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Comments
Any comments?
At $30,000 the Town Car is close to a well equiped Crown Vic, but I guess they also have substantial rebates attched to them.
Why is there so much resistance to the car?
Lincoln 158,934 in 2001 Down 17.7%
When will Lincoln recognize the need for a more powerful engine to compete with Cadillac? 300 hp should be the minimum for a luxury car of 4,000 lbs.
Have you seen the Letter from the Town Hall Manager on the Town Hall Welcome page? If not, you might want to follow that link to have a look.
And hang on to your seats. Change is never easy - for any of us - but resolving the Search problems we've had will be worth the pain.
Pat
Sedans Host
This is the big reason for the decline in sales...not the lack of Hp.
Rich
For those who didnt realize...the HP was increased slightly for 2003 over 2002. The Exec and Sig had 220 hp and the Touring editions had 235.
The Cad is has a much larger interior. The front seat feels downright clostrophobic in the TC compared with the Cad. There is significant more room in the back of the Cad.
Cad with it's North Star engine has the smoothest power train of any car.
The TC is showing its age. Maybe that's the reason Ford is rebating the TC $7,000.
Is this a new wrinkle? What about the slight styling differences that the 2002 TSedan had?
Here is my idea: Lincoln should produce an aluminum block version of the 5.4 SOHC V8 used in Ford's truck line for duty in the Town Car. With the proper tuning this engine could easily produce a smooth, silent 280hp and 350lb-ft of torque. Plus, it would fit under the hood of the new model without having to make any modifications. To round out the package, Ford should introduce its new 5 speed automatic (apparently one is under development of the F150 line) in the Town Car along with the new engine.
Give this new powertrain a name with Lincoln history like "Zephyr" and FoMoCo would have a decent package that could go head-to-head with Caddilac in terms of performance and marketing.
Just and idea......
My 2000 Lincoln LS has a 5-speed auto tranny & is the same one that the Ford Explorer has used for the last several model years, too.
The 5 speed auto in the LS and the Explorer is not capable of handling the torque of a 5.4 V8 Triton. I think its rated to something like 310lb-ft.
This time of year I cant get the model years straight....hey I even had 2001, 2002 and 2003 new gran marquis here at the sametime..lol
Go to "concepts" and then 2002 Lincoln Continental
For 03...All the retail T/C come with 239hp, 287 torque and a 3.27 rear. No optional rear from the factory.
For fleet only...the livery package comes with a 3.55 rear.
TC with 3:27; GM/CV's with standard 2:73.
Interesting.
The new TC is starting to grow on me the more I see it. The middle section of the fron seat, when down, almost makes you feel like the car had buckets.
Now that the Conti is dead, too bad they don't offer buckets/console in the TC
have you had an chance to drive the new T/C?....The improvements seem to be exactly what the car needed without running off the core buyers of the car....I personally would have liked a little more design work on the exterior but the ride improvements exceeded my expectations.
Get to know the T/C's real buyers and you would see the floor fhifter suggestions would be a disaster....Also the big percentage of buyers are fleet and they would never take a floor shifter for livery service.
Maybe Lincoln ought to realize that the next generation of TC buyers may have different ideas about cars. Look at the luxury cars offered by the foreign competition- buckets/console/performance. Why is the guy buying those cars any different from the TC non-fleet buyer?
Or is Lincoln happy just being the car of choice for limo drivers?
All the time I have been with Lincoln I have never had anyone even ask for a floor shifter version. except a couple on edmunds...
remember the T/C is primarily built because of fleet not because of retail buyers... This is why fleet/livery dictate so much of the cars build. Almost every change for 2003 was in response to livery and fleet buyers requests.
Really, unless you have a manual transmission and need to have the floor shifter there, I don't see a point to a floor shifter. I've owned both kinds, and prefer to have it on the steering column. Floor shifters and bucket seats just serve to isolate you from pretty female passengers...Um, oops. I didn't say that, you just thought I did. To me, it's like ground effects or a 3 foot tall spoiler. Something designed to make the car "look" fast, but has zero impact on performance. Maybe confuse a few non-car types into thinking you have a manual when you don't. Having the shifter on the column just seems more out of the way than sticking up from the floorboard.
kinley: I don't think the LS fits the niche. There's a lot of buyers out there that don't want a sports sedan but still want to drive something a little bit different from the regular model. Case in point: CV LX Sport/GM LSE/Marauder (cars that are "sportier" than the base models) and the key foreign manufacturers (BMW, Lexus, Jaguar, Infiniti, Acura) offering sports sedans and luxury sedans that can still perform.
rea98d: you're absolutely correct; nobody needs buckets.
But then, who needs cars that can exceed 120 mph and take a 20 mph curve at 50, or SUV's to carry one/two occupants 95% of the time?
If you think about it, most of your time spent with your car is IN the car. An interior that suits your needs reinforces your purchase.
I couldn't even imagine my 94 Thunderbird with bench seats; in fact, it was the new dash that came out in 94 that pushed me over the edge. I still think that the mid 90's TBirds have one of the nicest dashes ever made. Instrument area blends into the console in one fluid design, and the console instruments are slightly canted towards the driver.
Very well done.
Four couples (myself and three brothers-in-law with wives) went to dinner at a fairly high class restaurant.
We all drove separately (02 Explorer, 98 Explorer, 02 Lexus LS, and my 89 TownCar-just washed that day, white/black Signature).
When I gave the keys to the parking attendant, he said I wouldn't need a ticket, just ask for the white Lincoln.
During dinner, I asked if anybody else got a parking receipt. They all did!
Sure enough, when we left, they all had to present receipts, while I just said (like the old commercial), "the white Lincoln TownCar, please".
Amongst all the newer domestic and foreign cars, they all remembered the white Lincoln.
There is a point where driving a clean, older car in excellent shape gets the same, or more, attention than newer models.
(Naturally, I had to needle by brother-in-law with the brand new Lexus for spending over 50K on such a "common" vehicle.)
When we get the mid to late 80's T/C in trade there is always people in line to buy. We took in a 89 with 75K last night and the engine had not even cooled down before it got re-sold.
My 58 TBird probably has the first factory bucket seat/console setup/shift on the column) in a four seat passenger car. (I believe the 58 Bonneville came with buckets, but no console).
Maybe it's a male "marking your space" territorial thing (this side of the console belongs to ME; that side is yours).
I converted my 64 Galaxie 500 convert to a 500XL with buckets/console. I've also owned the following bucket seat cars: 65 vette, 66 Cyclone, 68 Cyclone GT; 85 Turbocoupe; and (present) 94 TBird.
Of course, when you're young, the last thing you want is a car with bucket seats, so many's the time that friends of mine got to use my 65 Vette on Saturday nights while I used their non bucket seat cars.
Floor shifts were "out" on Saturday nights as well (first, second, third, and excuse me.)
Mostly an appearance thing, because, as we all know, buckets/console do not transform a car into a performance car.
Got the 2003 TC catalog yesterday. Car looks better and better each time I see it, and that "silver birch" color is a winner.
Now, if it only had buckets..........
The 2003 Executive has everything and more than what's on our 94 Signature. Are you going to trade your 02 Excursion for the Towncar?