We’re hiking to find a couple interesting old cars near Wall Street Mill in Joshua Tree National Park. Later I would determine that they are both early Lincoln car models that were “adapted” into trucks - likely by Bill Keys.
It’s not uncommon in the desert near old mining operations to find machinery adapted to fulfill a different purpose. (Necessity is the mother of invention)
Keep in mind if we assume these cars were built in or around 1930, we are in the early years of the Great Depression. These were incredibly expensive luxury cars for the time that I imagine were acquired much later before being adapted to their current configurations, and there are two of them in one location in Joshua Tree National Park.
Hiking Distances From the Wall Street Mill trailhead parking lot:
Roughly .8 miles (each way) if you stick to the main trail and make no side adventures. It’s a very easy flat hike.
0:00 Hiking to Wall Street Mill
0:50 Car/Truck #1 - 1930 Lincoln L Series
2:35 Car #2 Unidentified partial rusty body and fender
3:09 Car/Truck #3 - 1930 Lincoln L Series (Coach built model?)
6:07 A few images of Wall Street Mill
Green Car/Truck #1: Looks like it was originally a 1930 Lincoln "L" Series 4-door sedan
• Just off the trail in the bushes
• Wire wheel spokes welded on perimeter and hub, (similar to Ford wire wheels)
• 3 hinges on lower door found on some early Lincoln models
• brake and clutch pedal match Lincoln shape and pattern
• firewall pattern matches some Lincoln models I have seen (keep in mind many early Lincolns were Coach Built)
• This car would have had the same 385 cubic inch V8 as the later car featured in the video.
This car could be a model match:
• 1930 Lincoln model L m...
Car #2: Just a rusty body tub and one front fender, but not enough left for me to make a good guess.
Car/Truck #3: it’s a Lincoln, likely also from ~1930. It has the large original V8 engine intact. Appears to have been a Coach-built car.
The engine had me stumped initially - Looks vaguely similar to (Oldsmobile) Viking Flathead V8, or early Oakland V8, or LaSalle Flathead V8, but it is undoubtably an early Lincoln.
• Engine is 385 cubic inch (6.3L) 60˚ V8 making 90 horsepower
• Serial number is stamped on the drivers side of the engine’s aluminum crank case near the oil level glass tube!
• Stewart Warner Vacuum Fuel Feed System is still mounted on the firewall
This car (now truck) might have looked like this originally:
• 1930 Lincoln Judkins B...
Check out my other Joshua Tree abandoned cars videos:
Identifying the Cars at the Joshua Tree “Car Wash” • Joshua Tree Car Wash |...
1920's GMC Truck Identified near Wonderland Ranch • Abandoned Truck Wonder...
Here is an article I found recently that closely supports my identifications as both being from 1929 (I was estimating 1930 for both):
www.motortrend.com/features/v...