1926 Lincoln Model L

Henry Martyn Leland, Detroit's 'Master of Precision,' trained in the armories of Hartford and Springfield, and later worked for Brown & Sharpe in Providence where he assisted in perfecting equipment for accurately grinding surfaces. Brown & Sharpe then sent him to Detroit to sell precision measuring instruments and machine tools and gauges. Leland eventually founded Leland & Faulconer, Inc. as an independent machine shop and assembler. The company built engines for Ransom Olds' Oldsmobile, among other items.
Following a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Leland was hired by the directors of the Henry Ford Company to appraise the machinery and factory. While the investors and directors wanted to build expensive, luxury cars, Henry wanted to build low priced cars.

Leland performed his appraisal but suggested the company stay in business, selling vehicles powered by an engine he had designed. The investors agreed, and the company was renamed Cadillac which eventually became part of William Crapo Durant's General Motors. Leland remained with Cadillac, and when the company was presented with a government contract to build Liberty aircraft engines for World War I, Durant refused. Wanting to support the war effort and capitalize on the lucrative contract, Leland left to set up a new company named for the first president he voted for, Lincoln.

After the contract ended, Leland and his son Wilfred went back into the automobile business. The first Lincoln automobile was introduced in 1921 powered by a 358 cubic-inch L-head 60-degree V8 engine benefitting from Leland's pretension for precision engineering. While most conventional V-8 engines offset the cylinder banks slightly to make room for adjacent connecting rod bearings on the crank journals, Leland's Model L used precision-made fork-and-blade connecting rods and disposed the cylinders directly opposite each other. Another unusual feature for the period was the full pressure lubrication system.

Unfortunately, the styling did not complement the fine engineering and left a lot to be desired. Trying to rectify the problem, Lincoln enlisted Hermann A. Brunn to redesign the bodies, resulting in a set of twelve body designs. By this point, it was too little, too late, as sales dwindled quickly due to the post World War I recession and an erroneous $4½ million tax bill.

In 1922, the company was bought out of receivership by Henry Ford who was seeking a company to compliment his Model T but on the other end of the price spectrum. Henry's son Edsel was placed in charge and quickly set about resolving the shortcomings, specifically the stodgy styling. Edsel enlisted such custom coachbuilders as Brunn, Judkins, Willoughby, Murphy, and Locke to provide bodies, with many of them appearing in Lincoln's catalogs.

The 'L' indicated its design by Henry and Wilfred Leland and would remain the catalog designation until the V-8 was superseded in 1931.

Along with new styling, Edsel streamlined the production process, saving vast amounts of money and turning Lincoln into a profitable business in less than a year. By 1925, the L-Series received another restyling that included a new nickel-plated radiator shell. The 90 horsepower V-8 and three-speed transmission remained, a variety of body styles were offered, and sales were strong.

1926 Lincoln Model L
The 1926 Lincolns appeared with only minor modifications. Prices range from $4,000 to $7,200 (or more) depending on the coachwork, and 8,787 examples were produced, a slight increase over the 8,451 produced the prior year. Non-movable 19-inch wheels became available during the model year, with a smaller cross-section and molded to form finger grips on its lower surface. The wheel and spokes were of black walnut construction, and the headlight tilting lever was now positioned below the horn button on the hub. The 357.8 cubic-inch V8 engine had a new centrifugal-type carburetor air-cleaner and a new distributor cam. The engine was backed by a three-speed sliding gear transmission with a multiple disc, dry plate clutch. Stopping power was provided by mechanical brakes on the two rear wheels. Lincoln automobiles produced for police use had four-wheel brakes.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2020