05/10/2026
This Mother’s Day, we’re sharing the story of a mother whose determination, independence, and lifelong bond with her son became permanently intertwined with one extraordinary automobile. Learn more about this Willoughby-bodied 1929 Lincoln and its time with the Stein family.
Emma Stein was not a woman content to be carried along by circumstance. Born into wealth, married into greater wealth, and ultimately forced to reclaim her independence, she navigated the rigid expectations of turn-of-the-century society with resolve—and a keen eye for automobiles.
Born Emma Elizabeth Bruacher, the daughter of a wealthy New York wine merchant, Emma was a New York socialite who attracted the affections of Alexander Stein. Stein was the son of Conrad Stein Sr., who founded the Conrad Stein Brewery in 1867. Emma and Alexander were married in 1891. By this time, both Alexander and his brother Conrad Jr. were officers in the brewery, which became hugely successful. When Conrad Sr. passed in 1900, he left behind an estate worth about $5,000,000 (about $193,000,000 today) to be split between both sons with provisions for the care of their mother. In 1901, the brewery was re-incorporated as Conrad Stein Sons Brewery, before they sold the business in 1904 to the Lion Brewery.
The sale of the business left both men tremendously wealthy and Alexander, then just 38, announced his plans to retire to a life of leisure. Relocating his family, now including his son Alexander Jr. (who would go by Alex), the Steins moved to a lavish Byram Shore waterfront estate in Greenwich, Connecticut.
It could be said that Alexander’s plans for a “life of leisure” were anything but. Alexander was an avid outdoorsman, with a penchant for speed and excitement. Alexander's erratic behavior with fi****ms on the estate became a part of local lore and he busied himself for several years building and testing a series of high-powered speed launches that he kept docked on the water at the estate. By 1910, Emma had had enough. She removed herself and her young son from the household, retreating to a neighboring mansion owned by her sister. In 1911, she filed for divorce, citing Alexander’s “habitual intemperance”—a phrase that carried considerable weight in polite society. While the exact details of the settlement are not known, the divorce left Emma extremely wealthy and in full custody of their son. Sadly, Alexander Sr. would die unexpectedly two years later at the age of 47 while aboard the S/S Kleist, en route back to the US from Europe. Emma would never remarry, and her son Alex would remain by her side for the rest of her life.
Throughout the 1920s, Emma kept a series of open Locomobiles for transportation. In 1929, Emma made a decisive shift—abandoning open touring cars in favor of a fully enclosed automobile better suited to comfort and privacy. That year, she acquired a new Lincoln for Alex to use to chauffeur her around Byram Shore. Purchasing a 1929 Lincoln Model L chassis from Bennett Motors of New Rochelle, NY, Mrs. Stein contracted with the Willoughby Company in Utica, NY to design and construct a custom limousine body for her new Lincoln. At the time, Willoughby was among the most respected custom coachbuilders of the classic era, with influential clients ranging from the Rockefellers to Presidents Coolidge and Hoover. Mrs. Stein had several design requests for her new Lincoln, including a rear-mounted spare tire, a roof-mounted luggage rack, built-in custom walnut trim and cabinetry behind the front seats, and revisions to the driver’s compartment, including a heater with her comfort—and Alex’s while chauffeuring her—in mind. Mrs. Stein paid $7,527.80 for her new Lincoln, roughly the equivalent of buying fifteen 1929 Model A Fords.
Once the car was completed and delivered, Alex Stein would dutifully chauffeur his mother with it until her death in 1951 at the age of 81. According to Orris H. (Bob) Stark, a friend of Alex who would become the Lincoln’s second owner after Alex’s death in 1978, Alex kept the Lincoln in the garage at the Byram Shore estate for the rest of his life. Alex never married, recounting to Bob that every time he became interested in a new woman, his mother would decide it was time to take another extended tour of Europe. A car enthusiast himself, Alex kept and occasionally drove the collection of other cars his mother had acquired over the years including a couple of Rolls-Royces and Locomobiles, but the Lincoln remained on blocks in one of the estate’s garages until Alex died.
The CCCA Museum is just the third caretaker of this incredibly original and unrestored Lincoln, as Bob donated it to the museum in 1998, along with a large and valuable archive of original paperwork that documents the vehicle’s provenance. On the surface, the car is simply a beautiful and very original custom-bodied Lincoln, but below the surface the stories of a family’s history and an enduring bond between a mother and her son are a permanent part of the car's legacy.
