Look at that, a coelacanth out of water! The venerable Panther-based Town Car has now been out of production for a decade and a half, yet its final iteration has not really had its 15 minutes of CC fame. Maybe there are still too many prowling the North American pavement, usually in fleet service, to be noticed by our Stateside CContributors. In Japan, these stick out a bit more. They do appear from time to time, but rarely in LWB form.
The traditional American land yacht, by about 1975, was a dinosaur. Body-on-frame, live axle RWD, V8 tucked behind a gaudy chrome grille with a stand-up hood ornament, automatic transmission with column shift… The formula was tired, but it took years of attrition to wipe the species off the Big Three’s ranges. By the late ‘90s, Ford stood alone. They gave their Panther-based cars a more modern body for 1998 and just kept making them, only bothering to really do a single major facelift in 2003.
And boy did Ford keep the flame alive for extra innings. But then, that’s the benefit of cornering a niche: any folks, usually older and wealthier, who still wanted a slice of ‘70s-style Americana in the 21st Century only had one option. Well, they had three – Ford, Mercury and Lincoln, but it was all the same chassis.
Fleet operators loved the Panther cars, too. The Ford Crown Vic was the standard NYC taxi for a long spell and was the default police cruiser until fairly recently. I’m not sure if there’s a breakdown of private versus fleet sales for the Lincoln Town Car, but it was the “basic American limo” for ages.
Even prior to the 2003 facelift, fleet models usually carried a simplified trim called “Executive.” Above that stood the Signature and Signature Limited. Quite a few Lincolns were given the old cut-n-stretch treatment. Being the last separate chassis car made them the obvious limousine. But if your legroom requirements were a bit more reasonable, Lincoln had a fully-optioned factory stretch for you: the long-wheelbase Signature L. In 2008, as the model was on its last legs, production moved to Canada and the range was simplified to two trim levels: Signature Limited and Signature L.
The extra wheelbase consisted in six inches (15cm) for the back passenger. Sometimes, these longer cars look a little off, with their huge rear doors – some S-Class Benzes don’t work too well in LWB form for me, for instance. On the 2003-2011 Town Car, especially in black, it fits rather well. It certainly looks sleeker than other LWB Panthers, thanks to that unique roofline.
That front passenger seat is pushed all the way, almost into the glovebox. Obviously, we’re dealing with a chauffeur-driven car here – that’s exactly why Lincoln made these. And with the unobtrusive burble of the 239hp 4.6 litre V8 and the pillowy air suspension (not sure it has that, but if you’re going to splurge on a LWB Lincoln in Japan, you might as well tick that box), this would have been a serious rival to the Toyota Century.
The Toyota had the Lincoln beat in refinement, with its bespoke 5-litre V12, impressive gadgetry and immaculate finish. But the Town Car would have several arguments in its favour, including more interior room, a bullet-proof drivetrain and an air of LHD exclusivity that the Century just did not have on its home market.
Why compare the Town Car and the Century? Because in Japan, they were pretty close in price: the LWB Lincoln retailed for about ¥10.5m – or ¥1m less than the Toyota (2007 prices). This Town Car was certainly sold here new, what with those fugly turn signal repeaters. And there’s the case of those even fuglier headlights, too.
I’m guessing only Japanese-market Lincolns have that odd four-eyed stare, as I’ve seen these nowhere else. Not all Town Cars found in Tokyo have these curious items by a long shot, though, but some, like the locally-transformed “stiff wagons” I’ve spotted on occasion, have them almost invariably — sometimes chromed, even.
Not sure how these keypads would have been regarded by Japanese customers 20 years ago. I cannot remember how I regarded them myself – these Lincolns weren’t seen in Europe, but I did travel back in them days. To the US, even. Nowadays, I see this and think: trouble. And my second thought is: cheap-looking. What is this, Ford’s largest and most expensive car, or a hotel safety deposit box?
Even with fleet sales, the Town Car’s goose was pretty much cooked by 2005. American sales, which represented the overwhelming majority of the model’s market, dipped below 50k units per year. By 2008, it was down to the 15k mark, and the tailspin continued. The Town Car was only kept alive because the other Panther cars still sold in reasonable numbers. For its final model year, in 2011, the living fossil convinced just over a thousand buyers. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
But when said mighty are built like a Sherman and capable of eating up 250-500k miles of asphalt in a lifetime, it’s safe to assume that quite a few of these fossils will stay alive for a good few decades yet. The only issue, by the 2040s, might be fuel. We might run out of dinosaur juice before we run out of dinosaurs.
Related posts:
CC For Sale: 2000 Lincoln Town Wagon – Town Sedan or Country Car?, by PN
Global CC: Hongqi CA 7465 C8 and CA 7460 – The Chinese Lincoln Town Cars, by PN
What If? – 2003 Lincoln Town Car Hardtop, by Stephen Fowler
Town Car Update: One Year, One Battery, One Oil Change, by Tom Klockau
I remember when there was talk of folding the Panther platform in the early 80’s. Suddenly, gas became cheap again and Ford kept pumping Panther platforms (Ford, Lincoln, & Mercury) out the door with a nice profit per vehicle. This probably funded the Taurus platform.
GM fumbled the ball with their down sized Cadillacs in the mid 80’s, and well to do grand parents were lined up at the local L/M dealer for Town Cars and Mercury Marquis. Fill in the box styling was fine with this crowd!!
Another round of rumors about dropping the Panther platform in the early 90’s in favor of FWD. Well, after another refresh and some suspension upgrades, empty nester Baby Boomers went wild for a long legged highway cruiser. The local sheriff swore by them, and livery service managers could swap out a transmission in 2 hours or less. What more could you as for!!
According to unsubstantiated sources, NYC Livery Servers had a Moment of Silence when the last Panther rolled off the assembly line in Canada.
These last generation Town Cars capably demonstrated * LINCOLN, what a Luxury Car should be* As the proud and fortunate second owner of a Beautiful low mileage (76,000) 2007 Signature Limited, I can’t dispute it. I’ve had 78 Town Coupe, 89 Signature Series, several Grand Marquis, an 89 Crown Victoria LX, along with other upscale vehicles, including two Fleetwood Broughams. As to age, I loved those OTT ostentatious LAND YACHTS even before I could drive. In My NOT so humble Opinion, FMCs biggest mistake was not The EDSEL, but dropping Grand Marquis and Town Cars. This will be my last car, as nothing currently built can match it and with proper maintenance they can easily go over 300,000 miles. Per my instructions. my cremains will be driven to my grave in my Town Car, as even HEARSES are bloated boxes.
Regarding the headlights… I suspect FoMoCo did not design or build any headlights for export to countries with left-hand traffic, and these bugeyes (possibly filled with standard Hella 90mm light modules) were the only way to install appropriate headlights.