1979 Lincoln Continental Town Car Collector Series on 2040-cars

1979 Lincoln Continental Town Car Collector Series

Time to thin out my fleet this spring so up for auction is my Collector Series.  This was a one owner car that I purchased out of an estate early last fall.  The car was owned by an elderly couple and was purchased new in Erie PA even though the owners lived in FL and NY.  I guess not all dealerships received the collector series so the buyers traveled to get the car they wanted.  The owner purchased this car for his retirement and once retired, he and his wife traveled to FL for the winters and the Lincoln was used to travel back and forth. 

Unfortunately John passed away in 1987 after having a heart attack and was only able to enjoy the Lincoln for eight years.  His wife kept the car in Florida and drove the vehicle for a short time before her kids drove the car back to NY and parked it in storage in 1992.  Stella would not sell the car because it was her husband’s pride and joy so the car sat dormant for 20 years.

In 2010 Stella passed away leaving the car to her family.  Finally in 2013 the family decided to have an estate sale and that is when I was lucky enough to purchase the car from the family.  The car was in a storage building (have photos of car in building but could only display 24 so did not upload them) with many other cars and it did have a cover over it during storage.  Three of the four tires had air in them and the motor was not seized after sitting all those years. 

I had the car flat bedded to my house and I immediately went through the car, drained the gas tank and cleaned all the fuel lines and carburetor.  I oiled up all the cylinders to make sure everything was good and also put new spark plugs in it.  After putting some gas down the carb the motor fired up nice and quiet and ran very smooth.  You can see in the one photo that the ignition wires are still original and have 1979 branded on them!  I had to replace the fuel pump since the diaphragm was dried out on the old one and the car runs very nice and smooth but the car would defiantly benefit from a full tune up and probably a carb rebuild or adjustment.

The body of the car is in nice shape and it does have several spots of rust and scratches that can be seen in the photos, the vinyl top is in great condition.  The car is not perfect by any means and is a nice driver, the body is good and the interior of the car is very nice.  The car runs and drives nice but the tires need to be replaced because they have flat spots from the car sitting for so long (I also do not see any wheel weights so I don’t think they are balanced).  The car was repainted in the past but the family did not know when or why the car was painted. 

When I started to go through the car I began to check all the options on the car to see it they all worked.  I can say that only three options don’t work on the car, the power locks, cruise control and power antenna mast is broken.  All the power windows, dual power seats, 8 track, CB radio, power moon roof (does not leak), air conditioning (yes it blows cold), heat, power trunk release, tilt wheel etc. work properly.

I have driven the car about 300 to 400 miles since I have owned it and besides the tires and tune up I think the car needs the transmission mount or maybe the motor mounts replaced due to the rubber dry rotting.  Like I said the car is not perfect and I encourage anyone who is interested in the car to come look at it prior to bidding.  I have tried to show photos off all the defects the car has but if you would like to see photos of some specific areas of the car please let me know and I will email them to you.  Please understand that this car is 35 years old and is not being represented as a premium show car by any means.  This car is a respectable driver and I have taken it to multiple cruise nights where it gets more lookers than some of the Mustangs and Bow Ties due to it being rather rare.  This car is sold in as is condition.    

****Forgot to mention**** the title to the car for some reason says 1975….the vin# clearly states that it is a 1979 and the vin plate and door tag say 1979 this can easily be fixed when you go to register the car by supplying a photo of the door tag sticker…title displays the proper vin# and is in my name.