Comments: 1-15, 16
Sending unit in fuel tank no longer works, causing the gage to read 1/4 of a tank all the time.
Rear driver side door power lock doesn't work.
The town car is the most comfortable car that I have ever owned. It rides like it is floating on air. With the huge leather seats I can drive for hours and never get uncomfortable. I routinely drive back and forth from college, a five hour drive, and feel rested and refreshed when I get there.
The car is extremely reliable. Even with the 460, just a touch of the key starts it up every time, even in the -20 degree Iowa winters. When I first got the car, I replaced the starter and solenoid, about $40 and 30 min. of work, and have never had a problem.
The gas mileage is really not that bad. I took off all the emissions equipment and I get up to 18 mpg on the highway, if I can keep the speeds down. City driving is a little bit less at around 12 mpg, but compared to my 170 hp Catalina with a 2bbl 400 that only got 8-9 mpg, the town car is great.
The car is by no means a sports car, but with the big 460 it can really get you to where you need to go. Without the emissions equipment and a higher flowing exhaust, my town car has a much higher horse power rating then the advertised 220, and it really shows. With a 2.75 axle ratio acceleration is still fairly slow from a stop until about 40 mph, but it has a heck of a passing gear from about 70-90, and can really get up and move over the long distance. Despite the lack of acceleration, I still gave it an 8 on performance because any car that can go as fast as this one should get a good performance mark.
Driving a car this big, people always ask why I don't get rid of it and get something with better gas mileage. It might only get low to mid teens on average for gas mileage, but for car that cost me only what it took to get it running, and a new set of tires, I couldn't afford not to drive it, and even now if anything ever went wrong on it, almost everything on it I can replace for less than $100 and a trip to the scrap yard.
The only thing I don't like about it is that this particular one does not have a moon roof. I had a '76 that had a moon roof, but it only had the 400 engine. Also I wish the fuel gage worked, but it costs to much to fix it. It is not a problem now, but the first time I drove it, before I knew exactly how far I could drive on a tank, it ran out of gas.
The drive train is nearly bullet proof. The 460 C6 combination is about as heavy duty as any ever made. I can't imagine anyone having any problems with less than 100k miles. Mine has 115k and I hope to get at least 175k before having to rebuild it.
For the big American luxury cars, the 1970's was the peak of their popularity. At nearly 20 feet long, over 5000lbs, and some even sporting 500 cubic inch engines, these cars ruled the roadways. I have owned a '72 Cadillac, '76 Catalina, two '76 Cadillacs, a '76 Lincoln and my '78 town car. Of all those great luxury cars, my '78 Lincoln town car is by far the best. It has the best ride, is the roomiest and most comfortable, and has been the most powerful and reliable of those cars. I would recommend any one of those cars to anybody looking for a nice car for only a couple hundred bucks, but if you want the best, go with the town car.
Town Cars are ultra gangster. Cadillac Fleetwoods are too slow. My '78 Lincoln Town Car and '76 Buick Electra Limited are the sweetest rides. Take good care of it.
Ghetto cruisers all!
These cars are wonderful. I bought one and I'm hooked. What emisssions stuff did you take off? I wanna know how to do the same. Take care of it it will go forever.
Plug and disconnect the EGR, get a new carb, catalytic converter needs to go away, all of the vacuum hoses that run to the air cleaner should be gotten rid of a plugged accordingly. midgee007@hotmail.com.
I had the same model you have. All the Lincoln goodies,460-4barrel, plus a am/fm quadphonic 8-track player.
A great hi-way ride.
Its was the biggest car I ever owned.
Its was the safest.
A metro=bus ran a light and broad sided the right side knocking the car into a parked car across the street.
The police report said the bus was going about 30 mph. The car crushed the front lights out on the bus and totaled the honda civic my car hit.
I was a little dazed, but got out drivers side window. I think if I was driving other than that 78 lincoln town car that day it would had been worst. If see one locally for sale (1977 thru 79) again I might get it.
They are cheap, easy to fix and parts still available at any auto parts store. Billy.
Does any one have a bumper for sale for a 78 got in to a accident cant find one if so drop me a line at Cruize8@yahoo.com thanks Brent.
I don't have a bumper for sale for such a nice cruiser (have a '77 Lincoln Continental Town Car 460 4BBL myself and have had one before), but it may be helpful to know which bumper you need, front or back.
Cruise on y'all.
P.s.: 1977 through 1979 bumpers will fit perfect and are exactly alike for the front bumpers, if it's the rear bumper you can search as far back as the 1974 model.
Good luck finding one, it's out there, Marvin.
Anyone know why the Cartier clock seems to stop working on these Lincoln boats? How do you get these things to work again? Tug.
Take it out and re lubricate it. You can find places that professionaly rebuild the clocks and put a new quartz movement into them, its expensive though.
I recently purchased a '78 Lincoln town car from a little old lady for dirt cheap. She has only driven it to the grocery store once per week since her husbands death 9 years ago. She was the original owner of the car and it has been garage kept for the duration of its life except the past 10 years. it has 92,000 miles on it and only has one dent in the passenger side rear door. The driver side window doesn't work. The gas mileage is just too much for me, so I must sell it. I was wondering, how much is it worth? Please drop me a line at jimbobjoebob@hotmail.com thanks.
Transportation special. $600.
Does anyone know where I can find information or a schematic on the Headlight vacuum system? I can't get my headlights to go down when they are not being used.
If the car has an owner's manual, the info should be in there. If not, try to locate a shop manual.
Hi, I have to agree first and foremost with the comfort and reliability of these old cruisers. I have a 1977 Town Car "Harold" and I am extremely happy with it.
He has a few minor problems, though.
The temperature gauge does not seem to work at all.
The automatic headlights turn on and off throughout regular daily driving They always turn on at night automatically, and I cannot turn them off.
There is a leak in the vacuum lines somewhere and the headlight covers open after the car is shut off.
The car does not start right away after sitting overnight. If I pump the gas pedal about 7-9 times it will start right up, but otherwise it takes a lot of cranking.
Are these common problems? Has anyone else had these problems and if so, did you fix them? How did you go about it?
-Eric C, a lover of Lincolns.