(first posted 6/17/2013) We all have cars in our lives that are fondly recalled. Sometimes it’s one of our parent’s cars, or an uncle’s, or maybe just the neighbor’s next door when you were twelve. For me, it was mostly Volvos, as I grew up with them. I have never driven or owned anything but a Volvo. But at the same time, there are certain American cars that left a deep impression on me. Like my Grandpa Bob’s 1987 Continental sedan, in Rose Quartz Metallic.
Grandpa Bob was a Lincoln man. Starting with a deep green 1966 suicide-door Connie sedan, he never owned any other marque. My Dad has fond memories of sneaking said Continental out of the garage in the middle of the night as a teen. This was somewhat difficult as the attached two-car garage was immediately below my grandparents’ bedroom. But he managed…
Grandpa Bob was born in 1914 and served in WWII. An oft-told family tale is when he was stationed in Japan, he was being driven in a Jeep somewhere when a sniper hit his driver. Only by grabbing the wheel and flooring it was he able to get out of there. As a result, he never bought a Japanese car, and gave my uncle a hard time when he bought a Subaru GL wagon in 1986. Nope, nothing but big, comfortable Lincolns for him.
image: ebay.com
After the ’66, he had a dark green 1968 Continental Mark III, then a similarly-hued 1972 Continental Mark IV. As a vet, he wasn’t particularly thrilled when Dad bought a ’53 VW as a winter beater, and later on got into Porsche 356s. But to his credit, he accepted it.
image: californiastreets.blogspot.com
Especially one cold Midwestern morning in late 1972 when his brand-new Mark IV wouldn’t start in the subzero weather, despite being garaged. Dad had to give him a ride to the law firm in the Vee Dub, which fired up without a hitch. I can just see him grudgingly sitting in the passenger seat in his suit, with his briefcase, arms crossed…
The IV was replaced with a triple midnight-blue Mark V, with the chrome alloy wheels. That was his car when I finally came around, and fondly remember riding in the plush leather back seat and staring out that cool porthole with the gold Lincoln star inset. What a car–and so, SO different from Mom and Dad’s Volvo 240s!
Grandpa Bob always got the first year’s new Mark–until 1980. He took one look at the Mark VI, found it lacking, and kept the V. Late 1983, same deal. The Mark VII was a cool car, and ultra-modern for Lincoln, but he just didn’t care for it. Thus, he kept the blue Mark V ten years.
But finally, he decided he should get a new company car. And starting in about 1985, he and Grandma Ruby started talking about a new Lincoln. I remember going with Grammy to South Park L-M and getting brochures on the Continental. The Fox-bodied, bustle-back Continental, that is. I still have the plush ’85 brochure from that visit.
The Mark VII was not my grandparents’ cup of tea, but they liked the Continental, and they felt it was the closest new Lincoln to the much-loved Mark V, visually at least. So in late 1986 my Dad drove the Mark V to the dealer for them, and picked up the brand-new Continental. Six-year-old me accompanied him.
It was a beauty. The Rose Quartz paint was very distinctive, as were the wire-spoked aluminum wheels. There was a mixup at the factory though, as they had ordered the light tan leather seats, and the Connie as delivered had dark taupe thrones. But as it was too late to order another 1987 model, they decided to keep it. I especially liked the “Continental” script on the right side of the dash, which lit up blue-green at night.
It looked about the same as the ’87 Valentino Designer Edition (seen above), but without the two-tone paint. It was a looker. A maroon pinstripe set off the paint nicely, and it was absolutely loaded, with keypad keyless entry, leather, premium sound (I remember those parcel shelf speakers very well), ACC, the onboard computer, and a power glass moonroof.
Let’s face it, even a no-options Continental of this era was well-equipped. I spent a LOT of time in this car, as my grandmother and I would often go out to lunch in the summertime, then to the car dealerships (Ford and L-M, natch), then pick up my grandfather from work. I loved that car.
Being a Fox body, the 1982-87 Continental has been called a fancy Fairmont, a Broughamy Mustang sedan, a Seville knockoff, and many other uncomplimentary things. But the Fox chassis was well thought out, the RWD was a plus, and of course, the fuel-injected 5.0L V8 was great.
Though it looked markedly different from the Mark VII–especially the Euro-look LSC, the Connie was essentially a four-door VII. I always wondered why they didn’t offer a Continental LSC–a flossier version of the short-lived but much-loved V8 Fox LTD LX. It wouldn’t have taken much…
It was also the last four-door Fox produced, outliving the Fairmont by four model years and the derivative LTD (non-Crown Vic version, mind) by one year. They were never super sellers, though I do recall seeing others about town. Town Cars far, FAR outnumbered them, however.
Sadly, not too long after the Continental was delivered, my grandfather’s eyesight got to the point where he couldn’t drive any more. To his credit, he accepted it, and never tried to sneak off in the Connie for a drive around the block. From then on, my grandmother drove him to the office, and her own ’77 Thunderbird (black, with buckets, white interior and red dash and carpet; it replaced a 1965 T-Bird ‘vert) was used much less frequently.
They were discussing replacing the Continental with a Town Car in late 1988, but sadly, Grandpa Bob passed away in early 1989, so the ’87 was his last car. My grandmother alternated between the Continental and the T-Bird for a few years, but finally sold the ‘Bird in about 1991.
He never retired, and indeed, was an active businessman to the end. He went to the University of Illinois in Champaign on the GI Bill (and regularly drove a Henderson motorcycle between Champaign and the Quad Cities), became a lawyer, started a successful law firm, and also started Illinois Casualty Company, a company I worked at for years–and from which Dad retired from last summer.
I was only nine when he died, but I’ll never forget him. He is singularly responsible for my love of Lincoln Continentals, and indeed, most traditional American luxury cars. So you can probably understand how I felt when I saw this lovely 1986 model at the local L-M dealer a few weeks ago. It brought up many, many fond memories. All of my grandparents are now gone, but my grandfather’s love of cars–and my Dad’s!–have led me on this car-loving path since my earliest days. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Very nice article – I admire your grandfather – besides being a member of the greatest generation, he had great taste in cars!
My father owned one of these, a two tone silver/gray 1984 model. I think it may have been the only used car I ever knew him to buy. He had held on to an ungodly ugly 80 Town Coupe, and may have had something else that I can’t remember. He really wanted another Lincoln.
A used one was the only way he could swing one at that point in his life.
My problem with the car was that he bought it about 1986, during my brief infatuation with German road cars. He was proud as could be of the thing, and I remember politely saying “very nice, Dad” and not meaning a single word of it. I was used to my 1985 GTI, and the air suspension on the Connie was absolutely frightening to me. How they could get such a small car to wallow so was beyond my understanding.
I do recall it as very nicely fitted out, and the body had a very solid feel about it. After a few years, I think he came to see it as not very prestigious, and went through a period of a couple of Taurii (with a Honda Accord in between). The funny thing is that I kind of like these now. Nice find, and a very nice remembrance of your grandfather.
My grandfather and grandmother were both from Cuba and had came to the states in 1957. They always bought Ford full sized when they were able to afford them and Grandpa had finally worked his way to a Mercury Grand Marquis in 1974. In 1977my Grandmother had to have breast cancer surgery and Grandpa wanted to suprise her with a new car when he picked her up from the hospital so he went to Taylor Motor Company in Forrest City Arkansas to buy a new Mercury. He walked in the showroon and there set a brand new Town Coupe white with a red leather interior. Yeah, he bought it for her, they owned it til they had to buy something else in 2005. Grandma refused to let it go.
My father had a white 78 Town Coupe. It was my favorite of his many cars.
JP,
If your father was still around, do you think he would have considered purchasing the new Lincoln MKZ or MKS (the current FWD offerings)?
My co-worker recently purchased a ’12 MKS AWD and absolutely love it. He says it is the perfect car for commuting in (he commutes 50 miles round-trip every day).
If it’s still there, let me know. My father had an 86′ and it remains one of my favorite models along with the 1992 Mark VII
It might, but it’s way up in Davenport, IA!
Here’s the posting from the Strieter website: http://strietermotorlincoln.com/Davenport/For-Sale/Used/Lincoln/Continental/1986-4-Door-Sedan-Black-/18571159/
Only 38K on the clock…
My father passed away a few weeks back — age 85. He left me his 1986 two-tone Lincoln Continental. It appears from the photos to be in 99% cherry condition. He lived in the desert area.
He appears to not have driven it since 2005 (as that was the last his Registration had)
In his last years he spent most almost all of his time in his home and did not drive the Lincoln — his hospice nurses and friends drove him to wherever.
Other than the vehicle needing a bath and maybe a jump (or a new battery as it was not driven in a long time).
Interested ..?
Actually, there was no ’87 Valentino Edition. The Valentino Edition existed for only ’83 and ’84. The car you identified as a Valentino is a Givenchy (pronounced: jee-vahn-she; it’s French) Edition.
Secondly, my very first car was a 1984 Continental Valentino Edition. After some fluid leaks and almost 60,000 miles, I decided to say goodbye to my first real dream car. My father gave me $15,000 after college to buy a car, and there it was, with only 24,000 miles!!! So beauitful with its two-tone Wineberry and silver combination. A $27,000 car when new and one I had drooled over many times. It seems like most of them today are pretty much history, as they had many issues (air suspension being a biggie), although the only issues I had were the fluid (ps/oil) leaks. The dealership was asking $14,995 but I got them down to $12,600!! Huzzah!!!
I have pictures of this car in front of a big mansion in the town in which I used to live (Kenosha, WI), and I will never forget one of my all-time favorite cars!!! I could go on for days about my affinity for Lincolns from this era…
The 1984 Continental Valentino Edition:
I love pronouncing it “given-chee” just to annoy people. I forgot these got the big cornering lamps in 84, I thought those came later.
I say it that way too… in my head, at least. I’ve never actually been in a situation where I had to vocalize “Givenchy”. Even saying it to myself, though, “jZHee-vOhn-she” just sounds so, I don’t know… Pepé Le Pew?
I prefer to say “Rennawlt”, too… but I’m OK with “Poo-jZhoe” and “sit-tROen”.
“Lan-see-ah” / “Lahn-chya” / tomato / tomata.
You’re right! Can’t believe I mixed that up 🙂
That’s okay, just don’t let it ever happen again!!!
Actually, I screwed up, too. The Valentino Continental was also availble in ’85, as well. I remembered it afterwards. It was such a beautiful color combo: the traditional Continental two-tone with black over a metallic light gold.
The 1985 Continental Valentino Edition:
Lovely piece- I very much enjoyed it.
Here’s a shot of my ’87 Givenchy in its two tone rose combination which I acquired from the estate of a 92 year old lady a couple years back. It is quite a delightful little car indeed.
Best regards,
Jeff
The Palm Springs Automobilist
That looks like the one that I knew got crunched by a car port.
My Mom has the same 1983 Lincoln Continental Valentino in her garage. Has ~95k miles and was on the road until last yr. She wants to sell it at this point but I have no idea of value.Would anyone have a suggestion to start to sell it and price it for her?
I grew up a Volvo man myself, and lusting after a 740 Turbo back then, I have always liked especially the front end on this Lincoln, but I gotta say that looking at it now, it looks like a really bad Japanese or Chinese rip-off of a Lincoln.
Nice story, Tom, thanks. Those seats look great. Much comfier than my Grampa’s last car, a talking ’83 New YorKer. Still nice memories, especially of my grandmother talking back to it.
I must be tired. I read the start of your post as “Nice story, Tom Hanks.”
LOL. All I can say to that is, robotically, “Don’t forget your keys.”
“I always wondered why they didn’t offer a Continental LSC…”
They would’ve had to call it an “LSS,” assuming that LSC stood for “Luxury Sport Coupe.”
Unfortunately, I believe that the broughamified, bustle-backed Continental ended up painting Lincoln into a corner, at least stylistically. Once the Mark VII and LSC were a modest success, there wasn’t an easy, practical way to do a line extension to produce a four-door. The Continental body was mechanically identical, but as a general rule those attracted to performance wouldn’t be very likely to be attracted to the styling, and those attracted to the styling wouldn’t be very likely to be happy with the firm ride and the sound of a free-flowing exhaust.
If it were called an LSC Mercedes and BMWs efforts of trying to pawn off a 4 door “coupe” would have some precedent!
I always liked the Connies of this generation. And you are right not many were sold. According to my Standard Catalog of Ford 1903-1990 this is the break down of sales for the 82-87 Connie
1982(Offered with 5.0 V8 and 3.8 V6(only year with a V6 offering))- 23,908
1983- 16,831
1984- 30,468
1985- 28,253
1986- 19,012
1987- 17,597
By contrast the 1987 Town Car sold 76,483 in 1987. The new for 1988 Connie sold 41,287 vehicles
I saw one for sale for $1400 last year around my way but it was more then a little beat on. What I liked about the 82-87’s was it had all sorts of electronics(including digital dash) but was still very traditional looking
It could be interesting to see the sales stats of the FWD Taurus based Connie from 1988 to the end.
We could wonder what if Lincoln had keep the Continental on the Fox-body instead and giving it the aerodynamic design like the 1990 Town Car?
I remember all the car rags raved over the new FWD Continental when it first came out, but I think there were some first year issues, I dont recall Automobile Magazine having a really good time with their long term test car, they have all vanished too, I dont recall the last one I saw on the road.
I was a sucker for the new Connie in ’88, hung an ad on my teenage wall of fame. The lesson is don’t trust the opinion of a car-crazy kid with no license yet.
First year issues??? HAH!!! Those ’88-’94 turds had nothing but issues during their production run and for years afterwards. Lordy I made a LOT of money off those heaps.
And that eight genration was pig ugly compared to the preceding bustlebacks. The side window treatment is atrocious.
Any Idea how many were sold with the 2.4L BMW diesel?
Thank you for writing this. I feel the ’82-’87 Connie is a seriously underrated luxury car. I also think it’s aged better (especially the ’86 & ’87 models) than its similar-vintage TC & MKVIII siblings: not too big, so it can still be driven comfortably around town. 4dr practicality and interior room; much better than a 2dr. “Modern” FI V8 and 4spd auto equipped, so it drives better and is more efficient than 90% of its carbureted V8 & 3spd-equipped broughmy cohorts of years past.
Since its a Fox-body, all the parts needed to keep it running are plentiful. And other than the air suspension (which is easily converted to springs) I recall these being very well built. I even think the styling looks better now than it did in ’87. It looks like what stylists in the late ’70s thought Broughams in the ’80s would look like; which meant it was a bit dowdy and dull then, but has a very subtle retro-cache now. The 1978 car of the future!
It’s amazing how grandparents and their cars have such an impact on our childhood. Riding in the backseat of my grandfather’s (who also passed away when I was 9) Oldsmobile are some of my most vivid memories of my grandparents come to mind.
On the Continental, I think these are interesting cars. I have the deluxe 1984 Lincoln full-line brochure, which is where I’ve had to learn about them, as they are extremely rare nowadays. Despite selling way more, I think the Town Car was kept much longer by their original owners.
Does anybody remember a TV show out of the 70’s “Cannon”…As I recall he was a fairly large private eye.
The show was sorta hokey,but I loved his Lincoln. Does anybody remember what year it was?
Cannon drove silver Marks. I believe that the show came out in 71 and he had a Mark III, then switched to a new Mark IV every year. I paid attention because that was what my father was driving at the time. I think that those silver Mark IVs may have helped kickstart the silver car boom of the 70s, which was in full swing by 1975 or so.
Mikey, I remember “Cannon”. Yes, William Conrad was a rather large guy. His .38 snubbie looked like a Derringer in his paw. Frank Cannon drove a ’72 Mark IV at one point, and got newer Marks as time passed.
Cannon: A Quinn Martin Production
Cannon ran from 1971-1976, William Conrad, later of Jake and the Fatman, played Frank Cannon, an ex-cop turned private detective, a very successful one to, evidenced by his Lincoln Mark III and IV coupes, high rise apartment and yacht, kind of the opposite end of Jim Rockford,
Little-known fact: William Conrad was the radio voice of Marshall Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke before the show moved to TV. He appeared in something like 7500 radio shows, where his large size was not the casting problem that it was in movies and TV.
An even more esoteric factoid: He was the narrator of the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons.
Wow..”.Rocky and Bullwinkle” who knew? Thanks guys, my memory is now refreshed.
And “The Fugitive” TV show.
The old Gunsmoke radio shows are available for free download online (e.g., here: http://archive.org/details/OTRR_Gunsmoke_Singles). But even better, there are smartphone apps that make it easy to play these old shows through a car radio. They’re great for road trips. Gunsmoke in particular holds up really well. The show was very well written and acted, and they were meant for an adult audience, not kids. The radio version was much less campy than the TV show came to be.
My wife used to watch Dallas and Dynasty where Lincolns of this age were seen quite often.
Cool story Tom,
I have known others from this generation that also refused to ride in cars from Japan or Germany. One was the owner of an auto parts store that I used to frequent in my hometown. He had no problem selling me parts for my 82 Honda, but refused to ever ride in one. One time, I offered to give him a ride around the block in the Honda, he politely refused. Said that he’s sure it’s a good car, but he’s gone this far not setting foot in a Japanese car and didn’t want to start now. He drove a late 70’s yellow Coupe DeVille.
My mother refused to ride in Japanese cars. When my brother bought a Mercedes 250S, she would join him for a ride only with reluctance. She much preferred her Mustang.
Dad’s elder brother refused to have anything to do with German made goods and cars,having been on WW2 Arctic convoys.He surprised us all by buying the first of 2 Beetles in 1974.My French teacher was a POW of the Japanese and refused to buy anything Japanese.
Back when he left the Chevrolet dealership in October 1965 (about a week before the 1966 new car debut) my father spent the fall and winter 1965-66, er, retired. During the winter of ’66 Volkswagen of America approached him about taking the franchise for a new dealership in Indiana, PA (home of Indiana State College – sort of like a small scale State College/Penn State setup – and 30 miles from the family home). He seriously considered it for a few days but could not shake the idea of working for the same people who’d put a load of shrapnel in his right leg at Monte Cassino twenty two years earlier.
To his dying day (February 1993), he could not understand how a REAL patriotic American who claimed to love his country could buy a German or Japanese car. And, as we lived in the high end of suburb of Johnstown, which had the local Jewish community; he was really bewildered at the thought of somebody Jewish driving either a VW or Mercedes (which were very much in style with them at the time).
I always liked these as well. You really didn’t see many of them even in the Big 3 loving Midwest that I grew up in. I do feel that in the mid to late 80s at least Lincoln’s lineup was cohesive. Town Car, Continental, Mark VIII all with fuel injected 5.0 V8s and upright grilles.
One of the cleanest trade ins I ever took in was an 1986 Continental like this, but in the lighter metallic blue with a matching dark blue interior, it only had 11K miles on it, it was traded in by a little old lady(natch), she bought a new blue on blue supercharged 1998 Riviera.
The Continental was spotless, it was as nice as the day it rolled of the showroom, I drove it around, what I recall was that it was very soft and the steering wheel seemed really small for the car.
The air suspension on these cars, like the air suspensions on all cars, was a total service nightmare. It was fine (or not) for the first three or four years but after that, watch out! Wallet emptying time to get it to work at all. We converted a few to springs, which was a straight forward job. Most cars got traded off once we got the air stuff working at least for the time being.
As an aside (but somewhat related), it is really interesting how gearheads are all in love with small engines equipped with turbos. Yesterday, I was on a used car review site based in the UK. Suffice to say that my fears about small turbo engines after five years are very well founded.
I’m thinking the same after seeing my UK cousin replace the turbo in her Peugeot this year. Car was running fine, then suddenly lost power and stopped. Subsequent investigation showed that the turbo grenaded itself, and sent bits of metal throughout the engine. Complete engine replacement on a three year old vehicle. Mind, the yearly oil changes probably didn’t help. It will be interesting to see what our various 1.4L Chev and 1.6/2.0 Ecoboosts look like in a few years.
As for the Lincoln. I don’t recall seeing too many up here when they first came out. I’m thinking that time period marked the shift of folks buying foreign instead of small domestic luxury. The Unk, a confirmed 40 year Buick man, switched to a variety of Cressida’s around this time.
Complete engine replacement on new cars isnt as unusual as you think where my BIL works its happened to Mazda6s several times any fault with the engine results in complete replacement repairs are done once the warranty is over.
I’m sorry but the air suspension was not a service nightmare if a technician had a clue and a spray bottle of soapy water. 8 times out of 10 the problem was the o-rings sealing the valve to the solenoid or the lines. 15 min fix with a $8 kit of o-rings. 1 time out of 10 or less it was the link between the height sensor and the suspension. The remaining 10% of the time it was something more serious. However too many indie techs were scared by it or saw it as a big paycheck and just threw parts at it until the entire system had been replaced. A lot of the time that 10% was actually due to the owner having been scared by said independents, that it was going to cost $100’s to fix and then drove it in a non functioning state until it now needed $100’s of dollars of work instead of the $50 worth it needed when the problem started.
+1
Thanks I was hoping you’d step in with a little moral support since so few have any clue about the Ford air suspension.
There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with Lincoln air suspension that a little common sense couldn’t fix. Except maybe for the gawdawful ’88-’94 Continentals.
We use Strutmasters out of North Carolina. They give commercial accounts a break and everything is overnight UPS.
Strutmasters seems to promote ruining the cars with steel so I wouldn’t consider them for that reason alone. The 2 times I’ve needed struts I went Arnott, high quality parts, overnight shipping and wholesale discounts too. They use genuine Firestone bags too.
I picked up a 91 Mark VII for stupid cheap because the rear was sitting low. It took me ten minutes to jack up the rear and plug the height sensor back in. Vola perfect height. If you read up on the components of the system they are pretty easy to fix and parts are fairly cheap.
Now the Teves Mark II ABS on the other hand…..
All I know is my grandmother had that Continental until 1995 and it never had a problem with the air suspension.
And I see plenty of 15-20 year old Town Cars in the area still sitting level. If they’re riding low, they’re usually trashed and driven by folks who could care less about fixing it.
The 2.3 liter turbo Four in my Volvo 740 ran well at 180k miles. Original turbocharger. Never gave me or the first owner of the car much grief.
Does that qualify as a small amount turbocharged engine?
Ford’s 2.3 turbos in the SVO and Turbo Coupes often went to 200K or so w/o any problems even with so many that had their boost cranked up. A lot of it comes down to whether or not the company does proper durability testing. So I don’t have a problem trusting a EcoBoost but something from GM who isn’t willing to spend the money or Toyota and Honda who’s engineers are so superior they can’t design anything wrong so there isn’t a reason to do durability testing is another story. The only fear I have over the long term durability of the EcoBoost cars is too many of them will fall in the hands of someone who has previously owned a modular V8 or Vulcan V6 that you can get away with changing the oil every 2 or 3 years and still get 200K out of them.
The Mk 7 LSC is a gorgeous looker,I missed out on one when I was laid off.Being sensible I passed it over and got a better paid job 2 days later,sure enough it was gone!
The annual changes, Both Visual and under the hood are what made these so interesting. Even as such a 20,000 a year level they had their own Designer series .., So Why F it up with air suspension? It worked so well for Cadillac. Not.
my sister had two , the first was a black a maroon valentino that i loved but was odd the first time i rode in it, it was a fox sedan. smallish quarters was my impression. no town car.
I had a 1984 Continental with the factory optional diesel engine. The engine was made by BMW and was the same engine they were putting in their 5 Series. Lincoln also offered the BMW diesel engine as an option for the Mark. Needless to say the engine was far superior to the body of the car. As already mentioned the suspension was a nightmare to maintain costing a large percentage of what the car was worth to repair. (Even the car featured in this article seems to be sitting a little low in the front) Still it was a fun ownership as an extra car.
You are definitely the exception to the norm the BMW diesel was nothing but problems for the majority of owners. The air suspension is cheap to fix when you have someone that actually has a clue as to what they are doing and aren’t trying to screw you because they figure you own a Lincoln and can afford it and/or don’t know any better.
Hi Eric, Thanks for your reply. I have owned over twenty diesels in my life and found the BMW to be one of the most trouble free. The only thing I didn’t like about it was it had a timing belt instead of a timing chain or gears. No, I really didn’t have problems with that diesel. The air suspension was never a cheap fix for me. I did the work myself, and or with help, and the parts were always the major part of the expense. I had to replace the suspension twice. Each time the bill was around $1,000. But I must admit I am one of those that replaced everything instead of part by part. I never had to replace the pump. It always worked fine. I also remember the car ate brakes like crazy.
One of the tricks is to purchase the bags from Suncore or Arnott as they are 1/3 or less than the cost of the parts from Ford. However most of the time as I’ve mentioned the problem is the o-rings and nothing more and Ford does or at least did sell kits of the o-rings for $8.
As far as the luck with your diesel I guess you got one of the good ones as they gave most people fits. Some of it I’m sure was due to ignorance either on the part of the owner, timing belt what’s that?, or the technician who had never touched a diesel.
Hi again Eric, Those aftermarket companies will likely be of great help to todays owners of these cars. Lets hope they help keep more of these cars on the road and original. I cannot help but think this could have saved many years ago from modification and an early grave. You see, back in the day I am talking about these items had not yet reached the aftermarket and locating them from a dealership was becoming difficult. Luckily I had a very close friend at the Lincoln dealership that got me the parts at cost plus 10%. I recall the actual airbags themselves failing and only one case of O-ring failure.
My friends in the BMW camp never had problems with those engines either. Like you I suspect an uniformed owner or mechanic in the cases you mention. When I let my car go to another owner it had close to 200,000 miles on it and I had never even had to touch the turbo. I did not have to replace the glow plugs as much I had to in it’s Mercedes peers. Funny, I never saw it as well made as the Mercedes diesel but it was less troublesome.
thanks, great story. In my family, we learnt Fiat from my grandpa
An observation I would like to add to this post: I liked the way Lincolns of this era had their own unique dash. The dash of the Mark, Continental and Town Car was all it’s own. I liked it when each model has it’s own personality and didn’t seem to come out of the same parts bin.
I’d rock this one as long as it hasn’t been ruined by some idiot who put steel in it. A nice ~300 horse 5.0, update the trans if it goes and maybe stick the 4R70W wide ratio planetary while in there, a set of 3.55 gears and a traction-lock out back, big sway bars and sticky rubber all the way around and go hunting and embarrassing people who think their cars are hot.
I did basically the same thing to an 88 Thunderbird LX. It’s fun to suprise people with an old luxo barg ;).
If you were to hop up a Fox Continental the 86-87 cars are the ones to get as they came factory with SEFI. All that’s required for a speed density HO swap is to change the heads, cam, intake, injectors, and computer to HO parts. No other rewiring is necessary. If you want MAF you have to add 4 wires to the computer harness. Easy as pie.
Also as a FYI: all 86 and up passenger car SEFI 5.0s are roller cam equipped, no matter if they are the standard or HO 5.0. People tend to believe that only the 5.0 HOs had roller cams. Open up any 5.0 in a car from 86 and up and it will have a roller cam.
I always thought Lincoln’s lineup of Mark VII, this Continental and the Town Car was their best lineup. The Mark gave you the Euro styled high tech drivers car segment of luxury, the Town Car gave you the traditional classical elegant end of Luxury and the Continental was a blend of both. The best part was they all looked distinctly like Lincolns.
People can call the Fox Continental a fancy Fairmont or a Seville knockoff all they like. It looks better than the bustleback Sevilles. And the Fox chassis is a helluva lot better than that Taurus mutant that replaced it and it’s more nimble and better executed than the Versailles.
The interior arrangement fit and finish and materials are all really nice as well. No it’s not a cookie cutter German “drivers car” interior but that’s not a bad thing. I’ve always wanted to pick one of these up but it seems like the only ones left are low mile examples people are reluctant to sell for anything close to realistic figures or thrashed high milers with barely one piece of trim left in tact. The Fox chassis may be good for keeping these mobile(and even better to modify) but the body/interior is hell to source good parts for.
My maternal grandparents never had cars (too poor), but dad’s parents did, of course they were from the mainland. Grandpa died in 1964 his last car was a 1964 Cadillac Sedan deVille that was only 6 months old when he died suddenly. My grandmother drove it until the late 70s when she quit driving all together. Mother-in-law’s drove Chryslers until 1995 when they bought a pair of Lumina and Impala (2009 current car) to finish their lives.
My father was career Air Force and was in Korean War and had the same predilection about buying American it was a common theme of the WWII and Korean generation, memories die hard.
Converting to coil springs on the RWD cars is a piece of cake, the Mark VIIs are a bit longer than the TC but easy. The FWD Conti is harder but not too bad but much more expensive requiring total strut replacement. A lot of Land Rovers are done this way.
If I am not mistaken, you could get real wood in those Continentals unlike the other Lincolns. I am surprised they didn’t go for the Town Car was it was the most formal and traditional of the Lincolns of the 80s.
I think the 87 Continental Givenchy was the last designer of those cars, Bill Blass carried on for a few more years as the base Mark VII. Cartier, I don’t know if you can call it “designer” in the traditional sense carried on with the TC almost to the end. We reman’d a motor in a 1994 Cartier TC, it had some unique appointments double-C stitching but nothing as garish as the 70s models.
The wood in those cars was the thinnest I have ever seen in any car, not being the thickness of a cedar strip that wraps an individual cigar. As the wood came off I ordered the door trim from another model that did not have the “real” wood.
My 88 Eldorado Biarritz had real wood but it seemed to have been coated with a shellac that held up well. A lot of cars have wood now which seems to have generally maintained well.
I’ve seen a guy advertising on the local craigslist that he will convert your Panther to steel for $600 or about what it would cost to replace most of the system with aftermarket parts.
In other news, never knew what “flossy” meant (other than the dental term) until starting to read these blogs. I think Tom uses it in just about every article that he writes… 😉
My maternal grandparents owned an 83 Continental (the first Fox) when I was a kid. It was black over charcoal gray with a gray leather interior and a 5.0. I remember several trips in that car. One memorable one involved me and my grandfather. 8 year old me noticed that the Continental had a digital speedometer. I asked my grandfather how fast the car went since the speedometer didn’t display a top speed. He said “let’s find out” and nailed it. 85 mph was where it topped out, but we may have been going faster. I’ve had a fondness for the 83-87 Continental since then.
I think the earlier models like you mention had the more handsome front end. I do like the high back seats of the later models. Also I remember the earlier models did the two tones with the darker color on top, which is less seen than the reserves. I remember a friend having a new first year model with midnight blue over a medium steal blue, which I thought was very handsome! Later while driving it smoke started to pour from the dash vents then all the digital dash when out. He coasted into the Buick/Mercedes dealership. He left driving a new SD which would be his car of choice for the next three new car purchases. I missed the neat little Lincoln and felt I never got to really know the car he owned.
In that era it was against the law to have a speedo that read more than 85 so yeah you were likely going faster or would have if he kept the pedal down.
Maybe I’m the oddball here, but did anyone notice the absolute contrast in the top picture? You have the featured Continental with a MK? right behind it. Maybe the Connie is a little quirky, but you know it’s a Lincoln; the MK? looks like a Ford Contour with a header panel purchased from the JC Whitney catalog.
And we wonder why Lincoln is not at its pinnacle…
That pretty much goes with most any car. All of the cars I have driven have run well for extended periods of time with minimal problems. Maintenance is adhered to, anything that comes up is addressed and design flaws are usually corrected. Such that some of the cars that I have today are often considered “trouble” yet seem to be fine for me. Plus I don’t drive like Grandma Moses but I don’t drive like I stole it either.
I see a car like that (the mid 80’s Continental) quite often around my house. It must be someone in the neighbourhood who has one. Nice car. The neighbour’s car is mint too. I’ll see if I can take a picture of it.
Complete engine replacement on new cars isnt as unusual as you think where my BIL works its happened to Mazda6s several times any fault with the engine results in complete replacement repairs are done once the warranty is over.
Nice write up. Reminds me about why I’m also a fellow traditional American full size sedan lover. I also can thank Grandpa and dad for my tastes in cars to this day and for many many good memories growing up as a kid. It was always a huge thrill to go and see the new model year cars back in the late 70’s and all through the 80’s.That thrill lives on to this day even though it has lost much of it’s intensity.
I bought an 86 Continental about 5 years ago…traded a set of SnapOn screwdrivers and SnapOn open end wrenches for it. The dash was apart, and it was DIRTY. I cleaned it up, changed the heater core, put the dash back together, and drove it for a year. Air ride worked, except on REALLY cold mornings, when it would stay up overnight, until the car was started in the morning. Then it would deflate until things warmed up a smidge, so a mile or so down the road it would raise back up. Mine was medium blue with navy leather…nice, solidly built car with the smallest battery I’ve ever seen in an American car…there was no room for a bigger one, between the hydroboost brake master cylinder and air ride pump, and the V8. Wish I still had it.
What a fantastic story, and what a beautiful car you’ve found to illustrate it. I always did like these Fox Continentals, and it looks especially sharp in black with the disc alloys. Sounds like your grandfather had great taste in cars.
Great posting! Similar background; my grandfather was a Ford man. I was lucky enough to “inherit” four of my grandparents’ old cars: a 70 Ford LTD, a 71 Mercury Marquis, an 84 Crown Vic and a 93 Grand Marquis.
I have a soft spot for compact luxury cars. This is a car I would like to own. There are many others, but this one has an exterior that differs from the traditional luxury car look of that era. It almost works, but it is strikingly different.
I had the pleasure of tooling around in a Fox body Cougar sedan. It was full blown Brougham. The interior was medium blue tufted velour, lots of fake wood grain, over decorated touches, a ridiculous padded landau vinyl roof over the rear doors and back light, a moonroof, electric everything and thick plush carpeting. All in a compact Fox body. I drove it throughout Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Lots of long distances. I felt guilty for enjoying it. It handled better than a full sized vehicle, yet was quiet and isolating. The 302 V8 delivered around 18 mpg on trips. A very uncool car for a young guy, but it was a ride that took me from posh resort to posh resort with aplomb.
This is the next step up. I can so handle that, now that I am no longer a young guy. I discovered the joys of driving a full size car several years ago, and I like being able to relax behind the wheel and watch the world roll by. This Fox body is a bit smaller than the Panther I have, but more traditionally plush with a marshmallow ride. I can live with that.
Hit by a sniper while in Japan caught my attention. My father spent 9 months in Japan as part of the Occupation Force on the staff of Gen. Eichelberger in Yokohama. Lots of stories about his arrival at the end of August 1945.
First, he said there was never an issue with the Japanese since they followed exactly what their Emperor said. Their military even showed them where all the hidden weapons were in the area for defending Japan against an invasion. Planes and midget subs hidden away in large numbers.
Second, the Port of Yokohama was used for supplying US Forces and Japanese were used as stevedores to unload the ships. He said they only had to put one senior Japanese man in charge and leave everything to him as honor meant their would be no pilfering and there wasn’t except one time which the Japanese handled themselves.
Of course, what the soldiers managed to sneak off the ships by either bribing sailors or knowing sailors is another matter for another day but I can tell you a case of beer can get you something pretty nice off a ship.
I still have my dad 1969 mark3 he purchased new. He was the second black man to purchase one in my hometown.