Lincoln Town Car (1st gen) 1980-1989

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Lincoln Town Car #1

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The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to 2011, with the nameplate previously serving as the flagship trim of the Lincoln Continental. Produced across three generations for 30 model years, the Town Car was marketed directly against luxury sedans from Cadillac and Chrysler.

Marketed nearly exclusively as a four-door sedan (a two-door sedan was offered for 1981 only), many examples of the Town Car were used for fleet and livery (limousine) service. From 1983 to its 2011 discontinuation, the Town Car was the longest car produced by Ford worldwide, becoming the longest mass-production car sold in North America from 1997 to 2011. While not a direct successor of the Town Car, the Lincoln MKS would become the longest American sedan until 2016 (overtaken by the Cadillac CT6).

From 1980 until 2007, the Lincoln Town Car was assembled in Wixom, Michigan, (Wixom Assembly) alongside the Lincoln Continental, LS, and Mark VI, VII, and VIII. After that factory closed, Town Car production moved to Southwold, Ontario, (St. Thomas Assembly) alongside the similar Ford Crown Victoria and the Mercury Grand Marquis. That factory was closed in September 2011; the final Lincoln Town Car came off the assembly line on August 29, 2011.

Within the Lincoln model line, the Town Car was not directly replaced; the nameplate was used from 2012 to 2019 to denote livery/limousine/hearse variants of the Lincoln MKT. For 2017, the revived Continental replaced the MKS, closely matching the Town Car in wheelbase and width.

Etymology
In the 1920s, a town car was a body design typically used for limousines. The description originated from the horse-drawn carriage that featured an open chauffeur's compartment with a fixed roof for the passengers. During that era, the fixed rear roof horse-drawn carriage became a limousine and the term "de Ville" in French meant "for town (use)". In 1922, Edsel Ford purchased a custom-built Lincoln L-Series town car as a personal vehicle for his father, Henry Ford.

Later, the "sedan de Ville" was used as a model name by Cadillac, the primary rival to the Lincoln Continental from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Continental Town Car
1959-1960
For 1959, Lincoln augmented its pre-existing Continental lineup with the addition of two formal sedans known as the Town Car and Limousine. Both new vehicles featured pillared construction, interiors of broadcloth and scotch-grain leather as well as deep pile carpeting. No options were offered, all equipment including air conditioning being standard; the Limousine came with a glass partition between the front and rear seats.

In place of the reverse-slant roofline used by all other Continentals (including convertibles), the Town Car/Limousine was styled with a notchback roofline with a heavily padded vinyl top and an inset rear window. In addition to the slightly restrained styling, the change in the roofline was also functional. To add rear-seat legroom, the rear seat was repositioned without any modification to the wheelbase. In the years to follow, both Imperial and Cadillac would redesign the rooflines on their own range-topping vehicles (the LeBaron and Fleetwood Sixty-Special) to appear more formal and limousine-like.

One of the rarest vehicles ever produced by Ford Motor Company, 214 Town Cars and 83 Limousines were produced from 1959 until 1960; all were painted black.

1970-1979
For 1970, the Town Car name returned as a trim package option, including leather seating surfaces and deeper cut-pile carpeting. For 1971, a limited-edition (1500 produced) Golden Anniversary Continental Town Car commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Lincoln. For 1972, the Town Car was introduced as a sub-model of the Lincoln Continental model line. On nearly all examples, a vinyl top covered the rear half of the roof, with a full-length configuration optional. A raised molding over the roof incorporated coach lamps on the B-pillars. For 1973, Lincoln introduced a two-door variant of the Continental Town Car, named the Town Coupe. As with the Town Car, the Town Coupe included a standard vinyl roof.

As part of the 1975 redesign of the Lincoln roofline, the Town Car adopted the oval opera windows of the Mark IV coupe, with the Town Coupe given a large rectangular opera window.

The Continental Town Car proved to be a success for the division, becoming the most popular Lincoln vehicle of the 1970s (as the Mark IV and Mark V were not technically branded as Lincolns).

1980
For the 1980 model year, Lincoln became the final American brand to market downsized full-size cars. In its redesign, the Lincoln Continental shifted from the largest production sedan in North America to a design with a smaller exterior footprint than Cadillac. The Continental Town Car returned as the top trim for the Lincoln model range; in its own downsizing, the Mark series introduced the Continental Mark VI. Though technically not badged a Lincoln, the Mark VI shared its chassis and much of the body with the Continental to reduce development and production costs.

While Lincoln had brought downsized model lines to production, from a marketing standpoint, the consolidation of the Continental, Continental Town Car/Town Coupe, and the Mark VI proved catastrophic. Following the early 1980 withdrawal of the slow-selling Lincoln Versailles, Lincoln-Mercury dealers offered three highly similar vehicles across a wide price range in the same showroom. The discontinuation of the Versailles also marked the return of Lincoln exclusively to the full-size sedan segment, leaving nothing to sell against European-brand luxury vehicles.

For the 1981 model year, Lincoln underwent a revision to transition its full-size model range from three nameplates to one, commencing a multi-year transition throughout all three Ford divisions. For 1981, the Continental went on hiatus, with Lincoln shifting the nameplate to a mid-size sedan for 1982. The Mark VI ended its model cycle in 1983; for 1984, the Mark VII exited the full-size segment, shifting the Mark Series into a different market segment.

Source: Wikipedia

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First generation (MY 1981–1989)
A model year removed from the extensive downsizing of its full-size model range, the Lincoln division underwent a revision of its nameplates. Following the discontinuation of the compact Versailles sedan, Lincoln was left marketing six nearly identical vehicles (Continental, Continental Town Car, and Continental Mark VI, all offered both as two-door and four-door sedans). For 1981, the Lincoln Town Car was introduced, consolidating the Continental and Continental Town Car into a single model line slotted below the Continental Mark VI.

Identical to the 1980 Lincoln Continental, the Lincoln Town Car was offered as a two-door and four-door sedan (the Town Coupe nameplate was discontinued). Largely overshadowed by its Continental Mark VI counterpart, the Town Car two-door was discontinued for 1982. As the Continental Mark VII was introduced for 1984, Lincoln pared its full-size line down solely to the Town Car four-door sedan.

At the time of its launch, the Town Car had been slated for replacement by front-wheel drive model lines (in anticipation of further volatility in fuel prices); as fuel prices began to stabilize, demand initially rose for the model line, leading Lincoln-Mercury to produce the Town Car through the 1980s with few visible changes. Over 200,000 were sold in 1988, the highest ever for the model line. However, this increase was mostly due to an extended 1988 Town Car model year which ran from March 1987 to October 1988 instead of the usual 12-month period. Conversely, the 1987 Town Car with its shortened model year only had sales of just over 76,000. Although remaining Lincoln's top-selling model, calendar-year sales declined each year for the Town Car between 1986 and 1989. This decline was mostly blamed on its aging design and the increased popularity of the Continental which had been fully redesigned for 1988.

Chassis
The 1980–1989 Lincoln Continental/Town Car utilized the Panther platform shared with Ford and Mercury. Delayed to the 1980 model year due to engineering issues, the Panther platform meant radically different exterior dimensions for the Lincoln models. Although extended three inches in wheelbase over its Ford/Mercury/Mark VI coupe counterparts, the 1980-1989 versions would have the shortest wheelbase ever used for a full-size Lincoln at the time (10 inches shorter than its 1979 predecessor). The 1980 Continental/Town Car was the shortest Lincoln since the Versailles. In the interest of fuel economy and handling, the Panther chassis reduced weight by up to 1,400 lb (635 kg) compared to the 1970-1979 full-size Lincolns. As the lightest full-size Lincoln in 40 years, the 1980 Continental/Town Car came within less than 200 pounds of the curb weight of the compact-sized Versailles. The new Panther platform meant reduced overall size, better suspension geometry, and upgraded power steering with a reduced turning diameter by over 8 feet (compared to the 1979 Lincoln Continental). For 1984, gas-pressurized shocks were added.

To achieve better Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) results, Ford discontinued the 400 and 460 big-block V8s in its full-size cars. For 1980, a 130 hp (97 kW; 132 PS) 4.9 L V8 (the 302 engine was marketed as a "5.0 L" V8) was standard. A 140 hp (104 kW; 142 PS) 351 cu in (5.8 L) V8 was available as an option. Following the introduction of the Lincoln Town Car in 1981, the 302 cu in (4.9 L) V8 became the only available engine (with the 351 becoming an option for Ford and Mercury). In Canada, the 302 V8 remained carbureted until 1985. In 1986, the 302 V8 was revised to 150 hp (112 kW; 152 PS), following a redesign of the fuel-injection system with the introduction of sequential multi-port fuel injection. These engines are identifiable by their cast aluminum upper intake manifolds with a horizontal throttle body (vertical throttle plate); this replaced the traditional throttle body with a carburetor-style top-mounted air cleaner previously used. Introduced in the Lincoln Continental for 1980 and marketed in all Panther-platform vehicles in 1981, the Lincoln Town Car was equipped with the 4-speed AOD automatic overdrive transmission, the sole transmission of 1981-1989 examples.

All Town Cars from 1980 through 1989 were available with an optional trailer towing package that included dual exhausts, a 3.55:1 limited slip differential (code 'K') and an improved cooling package for the engine and transmission.

Source: Wikipedia

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Exterior
During the late 1970s, the sales of the Lincoln Continental had held steady and the Continental Mark V would go on to outsell its Cadillac Eldorado counterpart. In the development of the Lincoln Town Car, the design themes of the 1977-1979 Lincoln Continental and Mark V would both influence the exterior design of the 1980 Continental/Town Car. As with its predecessors, the Town Car featured nearly flat body sides, sharp-edged fenders, and a radiator-style grille. Hideaway headlamps gave way to exposed halogen headlamps (the first on a full-size Lincoln since 1969). Another first included fully framed door glass (retractable vent windows were now standard); in contrast to its Ford and Mercury counterparts, the window frames were painted matte black. While chrome trim remained around the headlamps and window frames, in a break from Lincoln tradition, it was deleted from the top of the fenders. Though mechanically similar to the Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis (the Ford LTD Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis after 1983), the Lincoln Town Car shared visible body panels only with the Continental Mark VI. In contrast to its Ford, Mercury, and Mark VI counterparts, the rooflines of 1981-1989 Town Cars feature a vertical quarter window in the C-pillar.

After only 4,935 two-door Town Cars were sold in 1981, the body style was discontinued for 1982. In the shift from rebadging the Continental to the Lincoln Town Car for 1981, Lincoln replaced the "Continental" badging above the headlights with "Town Car", which was removed in 1984.

A padded roof was standard equipment on all Town Cars, with its design determined by trim level. On standard-trim Town Cars, a leather-grained vinyl full-length covering with center pillar coach lamps was fitted. For Signature Series and Cartier trims, a padded vinyl coach roof (covering the rear half of the roof) with a frenched (smaller) rear window opening was fitted; the coach roof was also an option on standard-trim Town Cars. On non-Cartier Town Cars, a full-length cloth (canvas) roof was an option; imitating the look of a convertible, the design deleted the C-pillar quarter windows.

During the 1980s, the Lincoln Town Car would undergo several exterior revisions. For 1985, the model was given a mid-cycle facelift. In addition to (slightly) improving its aerodynamics, the design was intended to visually shorten the car (though the length was essentially unchanged). The front and rear bumpers were redesigned, better integrating them into the bodywork. The rear fascia was redesigned; distinguished by redesigned taillamps, and the trunk lid was better integrated with the rear fenders. For 1986, to meet federal regulations, a center brake light was added in the rear window. For 1988, the grille was updated with a brushed-metal panel between the taillamps, which now featured the reverse lamps.

1989 models are distinguished by special trim features including satin black paint for grille blades, trim between headlights, and amber (instead of clear) front parking lamps. The "Lincoln" front-end badging is moved from above the left headlight onto the grille and changed to a large sans-serif script. In the rear, the brushed-metal panel was given a pinstripe finish and all badging was moved from the panel onto the trunk lid. All models feature a landau roof with a smaller, more formal "frenched" rear window. All non-Cartier models also include an embedded Lincoln "star" emblems in their opera windows.

Interior
The interior of the Lincoln Town Car featured many advanced luxury options for its time. Signature Series and Cartier models featured 6-way power seats (and manual seatback recliners) for the driver and front passenger; the Lincoln Town Car adopted a split front bench seat previously seen on the Mark coupes. Several electronic features included an optional digital display trip computer showing the driver "miles to empty" and (based on driver input) an "estimated time of arrival". A keypad-based keyless entry system unlocked the vehicle through a 5-digit combination (factory-programmed or owner-programmed). Mounted above the driver's door handle, the keypad allowed the driver to lock all four doors; after entering the code, the driver could unlock the doors or release the trunk lid. Along with keyfob-based systems, the keypad system is still in use on Ford and Lincoln vehicles (as of 2021).

As part of the 1985 update, the Lincoln Town Car was the first Ford vehicle to feature a CD player as an option (as part of a 12-speaker JBL premium stereo system); while 1984 was the final year for the option of 8-track players and CB radios for the Town Car. In a functional change, the horn button was moved from the turn-signal lever to the steering wheel hub. The door trim was changed from wood to upholstery matching the seats.

For 1986, the front-seat head restraints were replaced with a taller 4-way articulating design; walnut burl trim replaced much of the satin black trim on the lower dash. For 1988, the instrument cluster was updated; for Town Cars with analog gauges, the instrument panel was given round dials in square bezels. In addition, new wood trim was added to the dashboard and steering wheel.

Source: Wikpedia

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Trim
At its 1980 launch, the Lincoln Town Car was offered in two trim levels, a standard/base trim and a Lincoln Town Car Signature Series (a name shared with the Mark VI, though with less exclusive features). In 1982, Lincoln adopted the Mark-Series tradition of Designer Series editions as the Cartier Edition was shifted from the Mark VI to the Town Car, becoming the top trim level; the Cartier Edition would remain part of the Town Car line through the 2003 model year.

Special editions
Cartier Designer Edition
In 1982, in a trim level shift, the Cartier Edition was moved from the Mark Series to the Lincoln Town Car. As before, the special-edition package consisted of exclusively coordinated exterior colors and interior designs, with the Cartier logo embroidered in place of the Lincoln "star" emblem on the seats. For 1987, the package underwent a redesign with a new upholstery design and new two-tone (metallic beige) platinum added alongside the traditional platinum silver and two-tone arctic white.

Sail America Commemorative Edition
This special edition 1987 Signature Series model came in white with a blue carriage roof and had a white leather interior with blue piping and special badging. Ford Motor Company was one of the corporate sponsors of the "Sail America Foundation" syndicate, and owner of the 1987 America's Cup winning yacht Stars & Stripes 87.

Special Edition
The 1988 Town Car Signature Series was available with a $2,461 'Special Edition package', which included a carriage roof (giving the appearance of a convertible top), wire-spoke aluminum wheels, JBL audio system, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and leather upholstery with contrasting-color piping. This replaced a proposed Gucci edition Town Car that had been in the works.

Gucci Edition
1989 Signature Series Gucci Edition had a special blue canvas roof with fluorescent B-pillar light and a special blue badge on the C-pillar with the word signature. It was designated in the VIN as code 84.

Marketing
For the 1985 model year, the Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood, traditional competitors of the Lincoln Town Car, shifted to front-wheel drive platforms (although, the Fleetwood Brougham retained its rear-drive platform and styling). At the time, Lincoln marketed the larger size of the Town Car as a selling point. In response to the downsized Cadillacs, Lincoln introduced a series of advertisements in late 1985 titled "The Valet" which depicted parking attendants having trouble distinguishing Cadillacs from lesser Buicks (Electras) and Oldsmobiles (Ninety-Eights), with the question "Is that a Cadillac?" answered by the response "No, it's an Oldsmobile...or Buick." At the end, the owner of a Lincoln would appear with the line "The Lincoln Town Car, please." The commercial campaign saw the emergence of a new advertising slogan for the brand, "Lincoln. What a Luxury Car Should Be." which was used into the 1990s. The marketing campaign was unable to turn around declining Town Car sales. It was only after an all-new redesigned Town Car was introduced in 1989 for the 1990 model year that sales temporarily rebounded.

Source: Wikipedia