ABOVE: The object of interest during the editor’s nocturnal stroll, a 1940 Lincoln-Zephyr Continental Cabriolet.

Originally published in the November-December 2025 Lincoln and Continental Comments magazine (Issue # 387)

By Jeff Shively.  Photos courtesy of the author.

Sometimes, the night is just better. I’ve written about my love for driving after dark, a passion that dates back to my earliest days behind the wheel as a teenager over 35 years ago. I’m equally fond of nocturnal walks. My neighborhood is the perfect place for such forays: secluded, yet well-lit for safety. I can make a loop in about 40 minutes. It is the only exercise that I actually enjoy, so I do it several times weekly.

Physical health is not the only reason you might find me on foot after dark. Oftentimes, it is required to maintain my mental health. If you go outside to check on your Lincoln one evening at one of our meets, you might find me walking the show field.

I formed this habit a very long time ago. In 2004, I was in my sixth year as the director of the Indiana Region of the Cadillac & LaSalle Club. That June, we hosted the annual Grand National in South Bend, Indiana. As I recall, we had over 200 cars and 600 people, which was large for the time. I was the activities chairman for the meet, so there was a lot of stress trying to ensure that everyone had a good time and that as little as possible went haywire. In the evening, I would go down to the parking garage where most of the show cars were parked. Sometimes, I’d ride along with our security guy, a retired police officer, as he patrolled the garage and grounds on his golf cart. Other times, I would walk the same route in silence. It was a way to unwind and forget about the stress of the day.

From that day forward, I made it a habit to walk the show field, usually after the evening’s events had concluded. Today, I find that it is even more critical. While I enjoy our LCOC National Meets and CLC Grand Nationals, I am, by nature, an introvert. I make it a point to get out of my comfort zone by riding with or dining with different people as much as possible. While it is wonderful to meet new people and see old friends at these events, sometimes, it is just too much stimulation. I need to take a little time to collect myself and refocus. At that point, it’s time to grab my walking shoes, put on some music, and see what awaits outside.

The 2025 Eastern National Meet was a prime example. Like the Mid-America National Meet three months earlier, it was a great time, with lots of wonderful cars and equally wonderful people. I had visited this same hotel in June 2024 with the Cadillac & LaSalle Club. During that event, I saw very little other than the hotel grounds, not once leaving them between Tuesday and Friday. I do appreciate the somewhat looser schedule of LCOC Meets, where there is a little more room to breathe between events. That said, the Awards Dinner is a hectic time for me. National Chief Judge Dan Staehle reads the winners while John Walcek captures them on film for the Lincoln and Continental Comments. My job is to make sure the name matches the photograph. After the dinner concludes, John has the top award winners pull their cars under the front portico for more pictures.

This saves a lot of time on Sunday morning, but this does keep us hopping until 10:00 p.m. Considering that I’d been running since the Judges Breakfast 15 hours earlier, I was a bit spent by this point.

With my duties concluded for the night, I made a beeline for the show field. As it was pretty late, I needed something mellow to listen to, so it was mod-revival rocker Paul Weller’s post-Jam project, The Style Council, pumping its blue-eyed soul through my earbuds. Many cars were covered and others were already loaded onto trailers, ready for an early Sunday-morning departure, but there was plenty to see. A pair of mid-1950s Premiere Convertibles. A trio of 1970s Marks. A lone Mark II. A slab side convertible. The car that I most wanted to see was still there—Paul Willson’s 1940 Lincoln-Zephyr Continental Cabriolet. As readers of this column know, 1940 is my second-favorite year for the Continental, right after 1963. I had enjoyed talking with Paul earlier about his car. There is something magical about the combination of street lamps and moonlight on these cars. I photographed it from every angle, allowing the limited illumination to create a study of light and shadow.

Some time later, I found myself sitting on a bench, not far from the hotel’s entrance. I’d put the appropriately titled “Walking the Night” on repeat and then just soaked in the sounds. Sunday would be a long day, requiring me to cover 650 miles in under 11 hours to get home in time for dinner. When I awoke the next morning, I was refreshed and ready for the journey ahead, thanks in part to the previous night’s nocturnal stroll.

Reference: The Style Council. “Walking the Night.” From the album The Cost of Loving. Polydor. (1987).

Jeff Shively, Lincoln and Continental Comments editor, lives in Kokomo, Indiana.