Prudence, my 87 Town Car

[Tiggie]

Looks good. Little details make a big difference.

[Mainemantom]

If you want a replacement wheelcover, there is a place in Pearsonville California. Up HWY 395/14. about 1/2 hour north of Ridgecrest, toward Bishop. Nice drive. Pearsonville Auto Wrecking. They have tons of hubcaps. I used to know the owners.(not my favorite people) If I can find my Hollander book I can tell you exactly the Hollander number. I think your Wheelcover is from a 74-75 Lincoln Continental.
Hope that helps.
Wheelcover probably got stolen. You might secure your out of state license plates with hard to remove screws. I had my Alaska plates stolen twice when I was in the military, stationed in CA. Heck I got my four wire wheelcovers stolen in broad daylight in my driveway. Came home from work,after working a graveyard shift, in Bakersfield Ca. Was driving my 85 CV. Parked in the driveway, went to sleep. Later went outside. All four wheelcovers gone.

[87gtVIC]

Nice work. It should last a while...depending on how rough you are on washing teh car. I did the same to my crown victoria bumper rub stripes (they are inlayed so more protected) and the front which takes abuse from road debris and the like has help up really well for the last few years I had it on there.

[DerekTheGreat]

Nice work, I dig the Lebowski reference by the way. I need to do that to mine. 87gtVIC included a silver paint pen along with a TB I purchased from him yeaars ago when I was considering the HO intake swap. Never did the swap but still have the TB and pen!

I try and go easy when I wash my car, so it hasn't gotten any worse since when I bought it years ago, or much worse that is. I like that tail panel too, the reverse lights combined in the center is a unique look. Haven't been able to find a minty one to swap onto my car though.

[Lutrova]

If you want a replacement wheelcover....

I did a little searching last night and came up with a few sources in the last 10 years claiming the Personville hub caps were gone. The website painted on the side of their building is down too.

I'm kicking myself too because a Continental with these same wheel covers came into a yard in Anaheim a couple months ago. I didn't grab them then because I already had a set and it was all the way down in Anaheim. Now I'm wondering if I should pick up a second set of something easier to find, just to use for as long as I'm in California.

There's a hubcap shop in Santa Paula that has a replacement available, and three or four other sellers on eBay. Seems $50 is the going rate. But my wife has told me to hold off on replacing it for now - Santa might already be on the job.

....I like that tail panel too, the reverse lights combined in the center is a unique look...

I wasn't crazy about the middle piece for a long time, but I feel like the silver trim really does a lot to unify the whole back. Before that it always bugged me how the reverse lights weren't vertically centered due to the two angles the reflector makes. (Not that the trim lines change that, but it puts the emphasis elsewhere.) The 80-84 triple box reflectors seem like a sharper looking design in my mind, but I don't think you can swap that piece out without also doing the tail lights. And figuring out different reverse lights.

If only plastics were easier to do one-offs for. You could have a field day with these Panthers in body kits, swapping out the front and rear ends.

[Mainemantom]

I did a little searching last night and came up with a few sources in the last 10 years claiming the Personville hub caps were gone. The website painted on the side of their building is down too.

I'm kicking myself too because a Continental with these same wheel covers came into a yard in Anaheim a couple months ago. I didn't grab them then because I already had a set and it was all the way down in Anaheim. Now I'm wondering if I should pick up a second set of something easier to find, just to use for as long as I'm in California.

There's a hubcap shop in Santa Paula that has a replacement available, and three or four other sellers on eBay. Seems $50 is the going rate. But my wife has told me to hold off on replacing it for now - Santa might already be on the job.



I wasn't crazy about the middle piece for a long time, but I feel like the silver trim really does a lot to unify the whole back. Before that it always bugged me how the reverse lights weren't vertically centered due to the two angles the reflector makes. (Not that the trim lines change that, but it puts the emphasis elsewhere.) The 80-84 triple box reflectors seem like a sharper looking design in my mind, but I don't think you can swap that piece out without also doing the tail lights. And figuring out different reverse lights.

If only plastics were easier to do one-offs for. You could have a field day with these Panthers in body kits, swapping out the front and rear ends.

I knew the original owners of Pearsonville Auto Wrecking. They must have been in their late 70s-80s. Knew their Son who past away and his kid who still has a wrecking yard in Ridgecrest. All not nice people. That wrecking yard was there since the 40s at least. acres and acres in the desert. As I said, I will look for my Hollander to get you the number. There is a wrecking yard in Mojave that used to be ok. Might be under new ownership. Victorville has quite a few in a dry lake bed. Worth a trip. Adelanto has a good size one, SR 395 N. It is a pick and pull type. I used to know and deal with them all. Barstow has one it is more like a scrap yard. Rosamond has/had one SR 14. Might as well stock up while you can. But first, listen to your wife.

[DerekTheGreat]

...The 80-84 triple box reflectors seem like a sharper looking design in my mind, but I don't think you can swap that piece out without also doing the tail lights. And figuring out different reverse lights...

Yep, I agree. But yeah, there are differences in the sheet metal and 1/4 panel extensions which make that a more labor intensive mod if a dude or dudette wanted to do it. If it weren't for the calf-catching, eye sore bumpers, I'd say the 80-84's are the better looking car.

[Giraffe]

Yep, I agree. But yeah, there are differences in the sheet metal and 1/4 panel extensions which make that a more labor intensive mod if a dude or dudette wanted to do it. If it weren't for the calf-catching, eye sore bumpers, I'd say the 80-84's are the better looking car.

It took American auto makers a long time to make a bumper that met the 5-mph NHTSA standard AND looked good.

[DerekTheGreat]

Some had it right by the mid/late 70's but yeah, most were ugly. Why I'm usually a fan of cars '72 and under. Like, the 1972 Lincoln Mark IV is the only year to buy. Higher compression engine and better looking face.

[gadget73]

The cars that were designed pre-5mph bumpers that got them tacked on afterward tend to be especially awful. At least things designed around them don't tend to look so out of place. Ever see a late 70s German car in both Euro and US trim? The US versions always have what looks like a railroad tie front and back where a bumper ought to be. You can tell they gave zero fucks about trying to design a car around our DOT bumpers.

[Quincy]

That's cool! I've got an NOS "NIXON/AGNEW" bumper sticker on my '72 Newport Custom.

[Lutrova]

That's cool! I've got an NOS "NIXON/AGNEW" bumper sticker on my '72 Newport Custom.

Thanks. Nixon has been something of a long-running joke for me since sophomore year of college when I made a life-sized cutout with leftover print credits. I drew up new bumper stickers and printed them through some online service since I felt bad using a genuine sticker on a bumper where it'll see plenty of abuse. Obviously it's a bit anachronistic, but I figure most younger people have trouble placing Nixon and these box Panthers in time, with a lot of people guessing they're from the 70s. (A Nixon sticker is also the safer move in California than sporting regalia of some other more contemporary political figures.)



Didn't Reagan relax bumper standards to 2 1/2 mph sometime in the 80s? I assumed that was what made the 85+ bumpers possible.

[Mainemantom]

I have had this since he was running for president. Long time ago Early 70s. Might have a few more. Everytime I see the name of your car "Prudence" I wonder where "Patience" is ? Back in the 50s there was a two girl group called "Patience and Prudence". Just brings back memories. I know I am dating myself. Maybe your second car will be called Patience ?

Have you gone to the Nixon library and museum in Yorba Linda ? Worth a trip when Covid is over. One of the old Air Force One 707s is there as well as his birthplace.

[Quincy]

Lutrova, I dig your Gen. Jack D. Ripper "avatar"!!!

"I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

[Mainemantom]

Did you get your hubcap for Christmas ? If not I found it in my Hollander book 57th edition. #720 Ford part # D5VY1130K Comes in seven colors 1974-1978 Lincoln
$154.47 new. 15"
Hope this helps you.