Historic Car Brands

Often confused with the Australian Six, with which it shared common introduction and demise dates – 1918-1926 – the Lincoln Six was the brainchild of one Charles Innes, a Scottish engineer who migrated to Australia in 1908.

National Motor Museum – Birdwood, South Australia

Causing even more confusion is the co-incidence that Charles Innes shared his surname with the marketer of badge-engineered, French-made cars that had been sold in Australia from 1903 to around 1907. The brand name ‘Innes’ was given to these vehicles by their importer, Tasmanian-born George Innes.

Fast-forward to 1918 and we find Charles Innes, the Scottish immigrant to Australia, visiting Detroit, USA, in pursuit of components for a planned Australian motor car. He bought a rolling chassis and powertrain components that he reckoned would work Down Under and shipped the bits back to Australia.

When Charles Innes wanted to sell his Australian-made car in 1919, his original choice for a brand name was ‘Innes’, only to discover that the name had already been trademarked by his namesake. 

So, he made a fateful decision that would ultimately doom his enterprise: he called it ‘Lincoln’, in honour of the venerated US president and in deference to his vehicle’s US heritage.

The US-sourced prototype was sold in Sydney, in late 1918 and Charles Innes set about sourcing imported and locally made components, as well as locally made bodywork for production vehicles.

Gilltraps photo

The Lincoln Six was released by the Lincoln Motor Car Co, in February 1919, at a retail price of £525. The specification included a Continental six engine rated at 25.3hp, Detroit Gear & Machine Company transmission, Genner steering and Autolite electrics.

However, only a few months later, fire destroyed the Sydney factory, along with vehicles and equipment. Charles was uninsured, so the company suffered a huge loss, but he quickly re-established production in adjacent premises.

The demonstrator car had been saved, along with three sets of components that were quickly assembled and sold. A shipment of 25 sets of imported parts arrived on 31st July 1919 and more were scheduled three weeks later. In January 1920, a tourer, roadster and chassis were exhibited at the Sydney Motor Show.

State Library NSW

Then, in 1920, came another blow, when the Detroit-based Lincoln Motor Co began legal proceedings against the Australian Lincoln Company over the rights to the use of the name ‘Lincoln’ in the Australian market. 

Robert Menzies – later Prime Minister of Australia – appeared as junior counsel on behalf of Charles. 

Ironically, US Lincoln wasn’t in a very good financial position and was taken over by Ford in 1922.  Ford continued to pursue the Australian Lincoln Company and the ongoing legal costs did nothing to help cashflow.

In the meantime, Australian Lincoln Sixes rolled out the factory doors and some were even exported to Java.

We’re indebted to Andrew B, who sent us some pics and information on Lincoln Six cars.

The above photo was taken at Summer Hill, in Sydney, showing Bob Simpson in a Lincoln Six. Bob Simpson worked at Lincoln and was married to Sylvia (Crisp) Simpson. The Crisp family had two Lincoln Sixes and David Crisp provided these two photos.

Below is a photo of Sylvia Simpson in a Lincoln Six tourer, in Sydney’s Hyde Park.

Note the artillery cannon radiator caps: very distinctive!

An optional rough-road suspension – the Acme six-spring design – was available for £25. That was later replaced by Charles Innes’ own four-cantilever spring design, for the same price.

However, by late-1923, sales were falling and Charles Innes sold the company. A new investor tried to re-establish the brand, but by 1926 it was all over, after production of around 350 vehicles in eight years.

A court ruling that both Lincoln brands could be sold side-by-side in Australia had come too late.

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