1990 Lincoln Continental - What is a Luxury Car?

You know it's late winter in Cleveland Town when the "car show" rolls into the old tank factory near the airport known as the "I-X Center". That's "eye-ex" and not "nine" by the way; it's for "International Exposition Center". The belle of the ball this year, for me at least, is Ford's all new, Lincoln Continental. Read what I wrote about it here about a year ago. Now designated a 2017 model, the new Continental is Ford's latest attempt to revive a brand that was never all that alive in the first place. Rather than rehash this car, whose styling I believe derivative and is ridiculously over priced, let's step back in time nearly thirty years and look at another over priced attempt by Ford to revive Lincoln. 



Like I mentioned in my blog about the new Continental, you'd swear that "Lincoln Continental" was the most awesome nameplate in American automobile history. Well, if that was the case, why did Lincoln stop using it after the 2002 model year? It was because "Continental", which for a time in the '30's and '40's and even in the '60's, was arguably the most alluring luxury automobile in America, had eroded down into just another old American luxury car marquee like DeVille, Town Car and New Yorker. What was worse, it was a marquee that had become more associated with the blue hair set than the "monied" set.

New for 1988, the "D186" platform based Continental, this is a 1990 model, shared much with the Ford Taurus and replaced the Fox bodied, "hunchback" Continental sedan that was introduced in 1982. It was amazing that a nameplate that at one time was the stuff of dreams had been reduced to sharing running gear with a plebian family car. A good family car but a plebian one none the less. At least the Continental and Taurus shared no sheet metal or interior bits and pieces. 

Bowing to public demand for the conventional, Lincoln sold these front wheel drive Continentals  along side rear wheel drive Town Cars. Cadillac did the same.  

While much of the blame for the "graying" of the Continental lays at the tires of that Fox bodied Continental this replaced, and honestly, the debasing of Continental goes back to 1970 when Lincoln discontinued suicide doors, this car was nothing remarkable at a time when bold and innovative design was sorely needed at Lincoln; Lincoln played it safe. If anything and incredibly, this car made the entire Lincoln division of Ford even older. The '88 Continental's styling was handsome if not ordinary, but ultimately, forgettable. My millennial sons are enamored of suicide doored Lincolns; can't say they'd think much of this car.  

Which brings us to the age old question, "what IS a luxury car"? Up until around 1960 or so, a luxury car offered amenities that you could not get on lesser cars. As those lesser cars became available with the accouterments once exclusive to luxury cars and luxury car makers offered nothing more than a stretched wheel bases and perhaps better interiors, lines blurred. Lines blurred and Lincoln, and let's be honest - Cadillac was as guilty as Lincoln, sold their cars on reputation more than anything else. Cars like this are luxury cars only inasmuch as the advertising brochure and salesperson told prospective customers that they were.

Hard to say what's going to happen to Lincoln. Many believe the brand doomed and honestly, I don't see the new Continental being that savior. Then again, what do I know? I happened to believe that the 2013-2016 MKZ was a brilliant looking automobile above and beyond that it's a Lincoln. My wife likes that car so much she'd like me to find one for us and she hates the Lincoln brand. One thing I do know for certain, as nice as the 1988 Lincoln Continental was, it didn't do nearly as much good as it should have and if anything continued the downward slide of an automobile marquee that is currently at the brink of extinction. As it seems it always has been. 



1985 Buick LeSabre Coupe - Historical Marker

I don't think that I will ever admit to my memory fading; more like the years of memories overlap old ones to create new ones. How else to explain my reservations about running out to Carlisle, Pennsylvannia to gobble up this, save for the cracked filler panel behind the front bumper, 1985 "Collector's Edition" Buick LeSabre in mint condition? Shoot, it's a super hard to find coupe too. What's happened to me? What have I become? 

Well, for starters, I don't need it so there's that. In the last year or so I've bought three cars, four if you count the 2017 Camaro my son bought, two of which I bought impulsively. And, no kidding, it's a hell of lot easier to buy cars than it is to get ride of them. Well, to get rid of them without losing your shirt. So, the thought of another oldie that I might want to get rid of sooner than later doesn't sit well with me. Especially one with a very, very narrow appeal. Upside, with an asking price of $3,495, with I have to imagine room to wiggle, it's not a bank breaker. Heartbreaker maybe but money wise you could do a lot worse. 

Alright, so, what is this thing and what makes it special? Well, it's a member of the downsized GM "B and C" body class of 1977, it's one of the last two door "B" or "C's" GM ever built and 1985 was the last year Buick built a rear wheel drive LeSabre. I know, I know. That sort of distinction not exactly the sort of thing that rows everyone's boat but let's assume because you're here you have an interest in these things. Personally, I've always liked these cars because as a kid growing up the 1970's, the 1971 vintage GM full size cars were terrifyingly big to me. These smaller big cars were sized just right. And, they have a cool factor that can't be explained. You either get it or you don't. 

However, I'm harder on these cars than most fans of them. In some cases a thousand pounds lighter and more than a foot shorter than the boats they replaced, they were a remarkable styling and engineering exercise for GM that resulted in "smaller" cars that had more usable interior room, had larger trunks and were actually still quite substantial. Where I believe they fall down on themselves was that really didn't advance the state-of-the-art of automotive engineering at the time seeing that they had so much in common with everything GM had pushed out for the previous seventy years or so. Body on frame, front engine, rear drive, etc. 

Where they really come up short was under the hood. We take more than adequate power for granted these days but back in the day, especially as the '70's morphed into the '80's, big cars like this were stuffed with little engines with little power than meant absurdly bad power to weight ratios. For instance, if you take today's garden variety crossover, let's say a basic Ford Escape that weighs 3,300 pounds and has a 1.5 liter, 181 horsepower four cylinder engine, it has a power to weight ratio of one horsepower for every eighteen pounds of vehicle weight. This 1985 Buick LeSabre with a 140 horsepower, eight cylinder engine has a power to weight of one horsepower for every twenty-seven pounds. By comparison, today's Ford Escape is almost as powerful as a 1985 Corvette. I can just see myself pushing the gas pedal through the floor boards on this as I merge on I-80. Ah, what fun that isn't. For the record, this car has a Chevrolet V-8 which was not available on these cars so, something tells me there's been an engine swap over the last thirty-five years. 

Speaking of engine swaps, for certain, none of what ails this car couldn't be cured with one and the  prospect of a screaming sleeper is very alluring. Well, to me at least. Another one of those things, like liking these cars in the first place, whose appeal can't be explained. By the way, there are annoying reminders of this car's place in history stamped all over it. To me, that sort of ruins the fun. "Look at me, I'm special." I'd much prefer a bit older model in similar shape that isn't festooned with these sorts of things. 

Most likely, this car will be sold to someone who's just looking for cheap transporation and I guess that's fine. The details of its place in history being passed over like so many historical markers in this country that very few people stop to read and contemplate why the marker is there in the first place. Let's just say that my little blog here about this old Buick is the historical marker that it, and cars just like it, diserve. 

Shopping For a Cheap Used Car Under $9,000 - Beggars Can't Be Choosers

On a fairly regular basis I enjoy shopping for cheap used cars on cars.com. It's the way I've found all of my current cars and have shopped for cars for more than ten years now. Cars.com is a great tool and it's amazing what you can find out there if you're flexible and not too choosey. This morning I set the dollar amount at $9,000 and 50 miles from my zip code, I vary the $$$ amount and mileage a bit every time I do this, and I came up with these three beauties.

First up is this 2002 Ford Taurus wagon with only 21,000 miles on it and with an asking price of just $3,900. What a value this car is. We had a 2002 Taurus that never gave us any trouble until the heat stopped working. Why I ditched that car for that reason is beyond me and I wish I had it back. These vintage of Ford Taurus weren't the sexiest of automobiles but they were rock solid. And who doesn't love the practicality of a station wagon? This is a good looking car too. 

If you can stomach the age of the car and a less than perfect interior, our 2002 Taurus' leather interior wore just like this interior here, this is a really terrific car. It has the less powerful of the two engines Ford offered that year so it won't have much zip but it will be quite frugal at the pump. I just hope it's not a smoker. Not much you can do about cigarette stink in any car. 

Next up is this fetching 2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue. The Intrigue replaced the Cutlass in the late, great Oldsmobile lineup and shared a lot underneath with other "W-body" cars from GM like the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, Buick Regal and Pontiac Grand Prix. I'm a huge fan of W-body cars from GM. Big difference with this car is it has the Oldsmobile exclusive, 3.5 liter DOHC, 24 valve V-6. This engine is based on the 4.6 liter Northstar V-8 and is not to be confused with other 3.5 liter engines from General Motors. That fact makes me a little nervous since the vast majority of GM W-bodies of this vintage had the more commonplace 3.1 or 3.8 liter V-6 engines. No doubt the engine in this car would be expensive to repair since it's so rare. Consider yourself warned. 

That said, this car is still a terrific value albeit, like the Taurus, quite old. Only 35,000 miles on it, though and the asking price is a very decent $4,995. No leather and no sunroof but it looks to be clean as a whistle. You'll love how that DOHC V-6 runs too. I'd call on this car.

Our last gem for today is another 2002 car, this time a nicely equipped Toyota Camry SE with 45,000 miles on it and a relatively steep asking price of $8,500. It also has 4 cylinder engine compared to the V-6 engines in the Taurus and Intrigue but that's not an issue seeing this is a Toyota - their 4's rivaled domestic V-6's back then for power and smoothness. They also beat them at the pump too. Score. 

The SE package comes with this lovely leather trimmed interior and a sunroof. This is a swell car that while more than twice the price of the Taurus, is arguably ten times the car. It's got more in common with the somewhat tonier Oldsmobile but again, it's a better car. The SE package also comes with, most importantly, a firmer suspension setup than what was standard. Firmer but certainly not harsh. This is a family car after all. A dash of sport to any car is never a bad thing and the fact this car is so stealthy makes it very appealing to me.

This car certainly won't get your blood pressure just looking at but if you're looking for a inexpensive car that will be rock solid reliable, here's your ride. And remember, when shopping for a good, cheap used car, us beggars can't be choosers. 

Good luck in your search! 

Little Red Corvette - More Electrical Problems

 

I've had this car going on four years. In those four years I've put less than two thousand miles on it. That lack of miles in four years is not for a lack of wanting to drive the car as much as the car being not being able to be driven for much of that time. 

 

I write this a couple of days after a most vexing with weekend with the '77. No sooner had I decided on not continuing work on the trailing arms that another problem reared it's ugly head. Actually, reared it's ugly head again; the car has no power.

 

 

The electrical systems on these cars is atrocious. With so much exposed and nothing fastened down properly, it's a wonder anything works. This is the starter and fusible links.  

 

The same thing happened to me last year when I was working on the passenger door power window. I had to dismantle a good part of the interior to get at the switch in the console for that window that wouldn't work and when I put it all back together all I got from turning the ignition forward was a loud "ca-chunk" followed by nothing. No more ca-chunk, no lights on the dash, no radio - nothing. No jumping of the battery could revive the beast and the battery, fusible links and alternator all tested out fine. I even brought relays from the fuse box, thinking they were what Autozone said where "the master fuse" in for testing. All good and that was not good.

 

 

Through it all, when it is running, it's a fun car to have even if the driving experience is far from what it looks like it would be. It's a very primitive car with many suspension component designs dating back to 1963. 

 

I put everything back together and wouldn't you know it? Car started right up and was fine for most of last summer. My thought was that obviously something was loose that I tightened up when I put the car back together. Maybe, but who knows. All I know is that now I have a dead Corvette in my garage. Again.

 

 

If you're thinking of getting an old car, be confident in your mechanical abilities or have a good, cheap mechanic on hand.

 

My plan this weekend is to put the car back together and hope for the best. If it doesn't start I will first look at the negative battery cable and how it grounds to the underside of the car. Then I go to the fuse box and see if anything is loose. I'm not adverse to replacing the electrical harness that goes from the fusible links to the fuse box. Has to be something.

 

 

The old beast remains a big part of the family. This picture was taken the day I drove it home. It took me two days to get it home since it broke down on me on the way home.  

 

The good news is the car doesn't leak power steering or transmission fluid anymore so I just might be able to finally power wash my garage floor. It's the little things, you know?

 

1951 De Soto - The Pain. Oh, The Pain.

This is the latest in a series on the mysterious cars my parents had before I was born in 1964. Read the first of the series, a blog about my father's 1941 Buick Roadmaster here.

Of all the cars my parents had, the one my mother found most dear was "The De Soto". That car was, apparently, so nice and so special that all other cars they had afterwards were judged against it and none of them came close to it. I estimate tha my parents owned "The De Soto" between 1955 and 1960 so I don't have a lot of information about it aside from it being "very nice" and Kelly green (dark green). Connecting the dots through some disparate details I do know of, I have been able to deduce what model year "The De Soto" probably was.

I wish I could say that my parents had a dashing 1957 De Soto Fireflite like this one that's for sale with an asking price of more than $16,000 down in Nashville. Good luck with that, sir. No. They did not have a 1957 De Soto. The timing's just not right. I know they had "The De Soto" when they first moved to Baldwin in October of 1956 so a befinned De Soto like this was never in their garage on Overlook Place before I was born. These late '50's Chryslers are spectacular, aren't they? Even in four door guise. Lovely. 

Nor did they have an all new for 1955 De Soto. While not nearly as flamboyant as the '57, the '55's were long, low and wide and came available in wild color combinations like these two that are illustrated. This hard top coupe also has a V-8 denoted by the badge on the rear quarter panel. That pinkish sedan, with no V-8 badge, powered no doubt by Chrysler's hoary flathead six. The timing could have been right for "The De Soto" to have been a '55 but it couldn't have been for other reasons. 

I remember my father telling me about how difficult cars like "The De Soto" were to steer before power steering became common place. Taking that comment into account, I've found that power steering was not offered on De Soto's until 1952. So, that means that, sadly,  "The De Soto" was more than likely a 1950 or 1951 model like this drab, kelly green lump. The pain. Oh, The Pain. Let's say it was a '51 rather than a '50 so I can think Mom and Dad, who always bought used, didn't buy something too old. 

The '51 De Soto featured "three-roller-tooth gear" steering; that sounds medieval in a car as large and heavy as this car was. Manual brakes too; this thing was handful. Knowing my shy, quiet and retiring father who was a Willy Loman meets Walter Middy kind of guy, he let my mother steer the purchase of a brutally hard to drive car that she never drove. After all, she liked how it looked and thought it the nicest car they ever had. 

Not the first time I've disagreed with Mom.

De Soto's were mid priced automobiles that competed with Buick, Oldsmobile and Mercury. Founded in 1928 and named after the Spanish explorer that discovered the Mississippi River, Chrysler dropped the division in December 1960.

1986 Toyota Supra - Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?

"Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind" by The Lovin' Spoonful tells the tale of a young man who has to choose between sisters who are vying for his attention. The song, written by John Sebastian of the Spoonful was pure fantasy; Mr. Sebastian had a crush on two sisters he had met a summer camp but any romantic feelings for him were allegedly not reciprocated. Nonetheless, it made for a hit record in 1966. Today, let's use the premise of the song to decide if I would have purchased today's subject car, a 1986 Toyota Supra, or the car it competed against, the Chevrolet Corvette. After all, in reality, I had as much a chance to buy either of these cars new in 1986 as, apparently, John Sebastian had with either of those girls.

The new for 1986 Toyota Supra wasn't the sexiest sports car on the market in 1986 but it was, arguably, the best. Especially for the money which one would need less of than to buy the car it competed against for buyers, the 1986 Chevrolet Corvette.  

Driven back to back with a more expensive Corvette, why would anyone buy a Corvette instead of a brand new Supra? Because as amazing as this car is, it's not a Corvette; that having had  as much to do with marketing and association as anything else. Image is a powerful thing.

From 1978 through 1985, "Supra" was the top of the line model of Toyota's fabulous Celica. With a an exotic DOHC, fuel injected six and impeccable build quality, it was a wonderful car that while not faster in a straight line than a Corvette, it literally ran circles around it. However, the Celica and Celica Supra were not, per se, marketed at Corvette buyers; they were marketed at, if anything, the disenfranchised pony car market. 

That changed in 1986 when Toyota split Celica and Supra into two completely new and different automobiles. The Celica remained targeted at the pony car/sporty economy car market switching to Toyota's "T-platform" which it shared with the front wheel drive Corona. Supra, which remained a rear wheel drive  grand touring car or sports car, was targeted at more expensive fare like Corvette and to some degree the Porsche 928. The well informed riche that could care less about a car's lack of pedigree or cache appreciating a bargain as much as anybody.

1980's Japanese automobiles were so far superior to everything built domestically I have to wonder why anyone bothered to by American back then. Then again, when I put my 1986 vintage Members Only jacket on I remember that Corvette had as much a mythic pull on the American automotive psyche as it does today - if not more. Although, in reality, the car's image was far greater than the car itself. In fairness, the 1986 "C4" Corvette was world's better than the car it replaced but it wasn't nearly as solid an automobile as Toyota's new Supra was. Also, regarding sales of Japanese cars in the United States, Japanese cars were still fairly niche back then; it wasn't until late in the '80's that their full effect on sales of domestics was felt.   

Thirty years later the answer to the question of which to buy, Supra or Corvette, is as obvious as it was back then. However, the answer today is completely different from what it was back then. What would I have bought in 1986 had I been of the means? Corvette. Of course. What should I have bought? Supra. Of course. 

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
You pick up on one and leave the other one behind
It's not often easy and not often kind
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Did you ever have to finally decide?
And say yes to one and let the other one ride
There's so many changes and tears you must hide
Did you ever have to finally decide?

Sometimes there's one with deep blue eyes, cute as a bunny
With hair down to here and plenty of money
And just when you think she's that one in the world
Your heart gets stolen by some mousy little girl

And then you know you better make up your mind
And pick up on one and leave the other one behind
It's not often easy and not often kind
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Little Red Corvette - Power Steering Pump

You know what they say about old cars and the weather in Texas; if nothing is wrong just wait 15 minutes. No sooner had I overhauled the entire rear brake system on the '77 that the car starting leaking power steering fluid.

Knowing that the power steering cylinders on these cars are prone to leaking, I replaced it. In the process of doing so a friend of mine, who owns a '79, recommended I replace all the power steering hoses too. It was while doing that I discovered where the leak was coming from - one of the hoses had a slice in it meaning I hadn't needed to replace the cylinder. Lovely. In fairness, the new cylinder did reduce some slop in the steering and everything felt better. Might have been psychosomatic. This car has a number of suspension issues so who knows.

Meanwhile on a nice long drive last summer, a seal in that new - actually it was a remanufactured cylinder, failed and I lost all of my power steering fluid. I had no choice but to drive more than thirty miles home with a screaming, fluid-less power steering pump. I replaced it, again, and all was good. Until...until I noticed that power steering fluid was still leaking from the car. I checked the hoses, hose connections, control valve even the new, new cylinder. Bone dry.

The problem, as it turned out, was the power steering pump. Notorious for leaks, it hadn't given me any problems until I had that long drive with no fluid in it; no telling how much damage that drive did to an almost 40 year old component. Much like a situation I had a couple of years ago with the electrical system, one thing leads to another until you run out of things to replace.

The pump wasn't nearly as difficult to remove and install as I had anticipated. Chalk that up to experience and my ever expanding patience which I attribute to maturity, or getting older, being a doting husband and father and owning this old Corvette. Don't get me wrong, it was an old fashioned pain in the ass but not nearly as hard as replacing the power steering hoses on my 1996 Camaro.

There was some drama when I first fired the car up with the new pump and it appeared to be leaking worse than the pump I pulled out but I surmised that it was nothing more than excess fluid from my over filling it. It would appear we are all good. For now.

Next up on the list is to overhaul the transmission cooling lines. Knowing what can happen, I can only anticipate what should nothing more complicated than replacing rubber hoses and clamps will turn into a project akin to raising the Titanic. Stay tuned.

2017 Buick LaCrosse - You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Buick did a major retooling of their flagship sedan, the LaCrosse, for 2017. 

The reboot is the first for the LaCrosse since the car moved to a long wheel base version of GM's Epsilon II platform in 2010. The car will ride on the latest iteration of the Epsilon II called the P2XX. The 2018 Chevrolet Impala will built on it as well.

Buick claims the new Lacrosse car is more upscale inside and out and borrows many design cues from the Avenir Concept that was shown at the 2015 Detroit auto show.

The P2XX allowed designers and engineers to develop a cabin that is as cavernous as it is luxurious. It's important that contemporary sedans offer buyers something that they can't get in cross over sport utilities vehicles; that being legroom and interior space.

Hopefully you don't have to feel like you're taking a college level computer programming class to learn how to operate the blue tooth. Call me old fashioned but I don't see so much a handsome dashboard as a dashboard jam packed with electronics that will be difficult and expensive to repair.

There's a new V-6 engine and an 8 speed automatic behind that aggressive looking new front grill. No details out on the engine except that it is not the once rumored light hybrid assist. Halleluiah.

Make sure there are defibrillators in the dealership before you look get a look at the sticker price. No doubt a loaded Lacrosse will push $60,000. Or more.

In Canada the Lacrosse will continue to be known as the Allure because in Québécois youth "crosse" is  slang for masturbation. You can't make this stuff up. Oh, and of course, there will be no coupe version.