10k: Ultra Low Miles: 1990 Lincoln Town Car
The Lincoln Town Car was a favorite of octogenarians, cabbies, chauffeurs…and…welll…that is about it. It wasn’t a bad car per se…it had just lived well past the expiration date on Ford’s aging design guidelines. In spite of all that, it sold surprisingly well for a luxury car, with over 100k units during most years during the second generation (1990-1997). Most for sale today were originally sold as fleet cars that now have 1/2 a million miles on the clock, but this one is almost new. Find this 1990 Lincoln Town Car with 9500 miles on the odometer for $10,900 in Bozeman, MT. Tip from Oldsmobuick.
If you really want a new 1990 Lincoln Town Car, this is about as close as you can get without building your own time machine. The real question you need to ask is…why would you want a new 2nd gen Town Car? For starters, the Town Car is known for its ruggedness and durability, but it is also a great car for soaking up miles on the highway.
The Town Car uses Ford’s Panther platform and is powered by a 4.9 liter Ford 5.0 (302 cubic inch) Windsor V8 — the venerable 5.0h. Power was rated at 150 horsepower and while it might be a few ponies down on next years 4.6 liter Modular V8, it is well up on old-school style.
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To me, this model was the last of the Town Car models that had a 50-50 chance of getting a 70+ year old's discretionary car-buying income (with the other 50% chance being the Cadillac Deville). After this model, the next gen "rounded" model received tepid response, and these just seemed to stop being the official car of Fairfield Communities everywhere. Lincoln's fortunes followed suit, and it makes me question the wisdom of abandoning the aging car buying populus that Lincoln and Cadillac once owned.
My father owns a third generation Town Car. My mom called me when he went to buy it at Carmax to try and catch him before doing it. A little back history, my dad brought me up on XKE's, Ducati, BMW's and a nice appreciation for eclectic vehicles. I called Carmax and had him paged. He was already at the desk with the sales person. I argued/pleaded with him for 15min but he wouldn't budge. He brought home a metallic sand canoe. Turns out he had just visited Hemingway's house and wanted to emulate him in a car boat. It is hard for me to appreciate the thing when I drive it. The tires feel like the bend under the car in a turn, you constantly have to correct in a corner, and the interior reminds me of something my grandfather would be proud of. Also the exterior looks like a melted bar of soap. The funny thing is that because he lives in Albuquerque there are lowriders that run 13" Daytons and Donks that run 28" wheels around town. I guess he is part of their posse. I'm still mad at Hemingway lol
Not to mention the cab drivers of New Orleans for whom, pre-Katrina, this was practically the ONLY car they drove..being a symbol of….cough..cough….upscale sophistication. Though often clad in yellow and orange , it sometimes resembled nothing so much as a turducken.
Well, here is a dude who has wasted his time. However old of a man he was when he bought the thing, he's now 25 years older. Seems like the car only got driven to keep the seals and gaskets lubed. What was the point of buying it?
This might be worth 8k if you really, really wanted it, but who does. The Batmobile Lincolns are much cooler. And while black on black is usually a great combo, with Lincolns it makes you look like a livery driver.
Chebby
Well as much I’d never thought I be the guy to do this, I have to defend the Lincoln Clown Car. Let me just preface by saying my current fleet consists of three Miatas, a Mercury Capri XR-2, a Volvo S60-R, and a 1995 Lincoln. All of them save the TC are manual transmissions, so by definition I’m not a land yacht guy.
My father-in-law gave me the Lincoln because he didn’t drive it anymore. I told him I was going to sell it and get an MG Spridget, he said I could do what I want with it but once I start driving it I wouldn’t want to sell it. My wife piled on saying that she had a sentimental attachment to the old boat so selling it would have made as popular as a spa day at a leper colony.
About this time the van I used for my video production business tapped out so the Lincoln seemed the wrong car at the right time. I must now confess I really like the old yank tank. I can put three cameras, tripods, jib, dolly track, lights, green screen, and audio gear in the trunk and carry four people in the passenger compartment. I put coil-assisted performance shocks on the front and police interceptor springs on the back, and it actually takes the corner flat. I put 25,000 miles on it in 9 months and have only replaced the heater core and some small items expected in 20 year-old car.
Sometimes we don’t get the car we want but we do get the car we deserve. I blogged about the Lincoln in nauseating detail here: automissve.blogspot.com.
Marve, I think that's marvelous (no pun intended – well, maybe a little). I get why you like that Lincoln. Besides, US Marshal Raylan Givens drives a TC and he's a truly bada$$ character.
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And I really like your blog! For those folks that are a bit mystified why they can't get to Marve's site, there's a letter "i" missing in the URL. Here's the link. It's worth checking out!