Could President Abraham Lincoln have imagined upon his death bed 150 years ago that one day there would be such a fine automobile as this named after him?
My son, Owen, has really gotten into cars of late. He had a thing for them many years ago, probably at a point when his fascination for subway trains ebbed a bit. We've gone to the annual auto show in Boston each of the last several years. He's excited for this year's show, which is sometime just after the New Year.
When I was his age my thing was 18-wheelers: Peterbilts were my favorite, followed by Kenworths. I was into cars, too, but not like Owen is right now. How excited is he by cars? When I told him today that I bought him the 2016 auto issue of Consumer Reports, he looked at me like I'd just told him he'd won the lottery.
"You did?" he asked as we drove home from school. "Thanks," he said with a handsome grin.
My dad liked to talk about cars. He enjoyed pointing out that "1 in 5 cars you see broken down on the highway is a General Motors car." I don't know a damn thing about how cars work or how to fix them, but I enjoy calling out classic muscle cars and restored gems from the 1930s through 1950s. Owen pays them little mind.
Named for the 16th president of our fine United States, the Lincoln Motor Company was founded in 1917 by Henry Leland, who'd voted for Honest Abe in 1864, according to Wikipedia. Five short years later the company was in financial straits, and was acquired by Ford Motor Company.
So many car companies have gone under over the last 115 years. It's nice to see a classic one like Lincoln still around almost 100 years after its founding. Now, if they could just do something about those annoying Matthew McConaughey commercials.
Well, at least Jim Carrey put the naked bongo player in his place:
