FoMoCo was upping its game in regard to color names by this time, and this one is Pastel Adobe Clearcoat with a similarly-named Pastel Adobe vinyl top. 1989 was the last year of Lincoln’s first-generation Town Car series, and this car can be found posted here on craigslist in Visalia, California. The seller is asking $5,800, and here is the original listing. Thanks to Barney for the Town Car tip!
I started and operated a commercial cleaning (janitorial) service for several years after high school while trying to avoid college. I built it up to four vans and 14 employees, but when I was doing the work myself late at night, I’d often listen to an AM radio station (remember those!?) about money and finances with a host named Bruce Williams: The Bruce Williams Show. We even advertised on his show, which was pretty fun. I only mention all of that because I remember him talking about how much he loved the 1989 Lincoln Town Car, the last of the classic square Lincolns. He drove one, but he also bought a new one and kept it in storage for the day when his daily-driver was worn out. Ahhh… to be able to buy a new car and just store it for future use. I wonder if he ever used that “new” one?
Lincoln offered the first-generation Town Car from 1980 for the 1981 model year until the end of 1989, and there was also a two-door version. This example has been the seller’s daily driver for the last eight years, and they say they’re the second owner. It looks great overall, but if you zoom in on some of the details, you can see that it isn’t perfect; nor should it be after 37 years. This one has the optional aluminum turbine spoke wheels.
We don’t get to see inside the cavernous trunk, and there are no underside photos, but the seller has provided better photos than most craigslist ads. Great job, Tiger! – as Bruce Williams would say. Based on Ford’s Panther platform, the Lincoln Town Car was formerly the Lincoln Continental, but there was also a Lincoln Continental Mark VI, very similar in look but a bit higher in trim, and often with special editions or designer trim. If a Lincoln Continental can be a base model, the Town Car could probably be considered one. This one is wearing tan “cloth” seats rather than optional full leather, as you can see.
An engine photo in a craigslist ad is a bonus, and this clean tangle of hoses and wires is a Ford-sourced 302-cu.in. OHV fuel-injected V8, which was rated at 150 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque when new. Passing silently through a four-speed automatic, power is sent to the rear wheels, and the seller doesn’t say how it runs, but I’m assuming all is well. Hagerty is at $4,800 for a #3 good-condition car; how much is this Town Car worth?
Pasted?
Yes, sir, the same paste that we ate in first grade… er… Thanks for catching that typo! In 9.9 years, that’s the first time I typed “posted” as “pasted,” it had to happen eventually.
Great color names. This Lincoln should have plenty of life left in it. Priced in “just an old car” territory.
Happens to be, I was listening to some talk radio on an AM station today. I think that’s about all there is on AM nowadays.
Thanks SG.
These cars were nice, back in the day, but they were so underpowered it was a joke. First day I had one of this era, I slammed on the gas to get onto the highway, and almost got slammed, cause the car went nowhere…
Had 4 Lincoln’s in my life. Best was ’69 Continental w/suicide doors and 460 ci engine. Worst was 89 Town Car. Couldn’t hold cruise control going up a hill, and a mild hill at that. Looked and rode great, if had time to spare to go someplace. Kept it for a year then found someone else who wasn’t in a hurry. Came across one last year with a built 302, cam 4bbl carb. Guy had video of it, it would smoke the tires like my ’69 did. Was $3500 but I missed it. Still looking for another. This one? $2K and need everything working and assurance will get cross country. Weather patterns start in the west, so should have tail wind.
I owned one. My MIL gave it to us after my FIL died. It was a couch on wheels. The power steering hose sprang a leak, and it’s right below the alternator. Well, a fire started. Oh well. The car rode nicely.
You brought back a memory Scotty. I listened to Bruce Williams on Toledo radio 1370, as often as I could. I learned quite a lot listening to him.
“I’m Bruce Williams, and this is Talk Net” (also contains Sally Jesse Raphael). And, to Dan Baker, 1370 in Toledo was WSPD, last I knew. We used to get it here, after WFEA-1370 in Manchester, New Hampshire, went off the air around midnight: that was about 65 years ago. The PRICE on this car is more than fair, in my opinion. And I would be GLAD not to have those awful leather seats! But this is the base Town Car: I much prefer the Signature Edition. My 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis has clocked 410,000+ miles at this point; it’s pretty well worn out. So, I am seeking a replacement, eventually. But it has been a most reliable and comfortable car. True, these cars do not get entirely out of their own way when climbing a long hill, and the cruise-control won’t hold: it is embarassing to need to follow the posted instruction, “Slower Traffic, Keep Right”. I don’t want a “sleeper”, neither the ability to “burn rubber”; but I WOULD prefer sufficient horsepower to maintain speed when going uphill!! I live in snow/salt country, and these cars have another advantage which isn’t usually mentioned: they don’t rust out! Lots of them are still on the road up here, and are run all winter long (just as mine is), and yet rust is minimal after all of these years. Traction on snow, ice, and on wet pavement in heavy rain, however, can be rather risky. I refer to “these cars”, because Ford built the L.T.D. Crown Victoria on the Panther Platform, beginning in 1979, and it retained that basic form through 1991. The Mercury Grand Marquis was simply a more “upscale” version, though basically the same car underneath. The Mercury had a nicer dashboard, better interior trim, and enough “luxury” to clearly differentiate it from the Ford; however, the chassis and basic mechanics were the same, as was the performance of the two cars. The Lincoln Town Car had a longer wheelbase and greater interior foot-room in rhe rear seat, somewhat fancier upholstery, exquisitely-luxurious dashboard and other interior “nicety” appointments (even a thermometer under the driver’s side rear-view mirror), though it still was foundationally the same as the lowly downmarket Ford L.T.D. Crown Victoria. Hence, I look at all of these various versions as one basic car. And, unsurprisingly, strengths and short-comings of one mostly hold true for each of the others. As one example, electronic door-locks and power windows are one consistent maintenance headache. The radio is good, basically, for local and near-local stations only. And the cassette-player is inclined to intermittent failure on one channel. Dashboard lighting is way too dim, hard to read the speedometer at night, and nearly impossible to read the radio frequency during the day. Heating is difficult in below-zero weather. But the original air-conditioning often lasts for the life of the car. The Continental, Mark VI, shared the shorter wheelbase of the Ford and the Mercury, and so was less roomy than the Town Car. Still including an 8-track player as late as 1980 was a marketing mistake. And, unlike the other Panthers, gas-mileage was rather poor, by comparison, with the Continental. And not one of these Panthers has ever looked good in coupe form: the four door sedan has beautiful proportions and is far more conveniently practical for entrance and exit of rear-sear passengers or contents.
Very good review, Harrison. I thought you might like this one in most respects, given the plush cloth upholstery. I mentioned before that we had three of these, 85, 86 and 87, the 85 being a Grand Marquis with the last year for the throttle body injection 5 liter that was gifted to us when my wife’s aunt stopped driving. I then bought an 86 Town car for me and an 87 for my wife long after they cost anywhere near like when new. The 87 had cloth seats and was the nicest one but she didn’t like parking it in Philadelphia. I ended up hitting a Lexus in center city, didn’t much scratch the Lincoln! After the Lexus was repaired, we ended up selling the Lincoln and buying that Lexus, much easier to park she said. We still have it.
I had a 1984 Town car. Nice comfortable car with a serious lack of power. I never understood why they didn’t offer the 351.
To Steven Dempsey: They did not offer the 351, because of fuel-economy issues: they needed to keep the mileage in the 20 or more miles-per-gallon range, a tough thing to do with a body-on-frame V-8 powered vehicle. This also accounts not only for the 1980 down-sizing, but also for the number of moulded fiberglass or plastic body-parts (instead of stamped or cast steel) — such as the frame around the grille and the headlights — and the chrome grille itself is moulded plastic.
Owned 4 of these, underpowered but a joy to drive.
I always get a kick out of looking at the vacuum storage tank. It looks like a coffee can. All of my older Cadillacs in the 60s had the same thing too. The second tank, my Cadillacs had was for the accessories, that was totally different and much heavier