Glass Top Town Coupes

[Wojo]

Hello everyone, Hopefully friday I will be picking up my new 77 burgundy town coupe with the half glass top. Does anyone have any info on these???? They seem to be rare and I would like to find out how many of these were made. This is a really nice one that my sister bought a few years ago. It has less than 100k on it and she just doesn't drive it any longer. If anyone knows what I'm talking about please let me know.

wojo

[billyblassy]

Hm... do you have a picture of that?

[Steve Moran]

I have only seen one in my life, it was diamond blue and it was beautiful.
I don't know how many where made but they are very rare.
I am thinking the count was maybe 1200 or so. Don't quote me on that figure.

[Wojo]

Well, I have a shined up picture that was taken about 2 years ago but it doesn't show the glass top. I took some around thanksgiving and it shows that the car needs to be washed. My sister showed me that she had the cover for it in the trunk. I just replied "Why the hell is it in the trunk"! She laughed........The dusty picture of it is current as are the interior pics. You can see the outline of the glass top in the dusty pic and one of the interior pictures shows the sun shade. I bought it from her because she was telling me that she sold it to someone she works with for 2K. I said, Damn, I would have bought it for that. And so you know how the story ends up.

Dale

http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/77lincoln.JPG
http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/77LincolnGlassTop.jpg
http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/77lincolnInt.jpg
http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/77lincolnInt2.jpg

[billyblassy]

Hm... does anyone have any pictures showing the glass top?

[Wojo]

I'll try to get some better pix after I wash it. But here's the best I have for now.


http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/glasstop.jpg

[towncar1]

Very Nice. I've never seen anything like that before. (Was that lincolns alternative to the Stainless Steel topped Caddy Eldorados of the same era?)

Dave

[billyblassy]

It would be nice to see a pic of the clear glass looking in from the outside, and looking out from the inside.

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

It would be nice to see a pic of the clear glass looking in from the outside, and looking out from the inside.

*sigh* Wojo, give the baby his bottle :)

[billyblassy]

*sigh* Wojo, give the baby his bottle :)

Well, there's plenty of nice pictures, but they're of everything on the car BUT the glass top with the sunscreen open.

I have a car with a moonroof (whats the difference between a sunroof and a moonroof, anyways?) and I never actually open the moonroof. So I think a larger glass top would be great, and I wonder why that feature wasn't more popular.

[Wojo]

To be honest I thought it would be cool to have some pix from the outside looking in with the shade open. I'm very anxious to get it. We had a 48 hour Ice storm here and were unable to get it today but will get it next week some time. I'm having it picked up on a flatbed because i didn't want to drive it 2 hours after it sat for about a year. I did start it up in October but better safe than sorry, especially since it don't cost me anything to get it picked up.

[jrau]

I have brochures from this era. I know I can find pics of the glass roof option in the brochure. I wanna say it was in the '78 brochure. Obviously, it was a fixed glass option, not a removable one. I even have price books from this era (Edmund's New Car Price Guides) so I can let you know how much that particular option cost.

JRau

[jrau]

Well, there's plenty of nice pictures, but they're of everything on the car BUT the glass top with the sunscreen open.

I have a car with a moonroof (whats the difference between a sunroof and a moonroof, anyways?) and I never actually open the moonroof. So I think a larger glass top would be great, and I wonder why that feature wasn't more popular.

The difference between the sunroof and the moonroof? A sunroof is a metal roof panel that is retractable into the roof. A moonroof is the same, just made of smoked/tinted glass, usually with a sliding cover on the inside that can be used like a sun shade.

JRau

[Wojo]

After about 15 hours of messing around which included R&R on the gas tank because the chains holding the car to the flatbed rubbed a hole in the tank, replacing the spark plugs, Oil change, wash and wax here she is and running great:
http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/77Lincoln0308.jpg
And here's a pic for Billy:
http://www.markviii.org/~wojo/77Lincolnthrutheglass.jpg

[billyblassy]

Wow, thanks for the pic, that looks great.:cool:

When I was at Lincolnland last week, I asked them why they thought that option wasn't more popular.
They said they've resold a few, but won't work on them. They said the glass can't be removed without breaking it, the glass breaks much easier than a windshield, and it is utterly impossible to replace if and when it shatters from a rock or hail or a way big seagull dump or whatever. That's too bad, because its a beautiful thing.
guess with the glass out, it could be considered a true old-style "town car" since original town cars had the driver(chauffer) sitting out in the open while the passenger was under a roof.

[Newave Dave]

TOO TOO TOO COOL!!! Have Fun!!

[pro-five-oh]

Nice roof! Glad to see another rare 70s Lincoln here on the forum. :)

[Wojo]

I forgot to mention that after going thru the documentation that came with it, I can safely say that the actual mileage on it is right at 51,300.

[Steve Moran]

That is beautiful.

[Wojo]

Next week I'm probably going to have the cats removed and dual 2.5 inch with crossovers installed. Anybody ever do this? My 460 begs me to do it everytime I drive it. It ran a lot better after I checked the timing and found out it was timed at 8 before TDC instead of 16. Gas mileage improved considerably also. So far its been a dream to drive. Engine runs smooth and uses no oil. I had some guy at a gas station try to tell me that the wide fixed glass roof wasn't a factory option. I argued with him for a while and offered to show him the window sticker but he just insisted that it couldn't be......and he knew because he collected Lincolns......he said as he drove away in a beat up MKVII.

Peace!

[pro-five-oh]

The stock cats are a HUGE restriction. We did heads/cam/intake on our '78 Mark V and the car was still slow at higher rpms. Put a new exhaust on and the car turned into an animal.

If you still have the stock heads and cam (they are junk in terms of power) you might not see much of a difference.

[Steve Moran]

Next week I'm probably going to have the cats removed and dual 2.5 inch with crossovers installed. Anybody ever do this? My 460 begs me to do it everytime I drive it. It ran a lot better after I checked the timing and found out it was timed at 8 before TDC instead of 16. Gas mileage improved considerably also. So far its been a dream to drive. Engine runs smooth and uses no oil. I had some guy at a gas station try to tell me that the wide fixed glass roof wasn't a factory option. I argued with him for a while and offered to show him the window sticker but he just insisted that it couldn't be......and he knew because he collected Lincolns......he said as he drove away in a beat up MKVII.

Peace!

I own/owned many Lincolns and I do not claim to know all about them, I do know it was a factory option and they where rare back then and super rare now.
Just collecting something dose not give knowledge of it, I know that all to well. I have 4 women in my life and i know squat about them. :dunno:

[Wojo]

Hey Pro-Five-oh what heads and cam did you use? I'd like to keep mine using regular gas if possible. I'm hoping the exhaust will tweak the MPG up a little and I know it should help some with the power. I want to get an edelbrock carb and manifold but there's not point until the exhaust is done. My cats are probably even more restrictive than stock since I'm sure they are non functioning and I don't know how long it was driven with the timing screwed up which was creating the rich combustion condition. Thanks for the input because I suspected the exhaust would be the best bang for the buck.

Steve, we will never know what we need about women. I only have two in my immediate family (wife and 11 year old daughter) and that's more than I can handle. You have my sympathy.

[pro-five-oh]

Hey Pro-Five-oh what heads and cam did you use? I'd like to keep mine using regular gas if possible. I'm hoping the exhaust will tweak the MPG up a little and I know it should help some with the power.

MPG won't change. But you will gain WAY more power and not lose any MPG. Trust me on that. :)

Used 1970 Lincoln heads (D0VE casting) that were ported and had Cobra Jet valves. The cam was an RV cam, pretty mild overall. I think regular is fine, the stock pistons are dished and still keep compression somewhat low. But knock on regular is a problem if you live where it gets really hot and you have a open element filter. (hot air sucked in, knock)

We also used a Performer RPM intake, and that required removal of the stock airbox and shortening the thread bolt for the airbox wingnut (otherwise you'll dent the hood when you close it). In hindsight, I'd like to get a better air filter assembly for this, but the intake itself is great.

[Wojo]

Pro-Five-oh......did you leave the EGR set up on the car? I would have thought you would gain enough clearance going NON-EGR to accomodate the stock air box.

[pro-five-oh]

Pro-Five-oh......did you leave the EGR set up on the car? I would have thought you would gain enough clearance going NON-EGR to accomodate the stock air box.

Yes I removed it (don't know if that was a bright idea) and it seems to have no correlation btw airboxes and the intake. The shape of the inside of the hood and the height of the intake is the problem.

One thing to think about: the Conti/Town Cars could very well have a taller cowl and have more clearance than the Mark V's hood.

[wixomhead]

Any 460/429 heads prior to 73 (D3VE) will have much smaller comb chambers; this will increase performance but demand highest octane gas/reduced timing.

I saw one of these late 70s town coupes with glass roof at Bakers in CT 5 years ago. It was light blue. I also thought I read that the roofs w/ out a way to shade them proved brutally hot in southern, sunny climates / heated the interior to very high temps.

That car is beautiful. Absolutely.

[pro-five-oh]

I thought they all had shades?

Oh, and you can run regular with earlier 460 heads on a later 460 short block. Dished pistons, baby.

[Philip]

That is an utterly amazing car! These things were the epitome of opulence in that era. I have seen a few well-kept late 70's Lincolns down here, but never have I seen that glass panel. I know that moonroofs of that day were HUGE compared to modern ones, but that's a way cool item on a still-way-cool vehicle! Enjoy!!

[Steve Moran]

Have you submitted a picture for the rides section? I really hate for a car like this to not get its day in the sun.
The more I see it the more I say WOW I have seen one in person and another on line in my life.
It sounds corny but to me something like this is as exciting as getting a glimpse of a movie star.

If you have not yet please submit a photo or two.

[Wojo]

I just had the hood and front header painted and its in the shop getting the dual exhaust treatment. I am taking it to a show this weekend and should be able to get some good pictures of it all cleaned up. I polished the wheels with my mothers ball and they look amazing. I still have some minor things to make it the way I want it. As I may have mentioned before It had all the original hoses so I replaced them all since I intend to drive it. The rear springs and shocks were replaced. I just noticed tonight that one of the front shocks is leaking so I'll replace those next. The quad 8track dont work but it has a really good aftermarket system under the dash with modern speakers installed so it sounds great but I want the 8 track to work to since I have several quad tapes (Dark side of the moon is one). I need to figure out how to get them to both work. I'll get it eventually but its probably going to be a fall project.

Thanks for all the compliments

[Philip]

I bet there is an old-school repair shop somewhere that would love to work on that radio. Great thing is that the technology was such back then that you could still work on electronic things. Fun car! My first purchased vehicle was a 1979 Mercury that had the factory 8-track, this thread brings back some memories.

[pro-five-oh]

These guys would do it. I'd recommend them:

http://www.austinradioandspeedo.com/

[Wojo]

Well, I just gotta keep the thread going. What I wish, though, is that I would stop doing stuff to my car. This week I changed the tranny fluid and adjusted the intermediate band. It was shifting kinda irratically. I changed the front shocks also. I finally got an Edelbrock manifold for a resonable price off of ebay. I hope I don't put it on soon. I don't want to work that hard. She's looking really good now though and I did post a couple of pix in the rides section. Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

Peace!

[mcdermott6555]

Hey Guys there is a 1977 glass top Town Coupe on Ebay now. It has very few bids. Check it out. It is Item #120270123489. Looks to have a lot of potential.

[Wojo]

Hi everyone! I just thought that I would let you know that my 77 Lincoln Glass Topped Town Coupe is going to be in a photo shoot for Collectible Automobiles. It will be referenced to in an article on 75-79 Big Lincolns in their December issue. I recieved an email from them thru this web site stating thier interest in the car. How cool eh??? Thanks for suggesting that I post the photos in the Rides section Steve!!! I have never seen the Collectible Automobiles magazine before but they sent me one to review. It's really a great mag. It has all glossy pages and basically no advertisements. Plus great articles on cars usually ignored. The august issue had a feature on 70-77 Mavericks!!! Where have you seen that before?

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

Hi everyone! I just thought that I would let you know that my 77 Lincoln Glass Topped Town Coupe is going to be in a photo shoot for Collectible Automobiles. It will be referenced to in an article on 75-79 Big Lincolns in their December issue. I recieved an email from them thru this web site stating thier interest in the car. How cool eh??? Thanks for suggesting that I post the photos in the Rides section Steve!!! I have never seen the Collectible Automobiles magazine before but they sent me one to review. It's really a great mag. It has all glossy pages and basically no advertisements. Plus great articles on cars usually ignored. The august issue had a feature on 70-77 Mavericks!!! Where have you seen that before?

Don't forget to mention us!! :)

[pro-five-oh]

Hi everyone! I just thought that I would let you know that my 77 Lincoln Glass Topped Town Coupe is going to be in a photo shoot for Collectible Automobiles. It will be referenced to in an article on 75-79 Big Lincolns in their December issue. I recieved an email from them thru this web site stating thier interest in the car. How cool eh??? Thanks for suggesting that I post the photos in the Rides section Steve!!! I have never seen the Collectible Automobiles magazine before but they sent me one to review. It's really a great mag. It has all glossy pages and basically no advertisements. Plus great articles on cars usually ignored. The august issue had a feature on 70-77 Mavericks!!! Where have you seen that before?

That is AWESOME! Nice to see C/A surfs LoL for information.

Your TC is a great specimen of this breed, can you autograph my copy of C/A?

[DaKat]

Maybe you should scan the pages of your shoot once it's done and let me see if I could figure out how to add one to your Rides page, Wojo.
:gotpics:

[Wojo]

I could do that, I will contact the mag and get permission.