Lincoln Struggles to Find a Strong Brand

Lincoln is struggling to find a strong brand identity again, but this isn't the first time in the marque's history that this has happened.  It was founded at the age of 74, by Henry Martyn Leland, the same man who founded Cadillac.  By 1922, the company was failing and was acquired by Ford.  If Ford had not acquired the company, Lincoln would have been just another obscure make that disappeared after a couple of years.  Henry Ford gave control of the new division to his son Edsel, a man of refinement and taste.  Lincoln went on to produce many beautiful and desirable cars during the Classic Era and made it through the depression with the lower-priced, yet beautifully streamlined Lincoln Zephyr.  In 1939 came the first Continental   with its beautiful simple grille and all was well until WWII halted production of automobiles. 
A 1928 model reflects improvements in styling, influenced by Edsel Ford.
 

A rare and valuable Lincoln "K" sits neglected in this 1997 photo.  The owner had a hoard (luckily stored indoors) of treasures awaiting rescue.  Hopefully, the car survives and was restored. 

The legendary first Lincoln Continental was used to add luster to the image of the 1977 Mark V. (Scanned from the literature collection of Neil Settle.  I claim no rights to this image.)

 

This photo gives us the opportunity for a side-by-side comparison of the delicate 1939-41 grille and the heavy "chrome grin" (which looks like an adolescent with braces) look of 1942.  This look was brought back after WWII and used through 1948.

"The Car is the Star":  The 1948 Lincoln Continental droptop driven by "Baby Jane" Hudson in the 1962 film "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane".  The grille is as garish as the makeup Bette Davis had to wear in order to play her character, a former child star who refuses to move on. I got this image from the imcdb.org and I make no claims, nor have no rights to this image.

Where things began to unravel was 1949 when "The Whiz Kids" (HFII and Lee Iacocca among them) brought out all-new postwar designs.  The "bathtub" styling theme of the Lincoln looked too much like the Mercury.  There was a "Cosmopolitan" model that came out in 1949, with its distinctive chrome "brows" over the front wheels, which gave a unique look and one was chosen as the basis of a limousine for President Truman. Later in the 1950's, Mercedes would affix similar "brows" over all four wheel openings of it's 190 SL model. 

Image of 1958 190 SL from imcdb.org.  Featured in the film "Portrait in Black". I make no claims and have no rights to this image.

A major step in the weakening of the brand came with the 1952 redisign.  The Lincoln looked like a gussied up Mercury, which like a gussied-up Ford!  I seem to remember reading somewhere that Ford had decided to move Lincoln to the upper-middle-price field, to compete with Oldsmobile!  One engineering advance beginning with the 1952 models was the introduction of ball joint front suspension.  Lincolns also became famous as (of all things) race cars!  During the years 1952-54, they successfully competed in the grueling Mexican road race and are still remembered for that today. 1955 was the last year for the 1952 body.  It was also during this time period that the Ed Sullivan Show became a sponsor and an aspiring actress named Julia Meade became a Lincoln spokesperson. Although she did land roles in films and stage plays, she is best probably best remembered as a product spokesperson, especially her association with Ed Sullivan and Lincoln.

For 1956, Lincoln moved decidedly back into the luxury field with what, IMO, was the most beautiful Lincoln of the 1950s.  "Daringly Long and Low to the Ground (and How This Lincoln Covers It)" read the headline of one of many ads touting the car's sleekness.

Advertising images from the literature collection of Neil Settle. Nonetheless, I make no claims and have no rights to this image.

 Along with other Ford products in 1956, safety was the keynote. Deeply-"dished" steering wheels and door-locks that would not allow the door to fly open and eject passengers were standard.  Lap belts and padded dashes and sun visors were extra-cost. Ford called all of these features "Lifeguard Design".  In 1956, Ed Sullivan was involved in a serious head-on collision while driving a new Lincoln.  He was injured, but made a full recovery.  To what extent the new safety features helped him survive is unknown. Sadly, Chevy sold more cars than Ford in 1956 and the powers that be decided that "safety doesn't sell".  Although Ford continued to offer the strengthened door locks and dished steering wheels and seat belts, they weren't heavily advertised or promoted.  
        

                                                                             

    

A mid-1990's custom built station wagon made to appear to look like a one-off or prototype built in 1956. According to the owner, even the members of the Lincoln Continental Owner's Club believed it was a period-correct prototype.  They were not amused when the truth came to light.

1957 brought contrived changes.  The public had become accustomed to annual model year changes, so yearly "face lifts" were expected--this corrupted the beauty of many fine designs, sadly.  The fender skirts that made the '56 so look so low and sleek were gone and Chrysler-like tailfins were tacked on.  


1957 Lincolns also attacked their owners!

1958 brought the most controversial design of the decade and from and engineering standpoint, one of the most ambitious.  A new plant was built especially for the production of these cars in Wixom, Michigan.  They were the largest unit body cars ever built (an attempt to save weight).  A 375 HP, 430 cubic inch engine was designed to move them.  Lincoln was making a serious attempt to compete with Cadillac and the thinking was that size equaled prestige.  The cars not only were bigger, but the designers used every visual trick in the book to make them look bigger visually.  Well, these cars flopped like a bad Broadway show!  The unit bodies on prototypes sagged so badly that extra bracing was required, making them heavier than the car would have been had they used standard body-on-frame construction!  The front fender coves were ridiculed as being "pre-dented".  The new engine had teething troubles.  Under severe conditions, the rear springs could collapse.  1958 was a recession year.  That had consumers thinking about economy.  The public and social critics were beginning to question the excesses of late 1950s American cars.  Books like "The Insolent Chariots" were published.  About the only thing people seemed to like about these beasts were the canted headlights.  Hot rodders copied them on their custom-built cars and Chrysler used them in 1961.  In 1959 and 1960, Lincoln made refinements and did what it could to tone-down the excesses of the 1958 design.  By 1960, Lincoln was on the chopping block (that other infamous flop, the Edsel, was already gone).

The car that almost sank the Lincoln Division, shown literally sinking in a still culled from imcdb.org from a 1969 film called "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice".  I do not own the rights to this image.

What saved the division was a design prototype intended to be a Thunderbird.  It was adapted into what would become the iconic 1961 Lincoln Continental.  It was a success!  As Lincoln moved into the 1960's, it ran with this basic design, making only subtle and evolutionary changes and establishing a brand identity.  Sales slowly climbed with the passing years probably peaking in the 1980s, a time when arch rival Cadillac introduced two very unreliable engines: the Diesel and the HT4100.  Lincoln's powerplants and sturdy Panther platform (shared with the full-sized Fords and Mercurys) were very reliable and durable.  The Panther platform was produced from 1979 to 2011.  It seems that with it's retirement is when Lincoln lost its way again.  A Blackwood pickup failed.  The big Navigator SUV was also popular, but the passenger car lines became bland.  Meanwhile, Cadillac dug itself out of the hole it was in and is rubbing the tarnish off of its reputation.  Lincoln needs to hit one out of the park like they did back in 1961.  I hope they do. Photos by the author, except where otherwise noted.

Photo from Ford Archives: Thunderbird prototype that became the inspiration for the 1961 Lincoln Continental.  I do not own the rights to this image.

 Photo from a 1961 magazine ad.  I do not own the rights to this image.

Photo from a 1962 magazine ad.  I do not own the rights to this image.

Beauty and the beast: a 1963 provides contrast to a 1960 Continental MK V (Continental at this point was no longer a separate division, but the nameplate continued, but was more of a gussied-up Lincoln, akin to Cadillac's Fleetwood or Imperial's LeBaron).  

This 1966 coupe shows Lincoln's commitment to sticking with a brand identity.  Although 1966 brought a total restyle, the changes were evolutionary.  This was the first time a coupe was offered since 1960.

The center-opening "suicide doors" remained a Lincoln styling trademark through the 1960s.

A 1964 convertible.  The only four-door convertible available in the US since the early 1950s Frazer. They were produced by Lincoln from 1961-1967.

From 1980-89, the Panther Platform-based Town Cars and 1980-83 Continental MK VIs were upright, boxy, formal cars, truncated versions of their 1970s predecessors.  For 1990, the Town Car got an aerodynamic restyle, while still keeping certain styling cues of the previous cars.

All photos by Neil Settle c2017 (except where otherwise noted).