As promised, this is the follow-up to my previous blog about CCs at my job. The mouth-watering selection continues…
Unlike the previous batch of pictures, which were taken the 1 1/2-days before New Year’s, these were taken over a two-week period in early February as I patiently stalked the parking lot waiting for the CCs to trickle in, as I knew they would.
First up is this lovely Panther-based Lincoln Town Car, apparently of early-80s vintage. This thing is mint inside and out. The owner of this also owns some other interesting CCs, including a candy-apple red custom ’83 Cadillac Eldorado convertible with white top and interior, and a mid-90’s Ford F150 extended cab shortbed with a slammed ride height, billet grille, Boyds wheels, and a turquoise-graphics-over-white paint job.
Lincoln’s trademark bubble butt. Will we ever see it on a new Lincoln model again?
The owner sadly informed me that the only reason he was driving the Lincoln today was because he had crashed his blinged-out, early-2000s Mercedes 600 coupe just the day before. Let’s hope this gorgeous Dearborn time capsule doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Exhibit B is this slick ice blue ’68 Chevelle. I’ve seen this car up close and the paint, bodywork, and interior are flawless.
Purists will undoubtedly squawk about the plus sized wheels and lo-pro tires, but in my personal opinion, these aren’t too bad. The black centers make them look tastefully understated and not too blingy. To my eyes, they work quite well with the particular shade of blue that this car wears.
The license plate reads “Slow Jams”. After getting a peek under this thing’s hood and hearing it run, slow is the absolute last word that would be associated with this wicked A-body.
This old Dodge is a bit of a mystery. It’s been parked across the street for almost two weeks now, with no sign of the owner. No one seems to know who owns it, whether it’s someone works at our place, or at one of the many other businesses next door, or down across the street. It looks pretty sharp from this angle…
…but the view from this side isn’t quite so pretty. Whether it suffered an unfortunate mishap, or the owner simply hasn’t finished the paint and bodywork yet, I have no idea.
I’m not a big fan of deleted rear bumpers on trucks. While they do provide a sleek appearance, they also detract from the truck’s purpose. How are you gonna hook up that car/motorcycle trailer or rented wood chipper now? Not to mention, driving bumperless in a large metropolitan city like L.A. is just a BAAAD idea.
The final treat of the evening is this lovely ’73 VW Thing, whose new owner sought refuge in our indoor wash rack during an afternoon rain.
Although it’s hard to make out in pictures, the paint and bodywork on this thing (no pun intended) is first rate. The previous owner left no bolt unturned and no detail overlooked in its resurrection.
Those cloth seats look mighty comfy and inviting, belying the Thing’s spartan character.
The business end of the Thing. If you think that shot looks good, feast your eyes on this:
1776 CC. Dual port heads. Dual Weber carbs. Headers. Need I say more?
There’s other CCs lurking around here. There’s a red ’69 Chevelle that occasionally pops up, and the same guy who owns the yellow Eldo also owns a show-quality’58 Chevy Delray two-door and a semi daily driver ’58 Thunderbird. All I gotta do is wait. One of the ladies who works inside sold her ’66 Corvette to a sibling, but she’s trying to buy it back. Maybe one day that car will grace us with its presence.
The Lincoln is actually a rare Mark VI sedan. It looks to be in great condition. I love the real wire wheels and color combination too. I think the production numbers on the Mark VI sedan were quite low beacuse most Lincoln buyers went for the Town Car instead. Plus Marks were always coupes in prior years so it was unusual for there to be a Mark sedan.
That Lincoln is a Continental Mark VI not a Town Car, vintage around 1982
Oops!
I thought that there was something a little different about this Lincoln, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until you guys pointed it out. Mark VI it is then!
I rather hastily took these shots when my lunch break was already over, so that’s probably part of the reason for my faux pas.
No worries, it is just an Extra Brougham Value Meal Town Car 😉
As CC’s resident Mark VI geek, I can tell you this is a 1980-83 Signature sedan, with the factory genuine wire wheels. They were essentially identical during its four-year run, but in ’82 they got new upholstery styles.
That Mark is my favorite, but the Dodge pickup is a close second.
Thanks very much for these additional pics Chris.
That is the hottest ‘Thing’ I’ve ever seen. The non-stock rollbar looks great. I used to wonder why VW didn’t sell a beefed up off road version closer to this. I never saw ads for them. I wasn’t even sure what market they were targeting in North America with these.
I appreciate 60s pickups, but always found the Dodge kind of frumpy. The character line and overall styling gave it a dated 50s look for the times.
Those vintage Lincoln’s were bulletproof. I would like to own another very early 80’s any model Lincoln. I think one of the most handsome cars I have owned was a 1980 Lincoln Town Car in all midnight blue.
I’ll take the Thing for a summer driver and the Dodge pickup just to be different. While Fords are usually my favorite pickup, there’s something about the Dodge style of that era. Butt-ugly, but they were tough as hell and they got the job done.
I love that Lincoln mark vi. Truly beautiful. Sure wish Lincoln would build something similar again. I love mine. Nothing else I’ve ever driven rides like these cars. They are reliable and so comfortable even more than a town car. That one is beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
I’m glad I’m not the only person who likes Mark VIs (well, I think Eric Van Buren does too). I have a much newer version of your car, and love it! Just drove it for the first time in a month today. It fired right up, as if I’d driven it yesterday. Great cars.
Here’s a picture of it looking out at the Mississippi, just this afternoon:
Nice. I love these too. The last real Lincoln. So sad they discontinued these. That car is beautiful!!!
Beautiful Mark VI, love the oval window and it being four doors, one of my favorite eighties Lincolns.
Count me in as one of the Mark VI fans. I worked at the local Lincoln dealer in the mid-eighties and dealt with many of them. I actually like the four door versions better. They somewhat remind me of the ’67 – ’71 Thunderbird sedans. Take a personal luxury coupe and add a sedan style. That was a nice touch back in the day where, outside of the full sized luxury cars and a few others, the coupes were the classy models and the sedans were more of a dowdy family car. Of course, it is all different today…
I like the Dodge truck. It appears to be a 1970 model. This style was nearing the end of a long run. As has been said before, they weren’t the best looking, but they were tough trucks.
Good stuff. I would prefer one a bit newer, in the 85-89 range merely due to the 302 gaining multi-port injection and a lot better running starting in around 85. The throttle-body unit in my ’85 Grand Marquis LS was a slug, although ti cruised at any speed you wanted on up to around 80 or so.
Here’s a 1981 Signature Series from the brochure. The 1980-81 Signatures even had color-keyed bumper rub strips. I love the factory wire wheels that were available on these and the ’80s Fleetwood Broughams.
I do think the sedans look better than the coupes, probably due to the longer wheelbase.
Nice to see positive mark vi comments for a change. These are wonderful cars. My favorite panther platform car
That Dodge is perfect as is.
He’s got a custom Continental, and an Eldorado too?
Lol