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Lincoln Cars - An Interesting History
Most do not realize that Lincoln actually had its beginnings like a company outside of Ford Motor Company. The organization was started by Henry Leland in 1917 and named for one of Leland's heroes, President Abraham Lincoln. Henry Leland had been among the founders from the Cadillac Car Company, which in fact had been the Henry Ford Company. The Lincoln Motor Company was created to build Liberty aircraft engines for the United Stated during World War One. Using the end of the war, Leland had the factories retooled to produce automobiles. Ford Motor Company was able to acquire Lincoln in 1922 once the luxury automobile manufacturer encountered severe financial hardships. Henry Ford was quite pleased to be able to acquire the company from Leland. He viewed it as retribution as Leland had led investors to make Ford from the Detroit Automobile Company, a business that Ford had founded.
Once Ford acquired the company, body style changes were introduced and the price came down. These changes led to increased sales to 5,512 vehicles sold in 1922. Up in the previous 150 models sold the year before, which had led to the hardship which had forced the organization into bankruptcy.
In 1923, a number of different body styles were introduced including a two-passenger roadster along with a seven-passenger limousine.
A specially designed police model, known as the Police Flyer was marketed to police force divisions round the country. A special draw was Ford's willingness to change the vehicles to suit the requirements of cops within the field. Bulletproof windows were added, spotlights were placed on the edges from the vehicle and gun racks were mounted towards the interior portion of cars. The cars were also fitted with four-wheel brakes a complete 2 yrs before these were offered on vehicles meant for private sale. These police cruisers along with the success of the 4 door private sedans allowed the Lincoln division to exhibit an income margin towards the end of 1924 just 2 yrs after the company have been pulled from the jaws of bankruptcy.
The bestselling car in Lincoln's history was created by a designer named Eugene T. "Bob" Gregorie. Gregorie was designing a car for Edsel Ford who wanted a sleeker vehicle more consistent with European style cars. The Lincoln Zephyr evolved as the result and was offered for the 1936 model year. Sales skyrocketed its first year on market and purchasers for Ford increased by 9 times what it really tried the year before. It was the vehicle that will eventually become the Lincoln Continental, probably the most important cars within the good reputation for Lincoln. The car am successful that it was nearly used like a brand by itself. The arrival of World War Two ended production of the popular Zephyr when Ford converted a lot of its factories to war work. The Continental which would go on being so famous was based on mostly completely from the Zephyr.
Lincoln has additionally occupied a prominent place in history by giving most of the vehicles that might be used as official state vehicles for presidents of the United States. The very first Lincoln vehicle for use in this capacity would be a 1939 Lincoln V12 used by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The limousine in use on that fateful day in Dallas in November 1963 seemed to be a Lincoln. It's currently on display at the Henry Ford Museum. Lincoln vehicles have also been utilized by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush.
Starting in 2007, Lincoln made a change to its online marketing strategy and began giving three-letter names to any or all new models with the exception of the Navigator and the Town Car. In 2009, Lincoln is anticipated to make the MKS its new flagship model, replacing the city Car, which has had that position within the Ford line up since 1981.
