In this Lincoln history, we briefly look at the origin, models, information, and facts about the Lincoln car brand.
The Lincoln brand, previously called Lincoln Motor Company, is an American luxury automaker under the Ford Motor Company.
It is revered as one of the top American luxury brands that consistently competes with General Motor’s luxury brand, Cadillac, leading to the long-standing American Lincoln vs. Cadillac deliberation.
Over the years, the Lincoln brand has been known for its luxury and reliability, offering comfort and adequate interior space in all its brands.
To further ensure the brand’s significance, among others, commendable efforts have been placed on a wide production range, manufacturing and selling crossovers, SUVs, and luxury sedans.
The Lincoln Brand has decisively launched itself as a leading player in the automotive industry, basing its success on the outlandish design of its models.
They feature cutting-edge technologies like advanced infotainment systems, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and Roll Stability Control (RSC).
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Lincoln Brand Information
- Year Founded: 1917
- Founder: Henry Leland
- Headquarters: Dearborn, Michigan, U.S
- Parent Company: Ford Motor Company (1922–present)
- Group Vice President: Joy Falotico
- Website: lincoln.com
- Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Lincoln History
Cadillac’s founder Henry M. Leland founded the Lincoln Brand in 1917 as Lincoln Motor Company.
This private automotive company manufactured aircraft engines for the American military, earning its name after the sixteenth American President, Abraham Lincoln.
Leland had used funds he received from a $10 million investment for V12 aircraft engines as his company’s capital.
The company released its first car, the Lincoln Model L, in 1920 as a sole competitor to Cadillac.
Switching from military-equipment production to automobiles negatively affected Lincoln after the Model L’s release, prompting the Ford Motor Company to acquire it in 1922 for $8 million when it filed for bankruptcy.
The Lincoln Motor Company had struggled to deliver vehicles due to low production output.
Still, its brand’s production output after Ford’s acquisition upped by 45% within a year, comfortably supplying its customers in varying body styles as they operated as an entity.
In 1931, the Lincoln Model K replaced the Model L and soon became an up-front competitor to Cadillac’s 355 Chrysler.
The V12 motor was exclusively introduced in 1932 to firmly establish Lincoln models among top American brands, becoming the first to produce vehicles with V12s only.
The Lincoln Continental, manufactured for Edsel Ford, became a turnaround in Lincoln’s history, carrying a non-boxy look synonymous with previous Lincoln models and attracting substantial interest from potential buyers.
Most American luxury car manufacturers to reorganize or close following the Great Economic Depression, coercing the Ford Motor Company to reorganize Lincoln as one of its divisions in 1940.
The new Ford luxury brand division replaced the Model K with the Zephyr and publicly released the Continental.
After World War II, during which production had been suspended, the Lincoln-Mercury line was introduced, replacing Lincoln.
The EL-series re-introduced V8 engines and implemented the new pontoon styling.
In 1956, the Lincoln-Mercury line was rebranded into the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln brand, introducing a flagship label for Lincoln with its first release.
The Lincoln Continental Mark II was released in 1956, initiating the Continental Mark series that ended in 1959 after the Lincoln Continental Mark IV’s release.
However, Ford’s financial trouble forced the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln Brand to merge all its model lines to Lincoln Continental.
The Continental maintained the same design for many years until 1970 when its design was reviewed.
Soon after, the Lincoln Town Car and Versailles were released; the latter lacked prominence and was discontinued after two years.
The Mark V resumed the Continental Mark series with lots of redesigns and achieved commercial success.
In the ’80s, the Lincoln brand competed for less in the luxury class, rivaling Japanese and European brands instead of American due to its deficiency in emissions control, trouble downsizing, and fuel efficiency.
The Continental line underwent a complete overhaul, coming as the lightest version in engine and body design aspects but with a 40% improved fuel economy.
The Town Car began experiencing sales increase as Cadillac’s sales declined, a feat attributed to the substantial changes the brand underwent.
In 1988, its engine became a 3.8-liter V6 with a front-wheel-drive configuration with dual airbags, becoming the first American sedan to come with this feature as a standard.
The Continental became more upgraded, and the Navigator was released — the latter being the first Lincoln SUV.
The Lincoln Navigator became a competing SUV in the luxury division, generating substantially increased overall sales for the Lincoln brand as the twentieth century concluded.
The twenty-first century began with the Mark series’ discontinuation and LS mid-size sedan’s introduction; the Navigator experienced more focus, and the Blackwood truck was introduced.
The early twenty-first century inclusions were relatively unsuccessful, with the LS sedan and Blackwood’s discontinuation a few years later.
The MKZ and MKX crossover was introduced in 2006, and the MKS full-size sedan was introduced in 2009.
The Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln brand was rebranded again in 2012 and was renamed as the Lincoln.
The MKC compact crossover was released in 2015 and became the brand’s first vehicle with an exclusive four-cylinder engine, while the Navigator’s engine became V6 exclusively.
In 2018, the Navigator’s overhaul, the Black Label, has become Ford’s most expensive non-GT car, and the Lincoln had since been Ford’s only luxury nameplate.
Lincoln Logo History
Lincoln’s logo, widely known as the Lincoln star, symbolizes the brand’s long-standing radiance and luxury.
Lincoln Facts
1. The Lincoln brand was named after the 16th United States’ President, Abraham Lincoln
2. The Lincoln and Cadillac Brands share the same founder, Henry M. Leland
3. Lincoln has produced more limousines for the United States’ Presidents than any other automaker.
4. The Lincoln has been a Ford division since 1922, making it one of Ford’s long-standing brands.
Current Lincoln Models
The following is a list of current Lincoln models vehicle categories and years of production.
- Lincoln Navigator, Full-size SUV, 1998–present
- Lincoln Nautilus, Mid-size two-row crossover SUV, 2019–present
- Lincoln Aviator, Mid-size three-row crossover SUV, 2020–present
- Lincoln Corsair, Compact crossover SUV, 2020–present
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