1955 Lincoln Indianapolis by Boano

Felice Mario Boano and his coachworks may be little known but the influence that he, his son Gian Paolo and their companies had on the evolution of modern automotive design is vastly out of proportion to their size.

by Carl Bomstead

Felice Mario Boano and his coachworks may be little known but the influence that he, his son Gian Paolo and their companies had on the evolution of modern automotive design is vastly out of proportion to their size.

In the post-war Italian economy, which was struggling to rebuild from the devastation of World War II, coachbuilders recognized that an alliance with the intact, powerful, and rich American automotive industry was the key to survival. Boano, through a well-placed friend who worked at Ford, arranged to build a futuristic design on a Ford chassis. Ford supplied a Lincoln chassis and Boano embarked upon a fast-track project to complete the car in time for presentation at the 1955 Turin Motor Show, the coachbuilders’ preeminent showcase.

After its appearance at the 1955 Turin Motor Show the Indianapolis was shipped to the United States, consigned not to Ford but to Henry Ford II. It is believed that he gave the car to Errol Flynn. The...