[10][11] 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.

[13] Serving as a direct competitor to Cadillac, the Model L had become equal to vehicles from established American brands including Duesenberg, Marmon, Packard, Peerless, and Pierce-Arrow.

Upon his use of the one-off vehicle in Florida in 1939, Edsel Ford attracted a high amount of interest from potential buyers, often referring to its "European" or "Continental" exterior design.

At $10,000 in 1956 (equivalent to $112,069 in 2023[14]), the Mark II was the most expensive car produced by an American automaker at the time, rivaling the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud in price.

In place of extending the wheelbase, the reverse-slant roofline was replaced by a formal notchback configuration, allowing the rear seat to be moved rearward several inches.

[22] While largely dispensing with major yearly model changes, the decision established design consistency and shifting resources towards quality control.

To control development and production costs, the Mark III was offered only as a two-door hardtop derived from the chassis underpinnings of the four-door Ford Thunderbird.

It mixed European and American luxury features with the most prominent being an upright chrome grille inspired by a Rolls-Royce design and had a centrally-mounted Cartier electric clock on the dashboard.

For the 1970 model year, Lincoln made good on its 1958 plan to commit to a nine-year design cycle, giving the Continental its first complete redesign for the first time since 1961.

While sharing a common roofline with the Thunderbird, from the window line down, the Mark IV had distinct exterior sheet metal, with the return of a radiator-style grille, hidden headlights, and a redesigned spare-tire trunk lid.

Each carried the designer's signature on the opera windows and was fitted with a 22-karat (92%) gold-plated plaque on the instrument panel which could be engraved with the original owner's name.

While the Town Car retained its traditional layout and large size, fuel prices dropped to a contemporary new low at the time, and operating efficiency became less of a concern to buyers than a decade prior.

or "No, it's an Oldsmobile" in reference to the Lincoln commercials, and even shouted out brands that had not been mentioned in the ad (Pontiac and Chevrolet), leading to the gather crowd laughing and jeering as more and more identical GM cars were retrieved.

This proved to be the final straw for GM, whose chief executive Roger Smith contacted then-Ford chairman Don Petersen, practically begging to have the ads taken off the air.

While sharing much of its body with the all-new Continental/Town Car, many design elements of the successful Mark V made their return, including hidden headlamps, opera windows, and (non-functional) fender louvers; vertical taillamps were joined by a distinct spare-tire decklid.

As the model line represented over half of all Lincoln sales,[37] a redesign of the Town Car proved risky, but was also mandated by passive-restraint requirements and fuel-economy improvements.

Built on a revision of the Panther platform, the 1990 Lincoln Town Car shared its underpinnings (but no exterior panels) with the 1992 Ford Crown Victoria (dropping the LTD prefix) and Mercury Grand Marquis.

To meet federal requirements, Lincoln marked the debut of several safety features within Ford Motor Company and within the American luxury segment.

The tallest Lincoln sedan in 40 years, the 1998 Town Car adopted the rounded exterior of the Mark VIII and Continental with a completely new interior.

Alongside a standard trim, the LSC (Luxury Sports Coupe) made its return as the flagship Mark VIII model; Designer Editions were discontinued.

In response, General Motors launched its own luxury-brand full-size SUVs, deriving the GMC Yukon Denali and Cadillac Escalade from the Chevrolet Tahoe.

While the Catera was imported from Germany (as a rebadged Opel Omega), the LS was produced alongside the Town Car and Continental in Wixom Assembly.

Derived from the Ford F-150 SuperCrew, the Blackwood was fitted with the front bodywork of the Lincoln Navigator and a model-specific pickup bed (with imitation wood exterior trim).

Sharing the body of the Ford Explorer with the Mercury Mountaineer, the Aviator adopted many styling elements from the Navigator, with a nearly identical interior design.

While priced higher than its Mercury Mountaineer counterpart to avoid model overlap, the Aviator struggled to sell, as it competed closely against the Navigator sold in the same showroom.

Derived from the 2007 MKR concept, the MKS marked the production debut of the "split-wing" grille, a design element similar to the 1930s Lincoln Zephyr.

Initially slated for discontinuation after 2007, production of the Lincoln Town Car was shifted to St. Thomas Assembly in Ontario, consolidated with the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis.

[48] The Town Car CKD kits received an exterior restyling, fitted with different front fenders, headlamps and taillamps, and a new grille.

[48] In 2014, Ford Motor Company brought Lincoln to the Chinese market, introducing the brand with the mid-size MKZ sedan and MKC small SUV.

[54] Ford markets the Lincoln brand in several Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain.