Cool old Town Car video
#1
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Cool old Town Car video
Thought I’d share this from Autohaus Bill, just a stunning 1986 Town Car. My mother in law had one of these that was absolutely her pride and joy…this is likely one of the best surviving examples in existence.
#2
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I used to absolutely loathe these back in the 90ies when they were all over. It's easy to nostalgize over them today, but they were very unsophisticated, poorly built, did not hold up well, and the ride would make me seasick. The Lexus LS400 from the same era is like a spaceship in comparison. It is nice however to see a pristine example.
#3
Lexus Fanatic
Nice video....reminds me of the huge 1965 Buick Electra 225 I had in college that I loved (which was even larger than that somewhat downsized Town Car), although it was old, worn, and not in anywhere near the condition of that mint-Town Car....these are the closest pictures I could find to it graphically.
Three things in the video, though, turned me off. One, that guy's voice. Two, I'm not a fan of digital gauges...never have been. Three, too many identical buttons on the dash...that was also a problem over at GM with big Buicks and Oldmobiles in the 80s and 1990s.....but not back when my old Buick was built.
Three things in the video, though, turned me off. One, that guy's voice. Two, I'm not a fan of digital gauges...never have been. Three, too many identical buttons on the dash...that was also a problem over at GM with big Buicks and Oldmobiles in the 80s and 1990s.....but not back when my old Buick was built.
Last edited by mmarshall; 08-13-21 at 08:25 PM.
#4
Lexus Fanatic
IMHO, one of the worst things Ford did with the Town Car was the 1998 redesign, which traded its former boxiness for a new Jaguaresque look to the roof and trunk/rear-end. That might work on a Jag, but TC buyers were of a different mold...they liked the boxy, traditional look. As I recall, even at limo-firms, there was a fair amount of resistance to the new-generation look, and the squared-off 1997 and earlier models kept a lot of their value because resistance to the new ones enhanced demand for them as used cars. Eventually the market adjusted to the new look, but it took some time.
Last edited by mmarshall; 08-13-21 at 08:51 PM.
#5
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My wife tells stories of how carsick she used to get in the back seat of that thing...
#6
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#7
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#8
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Several things are at play here. First, maybe its just a coincidence, but I remember back in the 90ies pretty much every American car had a distinct smell of gas inside the cabin. I don't know if its from poorly sealed gas tanks or just exhaust fumes with incompletely burned gas, but these fumes alone can make one sick. Another thing is the suspension frequency. I read a very technical article years back, explaining how the human vestibular system is adopted to natural range of motion frequencies, such as walking, running, etc. American manufacturers back then did not concern themselves with such level of sophistication, and just designed their suspensions to be as soft and floaty as possible, resulting in frequencies out of this range, and thus many people were getting sea sick riding in the back of these cars.
#9
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Several things are at play here. First, maybe its just a coincidence, but I remember back in the 90ies pretty much every American car had a distinct smell of gas inside the cabin. I don't know if its from poorly sealed gas tanks or just exhaust fumes with incompletely burned gas, but these fumes alone can make one sick. Another thing is the suspension frequency. I read a very technical article years back, explaining how the human vestibular system is adopted to natural range of motion frequencies, such as walking, running, etc. American manufacturers back then did not concern themselves with such level of sophistication, and just designed their suspensions to be as soft and floaty as possible, resulting in frequencies out of this range, and thus many people were getting sea sick riding in the back of these cars.
I also remember that gassy smell you're talking about. More the 80s from my memory than the 90s though.
#10
Lexus Fanatic
Several things are at play here. First, maybe its just a coincidence, but I remember back in the 90ies pretty much every American car had a distinct smell of gas inside the cabin. I don't know if its from poorly sealed gas tanks or just exhaust fumes with incompletely burned gas, but these fumes alone can make one sick. Another thing is the suspension frequency. I read a very technical article years back, explaining how the human vestibular system is adopted to natural range of motion frequencies, such as walking, running, etc. .
Yes, I had a tendency to get queasy in certain conditions of aircraft G-forces and bumping/turbulence. It was one of my few weaknesses as a pilot (or passenger)...though I usually got it worse as a passenger.
American manufacturers back then did not concern themselves with such level of sophistication, and just designed their suspensions to be as soft and floaty as possible, resulting in frequencies out of this range, and thus many people were getting sea sick riding in the back of these cars
#11
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And firming up the suspension damping can also IMPROVE the ride. When the damping is too soft the car floats around all over the place and bumps are followed by up down side to side motions as rebound that are very uncomfortable.
Great example is a 90s LS400 and a 90s Town Car. The LS400 rides much better yet is also much more firmly sprung. What these cars lacked was sophistication in the suspension
#12
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#13
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#14
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#15
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It doesn't. Of course you can make a car too firm, but that doesn't mean that adding firmness necessarily hurts a cars ride. Its all about suspension tunung, on cars like these old Town Cars...there was no tuning...