Derek's 1988 Town Car

[DerekTheGreat]

Hey everyone,

I just got the car back from the shop so I thought I'd take a couple pictures. More to come eventually but now here's a few crappy parking lot shots lol.



What do you guys think? Anybody care for the story?

[Hearsesrock427]

Second shot almost makes it look like it's dark blue. I have to keep reminding me that it's jet black. You don't get that effect in any of the other shots.

I'm also impressed at how clean that vinyl top is. No cracks, no discoloration. ANYWHERE. For a car that's one year older than my Grand Marq, it's held up a lot better. Your '88 is not going to need to be slicktopped for a very long time this rate. Turbines with the Lincoln center caps work well too. It's a damn shame turbines don't come in 16 inches..... a blacked out set of those with 255 tires would be epic.

I already know the story. But I think I'm in the minority in that regard.

[DerekTheGreat]

Haha, yeah I see that now. I still think you need to retune your monitor! lol.

Yeah, me too. When I first saw the car I said, whoa, this is too nice for me. It was supposed to replace my '85 as the daily beater but it's hard to treat this as a beater.. Lots of people comment on the top... I do like the Turbines, don't think I'd like the Lacy Spokes as much although those wheels look great on other colors.

Right you do my friend, but I blab enough on here so unless more want me to blab I'll just stick to pictures

[DerekTheGreat]

The pic of the fender and engine bay are from last year but the one of the stripes upclose is just after it was painted. The factory Red n Cream was just a bit boring.

[Hearsesrock427]

I think I'll do that, haha. Some colors look really weird when playing GTA IV or Mafia II. Nothing several hours of tweaking and alt-tabbing can't fix!

Haha! Oftentimes it's the other way around; it's weird finding something that's actually nice. The solution to the problem of not wanting to treat the '88 like a beater is to find a real beater. Something nobody will miss when it's gone, but will still be fun to flog in the meantime. I'm thinking clapped-out Prius with an LSX or SBF behind the rear seats. Rear engine + front-drive, like the old Beetles!

Lacy spoke wheels are pretty sick, but they have the same problems as turbines- 15 inch size. URGGGGGGGH.

Now that's a neat color combo for the stripes..... the white and purple makes me think of late '60s Mopars. The new stripes probably show up better on the black paint better than the stock stripes. Always a plus.

[slack]

Damn dude that's a clean looking car!

[DerekTheGreat]

Thanks slack!

[nfldfordltd]

Very clean motor car Sir. I highly approve.

[Chaplian]

Wow, that's a really good looking box townie! Especially for MI, I'm surprised it's not rusted out.

I would like to hear the story .

[DerekTheGreat]

I think I'll do that, haha. Some colors look really weird when playing GTA IV or Mafia II. Nothing several hours of tweaking and alt-tabbing can't fix!

Haha! Oftentimes it's the other way around; it's weird finding something that's actually nice. The solution to the problem of not wanting to treat the '88 like a beater is to find a real beater. Something nobody will miss when it's gone, but will still be fun to flog in the meantime. I'm thinking clapped-out Prius with an LSX or SBF behind the rear seats. Rear engine + front-drive, like the old Beetles!

Lacy spoke wheels are pretty sick, but they have the same problems as turbines- 15 inch size. URGGGGGGGH.

Now that's a neat color combo for the stripes..... the white and purple makes me think of late '60s Mopars. The new stripes probably show up better on the black paint better than the stock stripes. Always a plus.

I hear that, I think I spent a good week or two tweaking my TV when I bought it, not counting the minute changes made here and there months later. Perfecto now though You play that stuff on the confuser? I'm a console gamer, mostly because my computers always end up with AIDS or some other STD.

I thought it was just average until I saw it in person... My friends laugh because they say I now need a winter beater to save my winter beater.. I'll admit that I drove Ash's F-150 when the snow flew and the salt trucks were barfing rust tablets everywhere even though I had it Krowned Thanks for the kind words on the stripes! The one stripe is grey, your monitor is certainly out of calibration haha.

Very clean motor car Sir. I highly approve.

Thank you kindly sir! I'd like to see this triple blue 88 of yours along with this F-150. I've got a soft spot for all 87-96 F series, especially the 87-91's.

[DerekTheGreat]

Wow, that's a really good looking box townie! Especially for MI, I'm surprised it's not rusted out.

I would like to hear the story .

Thanks Chaplian!

Yeah, I thought it would be a rust nugget for sure, or at least the underside anyway. Here's the story... ::Takes deep breath::

Two years ago both Ashley and I were driving F-150's (There's another story).. I figured we could use a cruiser and something with trunk space so I started looking into boxes, bought my '85 and then started my love/hate relationship with that thing. Sometime in the summer I met up with a buddy and we got to talking about panthers and then he tells me his wife's dad is looking to sell his 1988 Town Car. I've known him for over 12 years and never knew about this car. I was looking for a Town Car to begin with but already started fixing this LTD up to become my daily driver.. Hadn't sold my Colorado at this point because the LTD just wasn't confidence inspiring haha. We talked a bit more but I was still on the fence because I wanted the digital dash, factory JBL audio system and the red velour interior with one. Then I saw pictures... No digital dash, no red interior and no JBL but damn was the car pretty! So I made arrangements to sell the LTD and once that was gone I headed on up with my buddy to Petoskey where the car was. Initially I thought the interior color was grey but as I walked up on it in the garage I could see the tan package shelf & speaker covers against the immaculate top & gleaming black paint.. First color combo like that I've seen and I was sold at that point. When I sat in it it I got giddy looking at how nice the interior was, like things were never wiped down and the instrument cluster looked brand new, needles were bright orange, no wear on any of the switches.. Turns out her dad bought it new in 88. He had an 85 but wanted the 88 because as he said, "it was newer". It was kept in a heated garage and from the looks of the trim, top, interior (aside from driver's door panel which has a couple imperfections) it spent a lot of time in there. So much that the thermometer was stuck at 72F. I think it had 86k miles at the time, the oil change sticker said due at 88700, which I left on there because it has a Petoskey reference. The old man was 94 but still sharp as a tack! He had both sets of keys and the key card from Ford with the key code on it for the Keyless entry. He didn't keep the window sticker or the front floor mats. I think the car was a custom order car, the owners manual had another card in it with his name as well as his late wife. It's a signature series but the only options it has are the wheels and air ride. Old man had priorities haha. I asked him why he held onto the car and he said his wife loved the car, that they'd drive down to Florida in it and she admired the ride.. All it needed was sway bar links but I went & swapped out all fluids and filters. The A/C needs attention, you know old people, they never use the air lol. Hope this doesn't need a compressor or evaporator! I'll know in a few weeks...

[VicCrownVic]

Everyone loves pictures, but no readers ride is complete without a good story.

I hope to see the car in person sometime, it looks awesome in the pictures.

[Mainemantom]

Beautiful Towncar Signature. Do you have full coverage or stated value insurance on it ? A car that nice needs it.

[88Vic]

Back from the detail shop? Looks like it just rolled out of 1988. I hope I can clean up mine half as well as that, after the list of mods I've got for it.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Back from the detail shop? Looks like it just rolled out of 1988. I hope I can clean up mine half as well as that, after the list of mods I've got for it.

Good. Now, reader's ride thread. Go! Go now! lol