Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1986 Lincoln Town Car
Ford's Lincoln Division applied the Town Car name (originally the Anglicized name for a coupé de ville horse-drawn carriage) to new cars beginning with the 1959 Continental, but it wasn't until the 1981 model year that the Town Car became a Lincoln model in its own right (earlier Town Cars were Continentals). Those boxy, sharp-edged Town Cars were built throughout the remainder of the 1980s and sold well, but they're almost extinct today. Here's one of those cars, found in a Denver-area self-service yard recently.
The Town Car was built from the 1981 through 2011 model years, with a complete redesign for 1990 that kept the same chassis but added a less angular body and rear air suspension. In 1998, the Town Car got the full "whale" body treatment seen on its Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis siblings, and production of that version continued until the end. In China, Hongqi built a version badged as the CA7460 Qijian.
All 1981-2011 Town Cars lived on the versatile and sturdy body-on-frame Panther platform. For a 1970s design, the Panther stayed relevant for a surprisingly long time.
This car was closely related to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis, not to mention the Continental Mark VI.
The interior is full of "wood-tone appliqués" and the gauges come straight from mid-1970s Lincoln-Mercury products.
These "twin comfort lounge" seats were just as comfy as they look here, and the Nearly Velour™ fabric just needs a cleaning to be in like-new condition. Of course, the optional Cartier package had much classier upholstery.
You'll find one in every car. You'll see.
Every 1980s Town Car had some sort of padded vinyl roof as standard equipment.
This roof has not fared well beneath the Colorado sun.
