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.
Abraham Lincoln (Pullman car)
In 1983 the car was purchased by Mr. Curtis Andrews and transported from Los Angeles to Tucson, Arizona, for eight months of mechanical rebuilding to make it certified for Amtrak use. The mechanical restoration included purchase and installation of newer (1945) trucks to replace the three-axle 1910 trucks which had been installed in the 1929 upgrade. These newer style integral cast trucks were once used under a US Army hospital car. The car also received a new brake system for its six axles and a 45-page engineering analysis. After rebuilding in Arizona, the car traveled to Spokane, Washington, via Amtrak and the final leg from Spokane to Bruce, Washington, a railroad siding and industrial site just east of Othello. The tradition of numbering this class of railroad cars had changed to giving the cars names, so this car was renamed the "Abraham Lincoln". The "Abraham Lincoln's" antiquated elegance is not only rare, but it is also the oldest operational car in America. While one of only a handful of heavyweight steel Pullman Cars left in the United States, this attests to the knowledge of the early steel engineers, the attitude to make something last, and the desire for quality.