Call me crazy - Lincoln update.

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Yeah, Lehman-Peterson was the official Lincoln limo builder back in the '60s, but they went away in about 1970. I still have a Corgi model I got as a kid of a '68 or '69 Continental limo based on the L-P design.

I'm sure the reason Lincolns were rarely used for professional cars during the '60s is that they used unit body construction from '58'-'69. Unit bodies can be modified and stretched, but it is more difficult than with a separate chassis due to the more complex construction. Lincoln did revert back to a cheaper, Ford-like separate chassis in '70, but Caddy and other GM makes already had a lock on the professional car business. Cadillac was the obvious favorite, but I've seen a few Oldsmobiles and even some mid '60s Pontiacs.

I have an aquaintance who runs a small, discreet limo service using standard bodied Cadillacs. Most of his clients are out of town business people who need to be picked up at the airport and chauffered around for a day or two. He tried some of the late '90s Lincolns and really hated them for a funny reason: that rounded upper rear corner to the rear doors. Evidently he had too many clients bang their heads on it getting in and out of the car. Sounds funny, but then again after a long flight and dealing with the tacky nastiness of LAX I can imagine being a little uncoordinated. So, he went back to Cadillacs and is quite happy. He hasn't had much problem with the infamous Northstar head gasket issue and the Caddies just keep running.
 
Here is a link to a '79 Lincoln truck conversion on ebay. I don't like this conversion: they made the bed sides too high and the back of the cab slants. I saw a '78 Lincoln truck conversion when i was in college that looked much better: bed was same height as original trunk and back of cab was vertical.

My local AACA has a major car show every year and one member from Corpus Christi comes in a '78 Cadillac truck conversion.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979...08QQihZ020QQcategoryZ6304QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
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I wouldnt bid 500 on a "CD Player", "Whatever Motor", and New Paint. Oh no, that just tore the value right off the market for me. You don't do all that to old Lincolns, Original is the only way to go folks. She should have kept some of her old 8-track tapes.

Steve
 
The green paint on that '78 is nice. It reminds me a little of my sister's "Mosport Green" '66 Corvette. The seller is obviously either delusional or just lying about having a turbocharged engine however . . . in the engine pic there is no plumbing from the intake to either side of the engine where the turbo(s) would be located. Probably just as well, as this is a luxury car not a performance car but I have an immediate mistrust of sellers who aren't upfront or truthful.

The pickup is cool, but still looks too much like the funeral flower car it once was . . . that baby could have held a lot of flowers! It's probably in very nice shape however, as funeral homes usually keep their professional cars in notably good shape.
 
My 1966 Lincoln Lehman-Peterson Stretch Limo.

Unfortunately I never had enough money to maintain or restore it, so I finally sold it.

It was fun to drive anyway!

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~The seller is obviously either delusional or just lying about having a turbocharged engine however . . . in the engine pic there is no plumbing from the intake to either side of the engine where the turbo(s) would be located.

Curiosity finally got me - I e-mailed the seller for clarification. I'll post the response. I also asked the seller if they have documentation that the car is really a "Factory Convertible" as claimed in an answer to a question posted on the auction. I called Lincoln's archives division once and they have NO record of a factory made convertible - all were sent to a coach builder for conversion.
 
If Lincoln had built a convertible, yours would be it, man!

Hey, 58limited, that Lincoln convertible is one of the sharpest-looking conversions I've ever seen...big fives to ya on that one...

hydralique, I don't recall seeing a Chevy Celebrity convertible, but I recall Hess and Eisenhardt offering Cutlass Ciera convertible conversions circa 1984-85; not a bad conversion, but not too many built.

Anyone recall the AMC Concord/Eagle convertible conversions built in 1980-81? The Eagle convertible would truly be a rare bird these days!

Lincoln got back into the funeral/professional car business by default because Lincolns are the only separate-frame rear-drive platform luxurious enough to be a limo or hearse. GM has not built a rear-drive car suitable for professional work since the Cadillac Fleetwood/Chevy Caprice/Buick Roadmaster went out of production in 1996.

In fact, this isn't widely known, but Ford and Mercury also offer stretched-frame Crown Vics and Grand Marquises that lend themselves to conversions...
 
Here are responses

to my questions to the seller of the seafoam convertible:

ME- "Hi, Nice car. I have a couple of questions: 1. The write up says the engine is a turbo but I don't see a turbo set up - can you clarify?
2. I have researched late 70's convertible Lincolns for years. I even called Lincoln and talked to their archives division. They have no record of a factory made convertible. Do you have documentation? I would love to get a copy from you - FoMoCos records aren't always the best. Mostly I've been told that these cars were special order dealer promotions, they were sent from the factory directly to a conversion shop and then on to the dealership.

Thanks, David"

SELLER'S RESPONSE- "hi, thanks for writing. it's not turbo, that's my mistake. i tried to change the description after i posted the ad, but it wouldn't let me (hence the two almost identical descriptions, except that the second one doesn't say "turbo"). it's a edelbrock performer rpm 6066 engine (at least that's what it says on it, i know very little
about cars). we do not have documentation of it being a factory made convertable, this is just what we were told by the previous owner who bought it new. the person i'm selling this car for paid 30,000 for it 3 months ago, partly because it is so rare."

ME- "One more question: what film was it used in?

David"

SELLER'S RESPONSE - "hi david, it was used in a film called "palms" by german performance artist john bock. it's still in editing, but the still shots from it look great. i can email you some if you like (i think i'd have to do it
through your non ebay email address)."

OK, I have to say one thing:

$30,000??? That is a really high price for a late 70's Lincoln convertible. If someone offers me that much for mine, I'm selling and getting another for $10,000. Cha-Ching$$
 
Well . . .

I hope the owner likes the car a lot, because he's likely to have it a long time if he expects 30K for it.

One of the first rules of collector car values is that correct and original cars generally bring the most money, except in instances where the modifications are well known, documented, and appropriate to the car. An example would be an old BMW with Alpina speed equipment on it. They were BMW specialists 40 years ago with a good reputation for equipment that worked well with the car.

A set of Edelbrock high performance 6066 heads on a Lincoln is peculiar, and the seller seems clueless as to any particulars on the engine. Edelbrock does assemble crate engines, but in their current catalogue they are all based on Chevy small-blocks so it probably isn't an "Edelbrock 6066 engine". I'm guessing that the heads are on the original 460 block, which means low-compression pistons and a low-revving cam. If that's the case it probably runs just fine, as Lincoln intended, with maybe some extra oomph. If it is a real high performance, high compression engine with lots of overlap in the valve timing then it would have that classic loping idle and less than smooth exhaust note, especially with an automatic trans. That's all fine if it's in a muscle car, but in a Lincoln? I don't think so! The seller should at least research the engine and provide some documentation if he wants a high price for the car. Another issue is that engine, if it is far from stock, may not pass smog tests and in fact the test station may refuse to test it at all due to the non-stock air cleaner. This might be one reason the Lincoln seller wants to ebay it, in hopes of it leaving California for a place where it won't have to be tested.

Bongobro - I thought the Celebrity conversion was kind of strange, and I don't think I've seen another. My friend bought it as a collectible but he loved to buy and sell and so didn't hang onto it long. Nobody know the original owner, but I'd guess that it was a Chevy dealer who wanted a convertible other than a Corvette for his own personal use, because for the money any sane person would have ordered an Olds or Buick instead. Sure was a nice conversion.
 
I saw an early 80's Olds Toronado convertible for sale several years ago - that was a nice car, made a good looking convertible. When I was in college, someone would come to the football games in a late 70s Monte Carlo convertible. I always that that was a keen conversion.

In the late 80s, I saw advertisements in Hemmings Motor News for a $2500 kit to turn your late 70s Caddy Coupe De Ville into a convertible. I've never seen one, so I wonder if very many people bought the kit.
 
OMG - this guy totally copied me. Glad I could help...

Here is another one like mine that just came up on ebay. Very nice car. The seller pretty much copied verbatum alot of things I commented on that were posted to previous convertible auctions and stuff on my web page:

"There was more than one company that produced these conversions, three I think. When researching these cars and what we have been told is that these were ordered through the dealership. The car was sent from the factory to a conversion shop and then delivered to the dealer. Some people have told me that they were factory-authorized conversions but Lincoln's archives division told me that they were dealer offered promotions. The Town Coupe or Mark V could be converted. About 20 to 50 were made each year 1977-79, and three four-door convertibles were made."

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Linc...ategoryZ6304QQihZ001QQitemZ110139401355QQrdZ1
 
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I just noticed something else: the cars from the two auctions referenced above are the same cars! The VIN is the same. The seller of the current listing bought the car and detailed it and is trying to resell for a profit.
 
Now it's your turn to call me crazy.

I've loved my 1993 Lincoln Town Car for all eight years I've owned it. I've put 97,000 miles on it, in addition to the 75,000 it had when I bought it. Unfortunately, the salt and snow on Wisconsin's roads every winter take their toll.

Each year the car has gotten a little rustier underneath, and each year I've been dreading having to replace it.

Unfortunately, 1993 was the last year that Lincolns were available in the particular shade of blue that I like, and 1997 was the last year for that bodystyle.

Well, perseverance pays off. On the left is my "old" Lincoln, and on the right is my "new" one. Except for a few trim details, they're identical. And the new one came from a state south of here, where they don't get much snow and they don't salt the roads. It also has a lot fewer miles.

If you search hard enough, you can find what you're looking for.

-kevin

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