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My 93 Imp in Blue Diamond Clearcoat is blazing fast, and with the special order final drive of 2.2 in the four speed trannie, with the air and cruise at 65mph, it's good for about 30mpg. Also, in DC, it gets in parking spaces the granddaddy Caddies and yo daddy Lincolns just look longingly at. Whatever, it's also very quiet, very, very comfy Kimberly velvet seats, bladdity, bladdity, on and on and on. Move up. Chrysler.
My 93 Imp in Blue Diamond Clearcoat is blazing fast, and with the special order final drive of 2.2 in the four speed trannie, with the air and cruise at 65mph, it's good for about 30mpg. Also, in DC, it gets in parking spaces the granddaddy Caddies and yo daddy Lincolns just look longingly at. Whatever, it's also very quiet, very, very comfy Kimberly velvet seats, bladdity, bladdity, on and on and on. Move up. Chrysler.
The '93-'96 Fleetwood has to have been one of the best cars ever built. Utterly majestic to behold, intensely practical to own, and amazingly safe....at a reasonable price. Interiors were not much... but still far nicer than what Mercedes was offering at the time. I bought a black one for my Mom, and she looked so important, being driven around in it. We didn't have Maybach money back then: but I doubt a Maybach 62 would have made her look any better. You still see them around, and they still (in good colors) say "IMPORTANT".
The Lincolns were great, too. We loved renting them when we flew out of town.
Chrysler, however, should be extremely proud of what they were able to do with the Imperial. It retained the 'Imperial Mystery', had, by far, the best interior (especially the Velvet version), and was a very nice little Mini-limousine. I loved the formal styling, and almost bought one in '92, when we were shopping for Volvos (but as long as Volvo was really Swedish, we would have been foolish to drive anything else). I think this series is a fantastic example of the luxury and formal design that CAN be done within tightly-controlled parameters of size and expense.
My daughter bought a 1992 lincoln town car a month ago. So far so good. The mileage is not bad, is it comfortable and fun for 6 college co-eds, it is the safest car made in 1992 according ot the internet. Oh and it was really cheap and basically look like new.
I think the '93-'96 Cadillac Fleetwoods were a bit too big for day-to-day usage. If you lived in a house with a rear garage that was accessed by a narrow alley, it would be a real pain to get that car in and out. Probably the most luxurious and definitely the most powerful of the options though.
The Town Cars are also nice. Similar to my Grand Marquis, bit more luxurious and larger. Adequate and reliable engine. Parts still available. By the way, those Turbine wheels shown as option in the picture from last page look splendid on Town Cars. Not available on 92-93s though.
The Imperial is smaller, and based on a FWD platform. I hardly see any on the road, though sales probably were poor even then. I wonder on the parts availability: these were based on the contemporary New Yorkers, right?
I was going to say that the Imperial is just a re-badged Dynasty, then I remembered that I drove a New Yorker of the same era as a loaner years ago and, while a little on the small side for a luxury sedan, it actually was a pretty sweet car.
None of them really move me in any way, though, so I'm passing on the poll. I'd love to have any of the four if I could score a smokin' deal on it.
I was going to say that the Imperial is just a re-badged Dynasty, then I remembered that I drove a New Yorker of the same era as a loaner years ago and, while a little on the small side for a luxury sedan, it actually was a pretty sweet car.
The Imperial was built on an extended wheelbase from the New Yorker, so it should be roomier. Also, I would imagine that it was quite a lot more luxurious than a Dynasty (just like the Town Car/ Ford Crown Victoria and a Caprice/Fleetwood).
Town Car. My grandma has a '94. Bulletproof and supremely comfortable.
I love this poll because I was born on Christmas 1992 and all four of these cars were available new then (probably some Broughams left over on dealer lots).
I currently own a 94 Cadillac Fleetwood, so I can attest to their qualities, and not so good qualities.
I've also owned a 93 Town Car and have driven a 2001 Town Car Cartier L edition which are even worse in quality.
As a fan of both brands, each have unique qualities depending on the decade and exact model year, sometimes Cadillac was better than the Lincoln, while at other times, Lincoln was the better luxury car.
So from my whole heartedly honest opinion, I will say that the 93-96 Cadillac Fleetwoods was the better overall package than the 90-97 Town Cars for a few reasons.
1. From experience, I have had hardly nothing go wrong with my Fleetwood in the 5 years of ownership. Small things like the plastic window rollers have broken, but all the electronics still work to this day! Couldn't say that when I owned my 93 Town Car. That thing was an electronical PITA. No check engine lights, or emission problems, no oil burning, no transmission problems, no suspension failures.
Just preventive maintenance, like brakes, oil changes, lubricating body hinges and pivots has extended the life of the car.
The LT1 and 4L60E trans are a match made in heaven. This combo is perfect, and the Fleetwoods are fast with grunt behind it, while the Town Cars 4.6 sounded like it strained all the time and was gutless vs these Caddies. The Ford AODE is whiner or a hummer whatever you called it, while GM's 4L60E was silent. The 4.6 is a bit smoother though but that's because of it's more modern OHC and better ignition system.
2. From a quality perspective, both don't have great interiors and are not really luxurious to be honest, they actually feel pretty cheap, the older Cadillacs however had a much better interior quality compared to the 93 redesigned ones which are pretty disgraceful for a Cadillac. The seats, especially on the Sig or Cartier series Town Cars are much more plush, and softer feeling than in my Fleetwood Brougham. I love the looks of the tufted leather seats, but they aren't quite as cushy like they are in the Cartier Town Cars. Even the back seats are pretty stiff for a Caddy.
I like that in the Fleetwood, Cadillac wrapped the entire B Pillar in cloth, while in the Town Cars, it's exposed plastic. The Caddie's rear deck panel is thicker and much more dense vs the TC which helps limit road noise intrusion.
Dash board quality goes to the Cadillac, the vinyl is more padded, and durable. The steering wheel is bigger and padded as well, the Town Car looked and felt cheap. Dash instrumentation goes to the TC, it's the best IMO, and I loved all the info it gave. The Fleetwood looked to basic and didn't show a damn thing besides for fuel.
Door panel quality is better on the Fleetwood, it feels less plasticky and cheap than the Town Car, but they still feel cheap. The doors themselves are much heavier and substantial than the TC as well. The Fleetwood in comparison to the Town Car does feel like a much bigger and heavier vehicle, it's seriously like driving a big car straight from the 70's, but with a nice modern touch.
3. In terms of interior space, and dimensions, it's strange because on paper, the Fleetwood wins on every count, but when I owned my 93 TC, it seemed to me that the Town Car had more rear seat leg room than the Fleetwood, and headroom was about the same. The interior width on the other hand, goes to the Fleetwood. It feels much wider inside than the Town Car, but on the inside, it isn't as dramatically bigger than one would assume. Getting behind the wheel, and looking at it from the outside, is where the differences lay. Also in the Town Car, no matter how much you adjust the seating position even to the lowest setting, it always feels like you are riding too high from the floor. In the Caddie, it's the complete opposite, you feel like you are sitting too low, it might be because of how high the dash board is, and the length of it.
4. Riding qualities is subjective, but I will say that the early 90's Town Cars were a bit softer than the Fleetwoods especially because of the rear air springs, you really did feel like you are riding above the ground. But I noticed the Town Car didn't absorb the harsher roads and dampen bigger pot holes as well as the Fleetwood. The Fleetwood Brougham weighing an extra 500lbs maybe part of why it absorbs all that extra energy from transmitting so much to the interior. The wheelbase is longer, so the Caddie feels like you are handling a ship. Overall I preferred the ride of the Caddie even though it isn't as soft, it's still very smooth though and is better when driving over rough patches of pavement. Plus the suspension parts looks and feels much heavier duty. The size of the Control Arms alone put the Town Cars to shame.
5. Exterior styling are also subjective, but what I really noticed and love about the Fleetwood from this era, is even when every automaker was making plastic bumpers, Cadillac decided to keep chrome metal bumpers in tact for these last of the big Cads. Not only do they look so much better than the plastic rubbery bumpers on the Town Cars, they are pretty heavy and if you ever hit something even a wall, the bumper wont get smashed in or all that damged. Beleive me, I've hit a couple of cars and a wall before, not hard, just enough to let you know you hit something, and when I get out to check for damage, all I find is a small scrap, but no dents or a heavily caved in bumper. That's old school American Iron for you.
The Fleetwoods definitely are lookers, they stand out due to their bigger size, sure they aren't as handsome as the 90-92 Broughams, but they are respectable looking and you will get noticed in one compared to a TC. The quality of the trim isn't that great. I had a rear chrome panel literally fly off the car while I was driving. I had to quickly pull over to run out and grab it before it got ran over by other cars. GM used those plastic straps that break over time or get weak, the chrome panels look awesome but also worrisome.
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in other words, I own a 93 imp.
