This 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe has a few unique features as do most fifth-generation Lincoln Continentals. The two-tone paint is nice, and hidden headlights are unique for this generation, as is being a two-door model. Not to mention, this is reportedly the longest car Ford ever made. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Rush City, Minnesota and they’re asking $8,500 or offer. Here is the original listing.
Lincoln made the fifth-gen Continental in four-door and two-door models from 1970 through 1979 and this one is wearing the standard wheel covers and two-tone paint in, I believe, Champagne Poly over Cordovan Poly. At 233 inches in length, almost 19.5 feet, it’s reportedly the longest Ford car ever made. Try parallel parking this one. Oddly enough, there is no optional remote-control passenger side mirror on this car, making it even more difficult to dock this ore boat.
What a gorgeous car, though, no? Yes. I don’t see a flaw in this car inside or out, do you? The seller refers to this car as a “barn find”, and it was apparently very well taken care of by its previous owner who stored it for a couple of decades prior to coming home with the seller. They list the miles as being 93,000 and they could have said 9,300 miles and I would have believed it. Even the flexible bumper filler material looks like new, pretty amazing. This car is 10 inches longer than my old ’66 Lincoln Continental Coupe, which I thought was long.
There is no leather here, which is unfortunate for resale value as most buyers look for leather interiors. I like fabric and this interior looks great both front and rear. The seller says that it’s in excellent condition inside and out, and I looked at this car this morning – it is really nice. Other than one tiny rust bubble just above the right side wheel well that’s hardly visible, it appears to be solid and started instantly. The seller and his son were very nice.
This car has a base 400-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have had 166 horsepower and 319 lb-ft of torque from the factory. It’s backed by a Ford C6 three-speed automatic transmission that sends power to the rear wheels for a 14-second 0-60 time while getting 11 mpg on a good day. But, you’d be doing it in style all day long. The seller says that it runs and drives great, it has new tires, a new battery, a new exhaust, a new fuel pump, a new radiator, new brakes, and new wheel cylinders. Hagerty is at $11,900 for a #3 good condition car so this is probably a steal at $8,500 or offer. If I didn’t have to spend $200 a month on another storage unit, this one would be coming home with me. Any thoughts on this one?
It’s for sure large & in charge like it has a drinking problem like me , I don’t care I’m not cutting back on my brewskis so I understand this car!
Strickingly nice. I am more inclined on the Mark V when going coupe and four doors on the Connie. Interior is a beauty. A nice buy
Fun that Scotty got to visit this one personally. Definitely has that “don’t mess with me” persona. The two-tone gives it a different look. Not much money for something different. Cruise in style.
My father had a 1957, 1961, and 1976 Lincoln. Unbelievable smooth ride.
I think if you had this, you’d be a hit at the land yacht club.
Must have been stored in a dang nice barn! Got an apartment above it I can rent?
Fantastic cars, I have had a convertible version for nearly 30 years. It is one of my favorite automobiles. Mine however is a 460 and in all honesty the car does 12 to 14 mpg and just a wonderful car. I know mine was an AHC conversion but as a guy that had numerous Eldorado convertibles, I always thought Ford blew by not running these Lincolns in convertible form as a regular product, as in many ways it is as good and better than the 71 to 76 Eldorado convertibles. A very nice base survivor here. I not sure these are worth this kind of money but I am somewhat out of touch on car values today.
I would agree there; Lincoln kicked itself in the tailpipe deleting convertibles after ’67. But I can see why they did that, though I may not abide it: Ralph Nader, the nemesis of the auto industry, lobbied hard and heavy against anything that he considered dangerous, and convertibles were not immune to his attacks. He had also already blacklisted Lincoln for its supposedly-unsafe hood ornaments; and, with Lincoln trying to sell itself as THE safety standard for American automobiles to emulate, they deleted the four-point star and the ‘verts early on to make him happy, suspecting that the government would likely mandate everything he wanted in the near future. For a few years that seemed to be the case; from ’77 to about ’82, nobody offered a proper ‘vert, the closest thing to open cars being T-tops (remember those?). Any car seen from those years as a ‘vert was/is a custom-chop job.
It’s no Mark lll, but 8500 seems like short money for a car this nice.
Wait…Scotty…you sold your 66 Coupe?
He also has Chrysler Imperial For Sale, 1968
Ooooh, let’s see the ’68 Imp.
Beautiful car, I love these, too bad it doesn’t have the 460, though. My 77 Coupe Deville was 19 1/2″ long, if I remember correctly. I had to hit the wall and back off a tad to have 2″ or so clearance to close the garage door.
Looks great, would drive smooth and quiet, but only a 409cid is too small for a car that big and heavy, especially in that Era of detuned engines. 166 hp and less than 300 lb of torque wouldn’t cut it for me. I would rather it be a sedan. The lack of a power passenger-side mirror is a nonstandard for me.i would prefer the TownCar. It is a sedan, has a 460, and the passenger-side power mirror.
Ceptin in 79, the Town Car and the Mark V had the same 400. No 460’s in any of them after 1978.
Had one of these in the 80’s. Had others, 66, 67, 69 and they had 460’s and made for an excellent cruiser. Then got one of these that referred to as “The Land Slug”. The downsized engine to a 400 killed it. Cruise control would not hold it even on slight hill, or God forbid a winter headwind (yea lived in MN). Happily found someone who wanted it for it’s looks.
Sadly, I think this Lincoln has been spoken for. He got in touch with me yesterday afternoon saying that someone gave him money down on the Lincoln and Imperial. I waited too long, even after the seller gave me a super generous rock-bottom asking price of $6,500. That was a crying shame of a steal to not buy this car for that price. I hope the new owner treats it well.
If the Lincoln is as good as it looks , this was the steal of the Century!
Pretty inexpensive for what looks like a nice car.
Why everyone is on the “downer side “ of the 400ci doesn’t make too much sense. I had a 1979 Lincoln Town Coupe back in 1990 or so. I put dual exhaust with “flow through “ catalytic converters AND “flow through “ resonators and mufflers. IT DID NOT “Rumble “. Just a “jet like” exhaust sound! Power went up from 166hp to 183hp. That car was “considerably better “ all the way around! Gas mileage topped out at around 17.5 mpg (or so) on the highway! Not kidding. SURE – it’s not a 460, but I’m convinced that the 400ci really is a great engine and I definitely WOULD NOT be afraid to buy another one! Mmmm….. you know, I think I just might. Fantastic article. Good luck!
We had an ’80 F250 Ranger with the 400 and had few complaints for the first 100,000 miles. It wasn’t until we swapped in a rebuilt 1970 429 out of a Thunderbird that we realized that the 400 was a bit weak for real work. The granny geared 4-speed helped mask its lack of power.
“hidden headlights are unique for this generation”
Er… not really. Every Continental in this generation had hidden headlights.
Once had 78 Town Coupe 🏆. Greatest American 🇺🇸 LAND YACHT ever. 89 Signature and current 2007 Signature Limited are some of the best vehicles I have owned. If I were younger, I would already have this beauty! Loved the reaction of people in small cars as I steered that big boat around the corner! The 2007 frequently gets offers to buy. Will not let this one go. Last expression of what a Luxury car should be! 😎
This is a hella nice ride! Not wild about the 2 tone brown but I could role in it fine. Set it up with some heavy beats and fly on the highway to the shore!
“Ore boat”?? Well, it may be, if you can picture said “ore boat” as the Edmund Fitzgerald. I will admit, it is much larger than my ’66 battleship…however, what the article does not reveal is that, for all its size, the trunk space is noticeably smaller than it was just 12 years prior (actually, 9 years prior, considering that ’69 was the last year of the iconic clap-door Lincolns). Also, this car is a good 500 pounds LIGHTER than the average ’60s model, though admittedly, only about 200 pounds lighter than a stripped ’60s Coupé. But yes, as Ripley used to say, believe it or not: They were lighter.
Condition of this car is indeed very nice for its age. I’ve recently seen an example of a 4-door Lincoln, one year younger, that was in incredible shape: Aside from a missing radio, that car was in almost-museum condition, not one trace of rusting anywhere on the skin, not even under the vinyl padding of the roof.
That woefully-inefficient base engine may give one trouble on the interstate now; but one needs to remember that Federally-mandated speed limit of 55 mph in effect back then, so inefficient engines were supposedly not an issue then. The fact that the oversized 351 (that’s all a 400 is) in this car has lasted all this time and still runs is most impressive. Many will lampoon American cars of the ’70s, being huge, sluggish, and prone to breaking down; but there were some that actually were built for endurance. I would say the full-size Lincolns fit into the latter category. Consumer Reports of the time said so as well.
Good analysis, Tony. I never understood the debunking thing. Those otherwise strong engines being strangled actually lowered mpg as the engines had to work harder. It was ludicrous when a Cadillac Eldorado with a 500 CI could only put out 215 hp, but still only got in the low teens mpg wise.
My 78 Town Coupe (which I bought used) had the 460 which seemed to have plenty of power for that glorious moment to OTT excessive American Luxury. But the carburetor became a problem with age. Trusted Mechanic could not get factory replacement. Only option was $500 alternative. Somehow he managed to rebuild a Ford TRUCK carburetor which worked well. Unfortunately health issues caused me to let that big boat float away. Now fortunate enough to have beautiful low mileage 2007 Signature Limited which will NOT get away. Just received a call yesterday from dealership asking if I wanted to trade! 😅 🤣 😂! Politely told him there is NOTHING currently built that could pry my Town Car from my grasp. If I were younger, I definitely would be interested in another Titanic (77 through 79) Town Car as an addition to my garage! 🏆👍. 😎
I used to know where there was one of these with the plexiglass front roof section ala 55-56 Ford Crown Victoria. Also, a friend of mine had a 76 Continental 4 door with the 460 which had the catalytic converters gutted before he got it and at freeway speeds of 70+ mph it consistently got 22+ mpg on the highway. When these cars were able to breath they were actually able to get decent gas mileage. Unfortunately it eventually rusted out to the point he junked it but I got the engine and transmission from it before it went to the junkyard for a street rod project.