(Unoffical) The Lincoln Town Car is Dead

[YSSMAN]

Yes, kids, it is a very sad day for Detroit indeed...

The closure of Ford's Wixom, Mich., plant may finally mark an end to the automaker's aging Lincoln Town Car. Ford intends to idle the plant in the first quarter of 2007, and company officials have told the Canadian Auto Workers union that it won't move production of the car to Ontario as some had anticipated. CAW President Buzz Hargrove told Automotive News that Ford officials have told the union there are no plans to move production to the St. Thomas facility, which also builds the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis. Automotive analyst said Erich Merkle says the Town Car will almost certainly be discontinued. "I'm going to put the fork in it because there's no other place they can go with it," he said.

Well, thats too bad I guess. But when was the last time the Town Car was actually comparable to a 5-series? It had to have been more than a decade ago...

But fear not, the MKS could be on the way!

 

[JCE]

Good riddance, that car was always ugly and killing other drivers with it's half dead already 3ft in the dirt driver that was 70+ yearsold. Now maybe we younger folks under 50 won't die a horrible death when these behemoths driven by some old blue hair person that can't react to anything hit and therefore kill us. I for one will be glad this thing isn't being made anymore.

 

[Jim Prower]

About freakin' time. The Cops are gonna miss their Police Interceptors...but I'm sure they'll like their Chargers and Zetas.

 

[TwinTurboJay]

*deleted*

 

[ND4SPD]

Damn...Sad to see the Crown Vics go...Although, that means the prices of CV's are gonna drop!! I got this thing with P71 crown vics, don't ask.

 

[TwinTurboJay]

I spent alot of time driving my grandfathers 1998 grand marquis. I loved it. Fit my drum kit, stereo equipment, 2 guitars, and a bass + 4 people squished in the front seats.....


good times.

 

[Onikaze]

lol, irony about Towncars being called dangerous behemoths being driven by dangerous drivers, when the roads in America are glutted by SUV's.

Back to the topic.

Boo!

MKS is a FWD Turned AWD Volvo platform!

HISS!

BOO!

Gimme a Ford Falcon.

 

[Tornado]

lol, irony about Towncars being called dangerous behemoths being driven by dangerous drivers, when the roads in America are glutted by SUV's.

In addition, Town Cars and the like are some of the safest cars you can buy. All that crumple room in all sides. Besides, saying it is unsafe because old people drive them is like saying minivans are unsafe because women drive them.

 

[a6m5]

To me, Town Car pretty much made the modern Lincoln brand. Town Car hasn't been comparable to the 5-Series? I know you are not talking about the BMW's 5-Series, that makes no sense. Town Car served two types of clients IMO: 1)Older folks who liked the relaxed, good old luxury cruiser. 2)People who are important(VIP, etc.) who rides in the back.

Town Car was not Lexus, BMW or Mercedes. It was a unique American fullsize luxury sedan/limousine, and without it in the lineup, Lincoln name suddenly becomes very dull. Ford should just start up a new luxury brand altogether that has a hipper brand image than Lincoln.

 

[Onikaze]

Or saying SUV's are unsafe because Cell Phone addicted Soccer Moms drive them at 50 Mph with two tires in two seperate lanes.

Oh, wait, SUV's are unsafe.

 

[JCE]

Oh **** I didn't read the part about the Crown Vic, too bad about it being killed off. I actually like the car--in P71 trim. I dislike the Town Car--because old people NEVER get hurt when they plow into someone and critically injure or kill them.

 

[IMADreamer]

Well I guess someone has to stick up for the town car so I will. It was a decent car. Back in my younger days I took my Grandmother to many a doctor appointments in one and honestly it rode nice, had plenty of power, and was very comfortable. It's not a bad car, for old people. I hate to see it go because it's been such a staple on the road for a good while now but oh well. I guess it was time.

 

[YSSMAN]

...No, hold on a second...

The Crown Victoria is not dead, yet... The reason why the Town Car is unoffically dead is because they were no longer going to build it at Wixom, and production was not going to move to St. Tomas either. The Crown Vic still pulls in too much money for Ford to kill it completely, same with the Grand Marquis, thus they will stay in production for now.

However, chances are that when Ford's "Top Secret" RWD platform debuts next year, the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis will live on with the new platform.

 

[Onikaze]

So what have you heard about the 'Top Secret' RWD platform?

Anything new? Man I hope they don't miss out on this chance to rebadge the Vic as a Falcon.

 

[McLaren]

Hmm...no more limos like these for celebritys then.

The only thing I got to say is that I hope they build the MKS. Looks very bad***.

 

[YSSMAN]

So what have you heard about the 'Top Secret' RWD platform?

Anything new? Man I hope they don't miss out on this chance to rebadge the Vic as a Falcon.

No new news yet. VIPERGTSR01 talks often about the Falcon platform being funded by the Aussie government, and the only American talk about RWD from Ford is that it is "probably going to happen."

In Car and Driver's trip to Melbourne to test the different Ford AU cars, the Ford NA exec they talked to at the end of the article made it seem like the AU Falcon and the next-gen American car would be completely different, maybe the only shared pieces being engines and transmissions.

 

[STLbarcelona5]

Well if it is dead. Thank God. Going to the NY Auto Show last April, and in the middle of the floor there was a Mercury Grand Marquis. I was honestly shocked, not because it exists, but because at a place where manufacturers show off their latest and greatest, here is this ten year old excuse for transportation.

Now lets just try to get the . . . elderly demographic to drive more practical cars. Like say . . . a Honda Fit.

 

[JCE]

Now lets just try to get the . . . elderly demographic to drive more practical cars. Like say . . . a Honda Fit.

Exactly...in England at least older people drive Honda Jazz's and other hatches. Not all, but a good portion of them. An older person here in the US won't drive anything smaller than a 60' Yacht.

 

[Jay]

VIPERGTSR01 talks often about the Falcon platform being funded by the Aussie government

Yeah that the case Ford AU put to the government (Victoria) to win extra funding, that they are making a all new RWD Falcon platform in Melbourne (Victoria) and to make sure they keep it in Victoria they would like help.

 

[ND4SPD]

Oh **** I didn't read the part about the Crown Vic, too bad about it being killed off. I actually like the car--in P71 trim. I dislike the Town Car--because old people NEVER get hurt when they plow into someone and critically injure or kill them.

Yep, us P71 fans need to hold strong at this dark time in our lives.

 

[JCE]

Yep, us P71 fans need to hold strong at this dark time in our lives.

Maybe we should get one before they die. I wouldn't be opposed to buying one then dropping either the 5.4L V8 or 6.8L V10.

 

[Onikaze]

Regular Interceptors are pretty fun.

Though, I do have a preference for the old 1990 and earlier models with the 302's and optional 429, but a Terminator powered 2000 Cop Car would make me a happy camper.

 

[JCE]

Regular Interceptors are pretty fun.[/i]

I agree, I almost perfected powersliding my P71 when I had it. Good god that was one of the most fun cars to own. I "enjoyed" mine so much I averaged 7-8mpg. 👍

 

[Onikaze]

I drove a Cab Converted 2000 P71.

It was fun, but I got better mileage, since, ya know, I had to pay for it and make a living.

 

[YSSMAN]

Too bad the old B-Body Caprice 9C1 is still the better cop car...

 

[Onikaze]

If you could get one with a 350 maybe.

To bad most departments with Chevy's bought the much cheaper 305 powered Caprice and called it a Cop Car.

The new Charger R/T is the new "it" Cop Car, I'm hoping the new Impala and Falcon can put up a fight.

 

[a6m5]

Too bad the old B-Body Caprice 9C1 is still the better cop car...

I don't know if that's the last Caprice they made, but it sure was dissapointing when GM killed that car. I still think that was one of the reasons for the "fall" of GM. Caprice were so much more popular than Crown Vics, but GM decided it wasn't worth replacing it. Have seen GM do that, Ford can kill Crown Vics and it wouldn't faze me at all.

 

[JCE]

Too bad the old B-Body Caprice 9C1 is still the better cop car...

Performance yes...looks not in your lifetime. 👍

 

[a6m5]

I thought Caprices(from 80's to 90's) were one of the best looking fullsize sedans. I started liking the Crown Vic's looks, only after Caprice were discontinued.
Here we go again:

 

[YSSMAN]

The current Crown Vic P71 is allright compared to the origional that replaced the Chevrolet 9C1s, but the 9C1 is still the king not only in performance, but in looks as well. Granted, the majority had the rather silly "Norelco" front-end, but I belive in '95 and '96 some of the 9C1s came with the Impala's front end.