|
The Lincoln Town Car is a full-size luxury sedan that was sold by Lincoln from the 1981 to the 2011 model years. Some units have been converted into a stretch limousine; it was the most commonly used limousine and chauffeured car in the United States and Canada. The Town Car nameplate for the 4-door sedan was first introduced in 1959 to the Lincoln Continental Mark IV, and then to Mark V lineup, each as a top-of-the-line luxury 4-door sedan. The nameplate became a permanent part of the Continental lineup again in 1969, and beyond that year with special editions of the brand denoting its highest-trim interior package. In 1981, the Town Car became a stand-alone model in the Lincoln product line, superseding the Continental as the flagship for the Lincoln brand as well as for Ford Motor Company. Its large dimensions made it the largest car in production in North America. From 1997 to 2003, the Town Car was the longest car (but not the heaviest) built in the Western Hemisphere, measuring nearly in length for a standard Town Car and for an L Edition.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Official Lincoln Town Car technical specifications )〕 == Overview == In English, "Town Car" is a literal translation of the French term "Sedan de Ville", a nameplate introduced by Cadillac in 1956. Both names refer to a classic style of limousine popular in the 1920s which had an open chauffeur's compartment in the front. While the Cadillac was a styled as a four-door hardtop, Lincoln made its modern models visually suggest their older namesakes. Many examples from the 1970s and 1980s had a vinyl roof style that swept down the center pillar as part of a raised molding, complete with opera lamps, suggesting a partition between front and rear seats while no vinyl was applied to the front section of the roof over the driver. Other models had a full-length vinyl roof. The Town Car name first appeared in the Lincoln line in 1922, on a custom-built Lincoln made for Henry Ford.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Roaring 20s )〕 The name reappeared in 1959, on a special limousine-like version of the Lincoln Continental Mark IV; it was available only in black and was identifiable by a unique padded vinyl top, a rarity at that time. After 1959, the Town Car name went dormant for 10 years, reemerging as an interior option package for the 1969 Lincoln Continental. It next appeared as a trim option in 1970 ("Continental's Town Car Interior option", to quote from the 1970 deluxe catalog), and thereafter continued through 1980 as the top-line trim option package for the Lincoln Continental. Again, the Town Car trim featured an extra plush interior (Media velour cloth) along with more standard equipment. The Town Car badge has always been applied to sedans, but from 1973 to 1981, there was a similar option for coupes called the Lincoln Continental Town Coupe'. In 1981, the Town Car became a separate model from the Continental in preparation for further downsizing of the latter; aside from the closely related Continental Mark VI, it became the last full-size Lincoln in the lineup. Since its introduction, there have been three generations of the Town Car, introduced in 1981, 1990, and 1998. Each of these received a substantial refresh approximately halfway through its production cycle, in 1985, 1995, and 2003. Featuring a standard V8 engine, body-on-frame design, rear-wheel drive and large exterior and interior dimensions,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Forbes, Lincoln Town Car review, 2006 )〕 the Town Car was based on the Ford Panther platform. This gave it powertrain and suspension commonality with the Mercury Grand Marquis and the Ford LTD Crown Victoria (later the Crown Victoria). This design made them durable even in the rough conditions taxi and livery cars are subjected to, and easy and cheap to repair when they did suffer damage.〔http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/1443706 〕 Town Cars are typically operated in commercial service for at least 400,000 miles.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lincoln Town Car」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|