Lincoln Motor Company
Lincoln Motor Company was founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland, naming it after Abraham Lincoln; in 1922, Lincoln was acquired by Ford. Following World War II, Ford formed the Lincoln-Mercury Division, pairing Lincoln with its mid-range Mercury brand through 2010. In 2012, Ford rebranded the Lincoln division under its original name, Lincoln Motor Company. Originally founded as a freestanding division above Lincoln, Continental was integrated within Lincoln in 1959. The Continental-branded Mark Series was marketed through Lincoln starting in 1968, adapting the Lincoln name in 1986. The Lincoln star emblem is derived from a badge first used on the 1956 Continental Mark II.
Lincoln Motor Company
In another requirement to ensure its survival, the model cycle of Lincoln was extended from three years to nine years. While largely dispensing with major yearly model changes, the decision established design consistency and shifting resources towards quality control. For 1966, to better compete with the Cadillac Coupe de Ville and the Imperial Crown/LeBaron Coupe, Lincoln added a two-door hardtop to the Continental model line. After the 1967 model year, Lincoln ended production of the Continental 4-door convertible. At 5,712 pounds, the 1967 Lincoln Continental Convertible is the heaviest non-limousine car ever produced by Ford Motor Company; as of 2018, it is the final factory-produced four-door convertible sold in North America.
During the 1960s, Ford sought to develop a new flagship vehicle as a successor for the Continental Mark II. While the Lincoln Continental served as a close competitor to the Cadillac de Ville series and Chrysler Imperial, as Cadillac shifted the Cadillac Eldorado to the personal luxury segment in 1967, a segment that Ford exited in 1957 after the withdrawal of the Continental Mark II. As a response, in April 1968, the Continental Mark III was released as a 1969 model. While not officially a Lincoln, the Continental Mark III was marketed through the Lincoln-Mercury dealer network, who would service the vehicle. Over a number of various names considered for the vehicle, Continental Mark III was chosen, as Henry Ford II felt the Continental Mark II did not have a proper successor (thus restarting the nomenclature).