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
For 1974, the Lincoln Continental was given a new grille, moving from an egg-crate style to a waterfall design. As part of federal regulations, a 5-mph bumper was added to the rear, leading to a redesign of the rear bumper; the taillamps were moved from inside the bumper to above it.
After 5 years on the market, Lincoln made an extensive revision to the Continental. Coinciding with the 1975 introduction of the Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln and Mercury sought to better visually differentiate their two flagship model lines, in spite of their mechanical commonality. As part of the revision, the Lincoln Continental was able to adopt a greater degree of styling commonality with the Continental Mark IV. For 1975, the exterior of the Lincoln Continental underwent a major revision. Although the body below the beltline saw only minor change with the taillights redesigned with vertical units, the roofline was completely restyled. To separate itself from the Mark IV, the two-door Continental/Town Coupe adopted a fully pillared roofline with a square opera window in the C-pillar. In place of the pillared hardtop shared with the Mercury Marquis and Ford LTD, the four-door Continental/Town Car adopted a wide B-pillar; to distinguish itself from the Cadillac Sixty Special Brougham; Town Cars were given the oval opera window introduced on the Mark IV. Along with the styling upgrades, 1975 Lincolns received substantial upgrades to the braking system. Designed by Bendix, the Lincoln Continental became one of the first American cars equipped with a 4-wheel disc brake system (as an option). To further improve the emissions performance of the 460 V8, the engine was fitted with catalytic converters, ending its compatibility with leaded regular gasoline.