HOLLYWOOD, California — It’s a birthday year for the Lincoln Motor Company, as the company celebrates 100 years under Ford Motor Company ownership. The actual birthday, for those who pay attention to such things, was February 4.
But as the automaker’s next century dawns, it finds itself at another turning point, not unusual for a company that has faced many from the start.
The purchase of Lincoln by Ford was an act of revenge. After Henry Ford was forced out of his second car company, Henry Leland was brought in by the board and the company was renamed Cadillac. Leland went on to establish the Lincoln Motor Company to build aircraft engines and, by 1920, cars. Its first vehicle, the Model L, reached showrooms during the short, sharp depression of 1920-21. Lincoln entered receivership, and Henry Ford nabbed Lincoln for $8 million, forcing Leland out and installing his son, 28-year-old Edsel Ford, as president.
