Hello to all. I am thinking about purchasing a 1982 Lincoln Continental Givency series. It has 123000 original miles and while it’s not in “perfect” shape the old girl looks pretty good. Anyone have any info of if these old girls are pretty good cars or not?
Thanks!!
They weren’t particularly bad by the standards of early-80’s American cars, but that’s not saying much. They are definitely not dependable or economical by any sort of modern standard.
If you do buy it, don’t plan on driving fast on challenging roads. The suspension is designed to drive in town at low speeds. They are still building them for anti-dive and anti-sway. They’re great in town driving.
I would add that you have to be prepared for brakes that are VERY weak by modern standards. I can recall driving a co-worker’s Continental back in that era, and the brakes more or less gave an impression of slight deceleration, rather than actual braking, when the pedal was mashed to the floor. At the time, I was driving a Chevy Citation, and its brakes were far superior to those on that early '80s Continental.
If it has air suspension, I would stay away from it. I guy in my neighborhood has one that sits in his backyard; he has been unable to get parts for it.
Plan on: mediocre reliability, expensive repairs with some parts hard to get, frequent trips to wrecking yards to cannibalize parts.
As others mentioned, don’t plan a trip through the Rocky Mountains with this vehicle; poor brakes and skimpy road holding will make it hairy experience.
You might conclude that this is not a good daily driver, unless you are retired.
Far too many of these old fancy-schmancy cars, Cadillac, Mercedes, Lincoln etc, are money pits. Cheap to purchase used, but have your wallet fully loaded for repairs of all the ‘toys’. Air suspension, automatic temp heater-a/c, power EVERYTHING, rare/limited production trim parts ( most parts now obsolete ), sensors on everything, etc,etc.
This thing will have a “feedback” carburetor that would make Rube Goldberg proud. Good luck passing an emissions test…Failure means the car is totaled…
Hey Randy,
I have a 1982 Lincoln Continental that I have driven as my daily driver for the last 3 years. My Continental has been a good car for me, while I have had to spend money on some repairs, they haven’t been on anything major and not bad for a car that is 27 years old. I can say that with even normal wear items, it sure beats a car payment. I’m not sure about the brake comment by another blogger, perhaps the brakes were nearing replacement on that car? The brakes on the Continental work pretty good and they are equipped with 4 wheel disc btw. You don’t have to worry about the air suspension, since that didn’t arrive until the 1984 model year. The only complaint I have about the car is the venturi carb, which can be hard to start when the engine is hot, but you can adapt, as I have the car always starts, it just takes a few seconds. The 1983 Continentals do have fuel injection like the Mark VI and Town Car, which received fuel injection back in 1980, not sure why the Continental didn’t get EFI until 1983. The 1982 Continental may not be a rocket ship, but I dare any Mercedes, Audi, etc. of that era to out pace you, they didn’t have any power either. The suspension is quite soft and the car does sway a little, but it’s not to the point where you feel like you don’t have control. The Continental does have rack & pinion steering, so the steering feel is very good and precise. Oh btw when I purchased the car it was the last year I had to pass an emissions test in Seattle and the car passed easily. One word of advise I always give anyone buying a relatively old car is to plan on having at least a grand or more to perform some of those repairs the current owner neglected because they plan to pass those off to the new owner or any unforeseen repairs. I encourage you to buy the car if it feels right for you. Good luck!
Rowan