Beautiful evening + clean Town Car = pics!

Awesome!

I like it alot Any pictures of the interior?

When I was looking for one, I nearly ruled out 1997 because Ford really took alot of fine details and stuff out "to prepare the market for the 1998 model" whatever that was supposed to mean.... Still though, a nice car is a nice car

If you've got any questions about the car, or if something breaks... let me know. I've only had the car a couple months been I've been thru the thing like crazy!

My 1996 Signature:



BTW, thats a really nice house.

Night Wolf,

She's got just 35,000 miles on her now, so nothing's gone wrong yet. I can get 24.5 mpg on the highway back and forth from Newton, Iowa to Downers Grove, Illinois--it's great for a living room on wheels! I am worried a bit about the plastic intake gasket the Lincoln forum guys have talked about.

I like the last year of a bodystyle (I tried to find a '92 Brougham when I bought the '91, but I went ahead with it, and I'm glad I did! The Brougham is a wonderful car.

Here's a few pics of the interior of the Town Car, taken in February '07.

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JRau

Wow, 35k? Thats a brand new car. Personally I am not fond of the red interior, but it sure is in awesome condition!

Anyway about the plastic intake manifold... that is one of the bigger issues on these cars BUT Ford has a recall on it... if it sn't done yet, take it and have it done, if you fixed it out of pocket, they'll pay you back for it.... check into it, its been out there.

Other known issues on these cars... most all of which I've had to deal with already...

drivers door will sag as it gets old
blend door acuater motor fails
heater core goes bad
balljoints/sway bar links go bad
power windows stop working (not the motor... $6 plugs)

Most of them aren't bad to fix, it seems like this stuff starts to go as the car gets to be around 10 years old and has 100-150k miles on it... the normal time things start to break... but if you take it to the dealer on all those repairs, you'll probably pay the value of the car... I did them all myself for next to nothing... example, to fix the blend door motor, the heater core and the hinge, all require removing the dash... it would be aroud $1,500 in parts and labor from the dealer for that... I did it all myself for about $120 and a couple days of my time (I repaired my hinge instead of replace it)

Red_October_7000 said:

That's sweet!
Rick, what where the changes from 1996 to 1997 that you found objectionable? I'm not about let it out before I know for sure but I may have pratical reason to brush up on Lincolns soon...

Click to expand...

All the changes are little details that some woudln't bother with... but I really like.

First up, for whatever reason, the Executive and Signature series in 1997 went back to single exhaust, while the Cartier kept the dual exhaust.... that is a loss in 20hp and 5ft-lbs torque (190hp/270tq vs 210hp/275tq)

On the outside of the car, on my 1996, on the fender it says "TOWN CAR" and on my rear opera windows it has "Signature Series" in fancy script etched into the window. On the 1997 it would say the series of the car (Executive/Signature/Cartier) and not say anything on the rear glass.

My 1996 trunk lock has a moveable cover to hide the lock with a big Lincoln star on it, the 1997 has no cover, exposed keyhole and under it, it says Lincoln.

Inside on the seats, mine has the Lincoln star embrodered on all 4 main seats, on the back rest... 1997 lost that.

1997 also lost the fake wood trim on the steering wheel... which I like alot.

I *think* 1997, or just 1997 Executive lost the steering effort control, not sure though.

I think there were a few more things, but that is about it.... they may or may not bother you, but I know it would nit pick to me, however if I found an otherwise mint car, I woudln't let the fact it is a 1997 alone stop me from it... I am just much more happy I got the 1996.

There were 3 trim levels, basic Executive, mid-level Signautre and top level Cartier.... The only difference is options.

Personally, unless you find a car/color/miles you REALLY like... I would avoid Executive series... pretty basic in comparison... most don't have the digital compass in the dash, no memory seats, no storage arm rests, no steering wheel controls for radio/climate control, no JBL sound system etc....

Signature adds all that.

Cartier is a toss up... it "is" the highest level... but I don't like it... up until 1996 with the Lincoln Star embrordered in the seats, it is repalced with the Cartier double C... same for the trunk lock cover... personally I don't like it. Cartier also says Cartier on the door handle. The only other difference is, Cartier has heated seats and for 1996 or 1997, Cartier has real wood on the dash and door panels while the others have fake wood (looks fine to me)

Also Cartier has very limited amount of color combos...

All I've seen are Ivory Pearl Tri-coat Metallic and the two-tone designer charcoal/cream interior with the 16" spoke wheels.... which is exactly my car... shes a Signature that thinks she is a Cartier.

Basically, it would be cool to know that you have the top level car, but I woudln't go crazy looking for one unless you need heated seats... which are the only difference.

Oh, all 3 levels also had different/better seats... as you step up the seat is a bit more comfortable and a better grade of leather is used, or so I've heard... they have slightly different patterns too.

Keep an eye out for the touring packages too... there were 2 different ones, you can tell by the wheels, the normal wheels are the 15" lace wheels, the Ride Control package adds the 16" spoke wheels (what I have). It adds thicker sway bars, an aux power steering cooler, revised springs and shocks for improved ride, the 16" wheels with (225/60) tires and a 3.27 axle ratio. Standard ratio was 3.08 and if you get a car with the towing package you'll get a 3.55 along with aux trans cooler and more heavy duty cooling system.... I found a 1996 Executive at the junkyard with the factory tow package and snagged the aux trans cooler to put on my car... almost a must for me.