Painting a picture of the past

Upon learning about the Purple Gang, the Kendalls began connecting the dots. Former owner Bruno Rusniak’s sister acknowledged the Lincoln had been used as a get-away car when she explained the rear-end damage and bullet holes in the cowl. There was the seemingly rushed paint job in Cadillac colors and the Cadillac stone guard to give the car a different appearance. Did the barber shears tie the car to nefarious acts against barber’s union members? Was the empty bank bag and chauffeur’s hat evidence from a robbery? Was it more than coincidence that there were maps found in the car of the three main points along the major prohibition-era bootlegging corridor?

On top of it all, the Rusniak name occurs mostly in the Ukraine, and Bruno had done much to hide the Lincoln since at least the 1960s.

“I talked to a neighbor who lived kitty corner across the street for 43 years, and he had a direct view into Bruno’s garage... and he never knew the car was in the garage” Kendall said. “The car was covered up, and the amount of stuff in the garage was unbelievable. It had been covered up for all 43 years he lived across the street and he never knew it was in there.”

How long the Lincoln had been in Bruno Rusniak’s garage on well-traveled Caniff Street in Hamtramck is anyone’s guess, but it’s possible it had been hidden there since 1940, when Bruno Rusniak titled it in his name. It’s possible the car was in the garage even longer since upon his passing, Bruno still remained in the home in which he was born. He had even bought the adjacent house either as a real estate investment or perhaps as a buffer to additional privacy.

A treasure on its own

Regardless of the Lincoln’s possible past, it remains a treasure among Full Classic Car collectors. The 1930 Lincoln was the last to be christened with the Model L designation. The cars featured a 90-hp V-8 engine of 384.8 cubic inches that retained the fork-and-blade connecting rod design by Lincoln Motor Car Co. founder Henry M. Leland and his son, Wilfred, for the new marque’s mid-1920 introduction.

Due to the forthcoming 1931 Lincoln Model K and the early effects of the Great Depression, production of the 1930 Lincolns was low when compared to competitors such as Cadillac. Just 3,515 Lincolns with factory-built and custom bodies were built for the 1930 model year. Of those, only 90 were rakish Model 176-B Tonneau Cowl Sport Phaeton models such as the Kendall’s Lincoln. This body was built by Lincoln and sold for $4,400, a substantial figure that equated to exactly 10 new Ford Model A phaetons. For the Lincoln buyer’s money, he received twice as many cylinders as the Ford, a much longer wheelbase of 136 inches and a larger body for a smoother and more comfortable ride plus dual sidemounts and a folding trunk rack. As its name implies, the Lincoln Tonneau Cowl Sport Phaeton featured a cowl with a second windshield behind the front seat that was counterbalanced to ease raising and lowering and thus entry and egress of back seat passengers.
William Kendall and the 1930 Lincoln Model 176-B Tonneau Cowl Sport Phaeton as it was found in 2005 after decades of storage. The rear of the body and the back fenders, frame horns and springs were damaged from striking a police car in a long-ago get-away.
The Kendalls believe about 10 similar 1930 Lincoln Tonneau Cowl Sport Phaetons survive today. Theirs may not be the shiniest of the survivors, but they have enjoyed making the car more presentable and getting it road-ready again.

“It went from Bruno’s to a friend’s house to Mark Welch in Toledo, Ohio, to have the body, fenders and rear frame horns and rear springs straightened,” Kendall said.

“You would be amazed that he was able to get all of the dents out of the rear fenders, straighten the fenders, straighten the springs and frame horns and fix the rear of the car body without taking out the rear of the seat.”

The interior has also been cleaned, of course, and the car has been made to run so that the Kendalls can take it out whenever a drive strikes their fancy.

“We’re enjoying it as it is,” Kendall says, although he hasn’t stopped searching for confirmation of its past and possible Purple Gang connections.

“I have never taken the rear seat out and looked,” he said. “There may be cash under the seat, but I have never taken it out. I doubt there’s any money there.”