It's hard to think of another American car from the mid-'80s that still leaves as striking an impression today as it surely did on its first buyer. This is one of the few really great timeless cars to roll out of America's 1980s assembly plants.
It's hard to believe that car is 35yrs old. Man I remember these when they were new. I was in high school and thought they were soooooo luxurious, still do.
My friend's dad was an Oldsmobile man through and through. When I got my first TC he checked it out and said, This is a really nice car. If you don't already have one (why don't you have one?) go out to gargurus of carfax to search for one in your area. The 2006-2008 models are pretty cheap these days and really smooth rides. I put them up there with my 1980 TC that I dearly loved. I didn't like the 1999 model because the headlights looked too goofy. But the 2006 has those serious headlights that mean business. They kinda stare at the other cars like Hulk Hogan about to kick the crap out of someone.
Have to appreciate Bill...a full 18 minutes of a history lesson while walking around this Lincoln Town Car Cartier Edition of a Beauty! Now that is true dedication and appreciation. Thank you!
@@stratcat4450 To the right person, yes. These are quite trouble-free and parts are not expensive, so yes, if you really love this style. Mine was a shitbox but I still loved it. As we say, there's a seat for every ass and an ass for every seat.
@@rollingtones1 ha ha I love that saying! I am not informed enough to know about the Lincoln. Mostly not even a ford lover. My first car was a 65 mercury Montclair mauarder an it was a great car. A few years later I got a very cheap version of that car with no exhaust an a 3 on the tree...you could actually baby that thing thru the gears an accelerate in a normal way and keep it quiet!
I bought this car exactly used in 1997 for $1200 cash it was my family cruiser and safe absolutely loved it! I looked like the big time Mac daddy but mine had three car seats in the backseat for my children it was the best car we ever bought miss it!
Hey Bill, it's worthy of note that this one has the optional rear end (1986-up I believe) that was put into production for the express purpose of prepping the public for the next generation (1990). The standard rear end looked like the 1981...
Love watching this, in 1988 I purchased a New Lincoln Town Car Signature Series which I still have today just as nice as the one you have. It has always been in a heated garage and has 29,000 original miles on it, the body is in the same condition as the one there. Was very nice on road trips nice comfortable ride....
The ‘77 Cutlass video appeared on my feed and I said to myself “39 minutes? There’s no way I’m doing that”. Several hours and videos later…. This is the most entertaining and informative classic car for sale channel. Love the attention the malaise era is getting here. Thanks Bill.
We should organize an event where fans meet up in Naples, gather for dinner at a Gentlemans club, and then the next day do a gun range and follow up with a whisky tasting and cigars. It would be a hoot.
Honestly i agree. Maybe the North Carolina summers won't be so miserable. You're welcome in Mendon & Worcester Mass if you ever feel like stopping by Bill
Oh you're not bill. Well i mean your name might be bill but you're not the bill im looking for welp ive gotta go be dinner err i mean have dinner with friends
The Lincoln Town cars were built too well, leading Ford to eventually axe them. Owners kept them too long and didn't have to get a new one every few years at their dealerships. Here in the NY Metro burbs many were used as livery vehicles. I have seen some with several hundred thousand miles on the clock and still driving well.
@@billolsen4360 Eh, I love these Towncars but there was still quality issues. Timing cover leaks were very common on the engine, they ate up heater cores, Ford was using a cheap plastic timing gear that liked to break at the 100K-120K mark on the 302's. The door panels were very prone to cracking. Ford used a cheap plastic transmission linkage that would break and instantly fry the clutches in the AOD. The 4.6 engine and 4R70W transmission was a better design but the ride is much smoother in this generation though. I also dig the sharp lines as the later TC's look too jellybean-ish.
I worked at Universal Studios as a young kid and the Executives were driven around in all Black Lincoln TC Cartiers.. I wanted one of these so bad. I love the wire wheels and the all black really set this car off!
Gorgeous. Omg I miss my 88 Town Car Cartier! 😪 It was two tone Briar Brown on the bottom and a light golden bronze on top. Grey leather interior. Just stunning. Turned heads everywhere I went. But mine had the regular silver dials on the dash, which I prefer. I was never a fan of digital dashboards. I miss floating down the highway in that beauty. I babied that car. It was my pride and joy. Well, the transmission ended up falling out of it, thanks to my ex boyfriend, who wanted to drive it all over south Florida, to and from work, etc. The car wasn't used to sitting in rush hour traffic when I drove it. I mainly drove it on the highway. I fixed the tranny and sold it. Lesson learned, never again will I let a man confiscate and drive to death any of my cars. He killed mine. This was a nice walk down memory lane.
I love Curious Car vids, very entertaining AND informative: 1) Start out with a weather report- hot humid unbearable 2) yell at the birds followed by a few bird sightings 3) it is so sticky, oh god the humidity! 4) the best car critique around
I remember first seeing that #8 juice can under the hood of a '77 Thunderbird at a Ford dealership in the fall of '76. I was there with my dad who was looking for a new car at the time. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that juice can under the hood of a $7,000 T-Bird. Yikes! lol Thankfully, he bought a Chev instead. :)
I'd love to see Bill do a review of one of those. I have a soft spot for cars like that. From what I recall, they had plenty of room, but the engines choices were a bit drab for a luxury car, neither quick nor particularly quiet.
I was a Chauffeur in Omaha Nebraska 1989-1991, and we had 3 of these Lincoln’s, which included a black 1986 and a 1987 model. Of course they were limousines, but I loved driving them. My favorite models of Lincoln’s.
BILL.... No Words can express how much the I enjoy and truly appreciate your humor! Your thorough description of the car's history, alone, is impeccable in itself I'd watch your videos whether or not I would or wouldn't be into it! PLEASE continue and keep doing what you do
You said you had some treats for us, Bill, and though I’ve had my doubts about that damn Cordoba, you’ve erased all doubt from my mind and blessed us all with another malaise era boat. Thank you, Bill. Take care.
Seeing this TC, Cartier had me tuning in, such memories, as I had this “land yacht” with the mattress ride, mine was an ‘87 with the one back up light in the middle, with the analog gauges (Cartier clock) full on leather w/stitched on large emblem, mats too, but w/the turbine styled alloy’s, w/a 2 toned look, grey paint and machined top of each slot. I bought it from my dad for $2K and joined a Fortune 500 Co. radio dispatch group as a driver w/TLC livery plates for awhile. When the World Trade center bombing happened, I drove by that basement garage door and missed it by 5 minutes, the Wall Street area was never the same after that. Working out of 60 Wall, JPMorgan bank, a virtual 24 hr operation TC’s in line for blocks, 200 hundred cars an hour I was told from that one location. I started at 6pm and the doorman sent me home to LI with my last fare at 11:00pm. When that didn’t work out, it was planned to be a full time gig, I reverted it back to a daily driver and just kept it up with mods, inside and out. Installed a transmission oil cooler, a new half vinyl roof, I put on a nicer looking ‘89 chrome grill, and swapped out the light Burl wood look for a more realistic looking dark walnut on the metal trim pieces. Having this huge trunk which you could have a poker game in, lol, I had a Tri amped Audiomobile sound system w/2 custom ported 10” sub woofer boxes and a piano hinged rectangular box fully carpeted w/the OEM trunk liner to hold my amp rack plate and Pioneer 12 disc CD changer with head unit in dash and with push pull fans for cooling the amps. Infinity Kappa 2ways in all 4 doors, a pre-amp equalizer, a fader, this was a rolling sound machine for its day and I had racked up over 200K miles over the years. I still have the red Cartier dash emblem as a souvenir. “Car-T-Yeah”, I even owned some shirts by that French designer, lol,. Thanks for the historical rewind, and I agree with others comments, this model had its best years when Ford/Lincoln made them in the mid to late 80’s, they really were making quality TC’s again. My dad was for many years a Caddy man until he switched to Lincoln’s, it was that perceived quality difference he saw. Remembering, I still have the original dash, grill and door parts that I pulled, switches etc. in the attic. eBay, hmmm.
Back in the 1980s, whenever my parents needed a rental car, they ALWAYS rented a Lincoln Town Car (I have three siblings, so they always wanted something big). One time, we got one that had white paint and white interior (wow) and because of that we began to jokingly call them "pimpmobiles" (still makes me laugh), but I always thought those were nice cars, with a super smooth ride. That Cartier edition is really something special!
The car Steve martin rented in planes trains and automobiles that wasn't in the parking space (and lead to one of the funniest rants in movie history) was supposed to be a white lincoln town car. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cmg3nlAPVK8.html
You are on point about the Canadians being extremely chipper. I have a 1989 Signature SE (full carriage roof conversion and pillow top velour seats). This Lincoln has an insane amount of rear seat room. With the seat set where I comfortably drive, I can sit behind myself with inches of leg room to spare - and I'm about 5'11''. With the passenger seat all the way forward, I can stretch my legs all the out! Plus with that long formal roof line there is no chance of rear seat passengers hitting their head off the roof. Interior volume is crazy. Trunk volume is crazy. I love it. About the best road trip car one could ever ask for. The miles just glide away in comfort.
Absolutely love your irreverent history lessons! Much more memorable than anything from PBS. My cousin and her husband escaped Florida and have settled happily in the mountains of North Carolina. She’d had enough of hot and more hot . That climate only works if you’re mostly submerged in water and a reptile. Helps if you eat bugs or other creatures which eat bugs.
Love your reviews. Two of my middleschool teachers had this exact car , another had a early 80's tan & brown version. These were everywhere in the 80's. I always loved them.
These Town Cars are one of the nicest riding cars in the history of Automobiles. Period. I really miss driving these cars. This particular Town Car is one of the nicest examples I’ve seen in quite awhile.
The Lincoln emblem in the opera window feature was a ‘89-only thing. The “Cartier” text in the opera window on the Cartier models ran from the launch of the Cartier Town Car in 1982, all the way to the end of this generation in 1989.
I really enjoy your videos because you have so many stories to tell about the manufacturer, designer, famous owners, etc. It's fun to learn so much about the cars that I already love. Your grumpy attitude is a plus! Keep up the good work.
I love to watch the videos from Bill. I own a '88 as a daily driver in Belgium. It is the most comfortable car I've ever driven. My other daily driver '91 Buick PA with air suspension also rides smooth.
That is one gorgeous car. Interestingly, 1980 was the only year you could get a 351, it was all 302's after that until 1991 when the 4.6 modular hit the market
Great video sir! I'm 39 and the only reason i ever wanted a town car was to turn it into a low rider, but since i started watching your videos i now know to appreciate these cars and enjoy them as they are of course there's nothing wrong with making it a lowrider as long as these cars see the road and keep being driven right.
Papw had one of these, he bought it new, and kept it well into the mid 2000s, in 07 he bought a new Town Car, and I inherited the 2007 Town Car, which I still drive to this day. I love my town car.
A fitting find and video for this month as the Town Cars went out of production in August 2011; a decade ago. This 1986 to 1989 body style was always my dream car.
Had a bronze 89 tc and to this day the best car I ever owned! Men would walk over at gas stations and thought it was incredible! My only issues ,power window motors and took 6 weeks to find a headlite relay switch. I maintained my car ,new paint vinyl roof it looked new. Sad I don't have it today! It was my American Rolls-Royce !
I adore Bill & the Lincoln Town Car. My collection consists of an 89 Cartier, an 87 Sail America, & a mint 97 Signature. Brings me back to a simpler time. Hello to all from Detroit!
My brother had the coupe edition. He came down to NY from CT one time and everyone in the neighborhood went nuts over it. He gave it to my mom to drive to SC. When we arrived in SC for a family reunion everybody thought my mom hit the lottery. Beautiful cars. Thanks Bill.
Aha! I recall Victoria BC Canada's Empress Taxi all '1st-shrunk' Cadillacs; then years later, taxi brands using all Town Cars. See what I mean about your superb work? The whole GM v/s Lincoln story is very well detailed. Bravo!
Even with only 22k the glove box still delaminates. However, small issue aside, this rig is gorgeous and it is amazing how well the port fuel injected 302 motivates these epic land yachts.
I had that separation on mine but worse, but I removed the glove box door and epoxied it into proper position, massaging and C-clamps got it right. The dash I pulled out, to carefully repair those perforated holes at the speaker locations, sun baked vinyl was dried and cracked, those oval spkr cones were shot too and were upgraded with new fresh spkrs. Thankfully I used the sun shield to prolong the dashboards life. Many TC’s also separated as this was a weak spot in materials and design.
Hi Bill............. You make my day. Really. Ive been recovering from surgery for the past 20 weeks. I watch you and your vids make me smile in some days that Im crying. Finally healing up. I was watching this morning World of Motion. It was a ride at Disney in the 1980's I went on. Sure cool to look at the 80's vision of the 21st century. Well were in the future and time went quck.Im old Lol.....Got in my pony this morning and put down the top for the rair time in the past weeks of healing and got some breakfast and came home to your newest post. Thank you.......
I love these cars. I wish they made them like this still. My parents had a loaded 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis that rode even smoother than this downsized Town Car. I Learned to drive on that thing. It was just amazing.
In the world of entertainment and automotive interest, I've just experienced one of the best weeks ever! You so kindly provided us with 3 videos this week Bill! Thank you so much!
Wow, this the exact car I learned to drive in at age 16. It was my Mother’s car before she switched to a 560SL. Amazing and smooth vehicle, floated over roads. TY for sharing!!!
I agree. And the market just went to the overpriced, over-engineered, pretentious imports that can't offer the same ride quality. How sad and disappointing.
I owned an 84 Cartier for about 5 years......from 85 to 90. Best car I ever drove....by far. It had a special tone paint white-over grey......that drastically changed to silver over charcoal grey at night. THE most beautiful car outside and inside. I would drive up to a 7-11 and just be in awe of how I looked in the store window reflection. Terrible decision to let it go.
Excellent example, gorgeous color combo, love the back end with beveled tail light bar. With that pesky 0 miles to empty, could you imagine with all the electronics in cars today what could fail? Overall a gem!
WOW! What an original survivor! She's beautiful! You know those birds were eyeing the original paint, waiting to drop their acid leavings on it... Devil's helpers those birds.
Bill,My dad owned 4 of those vintage Town Cars 1 was a stretched version for his livery service.They were absolutely bullit proof.Thanks for the great videos.Mike the Greek
The last Lincolns Town Car that did anything for me was the 1989 and for Cadillacs it was 1996. After that, the urethane covers on the bumpers look like crap. The real ones had chrome bumpers. The last semi decent Town Car was the 1997. After that it looked like a fancy Grand Marquis.
I remember my Grandfather drove the big Lincolns in the 70-80s. Photo of thermostat I had flash back driving his car. I loved the car but my Dad drove Mercedes S class. When I rented a car back then I would upgrade to Lincoln everytime if it was available. Great video.
22:05 I always loved the way Ford combined the windshield washer reservoir with the coolant overflow tank. If you kept your radiator full, you could expect the washer fluid to get slightly heated by the time the car warmed up, a big help for those of us with cold climates.
Hey Bill you hit it out of the park with this beautiful Cartier Town Car!!! I love these big comfortable boats, I've had several Lincolns & enjoyed them all (except the Mark Vlll) Just think, in about 6 weeks we'll have cooler weather!!! 👍👍😁
It’s great to see these cars getting the recognition they deserve. My first car i bought for myself looked EXACTLY like this one. If it hadn’t been for my mistake of leaving the little front window cracked and it raining, I’d still have that car to this day. I bought mine in 2005 with 42k miles on it from a little old white lady in Sugarland TX for $1500. That car ran like a champ and took great care of me on many a road trip from 2005-2017. It rode like a dream, and the 85 on the dash was just a suggestion. I actually topped the car out at 140mph on my GPS going down i10 at 3am lol drank gas like a tank, but damn if it wasn’t fun to drive.
There's no way you did 140 in one of these. The driveshaft grenades at about 115 and they have a mechanical speed limiter that wont let them pass 100. And even if these werent a factor, there is no way that 150HP 302 is wheezing up to 140.
1986 was the first year for sequential multi-port fuel injection and the problem with the miles to empty is a very common one there's a little module on the back of the dash called the fuel interface module that goes bad that has to be replaced
