42,000 Original Miles: 1989 Lincoln Town Car Cartier Edition
When we hear “Lincoln Town Car,” I’ll bet most of us immediately picture some sort of late-model fleet vehicle – taxi, limousine, or government-issued. Generally speaking, nothing special, but with plenty of miles and eventually sold off. However, every once in a while an example will pop up for sale that is gently used and in excellent condition, and it really stands out! That’s the case with this 1989 Lincoln Town Car Cartier, with only 42,000 miles. It’s for sale here on eBay, located in Darby, Pennsylvania. The bid at time of writing is $8,300. Thank you Barn Finder Russel for the tip!
With a run spanning 3 generations over 3 decades, the Town Car was one of the top offerings from Ford. After being a trim level on the Continental in the 1960s and 1970s, it became a model in its own right for the 1981 model year. This 1989 example was made during the last year of the first generation, and has held up extremely well. The two-tone silver paint was standard for the Cartier trim, as was the vinyl roof with accent window. Both the paint and the vinyl roof are just about flawless. I spotted what looks like a very small ding on the driver front fender, and it appears that the filler panels flanking the trunk may have faded at a slightly faster rate than the rest of the paint, and the trunk trim panel pinstripes are mostly gone. But, those are such minor details that the quality of the rest of the car more than makes up for it. This Town Car also has plenty of bright trim – large chrome bumpers, the wheels, and the panels on the bottom of the doors and fenders all look to be perfect.
The interior is in amazing shape as well. The rear seats look to have never been used – the seats and the carpets look spotless. The front seats are great too, and have very minor cracking. There’s some minor staining on the floor mat, but that’s about it. The door panels look fantastic, and even the weather stripping around the doors look brand-new. There are quite a few switches and buttons throughout for all the power accessories, and the dealer says they all work. It also has working A/C that blows cold, which is good since it’s likely still running on R12. This Town Car would have had the option for a digital gauge package, but it comes with the standard analog.
There are no photos of the engine, but there are several shots underneath the car. It’s equipped with a 5.0 liter V8 and paired to a 4-speed automatic. When equipped with dual exhaust, it would have put out 160hp. This Town Car has 2 exhaust outlets but they run together after leaving the engine bay. It’s not a “true-dual” car, so it should just have 150 hp. Can anyone more familiar with Lincolns verify that? Either way, the selling point of this car was not performance, it was comfort, luxury, and prestige. Running around $33,000 in 1989 dollars, this car would cost over $70,000 now. The seller claims it runs, drives, and feels like a new car, and I’m inclined to believe them. Who wants to add this Lincoln to their collection?
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Comments
Great cars, get respectable gas mileage too. If I were in Arizona already, I would want something like this for a daily driver.
As a kid we had an 88 loaded Grand Marquis. Not a Lincoln of course, but it sure felt like one. This car is just that much nicer. Looks nice in silver too.
My Mom and Dad bought a 88 Town car shortly after he started working for GM. (the Cadillacs of the day were not so attractive) Ours was the regular model, not the Signature or Cartier like this one. Ours had dual exhaust was a dream to drive on special occasions instead of my 92 Geo Tracker. It was like driving our living room down the road. I miss that feeling. They sent it for Cash for Clunkers with just 85,000 miles. Trade in was $1000, Private party was $3000, and the government was dumb enough to give them $4500 for it. Ours did not age well in the garage; all the plastic twisted and self mutilated and the vinyl top developed tiny splits despite being always treated with Nu-vinyl protectant. This car brought back some nice memories. I hope someone buys this and drives and enjoys the heck out of it!
I remember my old boss when I was a mailman drove one of these- same color too. Anytime I was delivering mail and I saw this silver Lincoln parked behind my truck I knew I had an overtime piece to do lol. So I guess I kind of have mixed feelings about this car.
I had an 84 back in the early 90s and it was a great and easy car to drive. Real two finger driving in a car that was not nearly as boat like on the road as you might think. Got rid of it when the transmission started slipping
Had an 85 signature series I bought when I left the army with the single reverse light. I put some 17 inch Daytons with vogue tires on it with some music comfortable leather and a giant sunroof, sold it to a friend when the tranny started to go. I think from doing 1 legged burnouts haha, he put switches on it and still has it now.
Do yourself a favor and buy one of the later (’92-up) 4.6 cars…they are night and day when it comes to reliability and longevity, especially the ’06 and newer models (stay away from the first few years just because). These 302’s were okay when new but can (and will) be a problematic, oil-spewing, transmission-eating, underpowered slug after a few miles.
i bought an 81 town car off a chairity lot. it didn’t take long to find why it ended up there. i found a shop familar with my issues and it turned out the main computer was shot nobody would touch an 81 (1st year) it ended being hauled off after a neighbor got tired of looking at it. all that said i would like the same car a couple of years newer. it would be a great road car.
This is truly a low mileage car, as the driver’s door arm rest isn’t split. Had an ’89 Town Car Executive. Wonderful car.