Hooniverse Asks – It’s President’s Day, So What’s Your Favorite Lincoln?

Sure, today POTUS rides around in a Cadillac-bodied GMC Topkick, but that hasn’t always been the case. President McKinley was the first leader of this great nation to ride in a car, while Teddy Roosevelt’s administration was the first to buy an official government ride – a Stanley Steamer. Over the years, and up until the ’80s the Feds switched back and forth between the two U.S. luxury car makers, until finally during the Reagan administration, the preference for Cadillac was made.
But what better car for a president, than one that shares its name with one of the greatest this country has known, and whom we celebrate today – along with another guy who didn’t get a car named after him, even though his teeth would have made for a great connection to the woody. No, it’s not Washington – but Lincoln who deserves our admiration and consideration today.
And while Lincolns today may be a thin parody of their former greatness, the brand once rightly competed for world standard honors. The Lincoln Continental, back before the name represented little more than just a faux spare tire hump, was the ride of not just presidents but the Hollywood elite and captains of industry. That car took its name from its European pretensions, but it was still wholly American in nature, originally sporting what would turn out to be the last factory V12 engine offered in a U.S.-built auto. The Mark II had the honor of being, for a time, one of the most expensive cars in the world, its $10,000 asking price rivaling that of Rolls Royce. Hand built, with no expense spared, the Continental seemed designed to justify its price, but found its market very limited.
These days, it’s hard to compare Ford’s aspirational brand with competitors from around the globe without having it come up wanting. It seems that ever since the ’90s, Lincolns have been nothing more than tarted up Fords, and the company appears to have been courting the livery business more so than that of private buyer of discriminating tastes. That’s not to say that the company can’t turn things around – hell, Cadillac certainly did – but until it does, it’s unlikely anyone will be taking a day off of work to fete any of their current models. That does leave us with decades of Lincoln iron that may deserve honoring, from those original Connies, to perhaps the MKVIII which breathed new life into the company a number of years back, only to see it flatline again as the century turned. So whether old or new, which Lincoln – on this President’s Day – gets your vote for favorite?
Image source: [karznshit.com]