"Lincoln Motor Cars Exclusively" proclaimed Roslyn Motors Inc. in their full page advertisement in the souvenir program for the Automobile Salon held in the Grand Ballroom and Mina Lobby of the Hotel Commodore in New York City from November 18 to December 4, 1926. The Annual Automobile Salons at the Commodore were not open to the general public but were by invitation only, They were an annual society affair that were also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. The New York salon started in 1904 , but at that time was held in a different location.

"The Automobile Salon is an established institution" proclaimed the organizers and "It is dedicated to the display, amid appropriate surroundings, of all that is fashionable and really meritorious in high grade motor car chassis and custom coachwork". The salon was not just an annual car show with examples of all makes available at the time in their standard factory produced body styles. No car or display at any of the salons had "factory" coachwork and all were on high grade luxury car chassis. The bodies (coachwork) were all custom designed and built to order. A very nice new regular Plymouth sedan in 1931 was $635 , a custom designed and built sedan by a well established body builder could run $4,000 and up.

The Lincoln model L, V8 was what Roslyn Motors Inc. sold and although a factory designed and built body could be ordered and purchased from them most often it was a car with a custom body. Their showroom was located in a building still standing in the village of Roslyn . It is located immediately west of the clock tower and its north facade faces Northern Boulevard. Their advertisement in the New York Salon catalog noted they are " At the Clock Tower" in Roslyn. They also had other dealerships located in Flushing, Queens and Southampton. Roslyn Motors boasted " Popular custom-built bodies are constantly available at our show rooms located at points most convenient for Long Island residents" in the 1926 Salon souvenir catalog.

Roslyn Motors advertised in the New York Salon souvenir catalogs for two years 1926 and 1927. Ads in these catalogs were not inexpensive! Although Roslyn Motors represented Long Island, in New York City were major Lincoln dealers named Park Central Motors Inc. (Park Avenue & 46th Street) and Theodore Luce at 1760 Broadway . Both were major dealers in Lincoln motor cars with factory and custom build coachwork. They were competition for Roslyn Motors to a certain extent. If a person resided on long island and worked in Manhattan each day he would more often see the dealers there if he was in their neighborhood on a regular basis near their locations. The body designers and builders were in major cities or nearby. Custom body builder in that era were not located on Long Island in Nassau or Suffolk counties . The only major custom body builder in either county only built station wagons and that was Cantrell in Huntington.

Roslyn Motors supplied the gentry of Long Island with coach-built Lincolns from the 1926 up until approximately 1930. The great Depression just about wiped out the custom body builders nationwide. Not just due to cost but even the wealthy who could still afford a custom body for their car ( that cost about what a new house did then) would occasionally consider that the average working man's annual salary was less then just the cost of the body of the car they had designed and built. Even just the cloth to cover the seat cushions at $6.00 to $11.00 per yard was more than a day's pay that some people were making.

It is a treasure that the building that housed Roslyn Motors still exists, and still appears essentially the same as it did when motor cars graced the showroom floors within.

By Walt Gosden

Roslyn Motors was featured in the May 2019 issue of Hemmings Classic Car in this article by Walt Gosden.

The Lincoln Building (circa 1926). Courtesy of Walt Gosden.

December 1925 Ad for Roslyn Motors