NAIT students restoring 1951 Lincoln Cosmopolitan that carried Queen Elizabeth II on Canada tour

It’s a restoration project for the ages; students from NAIT Patricia campus will spend the next several months applying all they’ve learned from their educators to bring a 1951 Lincoln cosmopolitan back to its former glory.

The 1951 Lincoln cosmopolitan is a classic for more than just its age, this particular  one was driven by the late queen Elizabeth the second, back when she was just a princess and on a tour of Canada that crossed through Edmonton that same year.

Edmonton businessman Ryan Lyons, dropped off the car for a refreshed paint job, after it sat in a personal collection for decades.

“As of right now, they’ve just stripped it, prepared it for the initial coatings and put on some sprayable body filler,” said Cecile Bukmeier, Program Chair, auto body, northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Bukmeier says most of the vehicles that come through the shop are typically more modern to make lessons more relevant, but in this case, it was too valuable an experience to pass on.

“This is the type of car that they’re going to see possibly at a car show or later on, and they’ll always have that memorable experience, and our hope is to really start to grow that passion for the industry,” said Bukmeier.

This is one of two Lincolns that carried the queen, then princess, through Alberta in 1951, and two classes of 15-20 students have had their hands on the ride, but the number of students could grow to 60.

A project like this would typically take between a month or two for work to be complete but this has a timeline of nearly a year due to the age of the vehicle, and the technology available at the time.

“There wasn’t a lot of surprises when we started stripping the paint off, but it was a unique opportunity for the students,” said Ryan Pomedli, Instructor, auto body, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

The royal restoration is expected to be complete ahead of the school’s car show in June.