Lincoln Motor Company
The Lincoln Motor Company was founded in August 1917 by Henry Leland and his son Wilfred. Among the founders of Cadillac, Leland had sold the company to General Motors in 1909, remaining on as an executive until 1917, when he left over a dispute with GM President William Durant. Naming Lincoln Motor Company after Abraham Lincoln, the first President for whom he ever voted (1864), Leland financed the company by securing a $10 million contract to build Liberty V12 aircraft engines, breaking ground on the Lincoln Motor Company Plant. To build the Liberty engines, Lincoln sourced parts from other manufacturers; along with cylinders produced by Ford, other parts were sourced from Buick, Cadillac, Marmon, and Packard. In total, 6,500 Liberty V12 engines were produced by Lincoln before the end of World War I ceased wartime production.
Lincoln Continental
By the late 1980s, the luxury segment in which the Continental competed had changed drastically from a decade before. In addition to traditional competitors Cadillac and Chrysler, the downsized Continental now competed against Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi as well as the top of the line vehicles of Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti. Lincoln chose to completely reinvent the Continental. On December 26, 1987, the Continental was launched and shared its unibody chassis with the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. The 1988 Continental became the first front-wheel drive Lincoln and the first Lincoln since 1948 sold without an available V8 engine. As part of a more conservative exterior, the sloping "Continental trunklid" was deleted. Although four inches longer, it was 170 pounds lighter than its predecessor. For the first time since 1979, the Continental closely matched its Cadillac Sedan de Ville counterpart in size. By interior volume the Continental was the largest front-wheel drive car sold in 1988, and was recognized by "Car and Driver" on its 1989 Ten Best list. Power was provided by a 140 hp 3.8L Essex V6 newly introduced to the Taurus/Sable for 1988. An exclusive feature to the Continental was adaptive air-ride suspension and variable assist power steering was standard. In 1990 (MY 1991), engine output was revised to 155 hp, and to 160 hp for MY 1993. All Continentals were equipped with a 4-speed overdrive automatic transmission.