   #copyright

Lincoln (automobile)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Road transport

   Lincoln
       Type     Luxury division
     Founded    1917
   Headquarters Irvine, California, USA (1998-2002)
                Dearborn, Michigan, USA
    Key people  Henry M. Leland, founder of the Lincoln Motor Company
   Area served  North America
     Industry   Automobile
     Products   Luxury vehicles
      Parent    Ford Motor Company
     Website    www.lincoln.com

   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. Ironically Lincoln's prevalent
   competitor Cadillac, was also founded by Henry M. Leland. While Lincoln
   was the best selling luxury marque in the United States as recently as
   2002, Lincoln lost ground to its competitors. To combat this recent
   slide in sales Lincoln has unveiled three new models, the MKZ sport
   sedan, MKS luxury sedan, and MKX crossover sport utility vehicle.

History

   30s Lincoln front half detail
   Enlarge
   30s Lincoln front half detail
   3D red_cyan glasses recommended for your viewing pleasure
   1937 Lincoln Zephyr
   Enlarge
   1937 Lincoln Zephyr
   2000 Lincoln Town Car
   Enlarge
   2000 Lincoln Town Car

   The company was founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland. Leland, one of the
   founders of Cadillac, 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,
   who still owns and manufactures cars under the Lincoln marque in its
   Lincoln- Mercury division. The purchase of Lincoln was a personal
   triumph for Ford who had been forced out of his second company by a
   group of investors led by Leland. Ironically, Ford's original company,
   later renamed Cadillac, would be purchased by rival General Motors and
   become Lincoln's chief competitor. Lincoln quickly became one of
   America's top selling luxury brands alongside Cadillac and Duesenberg.
   In 1927, Lincoln adopted the greyhound as their emblem, which was later
   replaced with diamond that is currently in use.

   In 1932, responding to Ford's V8 Model 18, Lincoln introduced the
   V12-powered KB. Its sales were disappointing. The same year, Eugene
   Gregoire, 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 Gregoire his chance. introduced for the 1936 model
   year, the sportier Zephyr featured a 1.8 liter (110ci) 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. Gregoire simply
   sectioned a 1938 Zephyr Coupé 10cm (4"), allowing most of the existing
   dies and tooling to be retained (a trick that would be repeated in the
   1953 Buick Skylark), 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, car
   customizers 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 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.

   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 pickup and
   Zephyr.

Presidential cars

   Leland named the brand after his longtime hero Abraham Lincoln, for
   whom he had voted in 1860 in the first presidential elections he was
   eligible for .

   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

                                               2006 Lincoln Model Line-up
                                     Model          Type       Price Range
                                  Town Car      Flagship $42,875 - $56,745
                                 Navigator Full-size SUV $50,140 - $67,645
                                     LS V8   Sport Sedan $39,285 - $48,405
                                   Mark LT       Pick-up $38,680 - $47,220
                                    Zephyr   Entry-level $28,995 - $35,240
                                               2007 Lincoln Model Line-up
                                     Model          Type       Price Range
                                  Town Car      Flagship $42,875 - $56,745
                                 Navigator Full-size SUV $52,990 - $66,545
                                       MKX Crossover SUV $34,495 - $44,885
                                   Mark LT       Pick-up $38,680 - $47,220
                                       MKZ   Entry-level $28,995 - $35,240

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" (for "Mark") 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.
     * 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)

Historical

   1931 Lincoln with greyhound hood-ornament
   Enlarge
   1931 Lincoln with greyhound hood-ornament
   3D red_cyan glasses recommended for your viewing pleasure
   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
   Enlarge
   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

Concept cars

     * Lincoln Continental 1950-X(1952)
     * Lincoln Anniversary(1953)
     * Lincoln Maharaja(1953)
     * Lincoln XL-500(1953)
     * Lincoln Mardi Gras(1954)
     * Lincoln Premiere(1955)
     * Lincoln Futura (1955)
     * Lincoln Indianapolis(1955)
     * Lincoln Continental Town Sedan(1965, 1969)
     * Lincoln Coronation Coupe(1966)
     * Lincoln Coronation II(1967)
     * Lincoln Mark III Dual Cowl Phaeton(1970)
     * Lincoln Continental Concept 90(1982)
     * Lincoln Continental Concept(1983)
     * Lincoln Quicksilver(1985-1986)
     * Lincoln Continental Next Generation Mark(1986-1987)
     * Lincoln Vignale(1987)
     * Lincoln Machete(1988)
     * Lincoln Marque X(1992)
     * Lincoln L2K(1995)
     * Lincoln Sentinel(1996)
     * Lincoln Special LS(1999)
     * Lincoln Mark 9(2001)
     * Lincoln Continental Concept(2002)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_%28automobile%29"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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