1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car: Ahoy Polloi!

My friend Jayson Coombes attended the Lincoln & Continental Owners Club’s Eastern meet in Knoxville, Tennessee, in June (I’m a Lake Shore Region member). Initially I had thought about going myself, but it appeared to be about a 10-hour drive, so I demurred. It was a twofer for Jayson though, as his folks live nearby, so he got to see some beautiful cars and visit with his parents for a few days.

As Jayson explained, the show was not gigantic, but there were some absolutely high-quality cars at the event. In addition to today’s spectacular example of Broughamage, there was a Lincoln Versailles with a fantastic aqua velour interior, a burgundy 1968 Continental sedan, a 1949 Cosmopolitan, and several showroom-condition 1977–79 Mark Vs. But this 1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car was one of the first I zeroed in on.

What spectacular colors! I know I’m a broken record on this subject, but man, what colors used to be available. Glancing at my copy of the 1977 Continental brochure, the hues included Ice Blue Moondust, Yellow Gold Diamond Fire, Dark Jade Metallic (one of my favorites), Cinnamon Gold Moondust, Midnight Blue, Dove Gray, and Cream.

But you won’t find our featured car’s color in that ’77 showroom brochure, because it was custom ordered when new. The color itself, easily visible from across a parking lot, is Rosé Diamond Fire, which was available on the Mark IV in 1976. Apparently the original owner of this magnificent vessel wanted that color even though it was no longer on the chart and was willing to pay extra.

One indicator of a special order color is the silver-painted filler panels. That was done on all cars with custom paint, likely in order to streamline assembly on the production line. It’s just beautiful, and the optional turbine spoke alloy wheels, a new option for 1977, only enhance its good looks. This is luxury car with a capital L.

Ah, yes, the age of the land yacht. I missed the golden years, but I remember all the Fleetwoods, Continentals, Ninety-Eight Regencys, and LTD Crown Victorias from the 1980s and ’90s. And, of course, there were still myriad ’70s survivors at the time, ranging in condition to pristine and driven by little old ladies with hats, to one step away from the demolition derby at the Scott County Fair.

Speaking of demolition derby, back around 1990, my cousin Suzy’s boyfriend bought old clunkers and ran them in the fair. I remember one time he stopped by my aunt and uncle’s house in a bombed-out blue 1975–78 Mercury Marquis sedan. It was the same type as the one in the John Candy classic, Uncle Buck—and in about the same condition—except the movie car was a coupe, not a sedan. “Wanna go for a ride?” Heck, yes!

So we went on a quick and speedy five-minute ride, and when we got back I noticed it had one headlamp door remaining, with the emblem on it. “Can I have the emblem?” I asked. “Sure!” he answered and proceeded to break off the headlamp door, unscrew the emblem from it, and hand it to me. That car went out in a blaze of glory almost 35 years ago, but I still have that emblem in a drawer somewhere.

Pardon my digression, but the headlamp doors on this Continental took me back! Funny how that happens sometimes. But back to Lincolns. The 1977 models received a moderate facelift. The biggest change was the front end, where the previous year’s low, wide grille was replaced with a tall, narrow one.

It was very similar, though not identical, to the one on the Continental Mark V, and I’m sure the resemblance was intentional. As had been the case, Continentals came as either a two-door coupe or four-door sedan.

The four door started at $9636 (about $48,923 today); the coupe, $9474 ($48,100). A total of 68,160 four-doors and 27,440 coupes were produced for the model year, including both standard trim Continentals and those with the Town Car or Town Coupé packages.

Town Cars and Town Coupés added “floating pillow” seating, a full vinyl roof (the landau-style coach roofs, whether on coupe or sedan, were an optional extra), leather upholstery, carpeted luggage compartment with matching spare tire cover, six-way power seat, AM/FM radio with four speakers, power antenna, and Automatic Temperature Control.

As one would expect, a V-8 was standard, along with Select-Shift automatic transmission. Other standard features included power vent windows, cornering lamps, a Cartier-signed digital clock, white sidewall Michelin tires, tinted glass, power windows, power brakes, power steering, automatic parking brake release and fender skirts. The 208-horsepower 460-cubic-inch V-8 came on all cars except those destined to go to California, where a 179-hp, 400-cu-in V-8 was installed instead.

“A standard by which luxury cars are judged … introducing the 1977 Lincoln Continental.” So began the 1977 brochure. It was pretty clear they were referencing the newly-downsized 1977 Cadillacs. “You’ve got your standards … and everything you do has to meet them. You won’t compromise. For 1977, the Lincoln Continental hasn’t compromised either.”

That was definitely true in the Continental’s sheer size and room. These cars had a 127.2-inch wheelbase, 233-inch overall length, and had a curb weight of 4880 pounds for the sedan and 4836 pounds on the coupe.

Of course, as it turned out, Lincoln was whistling past the graveyard. Starting in 1978, the 460 was optional and the 400 was standard. In 1979, the 460 disappeared, never to return. And in 1980, the Continentals joined the Marquis and LTD and appeared on the newly shrunken “Panther” chassis. But it was fun while it lasted.

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