Welcome back! Today we’re asking an important question: What’s wrong with being comfortable? But before we can do that, we need to finish up yesterday’s stickshift sedans:
Another lopsided one. But I guess I’m not too surprised: the siren song of all that horsepower in an unassuming-looking sedan is hard to resist.
Now then, to new business: David wrote an article yesterday detailing his desire to fight his body’s natural want for comfort.
It may be because I have an eighteen-year head start on David in choosing cool fun vehicles over practical comfortable ones, but from my viewpoint — within a stone’s throw of half a century old — comfort is something I have earned. I’ve done my time going eighty miles an hour in a Miata with the top down, and bouncing along over potholes in a Pathfinder on all-terrain tires, and sweltering in a non-air-conditioned Scirocco in the heat of a Chicago summer, the backs of my thighs cooked medium-rare on the black vinyl seats. I’m done. I have my MG and my truck if I want to relive my glory days of rough noisy “cool” cars; for the daily grind I want cushy seats, soundproofing, and air conditioning that will keep a side of beef fresh.
The way to find comfort, as in so many other pursuits, is to seek out the wisdom of those older than you. In terms of cheap transportation, this means elderly-owned cars. I’ve found two of them for us to look at, both from the Sacramento area, and thankfully neither with a vinyl top.
1994 Lincoln Town Car – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 4.6 liter SOHC V8, 4 speed automatic, RWD
Location: Carmichael, CA
Odometer reading: 188,000 miles
Runs/drives? Sure does
Lincoln’s big sedan was softened and modernized in 1990, in a classic example of aerosion, and in the process became a much more attractive car. It still rode on Ford’s big rear-wheel-drive Panther platform, upgraded with air suspension and four wheel disc brakes. Starting in 1991, the Town Car was powered by Ford’s “Modular” 4.6 liter single-overhead-cam V8, which would go on to power zillions of Crown Victorias, Mustang GTs, pickups, and vans. But it got its start right here in the Lincoln Town Car.
The ad for this Town Car doesn’t give us much to go on; all we’re given is that it has new tires and a new battery, and that everything is “up to date.” One would hope that the seller has records to back that up, but I wouldn’t count on it.
But judging by the photos, this car looks like it’s in good shape, and quite original, which is nice to see. It even still has the original stereo with a tape player. Break out your Tony Bennett’s Greatest Hits and sing along!
This wouldn’t make a bad daily driver at all, I don’t think. It’s comfortable, reliable, and the gas mileage isn’t great, but it isn’t atrocious either; twentyish miles per gallon looks like the norm. The biggest problem I can see is the size: This car is a foot and a half longer than the Coupe DeVille I used to drive, and that thing was ponderous in parking lots.
1994 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LSS – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.8 liter OHV V6, 4 speed automatic, FWD
Location: Fairfield, CA
Odometer reading: 200,000 miles
Runs/drives? Excellent, the ad says
Oldsmobile’s big Delta 88 sedan switched from rear-wheel-drive to front-wheel-drive in 1986, and dropped the “Delta” from its name in 1989, becoming the “Eighty Eight.” In this form, it went through two body designs, but was powered by only one engine: the legendary Buick-sourced 3800 V6, available only (of course) with an automatic transmission.
This Eighty Eight, from after the 1992 restyle, is an LSS (Luxury Sport Sedan) model. In later years, the LSS gained the supercharged 3800, but as far as I can tell, in 1994 it only meant bucket seats and a center console, a little bit firmer suspension, and maybe a little less chrome. Oldsmobile never could decide if they wanted to be sporty like Pontiac or luxurious like Buick, and ended up trying to do both at the same time.
This car has a lot of miles, but appears to be in excellent shape. It’s a one-owner car, with records going all the way back, and the seller says it must be driven to be believed. You hear that line a lot, so take it with a grain of salt, but it does look like a really nice car.
It’s a handsome machine in general, too; I’ve always liked the Oldsmobile version of the H-body better than the Buick (too stodgy) or the Pontiac (too plasticky). The 3800’s crown has become a little bit tarnished as the years and miles go by, but it’s still an excellent engine, and if this one has been kept up as well as they say, it should have some life in it yet.
Cool cars that are difficult to drive are still cool, and always will be. But sometimes a guy just wants to sit back in a comfortable seat, turn on some music, and isolate himself from the traffic a bit. We’ve got two good options to do just that. Which one is the one for you?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I love H-body especially the Olds. So I voted Olds. I might be a bit biased as I own a 1987 but still. I would live to have this one too.
Either is fine, but those velour seats are calling to me. TC for the win!
Lincoln every time-I love me a large and in charge V8 luxobarge
I’ve had three Panthers: ’95 Town Car, Cartier with the gawjis 16″ aluminum wheels and Deeluxe leather interior, a 2006 plain-jane Mercury Marquis GS, and 2003 Grand Marquis LS Ultimate Edition which I bought for my daughter as her first car. Her friends loved to call it “the police car” even though the leather was sumptuous, the finish pristine, and all the little chrome touches, though uncool were OK in the eyes of this boomer who grew up around grandiose Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Imperials.
They were all good cars the ’03 had 132K when purchased, the Town Car 153K, the GS 33K. The GS gave me the most problems in the form of a bad blend door actuator which I spent a grueling 8 hours replacing, but after I got the dashboard back together I felt like Smokey Yunick for performing such a feat.
I really liked all of them, and felt good with my daughter driving a body-on-frame platform. Her trip computer showed 25-26 MPG on the highway, and never left her stranded. We sold the car @ 185K.
The Town Car, though, was a love object. When my family was visiting for some holiday they begged me to put all seven of us in the TC because, well, I’m really not sure. But I acquiesed. It was a short run to the restaurant, and my niece sitting on her mom’s lap felt like an outlaw! I think I popped in a CCR CD, and man did we belt that out…much to the annoyance of my BIL.
So this is the effect that these road floaters can have on a body. Kind of like Maybelline in that Coupe de Ville.
Sign me up for the Olds! This one is pretty well set up optimally–the LSS had the heavy-duty/F41 suspension, so the ride will be less than nautical and it won’t list around corners. The leather seating in that gen of GM full-sizer were pretty long-haul comfy, and the lifetime of documented good care & feeding should ensure plenty more miles, and even the Gen1 3800s were solid engines.
This is yet another day of really hard decisions that beg the “buy both” button as an option. That 3800 at 200k is a bit daunting but if it’s one owner and is as meticulously maintained as stated with the documentation…damn. You can’t go wrong. For 2500 you have a car that will cruise the highway doing 30mpg with 4 adults comfortably, with a decent trunk full of luggage.
UNTIL you look at it’s cheaper option. Town Car with an even more bulletproof engine, that will cost less to maintain. You’ll lose a lot of fuel economy but you’ll make it up with comfort/space and even MORE trunks space.
Both cars are perfect at what they are today. Stupid cheap, point A to point B cars. Even if those points are thousands of miles apart. I (again) say we need a “buy both” button.
How could I turn down a big comfy bench seat? Lincoln for me
This is like high school, but with double the budget!
A few years ago I’d have leaned towards the Lincoln, but Hoovie has done a pretty good job of convincing me the Olds is the way to go here.
I never knew the mod motor went back to 1991. I just assumed it started out in the Mustang. Given the timeline, I wonder – why did they go with the old 302 for the first year of the SN95 if the mod motor was already out a few years? If anyone has some insight on this, I’d love to hear it.
Thanks for bringing 2 legitimate contenders this morning! This took way too long to decide, but I went Olds. I like the history on it, gas mileage, and poor weather traction of FWD. The condition looks amazing, too. The engine orientation is always a challenge with FWD, but this doesn’t look too terrible as far as V6’s go – looks like there is actually some room between the engine and firewall (someone will likely correct me), which is refreshing. Even so, ask me again tomorrow, and you might get a different answer, as I love me some Panthers.
I’ve got experience with both, so I’m voting Olds.
My high school girlfriend had a Town Car of this vintage and though I recall it being pretty fast, it had an appetite for tires. Never figured out why.
The Olds, well my wife’s grandmother had one. She bought it new and drove it til she passed away, at which point my father-in-law inherited it. He commuted with it for years, and after he retired it became the family’s backup car. All my wife’s siblings regularly drove it at various points as did I once we got married. Loved that thing. Easily the comfiest car I’ve ever driven, and it got great gas mileage for its size. I don’t remember how many hundreds of thousands of miles it had on it when my father-in-law finally sold it, but it was a ton. I’d buy one again in a heartbeat if my garage had one more bay.
Yeah, I’m thinking of getting something like the Olds to replace my truck for going out to the mountains – it will probably ride better.
The Linc will look better as a lowrider.
The Town Car all day long. Actually… where’s that thing for sale again?
Both of these are a good choice, but with the price of gas so high and winter around the corner, the more efficient FWD Olds is probably better. You also can’t put a price on a complete set of service records.
Usually I would take the Lincoln with the RWD Panther platform but the one-owner status of the Olds seals the deal for me. A single owner car in that shape with maintenance records means it’s been taken care of and that means quite a bit.
With that said, I’d take either car happily at those prices with my own today money if I were in need of transportation.
The Town Car has a digital dash and a hood ornament, so that makes it cooler.
Plus, it’s easier to swap a Mustang engine in it for more power, or any Ford crate motor. The Godzilla will probably fit, right? 😉
Transverse V6’s are hard to work on, though leather is nice because you can just wipe it down.
I voted for the car the size of a town
Yes, transverse V6s are a pain to work on- except the 3800. It’s so tiny, almost like you could reach down and lift it out with your arms. The heads are about 1/3 the size of those on a DOHC motor.
I noticed that from the photos. I was surprised, as my only experience with traverse engines (mostly I-4’s) has been a pain and I have heard horror stories about simple maintenance on FWD V6’s. Makes sense now that you mention it, given it’s an OHV.
the 3800 is 90 degrees (wider than a 60-dergee V6), and you need a crowbar to tilt the engine forward…
True, but it’s still tiny. And I’d use a jack if I had to replace motor mounts.
I’m torn on this one, as I’m a firm believer in the Church of the 3800. However, I think I have to give the nod to the Town Car this time, as Panthers are almost indestructible and should be supported by the aftermarket until the sun turns into a chunk of coal.
From personal experience, should one decide on the Olds, step 1 is to buy a replacement aftermarket intake manifold with the (metal) fix for the coolant line running through it. And just live with the fact that one of the four A/C vents inside will be floppy and never hold the position you want.
Oh — and hope you enjoy unbolting motor mounts to change the serpentine belt.
Got to go 4.6L V8, they are known to last forever
Both are great cruisers that should last a lot longer with proper care. They appear to be very solid examples of what to look for.
One owner with full records is a huge plus for the Olds.
Also, the front bench of the Lincoln seems to have lost some resilience in the seat pad, like many of them do over the years. That can turn a very comfy couch into an annoying place to sit for longer than a few minutes.
For those reasons alone, I chose the Oldsmobile.
H-body versus Panther would always down to the condition of the individual examples, because they’re both good choices. Here, the “single owner, full records” condition of the Olds makes it the obvious better choice.
I’ll take the RWD, gimme the Lincoln.
It’s the cloth bench that wins it for me. Who needs hotel rooms on a road trip when you can pull up to a truck stop, pull out a pillow and a blanket, and get a great night’s sleep in your Town Car?
Normally, I’m all about H-body 3800s, but Panther platform, right up there with the B-body, are the pinnacle of automotive evolution for cruising in comfort. It’s even rumored that Steppenwolf was singing about one of these in his song “Magic Carpet Ride.”
Lincoln Town Car.
Not sure I have a large enough dock to moor the Lincoln, but that big barge looks to be a better deal than the Snooze-mobile.
I didn’t like the interiors of either when new, and can’t imagine what they are really like after all the years and use. Break out the pine-tree air freshener!
In fact, hard pass on both. Leave ’em for the guys who want to bolts dubs on and do some profilin’.
I voted Town Car. Give me that big old sofa upfront!
Me too. I may technically be an Old but that doesn’t mean I need to self-advertise myself that way with the name of the car. If I’m gonna cruise along as King of the Road, dammit, I’m gonna be Sofa King Cool!
Honestly, you can’t go wrong either way here. These are both really nice and really lovely cruisers. I picked the Olds, because those 3800 H-body cars can knock down 29-30 mpgs all day long, while cruising on the highway in supreme comfort. I want a road trip car, and that one will do nicely.