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Lincoln Town Car - Worst Car ever invented?


Nelson_R32
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As you can probably guess; I am now back from New York and I wasn't quite prepared for just how loyal American people are to there cars. A good 80% of the cars in NYC were all American made and another good 80% of those were a car which is known as the Lincoln Town car.

This car has to be the most foul looking, poorly made barge I have ever laid my eyes on...

Town%20car.jpg

First off, it doesn't look much different from the Ford Crown Victoria's which the Taxi and Police Force use and even those look ****e. This car looks and has an interior like something that was designed in the early 90's and it's as big as something that was desgined in the 1970's. This car is BIG, unecessarly big, look at the interior space you get from it's length...

LTC.jpg

...yes, theres allot. But theres allot more in a Range Rover which is around 2 feet shorter, and I wouldn't mind betting that it has better fuel economy that this 'Town Car' [sic]

It also couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding;

A powerful engine. The Lincoln V-8 features 239 hp and 287 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine provides smooth acceleration, and thanks to a dual exhaust system, you’ll feel the power, but not hear it.

Surely that should read "You'll hear the power, but not feel it"?

Now, I know a good 60% of these in New York are subtle Taxi's/Hire Cars but allot were clearly Private Cars. Which really irritated me and pondered the question; if America wasn't so patriotic, would it still even have a Car Industry to churn out stuff like this?

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Its not much worse then Crown Victoria from Ford which is exactly the same car more or less? Infact all of those Mercury cars are just Explorers, 500's etc. all rebadged with slightly higher luxery spec.

There comfortable to ride in and power is deployed smooth and softely. I never felt i was left wanting when i drove my partners mothers Grand Marquis (Crown Vic/Town Car) rebadged as Mercury. The features are dated and there no head up displays etc.They dont sell very many to the general public unless they are over 60. Its the last breath of traditional Americana, enjoy them while you can.

Geoff

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Not nice are they.

And to think there were rumours of Lincoln coming over here.

I think in NYC, the roads are so poor, that you need a soft, wallow barge to traverse the roads in some degree of comfort without spilling your coffee :roflmao:

Makes those old Cadillacs look modern! At least they had some style.

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I actually quite like them!

Would never buy one over here, but would certainly be tempted if I was in the States for any length of time.

The one to look out for is the Mercury Marauder. Sam body as the Crown Victoria/Town Car, but has the supercharged engine and uprated suspension (i.e. not a couple of planks of balsa wood) out of the Ford Police Interceptor used by the police and FBI.

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:grin: surely it takes some kind of skill to create a 4.6 V8 that has a specific output of less than 48bhp/litre? :jump:

Wasn't it Clarkson in the Alabama episode of TG that said something along the lines of: "How can they get so little horsepower out of such a big engine?" :roflmao:

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Surely every car is built for a particular purpose, mood or occasion? Admittedly some are very much better than others but most cars tend to have their own little place in the motoring spectrum.

Bizarrely, I've had some really enjoyable experiences in some really random and often poor cars over the years - none of which I'd ever own:

- Lime green Lupo 1.4L (strangely amusing if you don't dip below 6k rpm and have the drivers window open half an inch - sounds a bit like a race car)

- Ford Ka Courtesy Car (so small and chuckable)

- Vectra Hire Car (No idea why but I seemed to enjoy driving it like a taxi)

- Smart (Most fun I've had in London commuter traffic)

None of these are good cars (except the Ka I'd say) but they all hit a particular note for me - driven in the environment or manner they were designed for, they can make sense.

As for the Lincoln Town car, when in New York there was nothing else I wanted to be ferried to/from the Airport in (rather like the speedboat taxi in Venice). Doesn't make it a good car - in fact, as has been said, it was laughably bad in every way - but I loved the experience nonetheless.

Its why we love cars - they don't often make sense - but there's normally something to like.

Its an american institution; a bit like squeez-e cheese :P

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