Model K of 1931 was the first new Lincoln model under Ford ownership; in part due to its fresh sty...