1977 Lincoln Continental Coupe- Wierd one-

[Guest fsascaddy]

Ok; so my grandfather back in 1977 bought 2 Lincoln Continental Coupes; A black one, and a gold one. Both were modified to his specifications. I'm not sure how much is urban legend as told by my grandfather, and how much is true. He claimed that the cars were "factory order" cars and that he had to go to 4 different dealerships because no one wanted to order him the cars the way he wanted them. Some specifications (as told by my grandfather);

 

1977 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe Mark Package-

 

the car has all of the stylings of a town Coupe.

No sunroof, full vinyl roof.

Cloth black on black interior.

Power windows and locks.

460 engine.

Air Conditioning but without factory tinted windows.(this was a tall order to fill according to him as the dealer told him he had to have tinted windows if he had air conditioning.) 

Wide (Texas style-as I call it) grille.

optional trunk lid with Continental kit that sits above the full rear tail light section. 

 

Ive looked all over the Internet for last few years and have yet to come across one built like it. 

 

Does anyone know any more about these cars in particular? He referred to it as a Continental town Coupe Mark- and made sure it was never confused with a Mark Continental Coupe. 

 

I haven't attached a picture yet but can if necessary. if anyone can help to straighten out the story for me. 

Car has around 12,000 miles on it. He bought the black one for Sunday to drive to church. I'd say it hasn't driven since 1995 when he passed away. My uncle had a lofty goal of restoring it and sadly I think it might just rot into the ground before that ever happens. 

[keiser31]

Yes, photos would help.

[Guest fsascaddy]

[padgett]

Do remember GM really pushed tinted windshields/windows but that some people with limited night vision insisted on plain glass and the general complied. With AC it was a delete option.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Mr. Caddy, it's nice the family still has the cars after

all those years.  I'll bet your grandfather has some

memories about them, and you should record them somehow.

 

I have a couple of Lincolns:  1975 and 1978.  In fact,

I just had my 1975 out for a 15-mile drive after work.

Lincoln had no "Mark" package on the Town Coupe.

However, it may have been an item supplied in the

after-market, possibly through a dealer.  Some luxury

cars of that era, often Cadillac, had ostentatiously larger 

grilles added onto the front in the after-market, and 

such suppliers may have offered similar things for Lincolns.

The dealer could have put on those items before

your grandfather even took possession of his new cars.

 

I have seen the trunk lid you show, and I believe it's

an after-market item too. 

Edited March 6, 2017 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[8E45E]

The humped trunklid was not a factory option. There were a number of outfits making those fake tire trunklids in the mid-seventies to make an ordinary Continental look 'just like a Mark IV' (or V), and a dealer could have easily had it installed and painted before delivery.  

 

The 'cloth' would have been the crushed velour that was popular in luxury cars at the time, therefore, not unusual.   Deleting the sunroof or moonroof was not unusual, either.

 

No comment on the grille as its not visible in the photos.

 

Craig

[John_S_in_Penna]

Can you show a picture of your grille?

The 1975-76 Lincolns had a wider grille

(see picture of my 1975 Town Coupe below),

whereas the 1977-78 Lincolns had a taller,

narrower "classically" styled grille.  Your 

grandfather's cars may have had something

totally different produced by some outside supplier.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

1 hour ago, fsascaddy said:

I'm not sure how much is urban legend as told by my grandfather,

 

What state was he from? In the early 1960's the Owens Illinois Glass Company built a plant in my town. We had a lot of people move in from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. The "urban legend" they bought with them was something we never experienced before or since, although some lingers on in the next county over.

Bernie

[Guest]

What did your grandfather do for a living, that he could walk into a Lincoln dealership and buy two brand new Continentals at the same time? 

[Guest fsascaddy]

1 hour ago, GregLaR said:

What did your grandfather do for a living, that he could walk into a Lincoln dealership and buy two brand new Continentals at the same time? 

He was a union electrician out of IBEW local 5 in Pittsburgh PA.

[Guest fsascaddy]

As far as a picture of the grille, I'll have to get out to my other garage and take some better pictures of it. 

 

Considering the trunk lid and grille to be aftermarket; I work in GM parts (20+years) and I'm currently in the process of doing a complete body restoration on my 1966 Cadillac Calais 4 door Hardtop. I've noticed as I've been working on the Cadillac, that the body panels were all pretty much stamped as GM. I don't know nearly as much about Lincoln admittedly, but would there be markings on the body panels of this one as well? Another peculiar thing I noticed was that it doesn't have (nor ever had) the "Town Coupe" script lettering on the vinyl top back on the rear pillar? 

[John_S_in_Penna]

48 minutes ago, fsascaddy said:

Another peculiar thing I noticed was that it doesn't have (nor ever had) the "Town Coupe" script lettering on the vinyl top back on the rear pillar? 

 

Mr. Caddy, there's nothing unusual about that script's

not being there: Your grandfather evidently didn't opt for

the higher trim level.

 

In 1977, "Lincoln Continental" was the model, which came

in either a 2-door or 4-door version.  The "Town Car" was

just an optional higher trim level for the 4-door;  and "Town Coupe"

was an optional higher trim level for the 2-door.  So not all

4-doors were Town Cars, nor were all 2-doors Town Coupes.

 

In 1981, "Town Car" became the actual model name,

as in Lincoln Town Car.  Then, their higher trim level

was called "Signature Series."

[John_S_in_Penna]

By the way, your 1966 Cadillac Calais 4-door hardtop

is, today, a scarce and under-appreciated car.

Good to hear someone bringing one back to excellence!

[Guest fsascaddy]

John,

Thank you!

Like I said, I never really got into the FOMOCO and Lincolns, but have had this car sitting around for ages. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

Side Note: the Cadillac is an original Pittsburgh PA car that I bought at estate sale in 2002. 37k on the clock. She's my real baby. I rebuilt the engine back in 2004 with the Help of a Cadillac-Lasalle Club guru who in turn was the original mechanic who worked on it at Huffstetter Cadillac in the 60's. His name was Frank McBurney and passed away shortly after I finished the engine. I hope the body Resto does him as proud as the engine did. 

[JACK M]

It looks like it has been a handy place to put stuff.

Who knows what you might find when you go to clean it out.

[John_S_in_Penna]

On 3/6/2017 at 5:02 PM, fsascaddy said:

Ok; so my grandfather back in 1977 bought 2 Lincoln Continental Coupes; A black one, and a gold one. Both were modified to his specifications....

 

Is the gold-colored Lincoln still around too?

If so, is it in good condition?

 

Your grandfather must really have liked those Lincolns

to have saved at least one these 39 years!  

(And I agree with him!)

Edited March 10, 2017 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Guest fsascaddy]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 1:16 PM, JACK M said:

It looks like it has been a handy place to put stuff.

Who knows what you might find when you go to clean it out.

 

Those are all of the parts that have been taken off of the car as well as various tools and replacement parts that my uncle was using to "attempt" bringing it back to quality.

[Guest fsascaddy]

1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

 

Is the gold-colored Lincoln still around too?

If so, is it in good condition?

 

Your grandfather must really have like those Lincolns

to have saved at least one these 39 years!  

(And I agree with him!)

 

The Gold Lincoln is still around in southwestern Pa. It was sold around the time my grandfather passed away in 1995.  ( side note: my grandmother hated that car, but wouldn't get rid of it while he was still alive because it would have [figuratively] killed him.)

 

I wouldn't say that he "loved" Lincolns, as these two were the first and only ones he had and with deteriorating health in the late 80's- I'd say he probably only got a good 10-12 years occasional use out of it.

 

prior to these cars, he owned Packard's from the mid 50's and I still have a pile of those old tools for working on it.

 

the contention about the car and its sitting dormant for at least 22 years was that when my grandfather passed away, I was 10 years old. I asked my grandmother for the car probably around 1997, to which she obliged. Fast forward to my 16th birthday and my grandmother was looking for the title to transfer over to me and my Uncle interjected that the car was given to him by my grandfather before he passed. (interesting that he never touched or looked at it until after I was slated to receive it, but that's a whole other can of worms.)

 

I guess we will just wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I have more than my hands full in this Cadillac. HA!

[8E45E]

On ‎07‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 8:17 AM, John_S_in_Penna said:

By the way, your 1966 Cadillac Calais 4-door hardtop

is, today, a scarce and under-appreciated car.

Good to hear someone bringing one back to excellence!

I agree!

 

Would like to see some photos of that one!  

 

Craig

[Guest fsascaddy]

51 minutes ago, 8E45E said:

I agree!

 

Would like to see some photos of that one!  

 

Craig

 

Here are a few pictures from when I first got the car and began the rebuilding of the engine. Notice the moderately clean Nylon tooth timing Gear?

 

I ended up having a little bit of rust problems a few years ago and still liked driving it. Didn't really have the time or money for a complete,correct Strip and spray, so it ended up being flat black the last few years before I started stripping the body. I'll share a couple WIP photos next.

[Guest fsascaddy]

Here's a few work in process shots

[8E45E]

Thank for posting those photos.  Now that '66 Cadillac Calais is definitely a car deserving of restoration, and it looks great.   You made an excellent choice there! 

 

Here is a nicely preserved '66 Cadillac at the opposite end of the price spectrum:  http://www.leftcoastclassics.com/1966-cadillac-fleetwood/

 

After seeing your efforts thus far in the photos, I would not even pursue going after that '77 Lincoln, and let your uncle have at it.

 

Craig

[Guest fsascaddy]

47 minutes ago, 8E45E said:

Thank for posting those photos.  Now that '66 Cadillac Calais is definitely a car deserving of restoration, and it looks great.   You made an excellent choice there! 

 

Here is a nicely preserved '66 Cadillac at the opposite end of the price spectrum:  http://www.leftcoastclassics.com/1966-cadillac-fleetwood/

 

After seeing your efforts thus far in the photos, I would not even pursue going after that '77 Lincoln, and let your uncle have at it.

 

Craig

interestingly enough; the punch out's are still in my original keys and the Protecto plate has not be removed from the owners portfolio either.