Re: Did the public think of Imperial as Packard's replacement?

Posted by Mr.Pushbutton  On 2009/8/7 9:48:29

To be fair, 1983 was a pretty dark period for all the domestics, they were still trying to get engines that dated back to the 1950s to make emissions with bolt-on gizmos, then the new religion of fuel economy happened, they were trying to hit all of these targets using a carburetor, and the results were about what you experienced.
10 years later there were new engines, electronic fuel injection and successful lock-up torque converter OD trasmissions (Ford bought a twin-Ultramatic from a local collector to study in the late 70s) and everyting got better in a hurry. I have always found Lincolns expensive to keep 100% functional after a certain point, age or miles. We had a few in the fleet I maintained in the 90s and early 2000s, yes, they could sensor/R&R/little motor servo you often. We had a Ford E-150 panel van at the same time (same engine) and that thing was great, we beat the hell out of it, used it all week long, moved ourselves with it on the weekends and it gave great service, relatively few repairs.
The Cadillacs we had from that era were by and large pretty reliable, a '92 Seville that gave few troubles and a 91-'2 ish Brogham, the last of the Texas Cadillacs with a small block Chebby, that gave very little trouble. The Allante was a dissapointment, it was just OK, replacing the battery was a chore.



[quote] While others may have had great service from the Lincoln versions, most I've known had to resort to destroying the cars to escape the money pits. Here's the story of mine. I had a 1983 Mark VI Bill Blass 2dr that, when it ran, rode great and was a good solid car. The thing ate fuel pumps, sensors, plug wires, unlisted firing order and demon-possessed electronics. Took 3 days to change a heater core, burnt out ACT and crank sensors every year and fuel pumps every 9 months or so. Even with a rebuilt engine it could barely average 51MPH driving from PA to Atlanta. It got worse gas mileage than anything from the 70's with less than a big-block. Averaged 10-11 MPG with 14 highway. Fuel guage only worked at nearly full or nearly empty. Could not get the seats into any comfortable position. The firing order was unlisted in any manuals or on the manifold. Had to spend hours at champion ford looking through old invoices to see if someone had written it down. Even Ford mechanics couldn't get it to run right. I tried to give this car away and no one took it so I junked it. I'll possibly buy a crown vic again but no more Lincolns after 79 EVER again.