Many car companies have been named for presidents. There was the Madison Motors Co., eight cars named for Washington, and the Roosevelt — named for Teddy, not Franklin.
All of them failed.
Other presidential surnames show up coincidentally as car company names, including Bush, Carter, Cleveland, Clinton, Ford, Harrison, Hoover, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Kennedy, McKinley, Monroe, Pierce, Taft and Taylor.
With the exception of Ford, only one has been successful: the Lincoln Motor Co., which was purchased by Henry Ford 100 years ago today, Feb. 4, 1922. The photo of the transaction survives, with Lincoln Motor Co. founder Henry Leland, Henry Ford and their two sons signing the agreement of sale. If there seems to be little glee in this photo, there’s a reason.
Henry meets Henry
Fourteen months after the failure of Henry Ford’s first car making venture, the Detroit Automobile Co., he established the Henry Ford Co. in November 1901.
Ford raised the funds for the new company by driving his first race car, the 1901 Sweepstakes, against Alexander Winton. He won, generating enough money to help establish the firm.
But Ford was merely a minority shareholder and chief engineer, despite the company’s name. Nevertheless, he was focusing more attention on developing a new 4-cylinder race car than the lightweight roadster the company planned to sell for $1,000.
Rather than let the company fail, Ford’s directors, led by financier William Murphy, decided to liquidate the company. Henry Leland, of Detroit’s highly respected Leland & Faulconer machine shop, was brought in to evaluate the company’s assets. Ford “resigned” less than four months after the company was founded, taking with him $900, the plans for his race car, and nursing what would be a lifelong grudge.
After his exit, the company would be renamed for the French nobleman who founded Detroit: Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Leland got to work, establishing Cadillac as “the standard of the world.”
Leland sold Cadillac to General Motors in 1909, becoming a GM executive. But Leland would leave GM eight years later after a dispute about a contract with the U.S. government to build Liberty aircraft engines. CEO William Durant, a pacifist, was opposed; Leland wasn’t, and left to perform his patriotic duty.
A company born of war
In order to meet the $10 million contract, Leland established the Lincoln Motor Co. to manufacture the engines. The company was named for the 16th president, who Leland greatly admired.
While Leland met his end of the contract, he was never fully paid for his work by the U.S. government. Nevertheless, now in mid-70s, Leland retools to make luxury cars in the Cadillac mold. Unwisely, he put his son-in-law in charge of styling.
The car that results, the 1921 Model L, boasted a compact 60-degree V-8 with a robust chassis and well-regarded handling. But the styling was extremely dull, even for the period, and sales suffered accordingly.
Furthermore, Leland’s timing proved unfortunate, coming to market in November 1920 during a deep economic recession. Within a year, the company is on the rocks; a bankruptcy sale is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2022, a common occurrence in an industry brimming with startups.
When the fateful day arrived, only one bidder showed up to buy the company: Henry Ford.
Flush with cash from the overwhelming success of the Ford Motor Co. and its Model T, Ford offers to buy the company with a lowball $5 million offer, but the court refuses. Ultimately, he pays $8 million, but it’s hardly an act of largesse; the factory he acquires is worth double that.
In June, the Lelands are escorted out of the company they founded by Ford security personnel. Henry puts his son Edsel in charge. Ford managers are soon in the plant, looking for pointers on improving the Model T’s quality.
In the intervening century, Lincoln has changed as much as the country, producing some notable vehicles, including the 1936 Zephyr, 1940 Continental, 1954 Capri, 1956 Continental Mark II, 1961 Continental, 1981 Town Car and the 1998 Navigator — which beat the Cadillac Escalade to market by a year.
“With classic style, form and function that became the hallmark of the brand, there’s something very special about Lincoln,” said Jim Farley, president and CEO, Ford. “I am so excited to see where the brand will go in China and North America as it begins its second century.”