Similar in design to the 90° Ford flathead V8 introduced for 1932, the Lincoln-Zephyr H Series V-12 had a narrower 75° between cylinder banks.

Though the Zephyr V-12 no more resembled previous Lincoln engines than the ubiquitous V-8 (despite sharing the latter's stroke), it was more like a "12-cylinder Ford" than a classic multi-cylinder powerplant in character.

The main ones were inadequate crankcase ventilation that caused rapid sludge buildup in sustained low-rpm running, aggravated by poor oil flow, plus too-small water passages that led to overheating, bore warpage, and ring wear.

The V12 was eventually replaced by the InVincible 8, simply a version of the flathead V8 found on Ford's truck line.

This was resurrected after the war in 1946 (with 7.2:1 compression and 2-barrel twin-choke carburetor, rated at 130 hp (97 kW)[2] for a short time before reverting to 292 cu.