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
Following the introduction of the Mark VIII (see below), for 1995, the Lincoln Continental underwent a redesign, introducing a new version of the Ford Taurus chassis. Retaining the use of front-wheel drive, to better compete with Japanese-produced luxury sedans, the Continental was equipped with a 4.6L V8 engine (shared with the Mark VIII, tuned for front-wheel drive). 1998 marked a significant transition for the Lincoln model line. The Continental underwent a mid-cycle redesign, adding updated electronics and side airbags (the first time for a Lincoln). After a nine-year model model run, the Town Car underwent a major redesign of its exterior and interior, with the Panther chassis given a redesigned rear suspension. Partially influenced by the 1995 Continental and Lincoln Mark VIII, the exterior of the 1998 Town Car shifted to a far more rounded body, becoming the tallest Lincoln in 40 years. In contrast to the Mark VIII entering its final year of production, for 1998, Lincoln debuted the Lincoln Navigator full-size SUV. The first all-new Lincoln nameplate since the Lincoln Versailles, the Navigator shared its body with the Ford Expedition, competing against the Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz M-Class and Lexus LX450, the full-size Navigator offered additional cargo and towing capability unavailable in smaller luxury-oriented SUVs. Following the success of the Navigator in the marketplace, 1998 marked the first year Lincoln outsold Cadillac (by over 4,500 vehicles). As a response to the Navigator, Cadillac introduced the Cadillac Escalade, a rebadged GMC Yukon Denali (itself a Chevrolet Tahoe variant).
After a nine-year production run (matching the Mark IV and Mark V combined), the Lincoln Mark VII was replaced by the Lincoln Mark VIII, remaining a variant of the Ford Thunderbird/Mercury Cougar. This was the first generation of the Mark series originally branded as a Lincoln. Further emphasis was placed on handling, with the Mark VIII (and Thunderbird/Cougar) becoming the only American-produced four-seat cars of the time with rear-wheel drive and four-wheel independent suspension. While the Mark VIII adopted the coupe profile of its predecessor, in an effort to modernize its styling, much of the body was radically streamlined (relegating the spare-tire hump to vestigial status). In massive contrast from its 1970s predecessors, the Mark VIII was given a cockpit-style interior, with all controls oriented towards the driver. In various forms, elements of the Mark VIII would be featured in other Lincoln models (the 1995 Lincoln Continental and the 1995 Town Car interior), and other Ford Motor Company products (the interior of the Ford Windstar minivan).