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 1986, to eliminate the long-running nameplate confusion, the Continental Mark VII (marketed, sold and serviced by Lincoln) was renamed the Lincoln Mark VII, dropping the Continental nameplate. The Mark VII would be the final generation of the Mark series sold with a Designer Series name, with a Bill Blass Edition being sold through its production (a Gianni Versace edition was sold from 1984 to 1985), eventually becoming the standard model. As a sport-oriented model, Lincoln sold the Mark VII LSC (Luxury Sports Coupe) from 1984 to 1992.
While Lincoln exited the struggles of the Malaise era by 1990, the division found itself in a different struggle. While largely catching up to rival Cadillac in sales, the brand did so with only three model lines (in place of the seven of Cadillac and four of Mercedes-Benz). After following the traditional Lincoln model cycle, the Town Car underwent a full redesign. While mandated by both passive-restraint requirements and fuel-economy improvements, a redesign to the Town Car proved risky, as the model line itself accounted for over half of all Lincoln sales.