Lincoln Motor Company
The Lincoln Motor Company Plant, built in Detroit, Michigan, by Henry Leland in 1917, was closed after 1952; subsequent Lincolns were produced alongside Mercury Montereys and Mercury Montclairs. For the 1957 model year, Ford opened Wixom Assembly in Wixom, Michigan, as a facility to specialize in Lincoln production. From 1957 to 2007, the facility produced Lincoln vehicles nearly exclusively, along with the Ford GT and several generations of the Ford Thunderbird.
For the 1956 model year, Ford Motor Company created the Continental Division, slotted above Lincoln as the flagship marque of Ford Motor Company. At its launch, Continental introduced the Continental Mark II as its model line, intended as a successor to the 1940-1948 Lincoln Continental personal luxury car. Offered as a two-door hardtop coupe, the Mark II broke from a number of American styling precedents of the time. While fitted with whitewall tires, the exterior was fitted with minimal chrome trim on the body sides; tailfins were left off of the body completely. In place of the bumper-mounted spare tire of the original Lincoln Continental, the trunklid of the Mark II showcased the design element, with a large imitation spare tire bulge (which fit over the actual spare tire inside the trunk). The Mark II was largely hand-built, with extensive quality testing done to each engine and transmission before leaving the factory.
Lincoln Motor Company
The entry of the Lincoln into the 1980s was marked with struggle. As a high point, after a ten-year model cycle, the Lincoln Continental underwent a complete redesign (downsizing for the first time), becoming the lightest Lincoln since World War II. Again sharing chassis underpinnings with Mercury and Ford, the Continental used the Panther platform of the Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis. Coupled with a shift to a 302 cubic-inch V8, the fuel economy of the Lincoln model line rose nearly 40% in a single year. In contrast, the Lincoln Versailles was withdrawn early in the 1980 model year. As a result, by the end of 1980, Lincoln was marketing three versions of one vehicle. As a response, Lincoln split its two product lines, with the Continental becoming the Lincoln Town Car. After a short hiatus, for 1982, the Lincoln Continental shifted size into the mid-size segment (using the chassis of the Mercury Cougar XR7). While Lincoln would again compete against the Cadillac Seville (and to a lesser extent, Mercedes-Benz), the division completely erased any visual evidence of badge engineering. 1982 also marked the launch of the Cadillac Cimarron, alongside the Lincoln Versailles, the Cimarron has been considered among the most poorly-executed examples of badge engineering.