Redpill me on the Town Car

nice double dubs but that's really the appeal for me

if you can't appreciate boomer trash as a comfy period of automotive history maybe you should get some taste

I've honestly never owned an American car for any significant amount of time, and my weekend car is a 1994 RX-7 so I was looking for a polar opposite
As I said though I'm very much wary of Ford though TC's seem to have earned a reputation for being decent cars

Just buy the fucking Mercedes.

Lol, actually i did have one with 250k. I bought it at an impound auction for 400. All the brake lines were fucked, so I fixed myself. Then I gave it to my brother who drove it for a full year until he drove it into the ground. Not that it was worth saving at that point. It had the 4.6, which he tells me could get to 24 mpg, when driven conservatively.

funny, the one I'm still strongly considering is a 1995 E300 Diesel as pictured in your post

Ill give you what you want OP.

Yeah, the drivetrain is really solid. Ford's 5.0 and 4.6 were both rock solid engines, but don't really deliver fantastic performance. Don't get me wrong, going from a civic to this you definitely might enjoy the sound and the increase in straight line performance. Most town cars have the 4.6, which is in everything from the late 90's and the early 00's. The 4.6 is a good engine, but does suffer from timing chain problems due to plastic guides. If you get a high mileage one - you should probably get it done (It is an interference engine). Second is the plastic intake manifold which is known for cracking, which at some point ford did correct - however this isn't too difficult for even the most novice DIY. Aside from that - the engine is known for being really reliable.

Now for the tranny. Those town cars have a 4r70, which is an absolutely fantastic transmission. There really is no defect in these, and the only downside it doesn't lend itself to aiding in mpg. They put this trans behind everything from the f-150 to panthers.

Personal experience/my opinion

I learned to drive in a 1994 Lincoln town car. It was my mothers, and she drove it from 50k miles to around 210k. My father, who builds transmissions had to do a rebuild on her engine when the timing nuked itself as she neglected that - and we ultimately got rid of it due to all the little crap that breaks as with any high mileage vehicle. My old man just didn't want to work on it anymore, and we do well financially so they went and got a new car. The car handles like a goddamn boat. I drove it for a couple years before I got my own car, and something to realize is it is a really long car, the same length as a SUBURBAN of the same year. It is going to be horrible in bad weather. The car with highway mileage will probably get only 17mpg. The interior is nice for a ford, and I remember there being a giant brick phone that folded out of the passenger arm rest.

>just want to know if I can count on it being bulletproof reliable once all the wear components are taken care of.
Fuck yeah it can, the fact there's TCs still in use as limos with 300k+ miles should tell you that.

> I see some with failed rear suspension, I assume there's a coil conversion available.
There is, so far as I know it's pretty simple, you'll just have to either pull a fuse or put a piece of tape over the air bag warning light on the dash when you're done. The intake manifold thing is where the front coolant crossover cracks and leaks/spews coolant everywhere, because it's an all-plastic intake and Ford decided to mount the alternator bracket right on top of the crossover; later intakes have a metal crossover that mostly fixes the problem. Only issue here is that they use a different port size/shape which was standard on the Panthers one year later than your example, that being 1998, when they got the 'Performance Improved' heads; a newer intake will still bolt on, but won't line up 100% and I think there's various guides online people have written about using alernate gaskets or sealant to make sure shit werks.

>Now for the tranny. Those town cars have a 4r70, which is an absolutely fantastic transmission. There really is no defect in these, and the only downside it doesn't lend itself to aiding in mpg. They put this trans behind everything from the f-150 to panthers.
Don't forget depending on how mechanically adept you are you can also do the J-mod for better performance, longer service life, etc.

much appreciated fellows

If I were going to get a Town Car, I'd get a gen 1.
Fuck aerodynamics, I want a V8 hotel that punishes the air for not getting out of its way.

I live in NYC but I'm 21 so these things aren't that common anymore. The big thing about Lincolns from this era that I know of for sure is the suspension. It's an air bag suspension and so it needs to be towed on a flat bed, which most people didn't bother to do. If its sagging in the back it likely isn't worth buying. The repair for that is pretty expensive if I remember correctly. That's about all I know about them. They are super nice though, and I really like the windows. Pretty sweet barge so go for it if you really like it. When I was a kid almost every cab used these.

Pic related is my panther

They run forever and they're easy to maintain. I wouldn't pay more than $1500 if it's got more than 100k miles or older than 10 years old though. The 1997 would've been on the old aerobody and the suspension more than likely has or will fail.

Really fun cars though, they get best mileage at 55 and driving slow is actually really fun but they can hold higher speeds on the highway for eternity.

AHAHAHAHAHAH ARE YOU A COP

fucking faggot

Aero/whale just differentiates the body style, whales started in 1998 but the actual underpinnings didn't change until 2003 with the outboard shocks and rack and pinion steering.

also lol whacker

They work fine but stop coming to Veeky Forums for car advice unless you are proud to be stupid.

Panther forums exist. Go there. not here. You are welcome.

Those drivetrains routinely turn over 400K miles.

t. mechanic