Lincoln Motor Company was founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland, naming it after Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln, formally the Lincoln Motor Company, is a luxury vehicle brand of the American manufacturer Ford Motor Company. Marketed among the top luxury brands in the United States, Lincoln has competed closely against Cadillac for nearly its entire existence.  In 1922, Lincoln was acquired by Ford.

 

Headquarters Dearborn, Michigan, United States 

The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Edsel Ford, who commissioned a coachbuilt 1939 Lincoln-Zephyr convertible, developed as a vacation vehicle to attract potential Lincoln buyers. In what would give the model line its name, the exterior was given European "continental" styling elements, including a rear-mounted spare tire.

premiere convertible  1956-1960

The Lincoln Premiere was a luxury car model sold by Lincoln in the 1956  to 1960 model years. Positioned below the company's Continental Mark II during 1956–1957 and above the Capri it was based on from 1956–1959, it was produced in 2 and 4 door versions which could both accommodate up to six people. The Premiere sedan was the mid-level sedan under the Continental Mark III-V sedans, until it was replaced with the 1961 Continental sedan.

continental mk II  1956-1957

After an eight-year hiatus, for the 1956 model year, the Continental nameplate made its return; to launch the vehicle, Ford created a namesake Continental division centered around its new flagship vehicle. To again highlight the European influence of the original Continental, Ford assigned the "Mark II" suffix to the new Continental (also in an effort to distinguish itself from the similar Bentley Continental). Slotted (far) above Lincoln-Mercury, Continentals would be marketed and serviced through the Lincoln dealership network.

continental mkIII coupe  1958-1960

The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of  Ford Motor Company.

The third generation of the Continental model line underwent extensive changes for the 1958 model year, allowing the division to better compete against Cadillac Eldorado and Imperial LeBaron.

The first all-new unibody design since World War II, this generation of the Continental is one of the largest sedans ever built by Ford Motor Company (or any American automaker).

continental 53a convertible 1961-1969

For the 1961 model year the Lincoln range was consolidated into one model. Following the $60 million in losses (equivalent to $518.5 million today) to develop the 1958–1960 cars, all models were replaced by a new Lincoln Continental. Making its first appearance since 1948, the fourth-generation was available only as a four-door sedan and convertible until its 1966MY refresh.

Its solid construction and rigorous post-build inspection of each vehicle reflected Ford corporate management's commitment to making the finest mass-produced domestic automobile of its time.

continental   1966-1969

For 1966, the fourth-generation Lincoln Continental underwent a second mid-cycle redesign. To better compete against the Cadillac Coupe de Ville and the Imperial Crown Coupe, Lincoln introduced its first two-door pillarless hardtop since 1960.

To offer an engine sized comparably to those in the Imperial (440 cubic inches in 1966) and Cadillac (429 cubic inches, 472 cubic inches in 1968), the 430 V8 was enlarged to 462 cubic inches.

Following years of decreasing sales, 1967 marked the final year of the Lincoln Continental convertible, with only 2276 sold.

continental mkIV  1972-1976

The Continental Mark IV is a personal luxury car that was marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from the 1972 to 1976 model years. The third generation of the Mark series, the Mark IV grew in size over its Continental Mark III predecessor. As with the previous generation, the Mark IV saw little direct competition in the American marketplace, competing nearly exclusively against the Cadillac Eldorado (redesigned for 1971).

As with the Mark III, the Mark IV shared its chassis with the Ford Thunderbird, with the Mark IV receiving its own bodywork below the windows. Hidden headlights made their return, along with a radiator-style grille, and a Continental spare tire trunklid. For 1976, the Designer Series option package was introduced; in what would become a tradition for the Mark series (and later Lincoln), the option consisted of specially coordinated exterior and interior trims developed between Lincoln and contemporary fashion designers.

Ford assembled the Continental Mark IV at its Wixom Assembly Plant (Wixom, Michigan) facility alongside the Ford Thunderbird and the Lincoln Continental. For 1977, the Mark IV underwent a substantial revision, becoming the Continental Mark V.

continental V town car  1975-1979

In production for over 55 years across nine different decades, Lincoln has produced ten generations of the Continental. Within the Lincoln model line, the Continental has served several roles ranging from its flagship to its base-trim sedan. From 1961 to 1976, Lincoln sold the Continental as its exclusive model line. 

During its production, the fifth-generation Lincoln Continental was sold in two versions, with a major revision in 1975.

For the 1970 model year, Lincoln introduced the fifth-generation Lincoln Continental. Building on the success of the Mark III introduced the year before, Lincoln sought to modernize the Continental for the 1970s after a nine-year production run.

Although shorter in wheelbase and slightly narrower than 1958–1960 Lincolns, the addition of 5-mph bumpers make 1977–1979 Lincolns the longest automobiles ever produced by Ford Motor Company.

The fifth-generation Lincoln Continental reverted to body-on-frame construction, the first Lincoln to do so since 1957. To save on its engineering and development costs, the Continental was no longer given its own chassis, instead given a longer-wheelbase version of the Mercury Marquis chassis.

 Following the downsizing of the full-size General Motors and Chrysler product lines, the Lincoln Continental became the largest mass-market automobile produced worldwide for the 1977 model year. It was surpassed only by purpose-built limousines such as the long-wheelbase version of the Mercedes-Benz 600, the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, and the ZIL-4104. Following the 1979 downsizing of the Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis, the Lincoln Continental was marketed as the final "traditional" or "large" sedan in the United States.

continental mkV  1977-1979

After 5 years on the market, Lincoln made an extensive revision to the Continental. Coinciding with the 1975 introduction of the Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln and Mercury sought to better visually differentiate their two flagship model lines, in spite of their mechanical commonality. As part of the revision, the Lincoln Continental was able to adopt a greater degree of styling commonality with the Continental Mark IV. For 1975, the exterior of the Lincoln Continental underwent a major revision. Although the body below the beltline saw only minor change with the taillights redesigned with vertical units, the roofline was completely restyled. To separate itself from the Mark IV, the two-door Continental/Town Coupe adopted a fully pillared roofline with a square opera window in the C-pillar. In place of the pillared hardtop shared with the Mercury Marquis and Ford LTD, the four-door Continental/Town Car adopted a wide B-pillar; to distinguish itself from the Cadillac Sixty Special Brougham; Town Cars were given the oval opera window introduced on the Mark IV. Along with the styling upgrades.

Throughout its production, the fifth-generation Lincoln Continental was offered with several special-edition option packages. In contrast to the Mark series, the fifth-generation Continental was not offered with any Designer Series editions.

continental mkVI  1980-1982

The Continental Mark VI is a full-size luxury car that was produced from 1980 to 1983. The fifth generation of the Mark series, the Continental Mark VI introduced several changes to the model line. Again marketed and serviced by the Lincoln-Mercury division, the Mark VI served as the flagship of the entire Ford Motor Company model line, slotted above the Lincoln Town Car.

The first complete redesign of the Mark series since 1972, the Mark VI was the first generation of the model line to undergo downsizing. In another significant change, the Mark VI shifted mechanical commonality from the Ford Thunderbird (its companion model since the inaugural 1968 Mark III up to 1976) to the Lincoln Continental.

continental mkVII  1982-1987

Coinciding with the introduction of the two-door Continental Mark VII, the Continental was given a styling update for the 1984 model year. The body was fitted with flush-fitting front and rear bumpers and revised taillamps. 

 The car continued thereafter with few changes. All models were also fitted with Ford's door-mounted Keyless Entry System, not to be confused with a Remote Keyless Entry System.

The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to 2011, with the nameplate previously serving as the flagship trim of the Lincoln Continental. Produced across three generations for 30 model years, the Town Car was marketed directly against luxury sedans from Cadillac and Chrysler.

gen1 town car 1980-1989

The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to 2011, with the nameplate previously serving as the flagship trim of the Lincoln Continental. Produced across three generations for 30 model years, the Town Car served as the flagship sedan of Ford Motor Company, marketed directly against the Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham.

For the 1985 model year, the Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood, traditional competitors of the Lincoln Town Car, shifted to front-wheel drive platforms, becoming smaller than the Lincoln Continental. 

gen2 town car 1990-1997

The venerable four-door Lincoln sedan, the best-selling model from Ford’s luxury division, received its first major redesign since it was introduced in 1980 under the Town Car label. The V8 engine and rear-drive platform of the original Town Car were retained, but the previous generation’s square body gave way to rounded corners and an aerodynamic look. 

The 4.6-liter aluminum-block V8 replaces the 5.0-liter V8 from last year and the new traction-control system, which Lincoln calls Traction Assist, becomes available for cars equipped with antilock brakes. 

Lincoln celebrates its 75th anniversary in 1996 and marks the occasion with a Diamond Anniversary Edition of the Town Car.

gen3 town car   1998-2011

The 2011 Lincoln Town Car remains the only American-brand premium-large sedan with rear-wheel drive. It comes in Signature Limited and limousine-like Signature L with a 6-inch-longer wheelbase. All use a 239-horsepower 4.6-liter V8 engine that can run on E85 ethanol-blended fuel. The sole transmission is a 4-speed automatic. 

Note that most dealers do not stock Town Cars as part of their regular inventory. They must be special ordered for retail delivery.

mks  2008-2016

The Lincoln MKS is a full-sized luxury sedan that was manufactured  from 2008 to 2016. The MKS was the second Lincoln to adopt the "MK" nomenclature and the first model to wear it through its entire production run. With the discontinuation of the Lincoln Town Car in 2011, the MKS  became the longest production sedan sold by an American automaker through 2016.

Sharing the Ford D3 platform with the fifth and sixth-generation Ford Taurus, the Lincoln MKS offered front-wheel drive with optional all-wheel drive (a first in a full-size Lincoln). Shared with the Taurus SHO, the 3.5L EcoBoost twin-turbocharged V6 became the first turbocharged gasoline engine in a Lincoln.

The Lincoln MKS was discontinued after the 2016 model year and replaced by the new Lincoln Continental.

1917-1922

1922-1939

1939-1954

1954-1964

1964-1972

1972-2012

2012-now

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