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The **** crap that passes for "supposedly luxury" cars today is downright pathetic.
I'll take that 58 Lincoln any day of the week, over that bland, cheap looking MKS.
I actually just saw a silver MKS 2 days ago like the one in the picture above, the car looked very feminine, boring, and lifeless. There was nothing to it as far excitement goes, and you wonder why Lincoln has struggled for years to sale cars. You drive by in a MKS and nobody notices, or cares, but a 58-60 Lincoln is so wildly styled, crazy and cool that you can't help but to notice!
The classics definitely had presence that you no longer get with a new car. Plus if anyone has ever had the chance to drive one, you notice right away by the build quality in the older big cars. Everything from the doors, door handles, hood, knobs and switches even the glass was all had substantial weight to them, a feeling of solidarity like nothing will over break or fall apart.
I can't remember anybody replacing a broken exterior or interior door handle in a pre 80's or 90's car, or a broken window regulator that fell into the doors because in newish cars most of those little rollers, gears, and levers are plastic and break over time, the old ones were all metal and never broke.
So in many ways what the classics did better specifically the big pick up trucks and luxury cars, was they overbuilt and over engineered many components. Like door hinges, door handles, even things like the A/C compressors, control arms and bushings, the actual frame and bodies, radiators and condensers, voltage regulators, starters, etc... Now many of those things probably wouldn't last if you lived on the East Coast or Midwest with salted winter roads, but in states with mild weather, I don't see why the bodies and frames and other parts wouldn't hold up forever. Oh yeah, and the old leaded paint was much better too, that old lacquer and enamel was very durable, shiny, and hardly ever faded, if it did, you just needed to polish it out and wax it and it was good as new.
If that bill is passed, I'll get real serious about my search for a '77 - '79 T-Bird. Have wanted one since they were new.
Have you thought about a 72-76 Torino/Montego/Ranchero or a 74 or 75 Cougar/Elite? The 77-79 cars are essentially the 72-76s with new names. We will have had our 1973 Gran Torino wagon for 40 years next year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
I have written my legislators... not too optimistic.
For many years it was 25 years and newer and then it was 30 years and newer and then frozen at 1976.
It is very hard to take a car with carburetors to someone that had never seen one for inspection...
Going back to a rolling exemptions, even if it was 30 would be workable.
Getting rid of smog tests entirely would be the best plan, but the 30 year rolling exemption would be best if they just had to keep them.
Have you thought about a 72-76 Torino/Montego/Ranchero or a 74 or 75 Cougar/Elite? The 77-79 cars are essentially the 72-76s with new names. We will have had our 1973 Gran Torino wagon for 40 years next year.
Getting rid of smog tests entirely would be the best plan, but the 30 year rolling exemption would be best if they just had to keep them.
California...never again.
And new styling with sharper lines for the hood and fenders. I much prefer that look. IMO, the front styling of that T-Bird series is the pinnacle for personal luxury cars and has never been matched since.
But, yes, I understand that the chassis is that of the '72-'76 Torino and, yes, they were very nice cars. Ford had lots to be proud of in those years.
Growing up my step grandfather got a deal on a 8,000 mile 1975 Lincoln Mark IV Cartier Edition... it was that dark yellow with a padded white top and white leather interior...
As a kid... it was really impressive and super quiet.
I remember washing/detailing it and if I started it cold... I could not shut off the motor before it had warmed up otherwise it would miss and surge and limp along when restarted...
Growing up my step grandfather got a deal on a 8,000 mile 1975 Lincoln Mark IV Cartier Edition... it was that dark yellow with a padded white top and white leather interior...
As a kid... it was really impressive and super quiet.
I remember washing/detailing it and if I started it cold... I could not shut off the motor before it had warmed up otherwise it would miss and surge and limp along when restarted...
There was no question you were driving a Lincoln!
It was painful to watch the great American V-8s, like Lincoln's 460, suffocated and strangled by attempting to meet new emission standards with the low-tech methods of the time.
^^^It really was and this is exactly what happened... had to warm up or else and this was a fairly new car under warranty and serviced by Lincoln which the Dealership also no longer exists.
So many Dealers that I would use to make part runs folded up and vanished... they were older and some dated from the 30's and others the 50's... Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, Volvo, Toyota, etc. plus all the other brands that are no longer in business...
Actually I think Millennials are losing interest in cars in a general sense as many of them have moved back into the cities and taken up the urban lifestyle where cars are even more of a hassle than they usually are.
I know that I'm not a 20something anymore, I'm 31, but since I could remember my favorite car was the 32 Ford three window coupe, and it was always my dream to build one. When I got to the age where getting a car was quickly becoming a real thing I quickly learned how I will never be able to practically obtain a classic car. When I was 15/16 I was at a swap meet and I saw the perfect car, a 32 Ford coupe body, and a hot rod frame, nothing else just a shell and a frame. I asked the guy how much, and he told me $20,000. The prices of these old cars has gotten so ridiculously out of hand, and now everyone is trying to cash in on it, and getting anything at a price that isn't to painful still means shelling out $10k+ just to get it looking and running ok.
I bought my first car with money I had earned at age 12... it was a Model A Ford and still have it...
Always been fascinated by cars and machines and this explains why I have 50 today with at least one from every decade starting with 1905.
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