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2012 Current Models

Mid-Size Luxury Sedan

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Full-Size Luxury Sedan

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Mid-Size Luxury Crossover

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Full-Size Luxury Crossover

MKT

Full-Size Luxury SUV

Navigator

Lincoln is an American luxury automobile brand, operated under the Ford Motor Company. Founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland and acquired by Ford in 1922, Lincoln has been manufacturing vehicles intended for the upscale markets since the 1920s. Lincoln's prevalent competitor Cadillac, was also founded by Henry M. Leland having acquired the assets of the Henry Ford Company, Ford's second company. While Lincoln was the best selling luxury marque in the United States for an extended period of time, Lincoln lost ground to its competitors, from both imported luxury marques like Lexus and Infiniti, and from the Ford Motor Company's own foreign luxury brands.

To combat this relative slide in sales Lincoln has undergone a complete renewal of its line-up, and even recently unveiled three new models, the redesigned 2010 MKZ sport sedan, the all-new 2009 and upgraded for 2010 MKS luxury sedan, and the all-new MKT full-size touring crossover.

Classic History

1931 Lincoln with greyhound hood-ornament

30s Lincoln front half detail

1937 Lincoln Zephyr

The company was founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac (built on the remains of the Henry Ford Company), left the Cadillac division of General Motors during World War I and formed the Lincoln Motor Company to build Liberty aircraft engines. After the war, the company's factories were retooled to manufacture luxury automobiles.

The company encountered severe financial troubles during the transition, and was consequently bought by Ford Motor Company in 1922, following Edsel Ford's push for sports and luxury cars among the Ford Motor Company, and much against the will of Henry Ford who still favoured traditionnal approach of the industry. But the purchase of Lincoln was also a personal triumph for the Ford patriarch, who had been forced out of his second failed company, the Henry Ford Company (not to be confused with the Ford Motor Company), by a group of investors led by Leland in 1902. Ford's company, renamed Cadillac in 1902 and purchased by rival General Motors in 1909, also happened to be Lincoln's chief competitor. Lincoln quickly became one of America's top selling luxury brands alongside Cadillac and Packard and in 1927, Lincoln adopted the greyhound as the emblem to be featured as their hood ornament, symbolising stamina, speed and beauty.

In 1931, Lincoln introduced the K-series line of luxury cars, as a successor to the L-series which had represented the bulk of Lincoln's range throughout the 1920's. The same year, Eugene T. "Bob" Gregorie (1908-2002), was hired by Edsel Ford to work in the newly founded Design department of the Ford Motor Company. He was tasked with personally putting into sketches the new President and son of Henry Ford's modern ideas on automotive styling, and more particularly at Lincoln. Indeed, the brand was Edsel Ford's protégé and a laboratory for new ideas and new orientations for the Ford Motor Company.

In 1932, the K-series line was extended, as the base V8-powered cars became the Model KA and a new V12 option was made available as the Model KB. Throughout its product cycle, the line-up kept going upmarket as in 1933 the base V8 was replaced by a smaller V12 engine, while for 1934 both the Model KA and Model KB adopted an evolution of the latter's engine. The two models were then only differentiated by their wheelbase, and for 1935 they naturally merged again to become K-series again and continued practically unchanged until the end of production in 1940.

In 1936, a year after Bob Gregorie was promoted at the head of the Design department, Lincoln extended its offer with the acclaimed introduction of the smaller, entry-luxury Lincoln Zephyr. This would effectively be a turning point in the history of the brand.

The Lincoln Zephyr

More than a new type of offer in the Lincoln range, the Zephyr was an all-around new kind of car, as it incorporated aerodynamic cues such as integrated fenders and raked windshield, pioneered by the ill-fated Chrysler Airflow a couple of years before. Penned by Gregorie and external designer John Tjaarda, its design had been hinted at in a concept-car commissioned by Edsel Ford for the Century of Progress Exhibition held in Chicago in 1933-1934. The name of the car itself was tied to this exhibition and the emerging of the modern and "jet" ages, as the Zephyr was a streamlined train presented there alongside Ford's "Dream Car" concept. Also, and unsurprisingly, John Tjaarda was particularly interested in the design of airplanes while Bob Gregorie was a boat designer as well, first as an amateur and later in his career as a professional. This could only lead to the Zephyr's iconic design, reinforced in 1938 by the just as iconic "bow-wave" grille, and which would be recognized later by the Museum of Modern Art itself.

Technically, the lower, smaller and sportier Zephyr featured an all-new 4.4 liter (267ci) V12 producing 110bhp, and was so successful in spite mechanical shortcomings that it almost became a brand name, rather than just a model of the Lincoln brand. Its first year drew much needed traffic to Lincoln dealerships and increased sales dramatically, with about 15 000 sales for the Zephyr alone. That figure represented an impressive 80% of Lincoln's numbers.

In addition to the commercial and image success brought by the Zephyr, the introduction of the car also marked a turning point of Lincoln's history as it would directly spawn the Continental line, which remained for decades the marque's most illustrious nameplate. It started as a one-off coach-built car commissioned by Edsel B. Ford, who wanted a European-style automobile unlike the boxier designs his father's company traditionnally produced, to drive around on vacations in Florida. The Zephyr gave Bob Gregorie, who had already designed two custom cars for Edsel Ford since his arrival, his chance to once again turn Lincoln around.

Gregorie reportedly sketched the new convertible car in an hour, working from the Zephyr's base: he simply channeled and sectioned a 1938 Coupé 10cm (4"), allowing most of the existing dies and tooling to be retained (a trick that would be repeated to create the 1953 Buick Skylark out of a two-door Roadmaster), adding the hallmark vertically-mounted spare tire at the back. The Lincoln Continental was born; 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 after production of automobiles was resumed.

The Post-War Era

Edsel B. Ford died unexpectedly in 1943, at the young age of 49. While this event had consequences on the Ford Motor Company at large, it had particular consequences for the Lincoln brand. Indeed, after the death of Edsel, Henry Ford assumed the Presidency of the group once again, and had to deal with a difficult financial situation and his own health problems at the same time, leaving the Lincoln brand on the side, deemed unnecessary. Things did not change when he was relieved in 1945 by his grandson Henry Ford II, who shared the same very traditional vision of the automotive industry, and departed further from Edsel Ford's flashier ideas as he hired conservative financial advisors like Robert McNamara. Lincoln's famed designer Eugene "Bob" Gregorie also left the company in 1945, following disagreements with Henry Ford II and other top executives.

The Continental line was discontinued in 1948, and for 1949 the line-up was made of two V8-powered full-size vehicles, the Lincoln and the Lincoln Cosmopolitan sedans. These two cars differed only in amenities and wheelbase, sharing the same basic styling cues although the top-of-the-line Cosmopolitan offered a six-window fastback sedan called the "Town Sedan". This toning-down of the Lincoln line-up and identity can be associated with the change of leadership at the head of the Ford Motor Company, which did an entire reshuffling of Edsel Ford's Lincoln and Mercury luxury marques, the latter having actually been created from scratch by Edsel Ford. This reshuffling had consequences on the class of cars provided by 1949 line-ups as well as on the positionning of Mercury on the market as a step-down from Lincoln and not a step-up from Ford. Quite interestingly, 1949 also saw the two brands merged into the one Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford.

Nevertheless, Lincoln started losing ground to Cadillac and Chrysler's luxury offerings, new in terms of cars and segments for 1949 with the creation of the "hard-top convertible". To catch up with the competiton, Lincoln released in late 1950 the entry-luxury Lincoln Lido and top-end trim level Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri, which with their vinyl-padded roofs appear as the ancestors to the successful Landau-roofed vehicles of the 1960's and 1970's. These late introductions, less refined than their competitors, didn't bring a significant increase to Lincoln's irregular sales, which varied from 73,000 units in 1949, to a dismal 28,000 in 1950 and a peak above 32,000 for 1951.

In 1952 the Lincolns were all new and more distinctive, with a focus on amenities and quality unseen in the previous range of vehicles zhich brought sales back to 42,000 units in 1953. The post-war generic crest-like emblem was replaced by a first version of the Northern star graphic, and trim levels changed to the base Cosmopolitan and top-end Capri, while both shared an all-new and modern V8 engine that brought many racing successes in the Panamericana, bringing Lincoln back to the brand's credentials as wanted by Edsel Ford. 1955 saw major redesigns in Detroit, but not at the Ford Motor Company, who only tweaked the Lincolns' powertrain, design and trim levels, with the suppression of the Cosmopolitan in favour of Custom. Sales dropped to 27,000 due to aging models for 1955.

On a corporate side note, 1955 saw the reintroduction of the Continental line in the form of a division of its own within the Ford Motor Company, and with a single model, but what a model: the Continental Mark II, which introduced the Lincoln star emblem.

Things changed quite a bit for Lincoln in 1956 with an all-new range of vehicles that were longer, larger and wider though with a subtle yet luxurious interpretation of the era's most famous design cues, such as capped headlights, wraparound windscreen and ornate rear-end. To keep on with the persistant push to bring the line-up upmarket, the previously top-end trim level, Capri, once again became the base model while a new Premiere luxury model was introduced. Engine power was also upping the ante, with the joint introduction of a big block V8 that brought the horsepower from 205 to 285. The delayed introduction of an all-new model proved to be an advantage for Lincoln, whose sales soared to more than 50,000 cars that year. Also of importance that year is the joining of the Continental division with the Lincoln division, though the two lines remained separate and only shared dealer and maintenance networks.

To build on that momentum, Lincoln redesigned the range in 1957 to the standards of the era, adding tailfins and stacked dual headlamps to the entire series, and introducing the Landau model, Lincoln's first four-door "hardtop" sedan. Although sales stabilized at 41,000 in part due to a significant increase in price, Lincoln was still ahead of Chrysler's Imperial division, yet far behind Cadillac.

1958 would be the year of big changes at the Ford Motor Company, and Lincoln hoped to close in on the competition soon.

The 1958 Recession

The 1958 model year brought about a big reshuffling for the Ford Motor Company's upmarket and luxury cars, both in terms of new products and contradictory business decisions made by executives such as Robert McNamara. Indeed, starting with the new this was the year the Edsel line was introduced, at first as its own division alongside Lincoln-Mercury, then as part of the latter under the name of the short-lived Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln division (MEL). The Continental division was canceled despite the Continental Mark II's prestige, and its brand identity finally merged with and infused in the Lincoln brand: the nameplates and emblems were transfered to Lincoln.

In spite of the Edsel line's complex reasons for failure that might have brought Ford management to consolidate its upmarket brands, these moves again reflect the difference of vision between the late Edsel B. Ford (who had bought Lincoln against his father's will, created the Mercury marque himself, and pushed for luxury and sports cars) and Ford's management of then, that is to say Henry Ford II (who worked alongside his grandfather Henry Ford and shared the idea that the Ford Motor Company was first and foremost the Ford brand, with no need for others) and advisors like Robert McNamara, who had been hired to cut costs and met Henry Ford II's dislike for multiple divisions and giving important means to luxury brands (unlike General Motors and Cadillac).

Actually, it all comes together with what the 1955 E-car programme (which turned out to be Edsel) was supposed to be: Edsel was meant to slot in against Oldsmobile and Pontiac, thus pushing Mercury upmarket to meet Buick, and sending Lincoln on orbit against Cadillac. The Continental division had been seen as an independent halo car, a total added value against General Motors. As we now know, things did not turn out this way, the Continental division was canceled, the Edsel division tanked, and Lincoln ended up being sent against Cadillac's Series 62/6200 in 1958 in the midst of a terrible industrial recession.

This flash recession being unforeseeable for Ford's engineers, the 1958 Lincoln line was entirely new and aiming high: it switched to unit-body construction, sported a bold and ornate design, as well an impressive new engine and massive proportions that made it 6 inches longer than the already upsized 1957 models, but most importantly even bigger than the Cadillac for 1958. Style-wise, the 1958 Lincolns were a trio of square-lined formal sedans, whose most striking cues were concave front wheel arches sculpted on the length of the front fenders, stacked and slanted headlights, and most of all chromed fins on all four corners: on the rear bumpers, on the top of the rear fenders and twice on the flared front bumpers, while the tip of the slanted headlights formed yet another pair. The engine throughout the line was an all new and massive 7L V8 that developped 375bhp, 50 more than the Cadillac's 6.4L V8. The Lincoln sported helicoidal rear suspensions for the first time, which helped getting the car praised for its handling, but the unitbody construction was not fully mastered then and the car had to have its frame reinforced, adding up to an already impressive weight.

For once, the trim levels remained the same, with the base model Capri, the mid-range Premiere, and the introduction of a Continental Mark III formal sedan as the top of the line. That particular model tried to build on the prestige of the famed Continental Mark II, but was just a Premiere sedan with additional chrome trim, Lincoln star emblems and hood ornament instead of the Northern star. The only structural change was that it sported a slanted Breezeway sliding rear-window, a feature actually introduced the previous year on lower Mercury models.

In spite of all the investments made to catch up with General Motor's, Ford's finest did not fare well at all in the context of the 1958 recession, as buyers were turning to slightly smaller, more sedate and more economical vehicles. The prestige of the Continental Mark II also failed to transfer to the Lincoln Continental Mark III sedan, and sales were divided by half. As often said about Edsel, and rightfully so for the 1958 Lincoln as well, the aim was right but the target had moved.

The competition had actually moved with it too, with both Cadillac and Imperial toning down their styling for 1958, and once again surpassing Lincoln. The brand's sales were down to a rock-bottom 28,000 units by 1959, compared to Cadillac's 142,000 units.

The 1958 line-up remained practically unchanged throughout its run, only seeing minor cosmetic tweaks to the grille year after year. As far as trim levels went, the base Capri became just Lincoln for 1959, and the top of the line Lincoln Continental Mark III turned to a Mark IV as it began to offer for the first time a "Town Car" model that replaced the Breezeway rearscreen by a conventional padded roof, the beginning of a long tradition of Lincoln. It also introduced an impressive set of "jet-like" bumpers.

For 1960, the Lincoln Continental Mark IV evolved into a Mark V model, yet the design was simplified throughout the brand with conventional bumpers, new side moldings and rooflines, a detuned engine but these changes were late, and sales even dropped lower than 1959.

Needless to say, judging from the numbers, Lincoln's prime seemed to be past, particularly in the eyes of Henry Ford II and Robert McNamara, who already did not value the existence of Lincoln very much: as the Edsel brand was abruptly canceled in 1960 and its models diverted to other brands of the Company, the Lincoln brand came close to following the same path, Ford managers prefering to capitalize on the Ford division's own luxury and upmarket offerings like the Thunderbird, which had been successfully redesigned for 1958, in stark contrast with Lincoln's fairings.

However, amidst that turmoil, once again a specific model would come, powered by the need of complete renewal for the roaring 1960's, and turn Lincoln around, with unprecedented success.

The 1961 Lincoln Continental

(Work in progress)

The 1970's, Era of the Continentals and Marks

(Work in progress)

The Lincoln Versailles, A First Attempt at Downsizing

(Work in progress)

Recent History

The separation of Continental and Town Car lines

(Work in progress)

1998, Year of the Renewal

(Work in progress)

The Way Forward

(Work in progress)

As recently as 1998 Lincoln was the best-selling luxury brand in the United States, helped by the massive success of the Navigator SUV, and a redesign of the Town Car as well as the Continental. The company was also part of the Premier Automotive Group from 1998 to 2002, but was pulled out due to Ford's new marketing strategy to separate its "import" brands from its domestic marques. In recent years, however, the company has fallen behind Japanese, European, and American competitors for a lack of new models. The company is working to remedy this, however, and is sharing parts and platforms with other Ford divisions worldwide in an attempt to bring more new models to market faster. The company promises five new models in the four years 2004-2008, and has already begun with the new 2006 Mark -LT truck, Zephyr (upgraded and renamed Lincoln MKZ for the 2007 model year) and the MKX Crossover SUV.

Lincoln vehicles are currently available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, South Korea, and the Middle East.

Presidential Cars

Lincoln Limousine used by President Calvin Coolidge, c. 1924

Leland named the brand after his longtime hero Abraham Lincoln, for whom he had voted in the first presidential elections for which he was eligible.

Lincoln had a long history of providing limousines for the U.S. President. The first car specially built for Presidential use was the 1939 Lincoln V12 convertible called the "Sunshine Special" used by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It remained in use until 1950. A 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan called the "Bubble Top" was used by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and once by Johnson. It was retired in 1965. The Kennedy car was a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible. It was in use from 1961 to 1977, having undergone extensive alterations which made it an armor-plated sedan after Kennedy's assassination. A 1969 Lincoln was used by Nixon and a 1972 Lincoln used by Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush. A 1989 Lincoln was the last Presidential Lincoln as of 2004. Cadillac supplied Presidential limousines in 1983, 1993, 2001, and 2004.

Lincoln Automobiles

2007 Lincoln Model Line-up

Model	Type	Price Range
Lincoln Town Car	Luxury Flagship	$43,045 - $56,220
Lincoln Navigator	Full-size Luxury SUV	$50,775 - $73,475
Lincoln MKX	Crossover Luxury SUV	$34,795 - $36,445
Lincoln Mark LT	Luxury Pick-up	$39,050 - $42,450
Lincoln MKZ	Mid-size Luxury Sedan	$29,950 - $31,820

Current and near future models

Lincoln is currently switching to a new naming system based around the "Mark" name used since the 1950s. Most Lincoln models will be given a three-letter name starting "MK" (originally standing for "Mark," but now simply pronounced em-kay) starting in 2007. The Navigator and Town Car name will remain, but all other models are expected to use this convention by the end of the decade.

1956 Continental Mark II, 137 th car produced, made in August of 1955.

• Lincoln Mark -LT (2005–)
• Lincoln MKS (2008–)
• Lincoln MKX (2007–)
• Lincoln MKZ (2007–)
• Lincoln Navigator (1998–)
• Lincoln Town Car (1981–)
• Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ (2006–)

Recent models

• Lincoln LS (2000–2006)
• Lincoln Aviator (2003–2005)
• Lincoln Blackwood (2002)
• Lincoln Continental (1961–2002)
• Lincoln Mark Series (1956–1998)
• Lincoln Zephyr (2006)

Historical

The 1970 Lincoln Mark III, along with others in the series, used a rounded "Continental"-style trunk lid, designed to suggest that the spare tire was stored there

• Lincoln L-series (1920–1930)
• Lincoln K-series (1931–1939)
• Lincoln-Zephyr (1936–1942), a car line priced between Ford and Lincoln
• Lincoln-Zephyr Continental (1940–1942, 1946–1948), later Lincoln Continental
• Lincoln Custom (1941–1942)
• Lincoln (no other name) (1946–1951)
• Lincoln Sport (1949–1951)
• Lincoln Cosmopolitan (1949–1954)
• Lincoln Lido (1950–1951)
• Lincoln Custom (1955)
• Lincoln Capri (1952–1959)
• Lincoln Premiere (1956–1960)
• Lincoln Versailles (1976–1980)

Recent Lincoln models timeline

Lincoln Timeline

Model

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

'70

'71

'72

'73

'74

'75

'76

'77

'78

'79

'80

'81

'82

'83

'84

'85

'86

'87

'88

'89

'90

'91

'92

'93

'94

'95

'96

'97

'98

'99

'00

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

Flagship

Continental

Town Car

Mid-level

Versailles

Continental

LS

Entry-level

LS

Zephyr

Personal Luxury

Mark series

Mid-Size SUV

Aviator

Large SUV

Navigator

Pick-up truck

Blackwood

Mark LT

External links and references

• Lincoln-Mercury Division
• IDSA - Lincoln Zephyr
• Official Website
• Lincoln vs Cadillac A site dedicated to the Lincoln Mark VIII and other Lincoln Automobiles and a good source for repair and modification information
• Lincolns of Distinction- Lincoln Automobile History and information
• http://www.classiclincolns.com/
• UK based Independent Importer, importing new Lincoln Navigator and all other new Lincoln vehicles
• Lincoln Owners- Website with live community, pictures and technical information for owners and enthusiasts of Lincoln luxury automobiles

Ford Motor Company

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