Lincoln Motor Company is a luxury car brand belonging to the Ford Motor Company group and was marketed with Mercury until its disappearance in 2011.
It was founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac. Henry had left the Cadillac division of General Motors during World War I and formed the Lincoln Motor Company to build engines for Liberty aircraft, and after the war, the company's factories were re-equipped for automobile manufacturing. During this transition the company had severe financial problems, so it was purchased in 1922 by Ford Motor Company, which still owns and manufactures automobiles under the Lincoln brand in the former Lincoln-Mercury division. The purchase of Lincoln was a personal triumph for Ford, which had been forced out of its second company by a group of investors led by Leland. Ironically that company was later renamed Cadillac.
In 1927 Lincoln adopted the figure of a dog as his emblem, which would later be replaced by a star, which is the emblem that is still in use.
In 1936, Lincoln introduced the Lincoln Zephyr, which was a sportier design. Zephyr almost became a distinct brand instead of just a model, and production was discontinued in 1942.
From the 1939 Zephyr Edsel Ford began his efforts to create the Lincoln Continental, which would eventually become the most important model made by Lincoln. This started as an Edsel Ford project to create a car to drive while on vacation in Florida. Edsel wanted a European-style car with a different shape than the boxy designs his father's company produced. The Continental proved popular and plans for its production and sale were approved.
The Continental Mark II was the revival of the concept. This vehicle was produced by the Continental division from April 1955 to July 1956 before it returned to the Lincoln brand. The Mark II had a base price of $10,000, currently $70,000 considering inflation, and this model had a feature much imitated by other American luxury cars: The spare wheel was hidden by a molding on the trunk lid.
The newly created Edsel division was merged with Lincoln-Mercury in January 1958 to form the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln division until Edsel was discontinued in 1960.
As mentioned, the Lincoln Continental became Lincoln's flagship model until in 1981, the Lincoln Town Car took its place.
On December 3, 2012, Ford changed the name of Lincoln to The Lincoln Motor Company due to the cancellation of Mercury.
To help differentiate Lincoln-branded products from Ford-branded products, Ford established dedicated design, product development and sales teams for its premium Lincoln brand.
Lincoln Continental 1961-1969
The 1969-1969 Lincoln Continental is the fourth generation of the model produced between 1961 and 1969, and was designed by Ford Vice President of Design Elwood Engel.
By mid-1958, Lincoln was in conflict with Cadillac and the future of the division was in jeopardy. Elwood, on the other hand, developed a proposal for the 1961 Ford Thunderbird in 1958 with employees Howard Payne and John Orfe. While the proposal was not selected for the Thunderbird, the design interested Ford executives to the point of desiring the vehicle as a four-door Lincoln.
At the time of approval, Ford product planners reached two key conclusions to restore profitability to the Lincoln Division. First, Lincoln would adopt a model other than Ford or Mercury, Second, the 1958 Lincoln model line was too large for a standard-length sedan; consequently, the 1961 Lincoln would have to decrease its exterior footprint.
In 1961, the new Continental goes on sale slightly modified by Robert McNamara. In this generation the length of the car varied two feet less. For this time they were only sold in four-door sedan and convertible bodies.
For 1964, the rear seats were upgraded to provide more room for the occupants. In 1965 disc brakes were fitted to improve braking. And finally a 2-door version was produced in 1966 (a first for Lincoln since 1960), its engine was increased from 430 to 462 cubic inches, and the headlights were re-integrated into the front bumper, as with the rear ones.
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