Lincoln
Lincoln is a brand of luxury automobiles that was founded in 1917 by the Ford Motor Company. Named after founder Henry M. Leland’s longtime hero, Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln has produced automobiles for the last century that have built a strong reputation for their quality and luxurious style. The Ford Motor Company purchased the company from Leland in 1922.
Following the change of ownership, Ford left the chassis and engine unchanged, but opted to make some changes in the bodywork of the vehicles. This resulted in increased sales of the current Lincoln model, the L-series, which was produced from 1920 until 1930. In 1936, the V12 Lincoln-Zephyr was released, which become so successful that the Zephyr name became synonymous with Lincoln. The most important model released by Lincoln was the Continental, of which 5322 were hand-built between and 1940 and 1948. The Continental was revived in 1957, and served as Lincoln’s flagship model until 1981.
Lincoln also has a long history with the production of official state limousines for the U.S. president. In 1939, Lincoln developed its first custom Presidential automobile in the form of a V12 convertible for use by Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1950, it developed the famous “Bubble Top” Lincoln Cosmopolitan custom that would be used by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson
