1967 Convertible or Hardtop?

[mannye]

I'm really wanting a solid daily driver when I replace my current Lexus LS430.

Love that Lexus, but it doesn't have ANY soul. I want my morning drive to have a little more style than that and I'm willing to give up some of the modern coachbuilding technology to get it. I say coachbuilding because the Continental has almost everything a modern car does...Power steering, brakes, seats, windows, a/c, cruise (not laser guided, but why quibble) and I can live without automatic headlights, wipers and auto closing trunks. I will miss the cooled seats, but it's not dealbreaker. Any car from the 60's can't hold a candle to a modern car in chassis stiffness and cabin environmental controls, but that's no problem for me. A good one has that wonderful organic aroma of leather and wood that few new cars can match.

I also understand what it's like to own a classic, having owned a 1969 Road Runner convertible for many years. BUT it's not my daily driver...it would SUCK as a daily driver in this town.

Knowing about the rain and heat... would you go with a ragtop or hardtop? Am I being naive about this being a reliable comfortable daily driver? Is 15 to 20K realistic if the goal is a car with nice paint, an almost prefect interior and everything working?

[mannye]

Wrong place for this post? Kinda new to the board...wouldn't mind a little guidance.

[LithiumCobalt]

For a daily driver, I'd go with a sedan. 1967 is my favorite year, actually. For 15-20k, you should be able to find one hell of a nice sedan, if you can find one and beat me to it. I've been looking for a really nice one for about two years and haven't found one yet. A convertible will always be worth more, and will also cost you more for quality because of that reason. You can probably find a nice driver convertible for 15-20k, but it will be far from perfect. Good luck and keep us updated on the search!

[mannye]

Thanks for the input! I read your convertible progress thread with much interest. Since I have a tiny little one car garage that barely fits the Road Runner, I doubt I would be able to get a car I had to do any significant amount of work on. It also has to live outside so I may go for the hardtop since I can always take the Plymouth out when I want to have the top down.

What's the deal with the hardtops? I know I spent three years flying all over the place to look at rustbuckets or bondo buggies until I found a solid Road Runner but I expected that since they were built with low cost in mind.

[LithiumCobalt]

What's the deal with the hardtops? I know I spent three years flying all over the place to look at rustbuckets or bondo buggies until I found a solid Road Runner but I expected that since they were built with low cost in mind.

I'm probably a little more particular than your average person. I am looking for specific colors, condition and option sets. Finding something that meets all of my criteria is proving to be pretty tough. I broadened my search a while ago to include 69 sedans as well and a few of those have turned up, but nothing that where I would say "I have to have that". Everyone here has advised me to be patient and spend more for something I really want so that's what I am intending to do. It may mean I have to wait longer, but hopefully I will find something that I will truly want and enjoy.

[mannye]

OK Got it. So it's not that they are all rolling basket cases just that you can't find the color combo and options you want. That's understandable. I've gone through the same thing before. The Mopar world is very particular about cars being original (seems there's a lot of that here too...a good thing).

Besides an 87 5.0 Mustang, I've never owned a Ford product before. I tend to see this particular car as almost a brand all its own though, so after I get one I will still feel like the Mustang was the only Ford i've ever owned! Man...that Mustang was great to drive but ugly with a capital "U."

Anyway...I'm in the tropics wdown here, so I'll probably be looking for a light color if I can get over the fact that IMO this car looks better in darker colors.

[TonyC]

Mannye,

An early welcome to the forum!

I would strongly recommend that you choose one of the two hardtops--either coupe or sedan. If you have little experience with Fords, a 'vert is way out of your league of experience--especially considering that Suicides are certainly not typical Fords. Many newbies who have 'verts may not publicly admit to it, but I'm sure they must be exasperated just trying to diagnose basic issues, to say nothing of the top mechanism and related components. A coupe or sedan would be a much better starting car.

Oh, and in most cases, where structure durability is concerned, you are right. But a Suicide is different from other cars, then or now. I can testify that their structural integrity would surprise you: Frankenstein survived two incidents that would have killed any newer car.

---Tony

[mannye]

OK...

So, it's been a while. Sold the Road Runner. It was a show car and I would get acid reflux whenever I took it for a ride. I don't want a garage/trailer queen, I want something I can drive around and not go nuts if a moron opens a door into the side of it (ok...I go nuts anyway but you know).

After looking at a bunch of 67's I decided that it was going to be very expensive to get something that's nice enough (rust free and mechanically sound) to only need a light freshening up and some suspension and fuel/ignition system modernization. That, IMO is going to be a 1979 Town Car. Still the big body, smaller V-8, and still available for under 15K in really good shape. Under 10k if I get lucky.

Sound like a plan or am I nuts?

[LithiumCobalt]

Only ‘79 that I would consider would be a Collectors Series, but even that wouldn’t be my favorite. I think ‘77 is best year for that era, although I’ve never owned a 70s model. They are just so different than the slab sides. With that said, you can get some VERY nice 70s models for reasonable prices. And they are MUCH easier to find.

[mannye]

Only ‘79 that I would consider would be a Collectors Series, but even that wouldn’t be my favorite. I think ‘77 is best year for that era, although I’ve never owned a 70s model. They are just so different than the slab sides. With that said, you can get some VERY nice 70s models for reasonable prices. And they are MUCH easier to find.

Interesting! I thought the 79 and 77 were basically the same style-wise. Why would you go with a '77 over a '79? I'm not married to anything, and as I said before, having never owned one, I'm not married to anything yet. I DO know I really like the big 70's look and I think that with some basic updates they can rival the luxury and presence of anything on the road to day new or old.

[Dan Szwarc]

You have my vote for getting a 70s Continental over a 60s convertible to save money.

I vote 77 over 79 because of two things: the speedo in 77 is the last year of the true Lincoln-design dashboard (78 and 79 were gussied up versions of the 1973 Mercury dash - BORING), plus you get gages, which may not be very useful, but look good.

Second, you CAN get a 460 instead of the less-powerful (and much derided) 400 motor. Your driving experience will be much more pleasant with the 460, especially if you decide you want even more oomph.

Third: Many more choices of interiors. I recommend going with velour instead of leather if where you live is a warm climate. Leather is hot and makes your ass sweat. Velour is soft and pleasant to the touch.

Fourth: Wheel skirts really make the 77 look more elegant. In 78, they were dropped to save cost. By 1979, the Lincoln was getting cheapened while its retail price kept going up thanks to the economy’s inflation of the late 70s.

Fifth: 1977 had thicker side-glass. This means a quieter car in the city.

I recommend a sedan over a coupe, but that choice is yours. Buy the best car you can afford, but remember that you are still buying a 40+ year old car no matter what the mileage is. It may need all kinds of mechanical work due to dried out seals, lack of proper maintenance, etc.

[LithiumCobalt]

Dan hit all the points precisely on my preference for the ‘77. The last year for many nice details and the availability of the 460.

[mannye]

Great! Thank you! I also prefer the sedan.

It looks to me that unlike a relatively simple muscle car from the 60's, the complexity and sheer volume of the different wiring harnesses in a luxury car like a 70's Lincoln means that it's better to buy something that's in as good original condition as possible.

Funny you should mention the leather thing for warm climates. As one who's spent three decades in Miami Beach, I have found that well maintained leather is fine. Unless the car is garage kept, which this one won't be, velour and most other fabrics get ravaged by the UV and heat. Although I do agree that you don't get the back of your thighs scorched when you sit down with velour!

The only modifications I plan to make are what I hope are invisible modernizing of suspension and fuel delivery/ignition mods... although I don't know if by '77 the ignitions were electronic already or not, but I would probably make at least that upgrade. Not too sure about converting to injection as that is often more trouble than it's worth (unless you guys know different) and I'm not interested in going fast, just comfortable and quiet. If I want to go fast, I'll get a sports car.

I'm convinced! A '77 it is!

[Dan Szwarc]

Points noted on interior materials in Florida. Get what suits you and your experience requires.

77s have electronic ignition. Ford’s duraspark II or III was already out with higher voltages and bigger distributor caps. There’s no real need to update them unless you want MSD or to improve future reliability (the original systems do eventually fail due to heat).

Fuel delivery is a weak point as ethanol fuels eat fuel pumps and cause hard starting when cold.

I would not bother with fuel injection. At best, put on a modern edelbrock or Holley carb and tune it to your liking. Make sure all of the emissions equipment is working and get a car that hasn’t been molested or molest it all yourself so you know what does what.

[TonyC]

I agree with your choice; the full-size '70s Lincolns are a good balance between affordability and character. True, they don't have the barn-door configuration, but they will still turn heads. Plus, they were among the better-built American cars of that decade, if Consumer Reports is any source to go by.

And keep Dan's advice in mind about ignition and fuel components. They weren't big problems back in their decade, but they have come up as weak spots beyond their official lifespans. The good thing is that nothing cannot be repaired. One other thing to keep in mind: All engines by that time inherited a weakness within them: Nylon timing gears, which were pioneered on the '61 Lincoln 430s and eventually adopted across the industry. They were a great idea to make engines run quieter, but most of the industry didn't know about the limited lifespan of synthetics; these gears wear out with age, not use, and will crumble and clog the oil pump, killing the engine through oil starvation. That means you will have to invest in intrusive surgery to the front of the engine; but, the good news is that all-metal replacements are available at decent prices, and when done you won't have to deal with that issue ever again.

---Tony