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N0KFQ > TODAY 04.02.12 19:39l 61 Lines 2979 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 17270_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 4
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Sent: 120204/1712Z 17270@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.48
Feb 4, 1922:
Ford buys Lincoln
On February 4, 1922, the Ford Motor Company acquires the failing
luxury automaker Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million.
The acquisition came at a time when Ford, founded in 1903, was
losing market share to its competitor General Motors, which
offered a range of automobiles while Ford continued to focus on
its utilitarian Model T. Although the Model T, which first went
into production in 1908, had become the world's best-selling car
and revolutionized the auto industry, it had undergone few major
changes since its debut, and from 1914 to 1925 it was only
available in one color: black. In May 1927, lack of demand for
the Model T forced Ford to shut down the assembly lines on the
iconic vehicle. Later that year, the company introduced the more
comfortable and stylish Model A, a car whose sleeker look
resembled that of a Lincoln automobile. In fact, the Model A was
nicknamed "the baby Lincoln."
Henry Leland, a founder of the Cadillac auto brand, established
the Lincoln Motor Company in 1917; he reportedly named the new
venture after his hero, President Abraham Lincoln. Facing
financial difficulties, Lincoln was purchased by Ford in 1922.
Henry Ford's son, Edsel (1893-1943), was instrumental in
convincing his father to buy Lincoln and played a significant
role in its development as Ford's first luxury division. Edsel
Ford had succeeded his father as company president in January
1919, after the elder Ford resigned following a disagreement with
a group of stockholders. However, father and son soon managed to
purchase the stock of these minority investors and regain control
of the company. One of Edsel Ford's major contributions as
president of Ford was the styling of cars, which he believed
could be good-looking as well as functional. His push for style
upgrades to the Model T eventually helped to convince his father
to drop his famous rule: "You can have any color, as long as it's
black." (The Model A, successor to the Model T, was available in
a variety of colors from the start.)
In the 1930s, Ford's Lincoln division introduced its popular
Zephyr model, which was inspired by the Burlington Zephyr, a
streamlined, diesel-powered express train that debuted amid great
fanfare in 1934 and featured an engine built by General Motors.
The Lincoln Continental, which architect Frank Lloyd Wright
reportedly described as "the most beautiful car ever made,"
launched in 1939 and was a flagship model for decades. President
John Kennedy was riding in a 1961 Lincoln Continental when he was
assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Other leading Lincoln
models over the years have included the Town Car, a full-size
luxury sedan released in the 1980s (although Henry Ford had a
custom-built vehicle called a Town Car in the 1920s), and the
Navigator, a full-size luxury sport utility vehicle that launched
in the late 1990s.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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