Minneapolis Street Sighting: Lincoln Continental Town Car

Like I explained before, the late 1970s and early 1980s was a great time (sort of) for America's premier luxury brands to duke it out; on GM's side of the fence, ungainly and confusing looking Cadillacs with not-quite family styling graced the portfolio, and on Ford's side of things.. well, a vast array of luxury products complemented the compact cars at dealers. The main seller was Lincoln's much-loved Continental nameplate, shown here in "Town Car" guise. While a coupe was had, too (as I showed just a couple days ago), the four was the big seller. It's a car that exudes class and formality, but also looks quite good even by today's standards. For me, this is probably the ultimate Lincoln, only being bested by the 1961-1964 Lincoln Continental.











In the late 1970s, emission controls were really starting to take their toll on America's beloved-- the luxury car. Saddled with a 460 V8, one would assume that this barge made an assload of power to get moving, correct? The answer is.. no. The big engine churned out a rather geriatric 185ish horsepower; sounds quite sad, doesn't it? This wonderful combination produced fuel mileage worthy of a big rig, or perhaps a Ferrari 360 Modena; EPA estimates when new were 10 city/14 highway, and by today's standards, that equates to a rather staggering 5 city and 11 highway. I would argue that if someone buys a big luxury barge, they don't care about fuel mileage. An why should they? When new, these vehicles were the "of-choice" for bankers, investors, and other top-notch people in society-- a far cry from the minicab industry that uses the Town Car today.
I first found this car in the same way I found the gold LTD posted earlier; I've seen it off and on for months now, but since it wears out of state tags, I (un)safely assumed that I would never get the chance to shoot it fully, much less blog it. My fears were erased when, out of nowhere, it showed up in front of me-- so I did the paparazzi thing and tailed it, hoping it would park. And it did.
I am somewhat saddened by the condition of this once-proud beast; it's definitely withered the elements, and while that honestly isn't a bad thing, it should've been cared for better. Up close, the paint, while not pitted per se, was in far from ideal shape; no actual rust cluttered up the body, but dents and paint-fade surely let passersby know this example of America's Lincoln was past its prime. The wheels, too, seemed to have had their fair share of troubles. Not quite in bad condition, only one was missing a centercap--a piece that is damn near impossible to find today. I didn't get a chance to scope out the interior of this beast-- only because the area in which it was parked is somewhat shady-- but I do recall that their were personal contents strewn across the back seat, suggesting that this big Town Car is not only still rolling daily, it's also being used as "just another car".
To me, cars are supposed to be used; I realize that daily use does ruin car if they're not upkept, but in cases like this, I'd rather see it being used, and still on the road, than sitting in a feild rotting. I know it sound sacrilegious, but I'd care about a beater one that's still on the road, more than an abandoned junker, simply because the mere fact that it's still going means it has an owner to care about it.