Lincoln

Lincoln was founded in 1917 by none other than Henry M. Leland, and just a few years later it was bought by Ford. You know why I say none other than? Because Leland also founded Lincoln’s primary competitor at the time and that was… come on, remember your history… Cadillac. When Leland left GM’s Cadillac (which Cadillac was once Henry Ford motors inc. – before they kicked ford out and renamed it) he went and joined Lincoln to build aircraft motors during the First World War, and when that ended the company was re-tooled to build Luxury Automobiles.

Unfortunately the company hit some rough times and was bought by ford in the process (and they also acquired Mercury, but that’s a different story). Soon after Lincoln became one of the two top Luxury car sellers in the United States, rivaled only by Cadillac. Throughout the thirties they remained successful and introduced several innovative designs, along with using the V12 in response to Ford using the V8. Soon came the most important and essential car to be made – the Lincoln Continental. The car itself has been manufactured three times, from 39 to 48, 56 to 57, and finally 61 to 2002 – when it was finally retired.

An interesting side not about the Lincoln brand is that it has been manufacturing cars for U.S. Presidents since about 1939, and has built presidential limos for about every president. Currently sales of the Lincoln are strong, but recently they have dropped from the number one spot, being relegated to number two status or less due to the increasing luxury imports from Asia.

The last year they held the title as being the absolute best selling in the U.S. was 1998, after which is was no longer. The company plans five new models, with two of them being released already, they are supposedly going to be better than any already produced and will hopefully regain Lincoln’s market share.