Brochure image from favcars.com.
I’ll admit right here, I’m an idiot and make lots of dumb calls in life; all in the name of good intentions.
Such was a job I took. I had been with Lowe’s for 10 years when I was “no longer needed.” I was 46 years old and in 2009 the job market was bad. After being turned down on about 15 jobs, I needed work right away.
Because I knew the installing side of Lowe’s business, I knew many of the installers. So I took a job running flooring measurements called details. It meant driving to a customer’s home, measuring the areas they wanted new flooring installed in, and checking for things like excessive furniture, pianos and the like. I was to be paid $30 per detail, be kept within a 25-mile of my home radius and given a $5 fee for everyone that sold. Sounded like a life of chocolate coins and puppies… I would soon find out that chocolate melts and puppies poop.
Ford Ranger image from the web.
Cindy and I felt like this was something I could make a small, but budget-friendly amount of money doing, especially given the fact that we had recently bought a used 2001 Ranger four-cylinder 5-speed truck with some 89,000 miles.
The office was located in Sylvania Ohio, a bit north of my home in Findlay. There were three of us running details; one ran the northern part of Ohio and southern Michigan, one ran the western part of Ohio and I ran the southern part. Suddenly, things went really bad.
The man in Michigan had a bad fall and was unable to run his route. So the boss asked me if I would do his route and he would give me $200 weekly to take it over, plus my regular $30 per detail. This meant an average of 1200-1500 miles of weekly driving. While this sounds ok, it really wasn’t at all.
As the Ranger aged, it ran worse. And at 138000 miles, the engine blew. Unknown to me when I bought it from a friend, his son had overheated it… twice! And never said a word. My friend offered to work with me on putting a replacement engine in it, but I needed a car the next day. You see we were averaging 6-15 details daily.
I was very good friends with our pastor and he referred me to a church member, John, who worked at a local Chevy store.
When I got to the dealer and met with John, I told him how many miles I was driving and explained that reliability and fuel economy were forefront. He first showed me a 2000 F150 with a six but was rusting away as I stood looking at it. He then asked if a 2003 Taurus would work. But it too had lots of rust. I looked at a Honda Accord but he told me it had brake issues.
Unlike the original brochure image, ‘Louis’ was silver.
Then he remembered a car that had just turned up on the lot: a garage kept, one owner 1995 Lincoln Town Car. No scratches, no dings and the only 1990’s Lincoln I’d seen with a fabric interior.
After looking it all over, I saw the price; $4195. A quick look on my pocket computer revealed that his price was spot on according to people like KBB, Edmunds and even NADA. I told him that my budget was $3000 total for everything, and while he was right with what the books said the value was, I needed cheaper. Appearing not to listen, he put a tag on it, and handed me the keys. He said take it out, and drive it around to let Cindy see it –no time pressure.
I enjoyed the way the Lincoln drove. It didn’t have the typical squeaks and rattles, it tracked straight, the engine ran out smoothly and the transmission seemed so soft as to exchange gears rather than switch them.
Additionally, Cindy fell in love with it. She told me that she wanted to own that car, and in fact, she’d always wanted a Town Car but had never mentioned it.
Well, all I needed to do was convince John to sell it way below book!
Upon returning to the dealership, John came right over and asked my opinion. “Well, I like this car very much. In fact, if I could afford it, I’d buy it. But I gave you my budget.”
He said, “Don’t worry, it’s yours. We agree to sell it to you and Cindy for $2750 out the door.”
I couldn’t believe it. And with a handshake, we owned the car that would become my wife’s very favorite and would get its own name: Louis.
…
Cindy tells me that out of the 75 vehicles we’ve owned, Louis was her favorite. And truthfully, our whole family has great memories.
We had only owned the car for about two weeks when her mom flew up from Florida for a visit. The two women decided to take a road trip from our home in Findlay Ohio to Chicago to see our son. So away they went.
Quoting Cindy, “Louis was such a smooth riding car. I appreciated the spaciousness, the coffin quiet interior and the decent fuel economy. That car just ate up mile after mile of pavement without ever making me feel tired.”
She did find out quickly that due to the quiet smooth ride, exceeding the speed limit was easier than she thought. In fact, she was given a ticket for 55 in a 35 in town!
For the most part, Louis was her car, while I had taken a hand me down 93 Buick Park Avenue. One day, however, I had a run further out than normal and decided to take Louis. Big mistake.
I was up near Huron Ohio and was to meet a landlord to measure three bedrooms. This property was in the lower rent district. Once I was done, I got into the car, buckled up only to have two police cruisers block me in. Not knowing what to expect, I put both hands on the top of the steering wheel. The one officer opened my door and summoned me out.
He saw my shirt, my tape measure and clipboard and asked what I was doing there. I explained and even showed him the floor plan I drew. The other officer called in my tag and they realized that I was safe. They asked what my next moves were and I explained that I’d be driving home.
They then told me that I would be “escorted out of town”. Eventually, they caved and said, “My car fit the profile of a local drug dealer. A neighbor had called them.”
I never drove that car to details again!
…
My other time spent driving Louis was also wonderful. We had driven it over to Chicago and enjoyed the way it soaked up all the bumps.
Our son Jacob also really liked Louis asking every time he came home if he could drive it. He took his girlfriend out to dinner in it. And he told Cindy “It’s definitely one of the nicest cars we’ve owned.”
Finally there’s our daughter Melissa. She learned some of her driving and parking driving that car and said it was just too big. She failed one of her first attempts to get her license in Louis. She said that wherever we drove that car, she would be the passenger seat princess!
How much did we sell it for? Well, it was going to be $3200. However, he had a sweet little Shih Tzu puppy so we did some cash and some puppy.
Her name is Kitty and for 12 years, she’s been our grand puppy. However, this year, our daughter Melissa made us true grandparents:
To this little guy named Ausbie Ryan.
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1997 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series – Signing A Vow Of Loyalty
What a great story! But IMO you should have kept that Town Car. When we’ll maintained they can easily go 300,000 mi or more! I’ve had 78 Town Coupe, 89 Signature Series and current 2007 Signature Limited, now showing 73,000 miles. I’ve had numerous upscale vehicles including 89 and 93 RWD Cadillacs. The Lincolns and Grand Marquis have overall been superior. LINCOLN, what a Luxury car should be and ONCE was! 😉 so many peasant cars are revolting! On to VERSAILLES! 🏰
I will confess that I still occasionally get a hankering for one of these like when I saw a really nice one for sale outside of a local auto electric shop. The problem is that they are at or approaching 30 years old. Maybe the other problem is that after experiencing a hundred minor failure points on a 93 Crown Victoria, I can imagine all of them happening to one of these Lincolns as soon as I might adopt one.
These were really nice driving cars, and I can understand how both you and your wife loved taking it out on the highway.
Great story, Chip. It seems that you’ve demonstrated that the arc of automotive ownership is long, but it bends toward happiness…and often dogs. 🙂
That a sweet Lincoln, I love one if I had room to park it under cover.
A nice car to be sure .
I’m firmly in the ‘it’s TOO BIG !’ camp however, one of my oldest friends from the 1960’s weighed 350# when these came out and were the _only_ American full size car he could fit behind the steering wheel of .
As it turned out they were really good cars for all the reasons already mentioned .
Plug they were good in the snow and didn’t rust out in spite of the massive amounts of salt Massachusetts spreads on it’s roads every rear .
He didn’t see any point in a garage so his cars were always parked outside in the weather and the paint, trim and upholstery all fared very well indeed .
-Nate
(Not a sales pitch, just an anecdote)
I have a silver 97 with 230,000 miles on it. I don’t drive it much anymore, my 06 is my daily driver now. It still looks quite good, but has many needs now, shocks, brakes, probably intake, as I think I smelled coolant last week when I started it. The power window cable regulators are toast. But dang it has the coldest AC of any of my cars. I toy with the idea of getting rid of it, but why. It is safe and sound inside my building.
I love the light, easy way this era of Town Cars drive, and how open they feel with the low belt line, and opposed to the later models. But they are all great cars.
My late father was a Lincoln man for years starting in the early 70’s and owned several until his last car. This 1997 Town Car was driven and enjoyed in his retirement years and he left it to me (P.O.D titled ahead of time) . It is a car I intend to keep and enjoy on nice days , absolutely love the smooth ride and especially the memories.
It doesn’t surprise me to read all these favorable comments on these 1990s Lincoln Town Cars. Between 1990 and 2005 I owned a medium blue metallic with light blue leather interior 1990 Town Car Signature. It was Motor Trends Car of the year, and I know why. I started a small medical transportation business driving patients to and from medical events. I used a 92 a 93, 94 95 and a 97. The 97 was an Executive, but the others were all Town Cars. My favorite was the 95. It was black with black leather, it had my favorite Lincoln wheels on it, the Lacey Spokes, with the large chrome and black center caps, I loved those. I kept them all in excellent condition inside and out, as well as their mechanicals, which usually just meant oil and filter changes every 3,000 miles and tires and brakes. The 1990 had the 5.0 H.P. V8, with duel exhaust. It had a really healthy sound to it, not really a Lincoln sound but I loved it. The rest all had the Ford Modular 4.6 V8s under hood, great engines but I could never understand how it was anymore modular than any other V8 engines. By all standards, those Town Cars are great cars. They looked great, they had great handling manners, and were very comfortable. Ford really got these right. During the 90s, I had several business meetings in Manhattan. I noticed right a way that many of the taxis were black Lincoln Town Cars, I never pictured them being used in that capacity, but of course they were, that’s what I was doing on a much smaller scale. Over the years I have owned many cars, all of them Fords. A lot of Mustangs, a 1970 Thunderbird, a lot of Explorers, and another favorite, a 1975 Mercury Marquis Colony Park 9 passenger wagon, a few F-series trucks, a 76 Lincoln Town Car, and Mark V, and a 90 Mark Vll LSC and even my motor home was built on a F450 Super Duty chassis and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I loved them all, but the stars were the 90s Town Cars, especially the black 95. Today I just have a black 2008 Explorer XLT, and I love it. But one day I will have another 95 Town Car. But try and find one, and if you do, you will pay top dollar for it. I have found, the people that own them, keep them. And as I said earlier, I know why. I’m glad I had all those relationships with the 90s Town Cars. They are beautiful and elegant, and great machines under their beautiful skins.
Nice car, and nice story! I was half expecting your first grandchild to be named Louis 🤣
Lincoln’s have always been great cars. My dad had one, an 86 he bought in 89. He died in 97 and the following yr my mom gave it to me. Smooth ride and decent pickup. I got rid of it in 04 as it needed a bit of work but was still running. I came across another one form a junk yard (86 also) for 900$. Drove it to Colorado. Had that till 2011. Then in 2016 came across a 95 silver town car. 1400 from a kid on craigslist. Still have it. The original engine went in 2021 jan at 187 thousand and change. Put another one in. Had 66000 and change in that one. Smooth ride. 3 months later that engine went. Had another one put in 111000 and change around 23. Still running. Good cars and smooth ride.
I read this story yesterday and then, last night, dreamed about driving one of these second generation Town Cars. Probably the last great full-sized Lincoln. (IMHO the 1998 restyle lost the thread.) These 1991-97 Town Cars are definitely a future collectible. I seem to recall reading that there’s a company that restores these 1991-97 Town Cars and offers them for sale.
I would have this car again in a minute. But it came when we needed it and it left when we needed it too . I enjoy reading these stories they have lots of great memories.
We always loved that Town Car and they are very durable.
My wife drives a 2004 Grand Marquis Ultimate now but she still says that the TC drove much better.
I knew of a couple who owned one of the last squared-off styles. It was a 1988 and she told me that it had close to 400,000 miles on it. She said her and her husband ran a car service in Manhattan where is was driven for years.
So, maybe if a clean example comes by our way, I’ll own another.
I owned a ’97 Signature Series Touring Edition (black with grey leather) from 2018-21.
When I think back over the various Yank Tanks I’ve owned, that car was probably the most “Camry-like” of all of them in terms of basic reliability. Needed a little front end work, but it was extremely comfortable, had a great JBL sound system, and rode pretty well. I felt the engine was a little un-torquey compared to the L05 350 in my ’93 Fleetwood, its closest contemporary, but it kept up with traffic just fine and generally got between 21-24 mpg over the road. It was a little louder and a little less isolated than the Fleetwood also. More plastic than prior generations.
I liked it; however, it was different than all of the other American cars (and Jags) I’ve owned in that it was extremely understated. Whereas driving big old Cadillacs, Buicks, Fords, and Oldsmobiles garnered many a thumbs-up and smile, most people completely ignored the Lincoln even though it was in excellent shape. It blended into the background.