Feburary 4, 1922 – Lincoln is sold to Ford

Henry Leland was a man of high class. He was the founder of America’s premier luxury brand Cadillac, which he started in 1902, and after selling the company to General Motors he would go on to start Lincoln Motor Company, thus building a rival for his first brand. Lincoln was founded in 1917 during World War I and debuted the Model L the same year. The main source of income in the early years was a $10,000,000 government contract to build the V12 Liberty engine for military aircraft. After the armistice Leland retooled the Detroit Lincoln factory to produce automobiles using a V8 based off the Liberty’s design. Leland, who started Cadillac after a falling out with Henry Ford, was forced to sell an unprofitable Lincoln to Ford on this day in 1922 for $8 million, approximately half of what the company was actually work. Ford, who’s original $5 million offer was denied by a judge, was the only bidder for the company and is said to have purposefully lowballed as revenge against Leland for starting Cadillac out of the ashes of the Henry Ford Company. 1925 Lincoln Model L Berline by Michel Curi. https://flic.kr/p/pKqzQh CC 2.0 The Model L was the first model introduced by Lincoln in 1917. It was discontinued by Ford in 1930 when replaced by the Model K.In 1939 the Lincoln Continental was introduced and quickly became Lincoln’s top of the line model. Pictured is a 1941 Continental Cabriolet by Jack Snell https://flic.kr/p/yHbHwe CC 2.0