photo by flickr member Jersey JJ
Since I now have a good case of Panther Love thanks to my 2000 Town Car Cartier, I have been noticing more and more of the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln big sedans, on the web, on the road and otherwise. I ran across this very cool vintage shot of what appears to be a 1990-92 TC Cartier on flickr, and just had to share it with you other fans of body-on-frame FoMoCo goodness. These 1990-94 Town Cars still look new to me. Amazing that they debuted back in the fall of ’89! I was in fourth grade…yikes.
That’s a beautiful car and notice how the model back then wasn’t emaciated like they are now. Where I live 1990-94 Town Cars are rare. Seniors here don’t keep their cars more than 10 years because winter temps routinely drop below -20 and a reliable car is essential. Consequently most of the early 90s Town Cars have been beaten to death by their 2nd and 3rd and etc owners. The 1995-97 TCs are still around but mostly if fairly rough condition.
We rented a ’91 Town Car dressed in red leather with a white body when my wife and I got married. Drove it all over the northeast for a couple of weeks. Wished I could have brought it home.
Back in ’05, I looked around to find a deal on the last gen TC. Instead, got a killer deal on a 3 yr old Conti. Hands down, the best car I ever owned. But, that 91 was a much classier car. I wonder if there are any unmolested ones still out there?
I have a Cartier – I got it for Christmas, 2011. It’s a tank watch. It’s quite nice!
I like the TC and drove a few of them as executive cars on trips. There are still plenty in the Aloha State. Most of them, have “Charley’s Taxi” signs on them. But – it exemplifies the ruggedness of the Panther Platform. If not a taxi, there are still many TCs including this generation used regularly in the livery service as well. 300K + on the clock is common. Impressive, considering these didn’t have (unless ordered) the HD equipment like the taxi/cop cars (oil coolers, HD alternator and so on) . . .
“I have been noticing more and more of the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln big sedans, on the web, on the road and otherwise.”
Really? They seem to be everywhere in SoCal, especially Palm Springs.
Oh, there have always been plenty of Panthers around the QC area, but since I own one, I think I’m paying more attention.
The CC-Owner Effect.
What timing! I had Panthers on the brain today. Counted 5 of them this morning on my commute down the NJ Turnpike. By the way, I feel old, I was 21 in 1989!
Great picture! The whole thing between the background, lighting, gleaming silver Town Car, and of course the golden-blonde beauty is just the total aura the Town Car gave off back then. The very final Town Cars felt a bit less special, as they weren’t updated for so long and just about all of them you see are black.
As for you seeing a lot of Panthers, I still see quite a few, even from the early 1990s. Mainly Grand Marquis, as they seemed to sell the best, especially to the older crowd who didn’t drive them as frequently or harshly.
The last Town Cars were pretty sad, they really started to share too many of the Crown Victoria bits, where the interiors were almost the same, just with an extra piece of plastic wood, sad.
The 1990 vintage Town Car, especially the Cartier, sticks in my mind as one of the cars with the softest and plushest leather seats of any car I’ve ever sat in.
Ford went on a de-contenting binge in the late 1990s, and the Town Car suffered the most. I remember sitting in one at the Philadelphia Auto Show in the early 2000s and thinking that it was hardly luxurious.
+1
That has to be my favorite body style of Panther based Lincoln Town Car.
Cartier with dual exhausts and all the options would be my preference, followed closely by a Jack Nicholas Golden Bear edition in the green and tan color scheme.
http://www.carshow-photos.com/lincoln-town-cars-1990s/1997_Jack_Nicklaus_Signature_Edtiion_Lincoln_Town_Car_Equipment.htm
These are the only Panthers I really like. Ever see the movie “Grosse Point Blank?” All the hit men drive black ones. When I was in college, I tossed around the idea of trading my ’87 5.0 T-Bird for a similar era Town Car (which is my 2nd favorite Panther), but couldn’t really bring myself to do it. The ‘Bird was more my style, I guess.
Haha, yes, Grosse Point Blank is excellent! Especially the part where Dan Aykroyd’s character says to the hired-assassin: “Design division wants me dead over a leaky sunroof? You wanna kill me because of that?
I remember that movie too, Ackroyd and Cusak both had identical black Town Cars, the NSA agents that were tailing Cusak had a Caprice Classic wagon with woodgrain.
That’s a great movie. The cars are just a bonus!
There was a 1990 Cartier for sale here last year, silver exterior, grey interior (some sort of red-speckled velour I think), sunroof, maintenance history, completely factory, one owner since it was imported in the late 90s. I was sorely tempted but financially bereft at the time so it’s the one (or one of the ones) that got away. It reappeared for sale again last month – it’s now painted black, fitted with hydraulic low-rider suspension and wearing 12 inch multi-spoke wheels… Sigh, another mint original car wasted…
That’s a shame. It could have happened to my car if I hadn’t rescued it.
Somebody save this Lincoln!
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/4208193998.html
“Body is great shape
Motor is 460 original with auto trans perfect condition
Paint is good but I wanted to paint it flat black”
Yeah, that’d be a real shame if that beauty falls in the wrong hands. Hopefully it gets saved. The price seems fair considering how stock it is.
Flat black wouldn’t have looked good at all.
I’ve seen some pretty tasteless things on cars in the IE. It’s SoCal after all. :/
WAY too many of these Continentals are getting the big-ass wheel/matte paint/primer treatment. Why mess with such a beautiful design?
It’s like someone street-rodding a Duesenberg or Auburn. There are too many people with disposable income and horrid taste.
This is my favorite Town Car. It seems to flow so well. Would love to have a good low mileage.
Wow, this one is identical to the one sitting in my Grandma’s garage…1991 with a little over 150k on the clock!
She’s thinking about letting it go…
This article got me looking, there is a pretty nice 94 Cartier Town Car on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lincoln-Town-Car-Cartier-Sedan-4-Door-1994-lincoln-town-car-4-dr-sedan-cartier-low-miles-v-/390743623199?forcerrptr=true&hash=item5afa22861f&item=390743623199&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
If a clean one of these fell in my lap for $2000, it would be hard to say no.
Ouch, that is priced pretty high. Considering the durability of the Panther there is no reason to pay that kind of premium for a low mile car when cars with ~100K can be found in that ~$2000 or so range.
The price is high, the car seems very nice, but it is in Illinois.
That one’s really nice and Naperville’s only a couple hours from me. But I’ve already got a Cartier.