When I came out of the grocery store the other day, I
discovered that a Lincoln Continental had parked next to me. I’ll have to admit
that it’s been a LONG time since I have seen a Lincoln Continental, although I
have seen a few MKS and MKZ models. The Lincoln Continental (made in Chicago)
replaced the MKS in 2017. The other sedan, (the MKZ) was made in Mexico. Both
have now been discontinued.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Motor_Company
Lincoln
Motor Company was founded in 1917 by Henry M.
Leland, naming it after Abraham
Lincoln. In February 1922, the company was acquired by Ford, its
parent company to this day. Following World War II, Ford formed the
Lincoln-Mercury Division, pairing Lincoln with its mid-range Mercury brand; the
pairing lasted through the 2010 closure of Mercury. At the end of 2012, Lincoln
reverted to its original name, Lincoln Motor Company. Following the
divestiture of Premier Automotive Group (Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo) and the closure
of Mercury, Lincoln remains
the sole luxury nameplate of Ford Motor Company.
The Premier Automotive Group has taken some interesting
twists.
Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by the Tata group in India,
which also makes the Tata Nana, the cheapest new car in the world.
Aston Martin is now a privately held company, and is still
headquartered in England.
Swedish car make Volvo is now owned by Geely, a Chinese manufacturing
company.
The first model produced by Lincoln was the model L, which was
replaced by the model K in 1931.
In 1936, Lincoln introduced the Lincoln-Zephyr, which was more
expensive than Ford models, but cheaper than the model K. It was produced until
1942.
The very first Continental came into being in 1939, when Edsel
Ford modified a Lincoln Zephyr. The design was well received, which prompted
Lincoln to start producing the car. Although production of the model resumed at
the end of WWII, the Continental name was retired in 1948.
Lincoln brought back the Continental name in 1956, with the introduction
of the magnificent Mark II. The car was hand-produced, and VERY expensive. Even
though it was the most expensive car sold in America (almost $100,000 in 2020
dollars) Lincoln lost $10,000 per car (in 2020 dollars).
According to Billy Joel, if you’re going to cruise the Miracle Mile, your best bet is in a baby blue Continental.
In 1958, the Mark III (based on a Lincoln body) replaced the Mark II. The Mark IV followed in 1959, and the Mark V followed in 1960. 1960 was the last year for the Continental marque, and subsequent vehicles were called Lincoln Continentals.
In 1968, Henry Ford II brought back the Continental name, but
called the vehicle the Continental III. If offered the largest engine ever
offered in a Lincoln, a monster with 460 cubic inches.
The Continental Mark IV debuted in 1972, followed by the Mark
V in 1977.
The Mark VI was introduced in 1980, and the Mark VII followed
in 1984. The Mark VIII was introduced in 1993.
If all those numbers seem confusing to you, it’s less confusing
to think of the Lincoln Town Car, which was introduced as a sub-model in 1970.
If you have ever taken a limo to the airport, chances are pretty good that you
rode in a Town Car.
The beginning of the end for the Lincoln sedan happened in
1988 with the introduction of the Lincoln Navigator.
In 2007, Lincoln introduced a crossover called the MKX, and in
2009, a sedan called the MKS was introduced.
Lincoln continued with the alphabet soup of models for a few
years, which eventually included the MKX, the MKT, the MKC, and the MKZ, but
also continued with the Continental name. In 2020, the Continental and the MKS
models were dropped. After 2020, it was no longer possible to buy a Lincoln
sedan.
Lincoln now offers FOUR SUV models (the Navigator, the
Aviator, the Corsair, and the Nautilus.) – but no sedan.
The Navigator is a full-size SUV, the Nautilus is a mid-size
SUV with two rows of seats, the Aviator is a mid-size SUV with three rows of
seats, and the Corsair is a compact SUV.
Initially, the Navigator was assembled in Michigan, but
production was later shifted to Kentucky.
The Aviator is assembled in Chicago.
The Corsair is assembled in Kentucky and China, and the Nautilus
is assembled in Canada and China.
If the first letter in the VIV is a “1’ or a “5”, the vehicle
is assembled in the United States. If it’s a “2”, it’s assembled in Canada, and
if it’s an “L”, it’s made in China.
Lincoln is not the only manufacturer to abandon the sedan
With the exception of three years (1957, 1970, and 1976), the full-size Chevrolet Bel Air / Impala / Caprice had a four-decade span in the number one position from 1949 through 1978. Ford borrowed the title in 1957 with their comparatively sized Fairlane model, beating Chevrolet by 28,000 units. However, that was only a 2% victory when considering the larger volume each of them commanded at the time. A two-month United Auto Workers strike against General Motors in 1970 cost Chevrolet over 250,000 Impala sales and the number one title that year.
You can
no longer buy a Chevy Impala, but Chevrolet still offers a few sedans (the Camaro,
the Malibu, the Cruz, and the Sonic.)
Wouldn’t you rather have a Buick? You still can, but it won’t be a sedan. You now have a choice of three SUVs. The Encore, the Envision, and the Enclave.
https://www.buick.com/suvs?ppc=MICROSOFT_700000001817427_71700000045971688_58700004697008967_p39756606332&d_src=313715&d_adsrc=3876785&d_campaign=71700000045971688&d_site=MICROSOFT&d_adgroup=58700004697008967&d_keyword=buick&gclick=05b4370bb9c0166c814055286746a566&ds_rl=1270086&msclkid=05b4370bb9c0166c814055286746a566&gclid=05b4370bb9c0166c814055286746a566&gclsrc=3p.ds
The Enclave is assembled in Michigan, but in 2019, a Chinese market version started production in China.
Buick, incidentally, sells six times as many cars in China as it does in America.
The Envision is manufactured in China, and the Encore is assembled in China and South Korea.
Arguably,
the first SUV sold in America was the AMC Eagle, which was sold from 1980 to
1987. At the time of its introduction, it was the only four-wheel drive passenger
vehicle sold in America.
In 1991, Ford introduced the Explorer, and other manufacturers quickly followed suit. Today, the vast majority of vehicles sold in this country are SUVs and light trucks. In 2021, the auto industry sold 14.0 million units. Of that total, only 3.3 million were the traditional sedans.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/199983/us-vehicle-sales-since-1951/
In 2021, the most popular vehicle sold in America was the Ford F-series truck. The RAM pickup was second, and the Chevy Silverado was close behind. Of the most 25 most popular vehicles, only 5 (Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla, and the Tesla Model Y) were traditional sedans – and the Tesla doesn’t even have a traditional engine.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g36005989/best-selling-cars-2021/
When we were little kids, we were advised to be leery of “the friendly stranger in the black sedan”. The friendly stranger is still a guy to avoid – but he will probably not be driving a sedan, black or otherwise.
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