Cars - Lincoln Town Car

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	Cars - Lincoln Town Car

The Lincoln Town Car is a fullsize luxury sedan and serves as the flagship of Ford's luxury Lincoln division. Often referred to as the "last traditional American luxury sedan", "the Town Car continues to honor the time-tested luxury formula consisting of a smooth ride, soft plush seats and large interior room."- New Car Test Drive Along with the spacious interior also come extravagant dimensions. The Town Car is currently the largest American-made car, measuring nearly 18 feet in length for a standard Town Car and 18 1/2 ft for an L Edition. The Town Car's main competitors include the Lexus LS 460 and Cadillac DTS. The Town Car is manufactured at the Wixom, Michigan Assembly Plant and ranges in price from US$42,055 for a basic Signature Series to $56,745 for a top-of-the-line Signature L Series.

In February 2006, Ford announced that it plans to close the Wixom Assembly Plant. While there have conflicting reports on the issue, most reports expect that the production of the Town Car will continue through 2007.

History

The Town Car name first appeared in the Lincoln line in 1959, on a special limousine-like version of the standard Continental. This first Town Car was available only in black and was identifiable by a unique padded vinyl top, which was a rarity at that time.

It is probably not a coincidence that "Town Car" is a translation of Cadillac's "Sedan de Ville," a model which was gaining popularity in the 1950s. Both names refer to a classic style of limousine, popular in the 1920s, which had an open chauffeur's compartment up front, but only Lincoln has sometimes attempted to make its modern models visually suggest their older namesakes. As an example, note the vinyl roof covering on the 1979 model shown below. It sweeps down the center pillar as part of a raised molding, complete with opera lamps, which suggests a partition between front and rear seats, while no vinyl is applied to the front section of the roof over the driver.

1971

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After its first appearance in 1959, the Town Car name went dormant for 10 years, and re-emerged as an especially plush interior option package for the 1969 Lincoln Continental. It next appeared as a trim option in 1971, and thereafter continued through 1980 as the top-of-line trim option package for the Lincoln Continental. Again the Town Car trim featured an extra plush interior along with, usually but not always, a landau vinyl roof over the rear passenger compartment. The Town Car badge has always been applied to sedans, but from 1975 to 1980, there was a similar option for coupes called the Town Coupe.

First generation (1981-1989)

Since 1981, the Town Car has been considered a model in its own right, replacing the Continental (whose name reappeared a year later on a smaller model). Upon its introduction the Town Car immediately became Lincoln's flagship model, a purpose it continues to serve to this day.

The first generation Lincoln Town Car featured a body profile and grille similar to that of the late 1970s Lincoln Continental. The interior layout included new seats, dashboard and door panels. The exterior door panels and fenders were also completely new, while the taillights and trunk lid experienced a slight redesign. To keep up with current design trends the previously covered headlights were now exposed and composed of two adjoining sqaure units.

The First Generation Lincoln Town Car also feature many advanced luxury options for its time. While leather trim was only available on the Cartier edition, all trim levels featured six-way power seats as well as an optional 12-speaker Ford JBL audio system.

Similar to the Continental Town Car package, a half-vinyl coach roof with frenched rear window was also a standard option on the Signature and Cartier models.

Second generation (1990-1997)

In 1990, the Town Car's body went through a major redesign and a rear-axle air suspension was added as standard equipment. That year, it was also named as Motor Trends Car of the Year. Through most of this model run, the car was available in three trim levels: Executive, Signature, and Cartier, in increasing order of cost and prestige.

The 1990 Lincoln Town Car also marked the end of the Town Car's 1970s-based angular design. The wedges on the side of the hood which contained the parking and signal lights were removed and the Rolls-Royce-like grille was replaced with a more modern and more aerodynamic front fascia. Parking lights were now located adjoining to the grille and the headlights wrapped around the corners of the front. The door panels and fenders were replaced as well, while the trunk lid and taillights remained somewhat more similar to the 1980s model.
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Cars - Lincoln Town Car

History

1971

First generation (1981-1989)

Second generation (1990-1997)

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