Lincoln History

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59lincolnrag
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Lincoln History

Post by 59lincolnrag » Fri 2. Jul 2010, 15:33

History

Since 1921, Lincoln has been an icon of the American power elite. The Lincoln brand quickly became known for its unique comfort and luxury. Lincoln continues to capture the American spirit to this day with its world-class luxury vehicles and remains a leader in the American luxury automobile market.

Unknown to most, Lincoln was started by Henry M. Leland, the founder of Cadillac. The company was founded in August 1917 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac (originally the Henry Ford Company). He left the Cadillac division of General Motors during World War I and formed the Lincoln Motor Company to build Liberty aircraft engines with his son Wilfred. After the war, the company's factories were retooled to manufacture luxury automobiles.
General Motors purchased Cadillac from Henry M. Leland for $5.5 million in 1909. Henry M. Leland is invited to continue operating Cadillac, which he does until 1917, when he decides to form Lincoln Motor Co. The company encountered severe financial troubles during the transition, coupled with body styling that wasn't comparable to other luxury makers, and after having produced only 150 cars in 1922, was forced into bankruptcy and sold for USD $8,000,000 to the Ford Motor Company on February 4 1922, which went to pay off some of the creditors. The purchase of Lincoln was a personal triumph for Henry Ford, who had been forced out of his second (after Detroit Automobile Company) company by a group of investors led by Leland. Ford's company, renamed Cadillac in 1902 and purchased by rival General Motors in 1909, was Lincoln's chief competitor. Lincoln quickly became one of America's top selling luxury brands alongside Cadillac and Packard.
After the Ford takeover, bodywork changes and reduced prices increased sales to 5,512 vehicles from March to December of 1922.
In 1923, several body styles were introduced, that included two- and three-window, four door sedans and a phaeton that accommodated four passengers. They also offered a two passenger roadster and a seven passenger touring sedan and limousine, which was sold for $5,200. A sedan, limo, cabriolet and town car were also offered by coachbuilders Fleetwood, and a second cabriolet was offered by coachbuilder Brunn. Prices for the vehicles built by these coachbuilders went for as much as $7,200, and despite the limited market appeal, Lincoln sales rose about 45 percent to produce 7,875 cars and the company was operating at a profit by the end of 1923.
1924 saw the introduction of large touring sedans used by police departments around the country. They were known as Police Flyers, which were equipped with four wheel brakes, two years before they were introduced on private sale vehicles. These specially equipped vehicles, with bullet proof windshields measuring 7/8 of an inch thick and spot lights mounted on the ends of the windshield, also came with an automatic windshield wiper for the driver and a hand operated wiper for the front passenger. Police whistles were coupled to the exhaust system and gun racks were also fitted to these vehicles.
Five years later, for just $8 million dollars, Ford Motor Company bought Lincoln Motor Company from Henry M. Leland. Lincoln became the first "outsider" to join the Ford family of brands and began Ford Motor Company's beginning as the manufacturer of an American luxury automobile icon.
In 1927, Lincoln adopted the greyhound as their emblem, which was later replaced with diamond that is currently in use.
In 1932, Lincoln introduced the V12-powered KB. The same year, Eugene T. "Bob" Gregorie (1908-2002), at the styling studio created by Edsel Ford, began designing what became the Continental, eventually the most important car made by Lincoln. It started as a one-off project car for Edsel, who wanted a European-style car unlike the boxier designs his father's company produced, to drive around on vacations in Florida.
The Zephyr gave Gregorie his chance. Introduced for the 1936 model year, the sportier Zephyr featured a 4.4 liter V12, and was so successful it almost became a brand name, rather than just a model. Its first year increased Lincoln sales almost nine-fold. Gregorie simply sectioned a 1938 Zephyr Coupé (4"), allowing most of the existing dies and tooling to be retained, adding the hallmark vertically-mounted spare tire. This became the Continental, eventually the most important car made by Lincoln; by the time it ended production in 1948, 5322 were built, almost entirely by hand. The Zephyr, on which it was based, stopped production in early 1942 when Ford converted to war work, and was not revived. The Continental's spare tire mount was so distinctive, those who work on custom cars still call adding a similar mount a "Continental kit".
The Continental Mark II revived the concept. It was produced by the short-lived Continental division from April 1955 to July 1956 before it was returned to the Lincoln marque. The Mark II had a basic list price of $10,000, the same as a Rolls-Royce that year. The Edsel division merged with Lincoln-Mercury in January 1958 to form the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln division until the Edsel was discontinued in 1960.
The Continental became Lincoln's flagship model until 1981 when the Town Car, previously the Continental's top trim level, became its own model and took over that role.
2002 Lincoln Blackwood
1959 Lincoln Continental Coupe blk on blk
430 Tri-Power Super Marauder
1959 Lincoln Continental Convertible wht on wht
2006 Lincoln Town Car

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59lincolnrag
Air Education & Training Command
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Posts: 217
Joined: Wed 24. Dec 2008, 06:03
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Re: hot rod Lincoln

Post by 59lincolnrag » Sun 22. Aug 2010, 06:50

2002 Lincoln Blackwood
1959 Lincoln Continental Coupe blk on blk
430 Tri-Power Super Marauder
1959 Lincoln Continental Convertible wht on wht
2006 Lincoln Town Car

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