Last week we looked at the 1999 Chrysler LHS I owned after returning from a long work assignment in Japan. Now back in the US for hopefully at least a few years, I was looking forward to fully participating in the hobby I had put-off while overseas; owning a classic ‘60’s – ‘70’s Lincoln.
My 1967 Lincoln Coupe at a Local Car Show
I started out looking in the local area around Dayton, and found a 1967 Coupe for sale in nearby Huber Heights. The son was selling it for his father who had recently passed. It was a “driver”; all there but not in the best of shape. We quickly came to a deal and I brought it home. I owned it for about a year but found out the undercarriage was too rusted to start any kind of restoration – so I sold it. It’ll be the subject of a future COAL.
My 1978 Lincoln Town Coupe (top photo also)
Learning my lesson, I looked for another Lincoln that was in better shape – and came across a 1978 Town Coupe being sold by a classic car dealership in St Louis – it was advertised as an original 5300 mile car. It certainly looked it in the pictures and in the video that I requested from the dealer. I splurged on a plane ticket and went down to look it over.
The car was indeed a 5300 mile original survivor. It was purchased by an elderly gentleman in 1978 but he had passed within the year. The wife found it too big to drive so it resided in their heated garage for the next 22 years. Fortunately, she had relatives stop by every several months and take it for a short spin. When she passed in 2000, it was sold as part of the estate. It quickly dawned on me that this may be one of those “once in a lifetime” events for a car guy.
1978 Lincoln Town Coupe from Internet
It was a Town Coupe, in optional Champagne Metallic, with similar color vinyl carriage roof. Other options included faux “wire wheel” covers, leather interior, and an AM/FM radio with integral “10-4 Good Buddy” CB. Engine was the base 400 cu in (6.6 Liter) V8, rather than the optional 460. It literally looked like it had just come off the showroom floor.
When they pulled it out of storage, the engine wouldn’t turn, so they squirted some Marvel Mystery Oil down each cylinder and let it sit for two days – it turned freely on the next try. They cleaned out the gas tank and radiator, put in all new fluids and filters, checked the seals, new shocks, new tires, and it was ready for the road. The only thing that wasn’t working was the A/C.
I was leaning towards buying it when the salesman said “Not sure if you want to look at it but we found all of this in the glove box”. It was the Protect-O Plate card, window sticker, Bill of Sale, manual and brochure, and every maintenance receipt since new. The sticker showed MSRP, including options, was $14,539.00. A pretty princely sum for 1978.
That did it for me – they wanted $15K and that seemed fair given the condition, so I offered to meet their price as long as they got the A/C working. They replaced the compressor and shipped the car for me to Dayton.
Driving it sure brought back a lot of memories circa late ‘70’s. It drove like a new 1978 Ford – with first Gen emission controls. It would hesitate, shudder, and occasionally stall while the engine was cold. Once it warmed up it was fairly smooth, but it was definitely a hard starter. I later found a retired Lincoln Tech and he volunteered to give it a tune. It improved after that, but it would still take two or three tries before it would start and run, and several minutes for it to warm up and smooth out.
Starting issues aside, performance from the 400 was OK – I would have preferred the legendary 460, but the 400 put out 320 ft lbs of torque, tuned to come in early, so it gave sufficient shove. It handled like any big ’70’s boat in the city, lots of wheel turning. There was also a sizable blind-spot, but visibility other than that was superb with lots of high, flat glass. Once you got on the expressway and up to 65-70 mph, it was really in its element, and you didn’t need a lot of steering input to keep it within its lane like on the ’67.
The only area I was a little disappointed with was the dash – and that wasn’t the car’s fault. Prior to ’78, Lincoln Continentals had their own unique dash – one that looked like it belonged in a luxury car. But in ’78, perhaps seeing it had only two model years left and to save a few bucks, Ford used a version of the dash in the LTD and Mercury Grand Marquis. Ford cost-cutting strikes again.
LCOC Mid-America Meet in Dayton – 2016
I owned the Lincoln for the next several years, taking it out each Spring and storing it in the Fall. We would attend all the local car shows, Cars and Coffee events, etc., – and it never failed to draw a crowd or bring home a trophy. I would have loved to have taken it to one of the Lincoln Continental Owners Club (LCOC) meets but never could make the schedule work. A few years after I put it in storage, LCOC had one of their regional meets in Dayton…my luck.
In 2003, we returned to Japan, and I thought long and hard about taking the Lincoln with me. But a large enough parking space, Japanese emissions and registration, parts, etc., all led me to decide to put it in storage. After a few more years when it looked like we might not be going back soon, I concluded it’s best to let someone else enjoy it – and contacted Chris Dunn, owner of Lincolnland in Clearwater Florida – well known in Lincoln circles. I asked Chris if he would consign and sell the car and he agreed. In only two days, he had an interested buyer. I told Chris I was less interested in price than ensuring the car went to a true Lincoln enthusiast – someone who would not jack it up and put on “Dubs”. The buyer was indeed a Lincoln devotee and we sold it to him for $16K.
I still miss that Lincoln…
Related Posts:
1978 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe – CAFE Is Coming
Curbside Comparison: How Does A 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe Drive Compared To Newer Cars?
I have to confess, the 67 you had turns my crank a lot more than the 78. By the late 70’s, they had become just a little bit too garish and bloated. I’d be interested in a driving comparison, since you indicate that the 78 handled better. I’ve always found the big Fords needed more attention than GM cars to keep them in their lane.
Agreed! The 67 would have been something special. The ‘78s are still floating around to this day!
Great write up and I love your passion but $16K for a mint one in the early 2000s?! No way, man!
Agree on the 67. I’m looking forward to the story. I owned a 67 Lincoln coupe for 13 years and deeply regret selling it. That black one looks really nice.
This 78 Coupe looks lovely, really a once in a lifetime find. Great story.
Have to admit to just the same thoughts. Pity the gorgeous ’67 was all coat and no trousers – well, no undercarriage, anyway.
Glad you got to enjoy owning a unique CC for awhile, take it to some shows, and eventually sell it for more than your purchase price. That’s about as good as it gets. It’s hard to keep a car forever, especially one this big.
A 78 Town Coupe was the last car my father owned that I really loved. He had several after that, but but none had the presence of that big Townie. His was white with cordovan velour and had the 460. It had the standard wheelcovers, which were not bad looking on the car.
I agree on the dash, it was a letdown from the earlier cars. But it was a big, quiet, stately car, really the last of its kind for any American manufacturer.
Yours sounds like it was a real sweetie. I am glad it found a new home after your time with it was over.
I was interested to read about the problems with driveability. I have ‘76 Fleetwood with the carbureted 500 engine, about 65k miles, and it has minimal issues. Unless it’s been sitting for a week, it might as well be a fuel injected engine. (Though it never gets much below 40 degrees when I drive it.) Not at all what I was expecting, given that it’s near the nadir of Malaise. I’m surprised that even with a few extra years of development, Ford was still struggling. A little disappointing for me personally, because I’ve been looking for a 460-powered ‘76-77 Conti.
Fords and Chryslers of that era seem to have more drivability issues than their GM counterparts. And even then, some GMs had their share of issues as well.
Given Ford and Chrysler’s much smaller R&D budgets, I always wondered how things would’ve turned out had those two companies avoided the dead ends of PROCO and the variable venturi carburetor (for Ford) and the turbine engine (for Chrysler), and instead used that money to develop the best damn internal combustion engines possible for the time. For that matter, one could say the same about what GM spent on its Wankel program. But then, hindsight is 20/20.
I think the drivability problems are somewhat a result of tuning and aren’t intrinsic to the design.. I own a 77 Mercury with the same 400 engine that had similar problems. There’s several mechanical engine controls, thermal choke, vacuum pull off, thermal vacuum spark advance selector, the distrbutor advance mechanism and warm air duct selector. These often seize in old cars, especially ones that aren’t driven, and cause poor running. The fact the car responded to an ignition advance suggests the spark selector or advance mechanism may not have been working .
Also the carb needs to be set up properly, idle mixture, fast idle setting and choke setting, all must be carefully set. It’s difficult to find technicians these days who understand and recognize these failures and how to fix them. In my experience, almost every car I come across from the 70s has multiple engine control component failures and benefits from some careful diagnosis and repair. Imho it’s not difficult but it’s a lost skill set simply because this method of engine control is obsolete and few techs have the opportunity to learn about them.
I am sure the retired Lincoln tech did just what I described, but some components that tend to fail aren’t available. . There’s limitations on tuning unless one is prepared to redesign the engine controls. Such work is more in the old school hot-rodders skill set, and not a factory tech.
FWIW my 400 works well now but it took considerable careful attention to get there.
Wow, that is one of those opportunities that can’t be passed up if a true enthusiast of the marque. Even paying over sticker 🙂 The memories now alone are worth the price of admission and it all worked out in the end. Looking forward to hearing more about the ’67 as well.
Shame about that ’67 having a rotten frame, as you don’t see many of those around. The ’78 sounded like a real peach, being a two door with that low mileage. The initial start up woes sound like an accelerator pump in the carb to me, but it could be a couple of niggling items.
My friend’s dad had a ’78 Town Coupe when I was in high school, that wedgewood medium blue inside and out, which replaced another nice (and big) car, a 73-ish Olds 98 Regency sedan. Always liked these
I’ve read the Ford/Mercury dash was used in ’78-79 because it was lighter than the Lincoln dash, more plastic and less metal. I think cost cutting played a role though. The Ford dash isn’t terrible, but the wall-like Lincoln dash was so much better and more elegant.
That’s an incredible car, and I don’t think $15K is too much to spend for a mint car. If that’s what you really love, and when you consider what it costs to get an average condition car to mint . . . it’s a good deal.
Carburetors are the one thing stopping me from buying some truly ridiculous land yacht. Me, I’d go for the 1977 hardtop Chrysler New Yorker and its ridiculously opulent interior, but that Carburetor. I remember the bad old days of Carbureted cars when they wouldn’t start when it was wet, cold, or just for the fun of it, and you had to warm them up for 10-15 minutes. It was rare then to get someone who could work the black magic necessary for a carburetor to work and they constantly needed adjustment. I like driving and looking at old cars, not constantly battling with it.
The problem with these cars isn’t the carburetor, it’s all the half assed emission controls and barely adequate factory tuning that caused the issue. While many are tempted to just remove the emissions equipment, there is a little more to it than that, as the carburetor and ignition are setup to work with the emissions equipment. If one takes the time to remove the emissions equipment, then setup the carb and ignition properly to work without, a car from this era would have fine driveability.
Carburetors work fine and aren’t some sort of black art. Its just few know how to work on them. I have never not owned a carbureted car and in fact owned them exclusively until 2006. I never had any issues driving in weather as cold as -30. My car always got me to work and I had no back up. Sure a carb isnt as good as an EFI car, but a well tuned carb runs just fine.
If you find yourself behind the wheel of this large automobile, don’t ask yourself how you got there.
Right, because someone else may asking:
Where is that large automobile?
LOL
Wonderful COAL! I often find myself perusing classic car dealer inventories and am often drawn to cars just like this Town Coupe. I’m glad to hear of someone who’s fulfilled their desire to own a car like this.
For your next Lincoln, find one of the late ’70’s convertibles by AHA or Coachbuilders, Ltd, preferably with the 460.
I had a ’70 Continental sedan I loved forty years ago, would enjoy another 1970-’72 sedan or one of the Andy Hotton Executive Limousines.
These were the last cars that absolutely hypnotized me when new. The picture above of the 1978 coupe from the Internet with the turbine wheels and the wider white wall-gold line tires just nailed the look as many of them came from the factory. You had to love the color as the color was everything with these cars because there was just so much of it, and as big as they were, they were styled to emphasize every inch of what was there and maybe even exaggerate the size just a bit. They were truly the last of the unapologetic American luxury cars.
Thinking about it, these must’ve fell hard and fast, because in the early ’80s a thousand bucks would buy one.
Obviously not in the same league as Brophy’s car, but not completely trashed either. In about ’83 I bought about a ’78 I’m pretty sure the price was $800. I think it was gas and go, I don’t recall any major fix to it.
There were the ones that got sucked into “normal used car life” when gas was outrageously expensive and nobody wanted one as a normal used car. Those things soldiered on rusty and battered for years, not becoming almost extinct until the early 90s.
But in my experience there was an abnormally high number of these that got preserved by elderly owners who could afford to keep them around when they got new daily drivers. They were probably offered peanuts on trade anyway. These and 76-78 big Chryslers seemed to always be available as a pristine, low mile car with some commonality if you were patient.
The ’78 isn’t a car for me, but I would almost buy such a thing in this condition. Originality cannot be faked (though once you’ve learned to fake it, you’ve got a trade? sorry). A rather asinine thing to say I suppose, but there are certain aspects of originality that stand out instantly even for a non-technical car nut. Paint, something I know nothing about, I can pick as original from a respray in a second: why, I don’t actually know, ofcourse. But I can!
And even if all the original goodness is on a car that I don’t much fancy, it has magnetic appeal.
It speaks well of you that you sold it for others than rats in the garage to enjoy, Mr B.
Great COAL and truly a once in the lifetime find. It’s too bad you had to sell it later. I am not really a big luxo barge guy and these Lincolns are far from my favorites, but even I am drawn to your particular car. There was a super low mile ’79 at Carlisle a couple of years ago, and it was quite the time capsule to see in person.
I am looking forward to reading about your 67. I preferred these 60s Lincolns to the 70s versions, but I understand the rust issue. A local fellow owned a 66 that suffered the same fate, and ended up in the junkyard despite it looking fairly solid from the top.
Like the Granada steering wheel. Cost cutting on a car that cost 15 000 1978 dollars!. Must have been underselling it then. So how much was say an MB450sel then. 30-50k?.
You are not wrong on this. I have been thinking back trying to recall when Lincoln last had a Lincoln-specific steering wheel. The one in my father’s 72 Mark IV was identical to the wheel in any Ford or Mercury with cruise control. I cannot recall if the 3 spoke unit from the early 70s was shared or not. I think the wheel from the late 60s was shared with the Thunderbird, but I would defer to those with more experience in those cars.
I still have yet to find proper pictures of it, but my dad owned a white ’76 Continental Town Coupe all the way up to the year I was born (1994); sadly I wasn’t old enough to remember riding in it at all. You would have LOVED this one as it had the 460 V8–it could pull a pontoon boat like it wasn’t even there! The trade-off of course was the gas mileage (or lack thereof) in addition to having only 2 doors when there were 2 children–me & my older brother–in the household who still needed car seats. Try getting just ONE child seat back there! And by then we had an ’89 Town Car anyway. Our ’04 Expedition Eddie Bauer has pretty much replaced both as the main family vehicle.