I haven’t had time to do even a decent Outtake or Capsule, so here is Claudine across the street from my favorite sandwich shop yesterday. Please don’t judge me for the brake dust-those pads have got to go!
[ED: He may be taking a short break just now, but I’d like to acknowledge how appreciative I am that Mr. Tactful has suddenly become a key Contributor and Cohort Editor here at CC. I asked for help, and given the CC pay scale, one doesn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth too closely. But what a fine set of choppers he has; ready to cut anything down to size; or not, as the case may be. Thanks for showing up and entertaining us all, and enjoy the sandwich as well as the snow!]
Love your Town Car, Mr. Tactful. I’ve got to ask, how are the lo-po 5.0 Panthers on the Interstate? I’m a set the cruise at 85 mph guy and point the hood at the horizon, can the 80s Panthers keep up with modern interstate speeds?
Hell ya, the 81 Lincoln Mark V my mother owned (the panther based one with the 302) would cruise at 75-80 all day. Too bad it had that 85 mph digital speedometer and I think the cruise wouldn’t set any higher than 79. At least with the needle speedometers you got some sort of gratification from seeing how much past the 85 it would go and trying to guess from the position just how fast you were traveling.
Good to know. I’ve had a mid 80s B-body up to speedometer burying speeds but that was with a SBC 305 that has 20hp over a 5.0 lo-po Ford.
On the 93 up Fords they switched the functionality of the “accel” button on the cruise so that each push of the button caused the speed to increase ~1MPH. So I have covered a lot of ground in the 93 GM we had by accelerating to 85 MPH setting the cruise and then hitting the buttons to achieve the aprox desired speed. This of course was in Montana back in the days of the Reasonable and Prudent speed laws.
As Marc mentioned, yep, it’ll do it, but it’ll suck a dent in the gas tank. Fuel mileage drops off a cliff over 70 mph or so, but other than that, it does feel happy at higher speeds. Mine tops out at about 108 or 109.
Of course, so can the boxy-B’s too, I’ve had the 85MPH speedometer on my 80 Caprice buried, though since the gauge is round you just have it pointing down past the 85 mark, I used to like the strip-style 85 mph speedos, where the needle would vanish back into the dash at hyper speeds.
Yeah I LOVE to drive a large car at extra legal speeds…
My father’s employer provided work vehicles were B-body wagons for years. He once asked me to run to his work to pick something up he had left behind (the old man has a key to the place.) He gave me the keys to the wagon and sent me on my way. His work was about 10 miles from our house down a state highway with little traffic typically because of the low population density. It had the strip style speedo and I buried the needle on my way to pick up whatever it was and did the same on the way back. That car was rock solid at the limit.
The car told on me by dieseling after I shut it off and my father was standing on the front porch. I was rewarded with his boot against my bottom…
The more I hear these stories, the more I miss my ’87 Caprice wagon. (Mine had the extra gauge package with the round speedo.) That car would cruise on the freeway all day and get 21 mpg. My current car cruises on the freeway all day and gets 23 mpg. That’s progress?
I used to have a 77 New Yorker with factory HD suspension and 70 series T/A radials. When I was young and stupid, I got it out on a country road and opened it up. I got fairly well past the 100 at the edge of the speedo. That big Chrysler was the best handling big car I ever owned or drove. It just hunkered down and ate miles at 3 digit speeds. All probably at about 6 mpg.
LOL
And this man educates our youth! you gave a big chuckle.. needed that!
One of the greatest ways to learn is by doing. How else are you supposed to know how a RWD American sedan behaves at high speeds? 🙂
My mom had an 86 Monte Carlo as a winter beater. It was a blast to drive in the snow. Stomp the gas and you could get it sideways for fun. Let off and it would immediately get back into line. Very predictable. My 84 GMC fullsize van was also very good in the snow. I never had dedicated winter tires on it either, just decent Goodyear M/S all-season tires on it. These were in the days before such electronic nannies as ABS and traction control. Many RWD vehicles are perfectly fine driving in inclement weather.
I will admit that my current pickup truck is quite a handful to drive in the winter, but sandbags in the bed help. When I remember, I also fill the fuel tank before a snowstorm to add a bit more weight in the rear. The primitive (Kelsey-Hayes RWAL) ABS system on it was dangerous in winter driving too, but it’s broken now, and I’m not in a hurry to fix it at least til spring.
Some of the worst snow and ice storms we’ve had in North Texas (yes, we do get snow, it’s been getting worse. Mostly just ice, though.) I’ve driven a RWD car through. I had a Outback, but the only time I ever needed the AWD was in a torrential rain storm in New Mexico. The clay farm roads in Eastern New Mexico turn slick in rain.
There was a particularly steep bridge on my commute with a stoplight on the other side, right at the base. If you made it up one side, you might not be able to stop on the other. I thought I was going to have to drive my ’77 Thunderbird in reverse up that bridge one day.
Put a white vinyl top on it and that’s exactly the car that I wore out in the early nineties. Yeah Dan. It will do just what you want. There were also some HO engines in some of them that you couldn’t wear out. Higher nickle or something. I didn’t like it as well as the 77 impala wagon I drove later, but better than just about anything else I’ve had since I became a responsible civilian.
It was an 85. Cruise all day and 21mpg. We also had an 86 (first year they called it a 5.0) and the EFI made it even better. I pulled 24mpg with it. Go faster and use more gas but common sense and fear were the biggest limiting factors.
I saw a gray version of your car doing about 70 on I-55 this afternoon, my brother and I were on our way back from the Chicago Auto Show. Going on a weekday was a great idea, it was not crowded at all, and there was a display with the ’55 Ford XM100 concept car and Raymond Loewy’s personalized 1941 Continental.
Oh, and the new cars were pretty neat too, but I’m always drawn to the vintage ones. Sad to not see any Town Cars at the Lincoln stand!
Hey, try burying the needle on a 92 Ford Ranger who’s speedo tops out at 85, get past that and likely your doing 90 or so. Yes, I’ve done that in that former poor truck truck of mine, not for long periods mind you but I’ve done it and it begins to vibrate a little above 80 or so and the steering gets really light and provides NO feedback whatsoever, especially top dead center, if you know what I mean. 🙂
The best I did was drive it around 75-80 tops most of the time when driving from Tacoma to Seattle or vice, versa, I’m sure that wasn’t the best for that poor old beast but eh, it survived for a good while none the less before high mileage and wear and tear slowly brought the old beast to a slow death.
I’m kind of interested in the sandwich shop. I’m due for a trip out on 80.
Don’t get too excited, it’s just a Jimmy John’s.
I am enjoying your posts. My son Jimmy will echo your experience on the gas mileage. Up through 65, it is very economical. Over 70, way less. But smooth and quiet either way.
We always got a kick out of Jimmy John’s in our family, as these are the names of our two boys.