Ford Motor Co. said Monday that the Lincoln Continental is coming back after a 13-year hiatus. A concept version of the full-size Continental will be shown at the New York auto show this week. The production car goes on sale next year.
Lincoln, Ford’s luxury division, was founded in 1917 by Henry Leland, the former manager of General Motors Co.’s Cadillac division. Leland named the company after his hero, Abraham Lincoln. Initially, the company made motors for World War I airplanes, but by 1920 it was making luxury cars. In 1922, Lincoln declared bankruptcy and was sold to Ford, which wanted to acquire a luxury nameplate. Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, became Lincoln’s president.
The Continental was the pinnacle of luxury in the 1950s and 1960s.
