Wednesday 29th August 1917

The Lincoln Motor Company was founded in Detroit, US by Henry Leland, a former manager of the Cadillac division of General Motors, and his son, Wilfred Leland. The Lincoln Motor Company Plant was at 6200 West Warren Avenue (at Livernois) in Detroit, Michigan. Leland named the new company after Abraham Lincoln, his hero and for whom he cast a vote in 1864. Lincoln’s first source of revenue came from assembling Liberty aircraft engines, using cylinders supplied by Ford Motor Company, to fulfill World War I government contracts. After the war, the Lincoln factories were retooled to manufacture luxury automobiles. Ford Motor Company purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, but Lincoln continued to operate as a somewhat separate company from Ford through early 1940. In April 1940, the operation of Lincoln changed as the Lincoln Motor Company became the Lincoln Division of Ford Motor Company. Once an autonomous entity, Lincoln was now brought closer under Ford control, in part to modernize the division to better compete with the equivalent competition from Chrysler (Imperial) and General Motors (Cadillac).