I can’t resist shots like this one by William Garrett, that pit the old school versus a more recent school, although the Fiat 500 is already becoming old school. And this Lincoln is sporting something on its front fender that deserves a closer look.
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: Lincoln Clown Car With A Little Friend
– Posted on March 13, 2023
Ah, memories of the Fiat 500 Abarth. I had one for a couple of years, the cabriolet, which matched wonderfully open topped driving with two glove boxes. The normal one on the dash, the other being in the rear and was laughably called a “trunk”. A really enjoyable car, although it suffered the same failing as the other couple of sports cars I’ve owned – they just didn’t compare against a motorcycle.
As to the Lincoln, no thanks. I’m willing to bet the owner has a collection of signed Stephen King first editions.
I’d like to watch the Lincoln owner get out of that parking space. The Fiat is REALLY close to his rear bumper.
Evil Ron, see my post and you’ll see I can be 😈 Evil too! The answer to your parking space is simple! The Lincoln slowly backs up and easily pushes the Fiat out of the way! 😈 🔥 😉 😜. NOT kidding! 😎 Love those Great American Land Yachts! 🏆
I’m a pop-culture ignoramus. What is the significance of the well-done but creepy faces on the Lincoln?
Unfortunately THIS Lincoln is not being given the respect it deserves as a monument to the OTT luxury of the 70s! At least it is being saved! Had a 78 TOWN COUPE and wish I had kept it. Largest car I have ever owned with 460 ,great interior room and comfort, and such beautiful formal styling. As shown in photo, it dwarfs other cars! 🏆. NEVER a fan of small cars, especially imports,this photo reinforces my feeling that the LINCOLN is monumental! Wish it was in mint condition, but at least it is still here! So sad to see what is now considered a luxury vehicle 😕 😢. Fortunate to have beautiful low mileage Town Car Signature Limited (2007). Love it as last gasp of traditional great American Luxury vehicles! 👍.
I want a ’78 or ’79 Town Coupe badly. Preferably with velour, and preferably in maroon, black, or triple white. A few owners have said that they are much easier to park than one would imagine, largely because of the chrome strips that go all the way to the end of the fenders act as excellent guides.
See my just posted comment. My 78 was dark metallic brown with beige rear vinyl top and matching leather interior. Like you, l prefer velvet plush interiors. However Lincolns of this era with velvet interiors tended to fade over time! Never had a problem parking. Just took a little maneuvering. Hope you find your dream car!
Robert: Funny that you mention those chrome strips that follow the top edge of the fenders. When I was younger, my friends parents had a beautiful 1978 Lincoln (Town Car or Continental. This body style in a 4 door). It was a light yellow with a dark maroonish brown velour. Man was that nice car. Around that same time, my uncle who owned a used car lot and was a very big man picked up a dark blue Collectors Edition 1979. Both those cars had that same chrome strips on top of the fenders and I recall joking about the hood being a landing strip and the chrome trim was like guide markers for the planes.
At that same time, my parents had a 1979 Cadillac DeVille 4dr. That was the car I went and took my driver’s license test with and the lady giving me the road test told me to find a bigger parking spot for the parallel test. I said no, I can park in the designated spot they had and she looked at me like I was crazy. Being a farm boy and having been driving since I was 10, I whipped that big Cadillac in that spot and she passed me on the spot! I’ve always found those big cars easy to park.
Dan– Great story! Thanks for sharing. Was your uncle’s Collector’s Series a Mark V or Town Car?
Cadillacs of that era could turn sharper than the other C bodies. And merging onto a highway, people get out of your way!
I like the air brushed “Chucky” ~ it gets his malice very well .
I don’t know who the other evil clown is, looks like he has a runny nose .
Art Cars are always very subjective, this one with (I think) ‘Dead Man Dayton’ wheels on it looks odd but isn’t scrapped and is clean and tidy, not just some Barrio Bomber so it’s a win I think .
#35 : the first clown I don’t know but the second one is “Chucky” the evil child doll who came to life and killed people, for some reason this character has it biggest fans in the black community, they made several sequels .
I _hope_ the same person own both as where I’m from the Lincoln owner would likely as not simply shift into reverse and stamp the throttle had he discovered being boxed in like this .
-Nate
The first clown is Pennywise from Stephen King’s “IT”.
Thus my Stephen King comment.
It may be because this Lincoln is “longer, lower, and wider”… but the “lower” part of the famous phrase makes that Abarth look absolutely huge by comparison. If this photo was taken with an iPhone, that camera’s software may be messing with the perspective a bit.
It reminds me of the ’59 Caddy shot with Paul’s X-Box years ago. In that photo, the big Caddy looks to be a 3/4 scale version of itself. This Lincoln looks that way in this shot.
My best friend growing up had a neighbor, a really young guy too, that had a rather high paying blue collar type job. Instead of buying a sports car with all that disposable income, he purchased one of these Lincolns in triple-emerald-green… the paint, vinyl top, & velour interior, all green. That car was drop dead gorgeous! For him, Motorcycles were his sporty drivers, until he nearly lost a leg riding one due to an inattentive left turner.
My stepson thinks like Syke above. He had his fun with an Abarth as well, but preferred a motorcycle once he was done with law school. The Abarth was his commuter car when he needed to drive into Baltimore City to the Baltimore School of Law for those years. Now his toy is a new Triumph 900. I have to agree with you guys having driven both. The Abarth was a blast, but that Triumph was a real blast from the past! I still wouldn’t buy another one at my age now, though.
Retro: My first thought was how big the Abarth actually looks next to the Lincoln! I know personally how big that Lincoln is and how small the Abarth is. So I agree there may be some optical allusions going on here. Either that or I need to get my eyes checked. haha.
This is Paul’s famous shot from a few years ago that seems to have the same effect…
Optical illusion? Maybe… but Paul has always talked of the excellent space utilization of his X-Box, while not so kind (justifiably so) to the lack of space utilization of big American cars pre-1977-GM.
~ Rick
Wow. That really does have the same effect as the above pic. I’d love to see these (small cars) parked side by side with a pic taken from the side with the smaller ones in to the front.
I wonder how comparable the room is in those cars, especially the back seat.
I’m always impressed and in awe of the talent of an airbrush artist, but I have yet to see one single thing that’s been airbrushed onto a car that doesn’t look completely stupid. Same with tattoos. I’m guessing the owner has matching tattoos.
The length of the Fiat is 144”, the Lincoln is 233”, a difference of 93”, a difference of almost 8 ft. Of course one ft. of that length is from the projecting bumpers, not body mass, so it’s not that noticeable from a distance.
It’s funny how the camera distorts and records that reality.
Trunk on my former 78 Town Coupe could probably have held that damn Fiat with room to spare. As you can probably guess, I would not want the Fiat in my trunk! 😉 😅 🤣.BIGGER is always BETTER!
I first thought the post title referred to the clown car wheels on the Lincoln.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a future shot shows it on blocks, sans wheels.
You guys might remember, a couple years ago Paul had me photoshop my Buick Encore against other cars and it’s crazy how the aspect ratio has changed since the 70s.