Curbside Outtake: Lincoln Very Short Deck Town Car

The other day we saw a Lincoln TC pickup; today it’s a Lincoln Short Car, an extreme version of the Cadillac short-deck Park Avenue that it offered in the early sixties.

This is of course on of so many older that have been modified for the popular Gambler 500, which takes place in Oregon and started back in 2014. It’s a large group off-paved road (meaning mostly dirt and gravel roads) rally that also combines a public service aspect (picking up trash). Originally there was a $500 limit to the purchase price of the cars, but that’s fallen by the wayside.  Big old American cars are quite popular.

My xB would actually be perfectly suited for the Gambler 500, given its off-road modifications, but I’m not really attracted to large events like this. And it does seem to attract primarily a somewhat younger cohort.

Even with its chopped tail, the Lincoln is still a lot longer than my xB, which is chopped on both ends. And has more interior room to boot.

And the xB still has a cargo area, albeit not a very large one. Are those bottles there as a protection from a rear impact, like those water-filled bumpers of yore? The gas tank is pretty exposed.

Aha!