For some reason, and we can think of none other than the inherently smooth styling, in recent years Lincoln Zephyrs have come from "nowhere" to the forefront of enthusiast car lore and stardom. For decades Lincoln Zephyrs were regarded as "just another old car". Then SCRAPE appeared with outrageous styling and and toured the nation for several years, exhibiting at several Concours d'elegance where "hot rods" are generally not permitted. It started the whole trend in street rods and customs of lowering the rocker panels on the pavement. In August 2000 the DECO RIDES 1939 Lincoln Zephyr amazed everyone when Robert E. Petersen paid $275,000 for the car at the RM Auction at the Doubletree Hotel in Monterey, one of the top prices achieved at that sale. It was possibly the highest price paid at auction, at that time, for a hot rod or custom car. The impact of that car, and the high price resulted in unmodified and custom Zephyrs, and Zephyr parts, suddenly commanding record prices at the collector car auctions and swap meets. It seemed that overnight prices of Lincoln Zephyrs had doubled!
Immediately recognized and known around the world, the SCRAPE Zephyr inspired car builders in Japan and Germany to build "clones" of the car. Boyd Coddington took a sketch Terry Cook did for him on a napkin at the 1999 SEMA Show in Las Vegas and built a slippery fastback "LEAD ZEPHYR" for Tony Pisano of CT. Roger O'Dell of Canyon Lake, CA built another equally fantastic 1938 Zephyr fastback with elegant European coach building lines. In January 2004 at the famed Barrett-Jackson Auction on ESPN SPEEDVISION, another custom Lincoln Zephyr coupe, thought by many to have been influenced by "SCRAPE" in design, sold for a record $432,000. At that highly prestigious auction with approximately 750 cars going across the auction block, that was the highest sale price of the weekend, placing higher than a pair of original 1955 Mercedes Benz Gullwings!
When Mattel came out with a HOT WHEELS of the SCRAPE Zephyr, it immediately became one of the most popular choices in the world of micro-customizing. In January 2005, Masters Entertainment announced that Eddie Rochelle's TN based DECO RIDES Lincoln Zephyr coupe won their prestigious 2004 STREET ROD OF THE YEAR Award out of thousands of possible choices on their STREET RODDER TELEVISION program. The car was painstakingly built by Rich Brandl of Superior Custom Classics in Hudson, FL.