Henry Leland
Henry Leland worked for a tool maker in Providence Rhode Island were he learned machine shop and engineering skills . He 1870 he was a part of the Leland and Faulconer machine shop company . One of his customers was Ransom Olds . For a time the Leland and Faulconer Company manufactured engines for the Olds Motor Vehicle Company .
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In 1902 when Henry Ford left the Henry Ford Motor Company , Henry Leland was hired to assess the value of the company assets for liquidation of the company . Leland talked the owners into manufacturing automobiles instead of selling , and Leland was hired to run the company . His first order of business was to change the company name to the Cadillac Motor Company . Leland then used the designs of Henry Ford , that were left with the company , to build the first Cadillac automobile . It turned out almost identical to the Model A Ford .
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Leland and Cadillac gained a reputation for high quality Luxury automobiles and even won awards . Cadillac sold very well .
Henry Leland was instrumental in the sale of The Cadillac Motor Company to General Motors Corporation in 1909 , but he continued to run the company for GM until 1917 . During that time Leland was involved in the invention of the first electric starter as well as many other innovative ideas . Leland had disagreements with GM and left them in 1917 . He then founded the Lincoln Motor Company (named after President Abraham Lincoln) . During WWI , Leland and his Lincoln Motor Company , manufactured “Liberty” airplane engines for fighter planes . After the war Leland began making Lincoln Luxury automobiles . Quality and precision were built into Lincoln Automobiles which began full production in 1920 . Due to post war recession financial problems arose and in 1922 the Lincoln Motor Company was bought by
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Henry Ford ,to become Ford Motor Company‘s Luxury Car division . Henry Leland and his son remained with Lincoln Motor Company for a short time , but due to the financial condition of the company Wilfred Leland was dismissed and Henry Leland resigned shortly after .
The Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company is very successful to this day and very popular for luxury autos , SUVs and even luxury pick-up trucks .
