I’ve followed you for years. Imagine my surprise to see my car on your channel today! It has 16,000 miles. If you think it’s big…. Wait until you wax it.
I had a co-worker who had a Continental two-door coupe of this era. As he was stopped behind a box truck at a traffic light, he was rear-ended by a loaded dump truck traveling at too high a speed. The Lincoln's rear bumper was pushed up against the rear wheels. The front was pushed back enough to displace the engine. My friend was able to open the driver's door (after a moment to recover from the 'shock and awe'), and step out of the car unharmed.
I had several family members who worked for Ford. My grandfather was an executive plant manager until he retired in 1976. Ever since I could recall, he always had a new Continental every fall when the new models were introduced. My favorites were when I was a toddler, he drove a Continental every year in the 60’s, id climb into his back seat and sit on the center arm rest. The coach doors fascinated me. I had other relatives who drove Town Cars and Mark V’s. My mother would never let my dad order a new Lincoln. She never could justify spending more for a car than they had spent on their house. When my dad passed away a few years ago, I asked the funeral director for a special favor for my dad. The morning of his funeral, sitting in front of the building was a new Lincoln MKT hearse. I hope my dad was happy.
Why do I like these, now, looking back, what I call the barge era of the 70s. There's a gentleman who frequents a neighborhood casino adjacent to my local supermarket. His is a green color 78, with the vinyl top, in mint condition. It's a pleasure to see it.
I owned a 1977 Lincoln Continental. It was slate gray with gray crushed velour interior. It had a half vinyl top with opera windows and a Cartier Clock in the dash. It was powered by a 400 V8, it had automatic dimming head lights and headlight doors. It also had fender skirts. It was in mint condition and it was my daily driver and I drove it frequently between Phoenix and L.A.. I absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing your car with us.
@@RickBerg-b9k My Excursion weighs almost double what this weighs and has a 137 inch wheelbase. My truck has a 160 inch wheelbase and is 3 feet longer. So, I guess I can drive anything.
In 1979 my father bought a Granada ESS (Euro-Sport Sedan) without the vinyl roof. My friends used to call it the 'Fed Car', because at the time the federal government only bought stripped down cars which meant no vinyl on the roof.
I Loved our Lincoln Town Car's! Believe ours had a 480 motor. NEVER had a PROBLEM! Wish Still had one of them! GREAT speed, Room & Smooth driving.. Wish would go back to some of the Older Model vehicles..
Dear Adam: Another great video. This is the "rare" base model Continental, not with the Town Car or Town Coupe option package. I frankly prefer these simpler, more durable and more comfortable base seats to the "loose cushion" look seats on the Town Car and Town Coupe options. I have a 1979 Town Coupe with the very rare full glass front roof. It is a 265,000 mile care with one re-paint. I am only the 2nd owner. It still runs well and is more dependable than my newer cars. It was slow new, and is slower now, but the 400-M uses no fluids, and still has a freezing R-12 a/c system in it. And the Autolite 2-bbl. carb. is a good as gold, as you have reviewed. I can't say that they were anything less than well-built! For some reason, I dream of building a tricked 300 C.I. straight-six and making that fit in place of the 400-M... But I can't bring myself to spend any money when the original motor still doesn't use a drop of oil between changes. People love seeing it on the road, and on a nice day with windows down and looking up though the glass roof, it's not so far from a convertible. -Bobo KC
Love this: “a lumbering, nearly 5000 pound barge.” Those were the days! Thanks for these great videos, Adam, and please share the story of the 1949 Ford styling with us some day.
I have a neighbor that has a 1976 Lincoln Continental in maroon red with vinyl roof and fender skirts in very good condition. Have always admired these cars and the luxury they represented. Thanks for the video, Adam.
These were amazing cars to work on and the reward being a nice test drive. I had the privilege of driving quite a good number of these Lincoln’s. I really loved these cars
My Dad had a '79 Continental in light gray and burgundy. A thick velour-like upholstery in that deep red was luxurious. A true land-yacht that had that big turnpike ride!...Last of a great era.
Thank you for this! My favorite car..so elegant and regal. I have arrived. Love the grill myself. My '76 Mark IV was so smooth with "pinky finger" steering. Searching for one.
My Uncle bought a new 77 Town Car back in the day with the neat MPH dial and opera windows. I have to say it was so great to drive it and it had a better ride than a Cadillac in my opinion.
Loved it when my boss (Sam Dobkin-owner of Dobby’s Formal Wear-Livonia, MI) threw me the keys to his triple black ‘79 continental to make deliveries downriver or go to the USPS at DTW with a last minute out of town rental package. Felt like I was driving a limo. The ride was supremely smooth and the one finger power steering was crazy-zero road feel- and as a teenager I thought it was an amazingly comfortable tank.
I bought a 1978 Lincoln Town Coupe in 1992. It was a low mile one owner car. It was white with a tan leather interior. And it was a Slicktop. I kept that car for 8 years. It was the 460 and had the aluminum turbine wheels. I ran 275 60 15 tires on all four wheels. No rubbing at all. I added full dual exhaust for a little rumble. I loved that car. It is still on the road today in Conway Arkansas. I think 78 as the last year of the Coupe. I never saw another slicktop two door. Should have kept it !
Isn't this the same one that was in Bring-a-Trailer a few weeks ago? It had about 16k on it, and it sold for $15,250 on 10/11/2024. What a score to see it back out on the road again! Like you, I liked them "naked" without vinyl tops back in the day. I also liked the Lincoln Mark IV and Mark V without the vinyl top, too. SO distinctive.
@@LWVH81 You got a beauty LW! Looks so solid w/o the vinyl. Weren't there some issues with the paint? Looks like you got those corrected. Congrats to you!
@@LWVH81 I hope you don't hesitate to put lots of happy miles on it! Living in Hawai'i as I do...I find road trips are...an exercise in imagination. Take your cruiser out on that superslab while the governments still allow North Americans to go wherever they want, whenever they want. Don't stare wistfully at this lovely beast and dream of the good old days; make THESE your good old days. Aloha and Happy Thanksgiving!
I’ve always liked these. Drove many of them when new and a friend’s parents had one. I prefer the half-vinyl coach roof. The car shown is a base model stripped version. My favorite is the dark blue Collectors Series.
This is one of my most favorite classic luxury cars of all time, and yes I’m a Cadillac guy as well. I’ve owned both classic Cadillacs and Lincoln’s, including 1961 Continental. Out of all cars I have owned and currently own, I have to say the 1977-79 Lincoln Continental is one of the most menacing, yet masculine, presidential styled luxury car ever made. Especially in black. I used to a 1978 Lincoln Continental base trim like the one in the video with those bench seats, and man o man were they super duper cushy and so comfortable to sit in! The ride quality is unmatched in those Lincoln’s. Nothing ever rattled inside, and going over the roughest streets in those cars absorbed NVH better than any luxury car I have ever driven in my entire life. New and old. Unfortunately someone did a hit n run on my 78 and totaled it. So I replaced the car with a 77 Lincoln Continental Town Car package with the beautiful crushed red velour seats, with the much much better dash. And it has the 460 engine vs the 400. The 460 is definitely a smoother running, quieter engine to drive. The overall build quality feels better in the 77 as well. It’s like Lincoln did remove some weight after 1977 because the doors definitely feel heavier on the 77 vs the 78, and the 77 is even quieter inside. But getting back to the silent, smooth and soft cushy ride of these massive Lincoln’s. Nothing compares, even the Cadillacs of the same era didn’t ride as soft and quiet as these full size Lincoln’s do. Plus the exterior fit and finish was really good even for its time. Everything is screwed down properly. The Rolls Royce Grill is chrome metal instead of plastic chrome like on Cadillacs. So the overall build quality is still very good, it’s just the 78-79 interiors specifically the dash was horribly cheaply made. Stick with the 77’s and it’s a match made in heaven. You still had the very nice, thickly padded quality Lincoln dash board with the cool speedometer, fender skirts, the 460 engine and the Rolls Royce Grill. 🤩😎.
I had one of these, 1979 , Town Car, Collectors Series, and it was the best car I ever owned. Very Quite, very roomy for six of us, I would say perfect ride, even compared to a Rolls Royce, and best ride with no exception. Nothing could compare to it . When I first purchased it, my wife committed by saying we're moving but I don't hear a sound, amazing!!!!! I played with a Southern Rock, Beach Band from South Carolina, and it carried us all over the South and surrounding states. I always drove, something I really enjoyed, never tiring experience and ready to play music whenever we were called upon( every weekend) for. fifty + years, and that car never let us down, although we went through many automobiles none compared to the Town-Car!!! I wish they made automobiles equal to the Town Car, but that's wishful thinking I believe. ❤
Absolutely gorgeous without a vinyl top. These were truly the last of the best, full-sized Lincoln, aside from the iconic 1961 Lincolns. Lincolns look best in very dark shades. This one is beautiful. I remember driving these. I have only seen two others of this era without a vinyl top.
My first Lincoln Continental was a 1968 - no vinyl roof either. Later, my grandfather bought a 1979 TownCar Collector Series in midnight blue with fixed glass moonroof and half vinyl roof in midnight blue and matching leather-faced seating. Like this one the 6.6 liter 2V engine. It ran smoothly until the crankshaft broke! By then my father had purchased it. We put a used engine from a 1975 Country Squire in it. Sold it to a friend year later. So much of everything: luxury, smoothness, quiet, thirst, sheet metal, leather, etc.!
We always called these “boat Lincolns”. To me, this is the absolute iconic Lincoln. And even though the RR grille and covered headlights are long gone, my 2019 Continental still has hints, like the slight kick up at the hip and the full width taillights. These and the Mk IV (as I first admired on the “Cannon” tv series) are some of my favorite all time styles of any marque.
I have always enjoyed these last of the large Lincolns and owned a Dark Champagne (brown) Metallic '78 Town Car. My grandparents had a 'Light Jade/Dark Jade '77 Town Car and a '78 Champagne WIlliamsburg Edition Town car that I used to take care of when they were new. Very well made for the day, especially the interior. This particular example looks a bit bare without the optional pinstripes, though I certainly don't mind the lack of a vinyl top. I also really like the base interior with the biscuit-style seat upholstery.
I always have thought that those unpainted air cleaners looked so cheap. I missed the blue painted air cleaners with the engine size decals. Bean counters!
My grandmother had a gold '79 Town Car sedan with gold leather interior (loose-pillow seating) and thickly padded gold landau roof, plus opera lamps. I especially remember the deep-pile carpeting in the thing.
These were absolutely gorgeous cars, especially the last year Collectors Series. No surprise the earlier models were mechanically better than the malaise era ones, but still . . . those looks!
My next door neighbor had a 79 MK5. Beautiful two tone blue that he promised to sell me when he was done with it. When I saw him driving another car I asked him where it was, and he told me he forgot. I really really wanted that Lincoln.
My parents drove these huge Lincoln’s well into the ‘80s. I can’t imagine parking one of these boats today. I prefer the cleaner lines of the early ‘70s model.
The 400 blocks with the cracking problem were units cast at the Michigan casting plant before March 1977 . They could develop cracks in the valley near the lifter bores . Most have been scrapped by now . The only time they develop oil pressure problems is if they are ran low on oil , the large bearings require a healthy flow of oil and if they become starved they will wear out .
I remember talking to a man who bought a 1979 Lincoln Town Car brand new in 1981. Dealers where I live couldn’t give these things away between the recession and one dollar plus per gallon gas. He got a phenomenal deal on it.
I worked for a wholesaler in 1984 doing body work before taking cars to auction. The ‘79 Lincolns were exhausting to sand, paint, sand again by hand. Those sharp corners were prone to “burning” when sanding or buffing. My arms were like Popeye after that year
Bought the '78 LTD Landau with hide away headlights, fender skirts, color matched hub caps... had crank down windows though. Couldn't afford a Lincoln! Love these big cars!
As a point of reference, I paid $12,186 (sticker was just over 14K) for my brand new 1979 Cadillac Coupe de Ville D'Elegance at a Cadillac dealer in Beverly Hills in October, 1979. The 1980 models were just coming out. That $13,454 sticker for the Lincoln wasn't all that outrageous.
This one is pretty base considering it had the standard wheel covers, no vinyl top or even opera lamps (which I would surely think were standard equipment), and the base interior. It has some options but for a Continental it is pretty sparse. I wonder if a funeral parlor ordered it. They often bought these black plain Jane sedans.
@@tyler2610 You could be right about it being a funeral car...or maybe that of a governor or state senator. But to me there's a certain appeal about the natural beauty of "plain Janes"like this..!
That's my all time favorite Lincoln Continental Town car favorite body style. I had a 78 green 2 door coupe i bought from my aunt years ago and i absolutely always loved it and miss it. She got it brand new and then I bought it from her when I got my driver's license in 1992 and it was a beast she just floated down the street. God I'd love another one but it would cost a fortune to fill it lol even at half a tank lol my aunt said never let it get less than half a tank and only put super unleaded. Back then super was a $1.39 at mobile here in Brookline Massachusetts where I live lol
As a owner of one of these I can also add that this car does not have the optional opera windows in the C pillars that virtually all of them had especially with the vinyl roof. They are standard with the Town Car trim pkg but you could delete them if you ordered the car. Slick tops without opera windows actually are more desirable now and not as given to rust. There's the running joke that the designer saw a carton of cigarettes in his office and was so inspired to create this slab sided beauty.
At the time, they seemed very luxurious and for rich people only. So much chrome and the grills, considered very luxurious. The over extended fenders were done on most full and mid size forms and mercurys. That theme (with those grills) carried into the 1980s and finally were dropped with the streamlined designs by 1990. These were so cool even at the time.
This monster, with all the 70’s landau vinyl roof and opera window nonsense deleted, looks absolutely magnificent. The shoulder line step-up at the C-pillar, with the full sized rear backlight and sheer trunk surfacing, is gorgeous. Rather than the cheap and vulgar impression of 70’s baroque stupidity, you see something that looks like a serious automobile to be driven by a serious person. Had this been what Lincoln insisted be delivered from the factory, I think their reputation would have ended the 70’s in a very different place. That’s a fabulous looking car.
I suspect the seat belt warning chimes were an upgrade from a standard buzzer. What's surprising is that there's a distinct trim piece for the inside of the C-pillar from the opera-window cars rather than just a vinyl pad covering the oval cutout, since the take rate for the vinyl top/opera windows on these was so high I'd always thought they were standard.
Love this car! So nice to see one without the awful vinyl top. I don’t mind the body side moulding so much. However, I’m so glad to see that it doesn’t have the hideous scroll-work moulding.
I actually think that the original owner ordered this as a stripped-down Lincoln, which is why it has no vinyl roof. I say that because it also has standard wheel discs, no twin comfort front seats, and no leather. It’s about as basic a Continental as you could get in 1979.
Adam, I almost bought one of these for my "weekend" car in 1996. I had Taurus company cars in those years (didn't everyone?). Talk about a great road car! Even with all those years under its belt, it was still a bit pricey, and added to the gas mileage and upkeep, I decided to take a pass and ended up with a 1985 Olds 98. You were right about the Lincoln looking bowed in the middle, when viewed from the side, but not as badly as the early '60s Pontiac Bonneville.
A friend had a 1978 Town Car, dark brown with a full beige vinyl roof and no opera windows. It was a reliable car that he had bought used with about 50,000 miles and kept for many years. I actually liked the styling of the 1970-74 models better, but the mid to late 1970's models definitely had more luxurious interiors. I think the Town Cars look best with a vinyl roof but of course that is a matter of personal preference. The car in the video has the base interior, not the Town Car interior. It is nice but the Town Car was obviously more luxurious, with the loose cushion look seats.
Thank you Adam. I liked this era of Lincoln. The only thing I did not like were the exterior door handles. Everything else was just right. You can see with the instrumentation panel was shared with Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis. Cost saving efforts. They all did it( GM, Ford , Chrysler)The interesting thing is the styling carried on for 1980-1989 with changes over time and aero aero styling curves added in 1985. The 1990 Lincoln Town Car I was told was designed by an outside British firm. That too carried this styling from 1990-1997 with updates as well. This styling theme dates back to the 1970's and ran that long.
I saw an interesting story recently from 1980 where a wealthy older couple who wintered in Miami Florida were driving home to NY in their black 1979 Continental that looked much like this car vanished on their way home and were never seen again. Their car was recently found submerged in a Georgia pond just outside of a roadside motel they stayed in.
So cool! They were great cars. One of our neighbors had one, but it was a '76, pre-Rolls-type grill. The big Lincoln, that the gangsters drove in the movie Atlantic City, also didn't have a vinyl roof. It was a '78 or '79 and was gray. It is a very stately car. An excellent video, as always.
Spectacular car. Not my favorite but cannot say that I have never seen one. Canon loved driving these as also sometimes did Barnaby Jones on TV. It even appeared in the movie "The Irishman." I can't help but see a bit of fuselage styling on these. One great constant on Ford's part was the square styling of all their cars thru the 1970s. They were all different yet they looked similar, and some models used the hideaway headlights, which gave them a Lincoln flavour of sorts.
This is the second one with slick top that I have seen in my lifetime. My uncle had a 1977 or 78 or 79 with silver paint and black cloth bench seat. When he came over with his new car, I was a young teenager and thought it was a big disappointment at how plain it was when all the other Continentals had half vinyl roofs, opera windows and lamps with pillow seats inside. I believe he had to special order because he did not want or too cheap to pay for any of the extras.
I might jokingly refer to these 70s Continentals as apartment buildings do to their size and boxy styling, but honestly i really love them. For me, id have to have one with the oval opera window!
The main reason why they all had vinyl tops was that 90% of the buyers wanted the Town Car (or Town Coupe’) option which included the vinyl tops, the loose pillow seats and a host of other upgrades. As a teenager, I worked for a Lincoln-Mercury dealership (family friend owned) from 1977 to 1979. The NEVER ordered the base Lincoln for dealer stock. They rarely ordered the 4 doors without the opera windows and the full vinyl roof covering (except for the Williamsburg model) and starting in mid 1976, Lincoln started to de-content these cars. The full width headrests were gone. The “Continental” script on the quarter panel was gone, the wide filigree body side molding above the cornering lamps was gone. The white stripes in the bumper rub strips and bumper guards were gone as well. All these were dropped during the 1976 model year. My parents bought 2 Lincolns in the bicentennial year. My dad bought a 1976 Town Car that was built early in the model year (1975) and my dad bought my mom a 1976 Town Coupe’ in July 1976 that was manufactured in May or June. All of the above items were gone by their 2nd purchase.
When I was in middle school in the mid '80s a local corner-store owner had a baby-blue Town Coupe that he'd park in front of the store in a space too short so it overhung the sidewalk and almost stuck out into the road with the front bumper against the building. I had to walk out into the street to go around it. Not many people locked a 6-7 year old car back then but I never had the guts to try getting in and sliding across the bench seat rather than going around.
Thank you, Adam, for introducing these slick-top Lincoln cars to me 👌🖖🙏 I always liked their build quality and ride, but I believed that anything apart from the 61-63 sedan was kitschy and over-ornate. Without the vinyl roof & egregious portholes, the lines are clean & unadorned, the formality and reserved demeanor deserves the Town Car name. As an analogy, Without the frills, the Town Car is John DeLorean before the Fall, with the frills, it's John D after the cocaine deal fell through 🖖🙏
I’ve followed you for years. Imagine my surprise to see my car on your channel today! It has 16,000 miles. If you think it’s big…. Wait until you wax it.
Haha!! Lots of wax for sure on those. If I were to charge for waxing, this car would qualify for pricing by the square foot😎
Plain Jane 0 option car! Definitely rare
Plan on a 55 gallon drum of Turtle Wax for this car!
My dad had me wax our 76 Coupe every weekend for years.
I had that same reaction the first time I waxed my long wheelbase Benz, after doing my Jetta...
Stunningly beautiful cars. Those Lincolns were everything in the ‘70s.
I had a co-worker who had a Continental two-door coupe of this era. As he was stopped behind a box truck at a traffic light, he was rear-ended by a loaded dump truck traveling at too high a speed. The Lincoln's rear bumper was pushed up against the rear wheels. The front was pushed back enough to displace the engine. My friend was able to open the driver's door (after a moment to recover from the 'shock and awe'), and step out of the car unharmed.
That beautiful Lincoln saved his life.
I had several family members who worked for Ford. My grandfather was an executive plant manager until he retired in 1976. Ever since I could recall, he always had a new Continental every fall when the new models were introduced. My favorites were when I was a toddler, he drove a Continental every year in the 60’s, id climb into his back seat and sit on the center arm rest. The coach doors fascinated me. I had other relatives who drove Town Cars and Mark V’s. My mother would never let my dad order a new Lincoln. She never could justify spending more for a car than they had spent on their house. When my dad passed away a few years ago, I asked the funeral director for a special favor for my dad. The morning of his funeral, sitting in front of the building was a new Lincoln MKT hearse. I hope my dad was happy.
Nothing rode as smoothly, as silently nor as isolated as a Continental Town Car of the ‘70s.
Why do I like these, now, looking back, what I call the barge era of the 70s. There's a gentleman who frequents a neighborhood casino adjacent to my local supermarket. His is a green color 78, with the vinyl top, in mint condition. It's a pleasure to see it.
That green was gorgeous on those cars!
I owned a 1977 Lincoln Continental. It was slate gray with gray crushed velour interior. It had a half vinyl top with opera windows and a Cartier Clock in the dash. It was powered by a 400 V8, it had automatic dimming head lights and headlight doors. It also had fender skirts. It was in mint condition and it was my daily driver and I drove it frequently between Phoenix and L.A.. I absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing your car with us.
I took my driver's test in one of these. It was like driving a football field. GREAT VIDEO!
If you could drive this, you could drive anything
@@RickBerg-b9k It wasn't any harder to drive than any other car. My 1979 Ford Thunderbird had a longer hood than this car.
@@RickBerg-b9k My Excursion weighs almost double what this weighs and has a 137 inch wheelbase. My truck has a 160 inch wheelbase and is 3 feet longer. So, I guess I can drive anything.
I took my driving test in a Mark V and felt the same way, especially parallel parking .
Adam, Happy Thanksgiving! Any sedan from the 1970s without a vinyl roof merits classic status . 😁
In 1979 my father bought a Granada ESS (Euro-Sport Sedan) without the vinyl roof. My friends used to call it the 'Fed Car', because at the time the federal government only bought stripped down cars which meant no vinyl on the roof.
I Loved our Lincoln Town Car's! Believe ours had a 480 motor. NEVER had a PROBLEM! Wish Still had one of them! GREAT speed, Room & Smooth driving.. Wish would go back to some of the Older Model vehicles..
Dear Adam: Another great video. This is the "rare" base model Continental, not with the Town Car or Town Coupe option package. I frankly prefer these simpler, more durable and more comfortable base seats to the "loose cushion" look seats on the Town Car and Town Coupe options. I have a 1979 Town Coupe with the very rare full glass front roof. It is a 265,000 mile care with one re-paint. I am only the 2nd owner. It still runs well and is more dependable than my newer cars. It was slow new, and is slower now, but the 400-M uses no fluids, and still has a freezing R-12 a/c system in it. And the Autolite 2-bbl. carb. is a good as gold, as you have reviewed. I can't say that they were anything less than well-built! For some reason, I dream of building a tricked 300 C.I. straight-six and making that fit in place of the 400-M... But I can't bring myself to spend any money when the original motor still doesn't use a drop of oil between changes. People love seeing it on the road, and on a nice day with windows down and looking up though the glass roof, it's not so far from a convertible. -Bobo KC
Love this: “a lumbering, nearly 5000 pound barge.” Those were the days! Thanks for these great videos, Adam, and please share the story of the 1949 Ford styling with us some day.
I have a neighbor that has a 1976 Lincoln Continental in maroon red with vinyl roof and fender skirts in very good condition. Have always admired these cars and the luxury they represented. Thanks for the video, Adam.
As soon as they showed the interior of the car, all I could smell was the glorious aroma of a car that has been smoked in!
NICE!! This was another one of our offerings from Competition Cars that we just sold on Bring a Trailer! Interesting car for sure!! Great job Adam!!!
Kindly do you have a link question mark thank you
These were amazing cars to work on and the reward being a nice test drive. I had the privilege of driving quite a good number of these Lincoln’s. I really loved these cars
My Dad had a '79 Continental in light gray and burgundy. A thick velour-like upholstery in that deep red was luxurious. A true land-yacht that had that big turnpike ride!...Last of a great era.
You are so right about the body side molding and the door Edge guards
One of the best,smoothest rides you'll ever have in a car
Thank you for this! My favorite car..so elegant and regal. I have arrived. Love the grill myself. My '76 Mark IV was so smooth with "pinky finger" steering. Searching for one.
That's a Mafia staff car if I ever saw one.
Or the car of third world country President for Life.
@@MrSloika That would be the Mercedes-Benz 600 Großer.
I like these and Cadillacs. I remember and rose in them many times.
I still drive my 1979 Lincoln Town Car. It is reliable and very comfortable to drive.
The Class A - major assemblies - hood, doors, fenders, quarters, deck lid and roof were made by Budd Co. and metal thickness did not change.
Beautiful & tasteful stunning last year's Lincoln Continental slick top love it.
My Uncle bought a new 77 Town Car back in the day with the neat MPH dial and opera windows. I have to say it was so great to drive it and it had a better ride than a Cadillac in my opinion.
How does a Lincoln in ‘79, not have a mirror on the right front door?
With that C-Pillar, it must be hell to see to change lanes!
Loved it when my boss (Sam Dobkin-owner of Dobby’s Formal Wear-Livonia, MI) threw me the keys to his triple black ‘79 continental to make deliveries downriver or go to the USPS at DTW with a last minute out of town rental package. Felt like I was driving a limo. The ride was supremely smooth and the one finger power steering was crazy-zero road feel- and as a teenager I thought it was an amazingly comfortable tank.
I remember Dobby's well. I believe it was on Plymouth Road.
@ Yes. Owned by an eclectic family from Southfield. Fun place to work as a high school kid.
I bought a 1978 Lincoln Town Coupe in 1992. It was a low mile one owner car. It was white with a tan leather interior. And it was a Slicktop. I kept that car for 8 years. It was the 460 and had the aluminum turbine wheels. I ran 275 60 15 tires on all four wheels. No rubbing at all. I added full dual exhaust for a little rumble. I loved that car. It is still on the road today in Conway Arkansas. I think 78 as the last year of the Coupe. I never saw another slicktop two door. Should have kept it !
Without that Vinyl I see a lot more of the 60s Continentals. Thanks for sharing and Happy Thanksgiving
Love these biggest Lincoln’s and the Imperials and the fleetwood Caddys!
Isn't this the same one that was in Bring-a-Trailer a few weeks ago? It had about 16k on it, and it sold for $15,250 on 10/11/2024.
What a score to see it back out on the road again!
Like you, I liked them "naked" without vinyl tops back in the day. I also liked the Lincoln Mark IV and Mark V without the vinyl top, too. SO distinctive.
@@jimcabezola3051 Yes. That’s it. I bought it.
@@LWVH81 You got a beauty LW! Looks so solid w/o the vinyl. Weren't there some issues with the paint? Looks like you got those corrected. Congrats to you!
@ The paper by is not perfect but it’s better than the seller described. Still a nice car that floats on the highway. It’s amazing.
@@LWVH81 I hope you don't hesitate to put lots of happy miles on it! Living in Hawai'i as I do...I find road trips are...an exercise in imagination.
Take your cruiser out on that superslab while the governments still allow North Americans to go wherever they want, whenever they want.
Don't stare wistfully at this lovely beast and dream of the good old days; make THESE your good old days.
Aloha and Happy Thanksgiving!
My papa had 4 of them 77, 78, and two 79s I loved driving them.
I agree with your preference for cars without the vinyl roof. I love your videos, thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
I'm a GM guy. But I have to admit, I really like these big boxy barges
I had a 1978 Towne Coupe with the 460 Cu In engine. Great car. Drove like a dream.
I’ve always liked these. Drove many of them when new and a friend’s parents had one. I prefer the half-vinyl coach roof. The car shown is a base model stripped version. My favorite is the dark blue Collectors Series.
This is one of my most favorite classic luxury cars of all time, and yes I’m a Cadillac guy as well.
I’ve owned both classic Cadillacs and Lincoln’s, including 1961 Continental.
Out of all cars I have owned and currently own, I have to say the 1977-79 Lincoln Continental is one of the most menacing, yet masculine, presidential styled luxury car ever made. Especially in black.
I used to a 1978 Lincoln Continental base trim like the one in the video with those bench seats, and man o man were they super duper cushy and so comfortable to sit in! The ride quality is unmatched in those Lincoln’s. Nothing ever rattled inside, and going over the roughest streets in those cars absorbed NVH better than any luxury car I have ever driven in my entire life. New and old.
Unfortunately someone did a hit n run on my 78 and totaled it. So I replaced the car with a 77 Lincoln Continental Town Car package with the beautiful crushed red velour seats, with the much much better dash.
And it has the 460 engine vs the 400. The 460 is definitely a smoother running, quieter engine to drive. The overall build quality feels better in the 77 as well.
It’s like Lincoln did remove some weight after 1977 because the doors definitely feel heavier on the 77 vs the 78, and the 77 is even quieter inside.
But getting back to the silent, smooth and soft cushy ride of these massive Lincoln’s. Nothing compares, even the Cadillacs of the same era didn’t ride as soft and quiet as these full size Lincoln’s do.
Plus the exterior fit and finish was really good even for its time. Everything is screwed down properly. The Rolls Royce Grill is chrome metal instead of plastic chrome like on Cadillacs. So the overall build quality is still very good, it’s just the 78-79 interiors specifically the dash was horribly cheaply made.
Stick with the 77’s and it’s a match made in heaven. You still had the very nice, thickly padded quality Lincoln dash board with the cool speedometer, fender skirts, the 460 engine and the Rolls Royce Grill. 🤩😎.
I had one of these, 1979 , Town Car, Collectors Series, and it was the best car I ever owned. Very Quite, very roomy for six of us, I would say perfect ride, even compared to a Rolls Royce, and best ride with no exception. Nothing could compare to it .
When I first purchased it, my wife committed by saying we're moving but I don't hear a sound, amazing!!!!! I played with a Southern Rock, Beach Band from South Carolina, and it carried us all over the South and surrounding states. I always drove, something I really enjoyed, never tiring experience and ready to play music whenever we were called upon( every weekend) for. fifty + years, and that car never let us down, although we went through many automobiles none compared to the Town-Car!!! I wish they made automobiles equal to the Town Car, but that's wishful thinking I believe. ❤
Absolutely gorgeous without a vinyl top. These were truly the last of the best, full-sized Lincoln, aside from the iconic 1961 Lincolns. Lincolns look best in very dark shades. This one is beautiful. I remember driving these. I have only seen two others of this era without a vinyl top.
I’ll take a collectors edition in dark blue and light tan interior. Nice video!
My first Lincoln Continental was a 1968 - no vinyl roof either.
Later, my grandfather bought a 1979 TownCar Collector Series in midnight blue with fixed glass moonroof and half vinyl roof in midnight blue and matching leather-faced seating. Like this one the 6.6 liter 2V engine. It ran smoothly until the crankshaft broke! By then my father had purchased it.
We put a used engine from a 1975 Country Squire in it.
Sold it to a friend year later.
So much of everything: luxury, smoothness, quiet, thirst, sheet metal, leather, etc.!
I love these old Lincolns.
This is what my Dad drove year after year. Thanks gosh!
We always called these “boat Lincolns”. To me, this is the absolute iconic Lincoln. And even though the RR grille and covered headlights are long gone, my 2019 Continental still has hints, like the slight kick up at the hip and the full width taillights. These and the Mk IV (as I first admired on the “Cannon” tv series) are some of my favorite all time styles of any marque.
Beautiful. It's one of the last cars mostly average Joes could afford that actually had style.
Thanks Adam for always review interesting vehicles!
But they weren’t cheap at all!
@@garysarratt1 This is true. Today, other than the C8, there very few good looking cars that a working guy could buy.
@@JEB757 🙄
My brother had a 1977 with a 460. My cousin had a 1979 with the 400. They loved them. It was the fuel prices that caused them to part ways with them.
I have always enjoyed these last of the large Lincolns and owned a Dark Champagne (brown) Metallic '78 Town Car. My grandparents had a 'Light Jade/Dark Jade '77 Town Car and a '78 Champagne WIlliamsburg Edition Town car that I used to take care of when they were new. Very well made for the day, especially the interior. This particular example looks a bit bare without the optional pinstripes, though I certainly don't mind the lack of a vinyl top. I also really like the base interior with the biscuit-style seat upholstery.
You're spoiling us, Adam - another beauty!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Same to you Llyle! My I pad thinks I spelled your name wrong….
Absolutely a gem of an automobile 💎
I absolutely love these cars without the vinyl top
No unsightly wide oval opera window either.. doubly rare.
@MarinCipollina very true, this is perfect !
Massive heavy cars .to save weight they used an aluminum air cleaner housing to save ounces.
Happy thanksgiving to all
I always have thought that those unpainted air cleaners looked so cheap.
I missed the blue painted air cleaners with the engine size decals.
Bean counters!
I first noticed the aluminum on the 1982 Mustang GT 5.0 with its dual snorkels, so I'm not as inclined to hate it.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you!
It's big, long, and black! Looks like the bad guys car from a 70's TV show.
Happy Thanksgiving Adam! Thanks for the great presentation as always. 😊
I had a black 1976 with ox blood red leather interior 😊
There's a feller that has one, probably like yours, where he converted the rear doors into suicide doors, and it's stunning. You can see it on UA-cam.
My grandmother had a gold '79 Town Car sedan with gold leather interior (loose-pillow seating) and thickly padded gold landau roof, plus opera lamps. I especially remember the deep-pile carpeting in the thing.
Look at the depth & heff of those doors wow you will never get that out of Detroit in this era
These were absolutely gorgeous cars, especially the last year Collectors Series. No surprise the earlier models were mechanically better than the malaise era ones, but still . . . those looks!
My next door neighbor had a 79 MK5. Beautiful two tone blue that he promised to sell me when he was done with it. When I saw him driving another car I asked him where it was, and he told me he forgot. I really really wanted that Lincoln.
My parents drove these huge Lincoln’s well into the ‘80s. I can’t imagine parking one of these boats today. I prefer the cleaner lines of the early ‘70s model.
This big, beautiful ride almost screams old-style MAFIOSO.
The 400 blocks with the cracking problem were units cast at the Michigan casting plant before March 1977 . They could develop cracks in the valley near the lifter bores . Most have been scrapped by now . The only time they develop oil pressure problems is if they are ran low on oil , the large bearings require a healthy flow of oil and if they become starved they will wear out .
I remember talking to a man who bought a 1979 Lincoln Town Car brand new in 1981. Dealers where I live couldn’t give these things away between the recession and one dollar plus per gallon gas. He got a phenomenal deal on it.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family !!!
Honestly, I am really not the pling-pling guy, but I really would adore that particular Lincoln.
Happy Thanksgiving, thanks for the awesome vid to start the day 👍
I worked for a wholesaler in 1984 doing body work before taking cars to auction. The ‘79 Lincolns were exhausting to sand, paint, sand again by hand. Those sharp corners were prone to “burning” when sanding or buffing. My arms were like Popeye after that year
Bought the '78 LTD Landau with hide away headlights, fender skirts, color matched hub caps... had crank down windows though. Couldn't afford a Lincoln! Love these big cars!
As a point of reference, I paid $12,186 (sticker was just over 14K) for my brand new 1979 Cadillac Coupe de Ville D'Elegance at a Cadillac dealer in Beverly Hills in October, 1979. The 1980 models were just coming out. That $13,454 sticker for the Lincoln wasn't all that outrageous.
This one is pretty base considering it had the standard wheel covers, no vinyl top or even opera lamps (which I would surely think were standard equipment), and the base interior. It has some options but for a Continental it is pretty sparse. I wonder if a funeral parlor ordered it. They often bought these black plain Jane sedans.
@@tyler2610 You could be right about it being a funeral car...or maybe that of a governor or state senator. But to me there's a certain appeal about the natural beauty of "plain Janes"like this..!
That's my all time favorite Lincoln Continental Town car favorite body style. I had a 78 green 2 door coupe i bought from my aunt years ago and i absolutely always loved it and miss it. She got it brand new and then I bought it from her when I got my driver's license in 1992 and it was a beast she just floated down the street. God I'd love another one but it would cost a fortune to fill it lol even at half a tank lol my aunt said never let it get less than half a tank and only put super unleaded. Back then super was a $1.39 at mobile here in Brookline Massachusetts where I live lol
As a owner of one of these I can also add that this car does not have the optional opera windows in the C pillars that virtually all of them had especially with the vinyl roof. They are standard with the Town Car trim pkg but you could delete them if you ordered the car. Slick tops without opera windows actually are more desirable now and not as given to rust. There's the running joke that the designer saw a carton of cigarettes in his office and was so inspired to create this slab sided beauty.
At the time, they seemed very luxurious and for rich people only. So much chrome and the grills, considered very luxurious. The over extended fenders were done on most full and mid size forms and mercurys. That theme (with those grills) carried into the 1980s and finally were dropped with the streamlined designs by 1990. These were so cool even at the time.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s and everybody had to have a vinyl top in that era
More '70s and '80s than '60s.. A car looked "incomplete" without one in the '70s.
The roof makes this car. I love the painted roof and no opera lights or oval window... very clean and imposing.
Looks like a tuxedo, very classy with the sharp edges.
My friend’s grandfather had a baby blue 79 with the turbine wheels. Last of the giant land yachts.
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃The slicktop is amazing. Didn't even know that was possible on this car.
This monster, with all the 70’s landau vinyl roof and opera window nonsense deleted, looks absolutely magnificent. The shoulder line step-up at the C-pillar, with the full sized rear backlight and sheer trunk surfacing, is gorgeous. Rather than the cheap and vulgar impression of 70’s baroque stupidity, you see something that looks like a serious automobile to be driven by a serious person. Had this been what Lincoln insisted be delivered from the factory, I think their reputation would have ended the 70’s in a very different place. That’s a fabulous looking car.
I suspect the seat belt warning chimes were an upgrade from a standard buzzer.
What's surprising is that there's a distinct trim piece for the inside of the C-pillar from the opera-window cars rather than just a vinyl pad covering the oval cutout, since the take rate for the vinyl top/opera windows on these was so high I'd always thought they were standard.
Love this car! So nice to see one without the awful vinyl top. I don’t mind the body side moulding so much. However, I’m so glad to see that it doesn’t have the hideous scroll-work moulding.
Those have to be the thickest doors of any car. Beautiful, beautiful,…..class.
I actually think that the original owner ordered this as a stripped-down Lincoln, which is why it has no vinyl roof. I say that because it also has standard wheel discs, no twin comfort front seats, and no leather. It’s about as basic a Continental as you could get in 1979.
Adam, I almost bought one of these for my "weekend" car in 1996. I had Taurus company cars in those years (didn't everyone?). Talk about a great road car! Even with all those years under its belt, it was still a bit pricey, and added to the gas mileage and upkeep, I decided to take a pass and ended up with a 1985 Olds 98. You were right about the Lincoln looking bowed in the middle, when viewed from the side, but not as badly as the early '60s Pontiac Bonneville.
A friend had a 1978 Town Car, dark brown with a full beige vinyl roof and no opera windows. It was a reliable car that he had bought used with about 50,000 miles and kept for many years. I actually liked the styling of the 1970-74 models better, but the mid to late 1970's models definitely had more luxurious interiors. I think the Town Cars look best with a vinyl roof but of course that is a matter of personal preference.
The car in the video has the base interior, not the Town Car interior. It is nice but the Town Car was obviously more luxurious, with the loose cushion look seats.
I absolutely this body style. Love these huge Lincolns! Love them Love them!!!
Thank you Adam. I liked this era of Lincoln. The only thing I did not like were the exterior door handles. Everything else was just right. You can see with the instrumentation panel was shared with Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis. Cost saving efforts. They all did it( GM, Ford , Chrysler)The interesting thing is the styling carried on for 1980-1989 with changes over time and aero aero styling curves added in 1985. The 1990 Lincoln Town Car I was told was designed by an outside British firm. That too carried this styling from 1990-1997 with updates as well. This styling theme dates back to the 1970's and ran that long.
I had a 89 TC and it still had the same sequenced front door windows. Gone in 90.
The mini vent was one of Ford’s best accessories.
I saw an interesting story recently from 1980 where a wealthy older couple who wintered in Miami Florida were driving home to NY in their black 1979 Continental that looked much like this car vanished on their way home and were never seen again. Their car was recently found submerged in a Georgia pond just outside of a roadside motel they stayed in.
So cool! They were great cars. One of our neighbors had one, but it was a '76, pre-Rolls-type grill. The big Lincoln, that the gangsters drove in the movie Atlantic City, also didn't have a vinyl roof. It was a '78 or '79 and was gray. It is a very stately car. An excellent video, as always.
I didn't care for the tombstone grille.
Thank you for the video Adam.
Spectacular car. Not my favorite but cannot say that I have never seen one. Canon loved driving these as also sometimes did Barnaby Jones on TV. It even appeared in the movie "The Irishman." I can't help but see a bit of fuselage styling on these. One great constant on Ford's part was the square styling of all their cars thru the 1970s. They were all different yet they looked similar, and some models used the hideaway headlights, which gave them a Lincoln flavour of sorts.
This is the second one with slick top that I have seen in my lifetime. My uncle had a 1977 or 78 or 79 with silver paint and black cloth bench seat. When he came over with his new car, I was a young teenager and thought it was a big disappointment at how plain it was when all the other Continentals had half vinyl roofs, opera windows and lamps with pillow seats inside. I believe he had to special order because he did not want or too cheap to pay for any of the extras.
I might jokingly refer to these 70s Continentals as apartment buildings do to their size and boxy styling, but honestly i really love them. For me, id have to have one with the oval opera window!
That Continental was ordered with almost everything that was included on the Town Car. It's definitely a strange order and makes one go hmmm!
The main reason why they all had vinyl tops was that 90% of the buyers wanted the Town Car (or Town Coupe’) option which included the vinyl tops, the loose pillow seats and a host of other upgrades. As a teenager, I worked for a Lincoln-Mercury dealership (family friend owned) from 1977 to 1979. The NEVER ordered the base Lincoln for dealer stock. They rarely ordered the 4 doors without the opera windows and the full vinyl roof covering (except for the Williamsburg model) and starting in mid 1976, Lincoln started to de-content these cars. The full width headrests were gone. The “Continental” script on the quarter panel was gone, the wide filigree body side molding above the cornering lamps was gone. The white stripes in the bumper rub strips and bumper guards were gone as well. All these were dropped during the 1976 model year. My parents bought 2 Lincolns in the bicentennial year. My dad bought a 1976 Town Car that was built early in the model year (1975) and my dad bought my mom a 1976 Town Coupe’ in July 1976 that was manufactured in May or June.
All of the above items were gone by their 2nd purchase.
They had about the most skinny rear fender skirts I have ever seen. About the only one I’ve ever saw without the opera windows. Interesting look.
That's the first me on the later 70's continental's. Saw a 72 that had no vinyl roof. Looked bigger without it
When I was in middle school in the mid '80s a local corner-store owner had a baby-blue Town Coupe that he'd park in front of the store in a space too short so it overhung the sidewalk and almost stuck out into the road with the front bumper against the building. I had to walk out into the street to go around it. Not many people locked a 6-7 year old car back then but I never had the guts to try getting in and sliding across the bench seat rather than going around.
Thank you, Adam, for introducing these slick-top Lincoln cars to me 👌🖖🙏 I always liked their build quality and ride, but I believed that anything apart from the 61-63 sedan was kitschy and over-ornate. Without the vinyl roof & egregious portholes, the lines are clean & unadorned, the formality and reserved demeanor deserves the Town Car name.
As an analogy, Without the frills, the Town Car is John DeLorean before the Fall, with the frills, it's John D after the cocaine deal fell through 🖖🙏