The Town Car vs. The Fleetwood (the 80's)

[Moby and Lucille]

In anticipation of the one year anniversary of LVC.com I thought I would do a couple of polls for a certain lincoln vs a certain cadillac. I won't do a whole bunch, but I'll do a few. I'm working towards the 90's. But thought I'd do the 80's first. Here are the two flagship models head to head.

The Town Car vs. The Fleetwood

I took the time to find a front shot, a side shot, a rear shot and a dash shot of each model (thank you cardomain.com!) When you post in the poll, post for the one you like better overall, but in the text part of the post, break it down. I.e. which rear do you like better, which dash do you like better, what about it do you like better, etc.

I will post my take on this on a later post.

Hope participation is high... after a couple more of these, I will get to the 90s (Mark VIII vs Eldorado...hold off on that one til I post it.)

Have fun!

 

[crazyman]

The Caddy is nice but I think the Lincoln has the better front end and dash.I love my Towncar, if I voted anything else I'd feel like I was betraying it.

 

[Jason_MarkVI]

The Caddy is nice but I think the Lincoln has the better front end and dash.I love my Towncar.

I second that too!:Beer

 

[Moby and Lucille]

I like the rear end and the side profile of the Caddy better, and the dash I'm torn on.. The caddy dash with all of it's curves and planes and microscopic spedometer is just wierd, while the town car has the three panels that look like they're cut from diamonds...very regal, but it's also a much flatter dash, and honestly, not quite as fun. Nevertheless, I think I might like the interior of the Caddy better. (definitely the door panels) And the front end...I think the front end in the pictures I posted favor the lincoln, but it's all an angles thing, the Lincoln looks better from some angles, the caddy from others, so as far as the face, I guess I'd be willing to call it a draw.

But the big reason I voted for the caddy this time around is it's overall stance. The front to rear length distribution is much better in the caddy, the window cage is too tall and too boxy on the lincoln, especially if viewed head on. Those sorts of things. The trunk was longer on the caddy (at the expense of a smaller cab which hurts functionality but helps appearance) and the way the trunk falls off towards the back with the huge fin tail lights protruding.The 80's Lincoln was just proportioned kind of awkwardly and the cadillac much more gracefully.

Still, even though in my opinion, cadillac is THE winner of this round, they're both winners.

 

[codewize]

No contest. The Fleetwood blows that TC away. Take a second look guys, that body style is really the flagship 'Cadillac Style' that's so talked about.

If you got to drive both of those I think you would all change your minds. The TC's during those years were much less car than they had been in the past.

 

[Moby and Lucille]

I love my Towncar, if I voted anything else I'd feel like I was betraying it.

Owner of a 1989 Towncar here, I love it! But I still voted for the caddy (Judas!)

 

[Conti94]

I like the TC much better than the Fleetwood, hands down, exterior and interior, I do have to say though I like the later 80's TC'S rear better than the early 80's, compared to the pictured TC, I think the back of the Cadillac looks better. :Beer

 

[Jason_MarkVI]

I loved Town Car's grills alots!!

 

[jock82]

I had a 1983 Fleetwood Brougham de' elegance and I think it was and still is one of
the classiest designs Cadillac has done, sorry, but that town car IMHO cannot compete
with the Fleetwoods

 

[pro-five-oh]

Well that Fleetwood pictured still has complete tail fin and bumper extensions, and the TC isn't the 1986 model with port EFI, so that makes the competition a little tougher...no it doesn't, the TC is still better.

 

[Moby and Lucille]

I don't think either one is out of the other's league, and even styling cues like the front end and the rear end and the side and the dash are almost neck and neck in my opinion, the only reason that I can say in any confidence that I like the caddy better really is it's stance, it's poise, it's proportions.

To me, on the town car, the trunk it too short, the windows are too tall, and the roof is too wide (there's not enough of an inward slant on the windows) I also don't like how on the 80-84 when viewed head on or full rear, like the pictures I posted, have bumpers that are wider than the car and jut out.

The 85-89 don't have that problem, as their bumpers actually wrap into the body itself quite nicely, and some, like Conti 94, actually like the rear of the later 80's better than the 80-84, but I don't. The back is too plain in my opinion. It's not ugly, it's very stately in fact, I just don't like it as well because it's plainer looking and most of all, it's inward slope just agrivates the disproportion situation by making a too short trunk look even shorter. Also, it's inward slope is less suited for a sedan and more suited for a coupe. (On which it would look a lot nicer.)

The side panels, with their in-body door handles (thank you 1971 Ford LTD!) and the largish, sporty wheel well bulges are a lot cooler on the lincoln then on the caddy though. And the turbine rims win the Lincoln that way too. But the back end goes to caddy with it's sculpted fall back and big rocket fins protruding just enough, not too little, not too much. Granted, it's the caddy's best feature, but hey.

It's like I said, in a match of style, I'd almost have to call a tie, but my vote goes to the caddy cause all of it's style fits together better. If the 80's Lincoln had the proportions of the 70's Lincoln, then I might well be calling my vote for it instead.