Town Car to die next year?

a wire item today......that the Town Car (made in the Wixom, MI plant) was thought to be moving to the Ontario Crown Vic/Grand Marquis plant to save bucks.......but FoMoCo sez they have cancelled plans. "insiders" say this may mean the end of Town Car - or all 3 rear-drivers.

pretty sad - all Lincoln has is the Town Car (basic design goes back to '79) the Zephyr (a Mazda redesigned to be a Ford relabeled as a Lincoln) and a couple trucks with Lincoln grills. This from the company that used to make fun of Cad-Buick-Olds for being "cookie cutter cars".

Reply to
Itsfrom Click
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I am surprised the Town Car lasted as long as it has. It is truly an aging dinosaur in today's automotive world. If it weren't for sales of the Crown Vic to police departments it probably would have been dumped

10-15 years ago.

It does seem like Ford is setting Lincoln up for a fall. Their model line is a shadow of its former self. It is too bad because they have had some great cars in the past. Ford could use the name plate much better than they have recently.

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

Actually some time ago it was a wise decision for Ford to keep the Crown Vic (Town car, Marquis) platform. GM made the sad mistake to discontinue the large rwd platform that the Impala once shared and Ford benefited from being the only one left. Not only did the Police enjoy a larger capacity vehicle but taxi's, livery's, and older consumers appreciated them as well.

I am very upset with Ford not being a leader and following the European nameplates in marketing vehicles with no names but rather acronyms or numbers for Lincoln. IMO I'd love to see a newer Continnental with suicide doors and a retractable vert option. A Lincoln variation of the Mustang (Mark series) that looks totally plush with a large grill, sleek styling, and again a vert option. How about a Town Car with a 32v 5.4 called the Manhattan Special, all monochromatic. The LS to directly compete with a BMW. Ford needs to lead as it has with the Taurus. Now is the time to be BOLD and a leader, not a follower.

Reply to
Nicholas Anthony

I see more and more Impalas as police cruisers in my area. They now have V-8s and I imagine they are faster and handle better since they are lighter and have a newer chassis. Ford has done little to improve the Crown Vic/Town Car chassis over the last 10-15 years. IMO, they need to improve it substantially or kill it. If they loose a substantial portion of the cruiser market to the Impala there is little justification for the car.

Lincoln and Mercury has some great history to draw upon for new models. They had a great car in the Marauder but stuck an engine in it that sorely lacked torque. If they has put the '03-'04 Cobra engine in it it would have sold like mad. Instead they stuck a high revving engine in it. A two ton sled needs torque in spades across the rpm range. Also, they should had made a manual tranny an option.

There is a great opportunity, IMO, to bring the Cougar back using the Mustang chassis and making it a luxury pony car. It could compete with the higher end German and European models. Ford could turn SVT loose on some models, add the options and badge them as Lincolns and Mercurys. There is a big market for luxury models and it is a highly profitable niche to be exploit.

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

"Michael Johnson, PE" wrote in news:046dnarAnPbJNj_ZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

DC is now poised to take over the cop car market with the Charger. Some police departments have already dumped CVs for Chargers, and they love 'em. The CV and Impala just don't stand up. Here in Broward County, the Sheriff's office just got 4 new Chargers:

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Georgia State Patrol is also looking to trade in their CVs:
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Ford should've done to Lincoln what GM did to Cadillac. They used to go head to head, but Cadillac now has a great lineup with only the DTS having FWD. The rest of the lineup is either RWD or AWD.

Performance-wise, Cadillac has the CTS-V (a 4-door Corvette), STS-V (469 hp), and the XLR-V (443 hp). Lincoln's got absolutely nothing in this arena.

The only thing worth noting that Ford's done with Lincoln is set them up with their SUV/truck line. They're touting the Navigator over anything else, which tells me that they've lost focus with their cars. Just look at the lineup. Their premier "new" vehicle is the '07 MKX, which is the replacement for the Aviator. Not nary a word about new cars.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

Reply to
Joe

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:49:05 -0400, "Michael Johnson, PE" puked:

How about a new Mark series?

-- lab~rat >:-) Do you want polite or do you want sincere?

Reply to
lab~rat >:-)

The Charger would make a good cruiser. Especially, with a 400+ hp hemi.

Ford is missing a big opportunity to compete head to head with Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Acura etc. They really have no true luxury cars. Time for a few "Bold Moves" if you ask me. ;)

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

I always liked the old Mark series cars. That would be a good start or a Cougar variant of the Mustang.

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

"Michael Johnson, PE" wrote in news:teadnQugwIr9dD7ZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Apparently, some cops are concerned with top speed for chases. The Charger wins hands down.

Indeed. At this point, I almost feel sorry for Taylor Hicks. Katharine McPhee is the real winner because she doesn't have to do those hokey commercials...

Reply to
Joe

Well, I think that is a bunch of hooey. Don't they brag that you might outrun their cruiser but you can't outrun their radios? They like bolting off the line and doing burnouts just like the rest of us and that is why they want the Charger. ;)

That is another thing Ford needs to work out, their advertising. The only good commercials they have are for the Mustang. The rest of them sound like they are marketing to a bunch of tree hugging, self esteem lacking cry babies.

I saw one yesterday where they were bragging about how Ford and Volvo are working on new technology that will make their brakes safer and therefore will save your life one day. Trouble is they couldn't say these new fantastic brakes are on a car YOU COULD BUY TODAY!!! It is technology they plan to put in FUTURE models! It made me think that the cars they are selling today don't have brakes that are all that good. Bill Ford did the commercial and all I wanted to do was grab him and pimp slap some sense into him. If they want to impress me then get the super fantastic brake ON THE CAR and show a commercial where the driver flies through the windshield because the car stopped too quick. Now that would get me to the showroom for test drive.

Reply to
Michael Johnson, PE

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