To a degree this is an extension of The Lincoln Motorcar: Sixty Years of Excellence (1981), but with a restructured narrative and less emphasis on photographs. The time span covered is 1946 to 2000.
As with most other automotive histories by Thomas E. Bonsall (e.g., on Edsel and Studebaker), this one offers a good mix of engaging prose and careful business analysis backed by citations.
The Postwar Years is published by an academic press. That may explain why it offers a somewhat more dispassionate assessment than The Lincoln Motorcar. Bonsall did not over-glorify Lincoln’s successes nor gloss over its misses. For example, he quite rightly described the 1956 Lincoln as “the most competitive package Lincoln had ever fielded” (p. 51). By the same token, he lauded the 1961 Lincoln Continental for sparking “a styling revolution in Detroit that was felt far outside the luxury car field and which continues even to this day” (p. 85).
On the negative side, Bonsall argued that the 1956-57 Continental Mark II sold abysmally because it deviated too far from the Mark I, which essentially was Ford’s first affordable personal luxury coupe. The Mark II simply cost too much — unlike the wildly successful 1958 four-seater Thunderbird or the 1968 Mark III (p. 66).
In a similar vein as The Lincoln Motorcar, The Postwar Years does not look kindly upon the 1958-60 Lincoln and Continental (go here for my take). The 1977 badge-engineered 1977 Versailles also comes in for a well-deserved critique. Bonsall recognized that “like it or not, Lincolns were going to have to be downsized” but panned the Versailles as looking “for all the world like a Granada with a Mark grille and a tire hump rather awkwardly grafted onto the back” (pp 149-150).
The Lincoln Story: The Postwar Years
- Thomas E. Bonsall; 2004
- Stanford General Books, Stanford, CA
“In contrast to the slightly odd 1955s, the 1956 Lincolns were beautifully proportioned. Most of the old themes were carried over, but this time they worked famously. These cars are text book examples of the stylists’ power to create images. The mental impressions one retains of the 1955 and 1956 models are totally different, yet if the actual cars are examined in detail it is obvious that, feature for feature, they are startlingly similar.” (p. 51)
“Without a doubt, the Mark III had become the most successful new model in Lincoln history. Not only was it selling at half the rate of total Lincoln production prior to its introduction, but it was on the verge of overtaking Cadillac in the personal luxury car field. Cadillac produced 24,528 Eldorados in the 1968 model year and 23,333 in 1969 — a mere 245 over the Mark III in 1969.” (p. 116)
“The Mark VII’s main failing may have been that it stretched the envelope too far for its existing customer base. But, it had also earned new respect for Lincoln from enthusiasts, import fanciers and younger people who would be driving the luxury market in the 1990s and beyond. In the final analysis, the Mark VII was a modest commercial failure, but an honorable one that significantly advanced Lincoln’s prospects in the long run.” (p. 169)
OTHER REVIEWS:
RE:SOURCES
- Bonsall, Thomas E.; 1981. The Lincoln Motorcar: Sixty Years of Excellence. Bookman Dan!, Baltimore, MD.
Be the first to comment