Lincoln Indianapolis Concept Car Print | 1955 Turin Show Car Wall Art

Lincoln Indianapolis: A One-Off Show Car Born from a Transatlantic Handshake

Only one Lincoln Indianapolis was ever built, and it made its debut at the 1955 Turin Motor Show as a jaw-dropping collaboration between Detroit muscle and Italian craftsmanship. The concept traces back to Carrozzeria Ghia, run by Felice Mario Boano, whose son Gian Paolo Boano later took over the coachbuilding house. Through a contact at Ford, Boano secured a Lincoln chassis and set out to build a one-of-one showpiece worthy of Turin’s spotlight — a car that would fuse American power with Italian design flair, at the height of the golden era of concept cars.

Show-Stopping Details: Quad Headlights, Fake Pipes & a Checkered-Flag Interior

The Indianapolis stunned the press with its four oversized headlights and a dramatic air intake carved beneath the front bumper. Three exhaust-style pipes flank each door — pure theater, since the real exhaust exits below the taillights. True to the excess of the 1950s, the name “Indianapolis” is spelled out in giant script across each front fender, trailed by a checkered flag emblem. That racing motif continues inside with black-and-white checkered trim, while a two-tier center console and a fold-away dash panel conceal the gauges, switchgear and radio behind a single clean surface.

From Turin’s Spotlight to Decades in Obscurity

The Indianapolis was finished just in time for Turin and was an instant sensation — Auto Age even put it on its November 1955 cover, asking “Is this the next Lincoln?” It wasn’t. Ford offered Boano a contract, but he chose to lead Fiat’s internal styling department instead. The car itself went straight to Ford at the insistence of Henry Ford II. Rumors swirled that it was gifted to actor Errol Flynn, but that story was never true. What actually happened was quieter and sadder: the car was damaged in Boston and spent years forgotten and unrestored in New England, until a long-time owner brought it back to better-than-new condition in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A Million-Dollar Comeback on the Concours Circuit

Since its restoration, the Lincoln Indianapolis has become a fixture on the concours circuit, debuting at Pebble Beach in 2001 where it won its class, and later appearing at Amelia Island, Greenwich, and back at Pebble Beach again in 2013. Values have held remarkably steady for such a rare one-off: it changed hands for $1.375 million at Gooding’s Pebble Beach sale in 2006, $1.55 million at RM’s Car Art auction in New York in 2013, and roughly $1.21 million more recently when the Andrews Collection in Fort Worth went under the hammer. However you cut it, this is a million-dollar Lincoln — and the only one of its kind. If you’re building out a collection of classic car wall art, few pieces carry this much one-off pedigree. For more on the coachbuilders behind it, see Carrozzeria Ghia’s design history.

Bring the Lincoln Indianapolis Home

This fine-art photograph of the Lincoln Indianapolis is limited to 200 signed and numbered copies (canvas prints excluded from the cap), printed on museum-grade acrylic glass, Dibond aluminum, matte canvas or true Kodak Pro Endura photographic paper. Whichever finish you choose, it’s a striking, conversation-starting centerpiece for a living room, office or private collection — one-of-a-kind history, ready for your wall.