Good morning, Autopians! Can you believe it’s Thursday already? Why, it seems like yesterday it was only Wednesday. Anyway, today we’re taking a trip to Long Island, that spit of land jutting out from the East Coast like it’s giving Europe the finger, to take a look at a pair of luxury sedans. But first, let’s see which Rocky Mountain SUV you chose yesterday:
Attracted to shiny things, are we? Can’t say I’m surprised; that Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ really does seem like a great deal, overzealous Armor-All application notwithstanding. And as some commenters pointed out, it may actually be a V8, even without the badge; in ’96 Chrysler decided the V8 didn’t need no stinking badges. I was not aware of that. We’ve learned something, and knowledge is power – in this case horsepower.
Now, if you want to find a luxury car for cheap, where do you look? Wealthy neighborhoods. Rapidly changing fashions combined with near-overnight depreciation makes for a steady supply of fancy rides at rock-bottom prices. Combine that with a fairly contained geography, which means there isn’t all that far to drive, and you can find luxury cars with nice low miles, too. Such is the case with these two. One is a Japanese upstart, and the other is an old-school American land yacht, but both offer the near-requisite combination of rear-wheel-drive and V8 power. Let’s see which one does it better.
2001 Infiniti Q45t – $4,999
Engine/drivetrain: 4.1 liter dual overhead cam V8, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Smithtown, NY
Odometer reading: 130,000 miles
Runs/drives? Oh yeah
It wasn’t long ago that the concept of a Japanese luxury car sounded far-fetched. Yeah, your friend’s dad’s Accord was a nice car, and the air conditioning was a treat compared to the sticky brown vinyl in your mom’s Rabbit, but you couldn’t exactly call it luxurious. Not like your uncle’s Oldsmobile with the pillow-top seats that you sank into, or that fancy convertible they drove in Hart To Hart. How times have changed.
When Nissan and Toyota decided to take on the luxury sedan market, they didn’t mess around. Both Japanese giants released rear-wheel-drive V8-powered sedans under new nameplates, and aimed them squarely at the Germans. Toyota, as usual, played it safe with the Lexus LS400; they went for quality, and simply made the absolute best car possible. Nissan, always more daring, lavished the Infiniti Q45 with a whole host of techno-wizardry to complement the cushy seats and wood trim, including HID headlights and electronically adjustable shocks. A touchscreen navigation system was also available (heady stuff in 2001), but this car doesn’t appear to have it.
What it does have is a 4.1 liter quad-cam V8, sending 267 horsepower to the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic, the only transmission available. It’s outclassed today, but it was no slouch back then. This one has only 130,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs great.
In terms of overall condition, it looks nice outside, but the leather surfaces inside are a little beat-up, especially the back. It makes me wonder if kids or dogs were riding back there. Generally, though, it’s in fine shape. These cars kind of fly under the radar, so don’t be surprised if friends and family reply with “you bought a what?” after you tell them about it. But that’s fine. Nobody considers a twenty-year-old luxury car as any sort of status symbol anyway. Just enjoy it because it’s a nice car.
2003 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 4.6 liter overhead cam V8, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Commack, NY
Odometer reading: 106,000 miles
Runs/drives? Sure does
Want something a little less complex? Don’t quite trust “them foreign cars?” Need room for five good friends and a trunk full of whatever needs moving? We’ve got you covered. The Lincoln Town Car rides (or rather, floats) on Ford’s Panther chassis, which can be found under millions of police cars, taxis, and grandmothers’ going-to-church sedans. These things are still worshipped by owners who love them, more than a decade after the last one rolled off the assembly line.
As befits a classic-style American luxury car, the Town Car features a split bench seat that allows three-across seating, which necessitates a column shift for the four-speed automatic. I don’t know how often these things were actually driven with a passenger in the middle spot in the front; it doesn’t seem very luxurious to me. But the option is there. Unlike most lesser Panther cars, the Town Car rides on air suspension that isolates passengers from all that decaying-infrastructure unpleasantness. It’s all about comfort in these.
This particular Signature Series Town Car is in a nice two-tone silver, a welcome break from the black or pearlescent white you usually see them in. It’s still a pretty boring color, but you don’t want something like this in bright orange anyway (or do you? I don’t know). Unfortunately it also has a vinyl roof, but it could be worse. It could be one of those stupid fake convertible tops.
As befitting a full-size sedan, it has a great big trunk. Plenty of room for carrying luggage to and from the airport, or – let’s just make the joke – “former associates” from “the place” to “the other place.” You may want to get the trunk carpet steam-cleaned, or maybe replaced, just to be on the safe side.
Being on a budget doesn’t have to mean missing out on the finer things. You just need to shop around a bit. Cheap used luxury cars can sometimes be a nightmare, but one of these is Japanese, and the other is Paleolithic Era technology, so reliability shouldn’t be much of an issue. Which one will it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Panther platform: It’s for the one time Miata isn’t the answer.
The ’03 Town Car is just such a sad, sad car.
Ford/Lincoln put out the new ’98 Town Car and dismissed the ridiculous padded vinyl tops, cheap chrome, and hood ornaments that were associated with the Town Car for the previous decade-plus. The ’98 Town Car was a sleek, clean, art deco-inspired ride that was almost muscular and, in the right color, sinister. But the dealers and the customers were apparently having none of it, because…
The ’03 update re-embraced the clownish buffoon-ery of the malaise era, gun-sight hood ornament and all.
Both of these are enticing cheap, RWD, V8 luxobarges. You all know how I feel about luxobarges. I’d happily rock either of these but if I have to choose I’m going Lincoln for simplicity. You can keep these panther bodies going with toothpicks and bubblegum. I’d throw a nice exhaust on here so I can enjoy that V8 rumble and cruise around blasting 36 Chambers.
God; this one makes up for the Malaise “2 bad choices” poll from earlier. Two honestly good choices that I would seriously consider outside of a hypothetical.
I like the Q for being a bit left-field and having some decent power, but if you’re gonna go big, comfy, and reliable, go BIG, go COMFY, and go RELIABLE. Town Car takes the win for me.
If have the panther as a choice, go with the panther.
I am going to go against common sense and take that fancy Nissan, it’s simply too cool to pass up.
That was my vote too; I’m a sucker for fancy Japanese luxobarges. Mind you, either of these would be pretty sweet.
Man, I miss those Towncars. I don’t want to own one, of course, but I loved riding in them.
In the barely pre-Uber days and after several frustrating experiences with the local taxicab companies (not bothering to answer the phone, taking forever to show up, not understanding me as I sloooooowly repeated my address again and again) my airport routine involved reserving a Towncar. The company was much more professional (allowing me to reserve my ride in advance and actually honoring the appointment — always there 5 minutes early) and only ever so slightly more expensive than a taxi. After a long flight, there was nothing quite like slipping into the back seat of one of these and just gliding home. I’d much rather ride in one of these than a clapped-out Prius with cheap Pep Boys seat covers, but Uber’s vehicle age cutoff precludes them from being used. Too bad.
Oh, and I once rode in the middle of the front bench seat! It was when I was a small child having served as the ring bearer in a family member’s wedding. They had rented a small fleet of towncars to transport the wedding party from the church to the reception venue. The car had a real hood ornament, and I thought it was cool that it looked like the crosshairs from one of the video games I’d played.
That’s a great price for the best of the Panther bodies. Yes, even better than the Marauder. The Town Car skips any performance delusions and focuses on what this platform does best. The vinyl roof looks worse for wear, but it does fit the grandma/grandpa character of the car perfectly. The Infiniti is a lot less clean and is being flipped by a curbstoner posing as a private seller. The ratty leather and rusty hardware under the hood also make it overpriced IMO. Go sailing in the land yacht, I say!
Bad news, Ford fans. This Lincoln has the 4.6 with the unreinforced head. Meaning if the spark plugs were ever changed with the engine anything other than ice cold or overtorqued (13ft/lbs is the spec,) those threads are coming right out. It’s not a fun job when that happens. Especially as this should be the version with the longer threads.
I gotta go Infiniti on this one anyways, because the Q45’s basically impossible to kill with anything but rust. In fact, the VR41 found under the hood was the basis for the VRH40ADE they ran in Indycar up to 10kRPM. If they got multiple races out of a motor in that version, you can imagine how long the road version lasts.
This is a tough one. I’d love an old Q, but I’m not sure that this is the right one.
The Panthers are such a known quantity it’s not even funny. There is a lot to be said for sticking with Freddie Flintstone technology- it just works, and it will keep on working.
I voted for the Q, but if I inspected both of these in person, I’d probably change my mind.
When the squid people begin digging on land, Panther platforms will be some of the most well preserved evidence that there was a civilization with a semblance of intelligence on land. Those things are bomb proof
I’ll take the Infiniti. Honestly I was torn until I remembered that the Lincoln has air suspension, just enough of a potential headache to bring me into the Infiniti camp.
The Lincoln because its one of the few American cars that will run for 100’s of thousands of miles with few hiccups and with a proven drivetrain that can be kept up with cheap parts.
Yeah, this is one of the few times where having air-suspension means you dodged a bullet. The standard suspension on every Panther frame car I’ve been around eats all suspension bushings every 15k miles or so.
Still, very solid cars.
That’s interesting. A guy I know who worked on fleets told me the Fords are good for 300,000 miles on the suspension but the Dodge replacements only 150,000.
Will a Godzilla fit in the Town-Sized Car? 😀
And why were they so underpowered from the factory? The least they could’ve done is given it the 260 hp version from the Mustang GT of the time. The Marauder’s engine should’ve been available, or even standard, on the Town Car.
Most people convert the air suspension to coils anyway. Even Toyota can’t make a reliable air suspension. I wonder why it’s impossible to make one that actually works.
I voted for the Q45. It’s just a better car.
These were the best years for Infiniti. Understated and good looking. I’ll take the Q all day.
Gotta go with the Panther. If it had been between the Lincoln and a Lexus in similar shape, I would have voted for the Super-Toyota. But this Lincoln, with fewer miles and in great shape (assuming there’s no rust lurking under that vinyl top) is the way to go IMHO.
Also, thanks for the memories with the Hart to Hart reference.
Q-Ship all day
Normally you cannot go wrong with Infiniti/Lexus of this era, but when put up against a Panther which will be around long after we are gone….
I am not buying a Long Island Town Car because of the joke you mentioned. I lived in a city that they basically ran and this was the car of choice for the older guys until the A8L took over the role for the younger generation.
More importantly though the Infiniti doesn’t have a Landau top.
I’ve always like the first gen Q45s, in particular the grille-less ones before Infiniti’s capitulation to the boring people who actually buy luxury cars new.
But that Lincoln is in pretty nice shape and you can keep it running on junkyard parts until the suns burns out. Plus the mod V8 has has more performance parts to throw at it if you want to outrun a V6 Camry.
The pre-facelifts had plastic timing guides, unfortunately
This is going to be a close one. Currently 50/50 with 30 votes for each.
Personally, I went with the Infiniti. My parents had a first generation. It was a fun car to drive on my visits.
it’s a toss up for me. the Lincoln is really nice, but I have never had an Infinity, and this one is kind of a cool odd one.
I was only leaning to the Q at first, but the 267HP V8 sealed the deal.
Absolutely the Lincoln. Fewer miles, what appears to be better aesthetic condition, and these things are known for being very durable, reliable vehicles. They made them forever, worked out all the kinks and rarely changed anything. It’s not gonna turn any heads but it’s honest about what it is and you know what you’re getting. This is what gives me the biggest pause on the Nissan:
“Nissan, always more daring, lavished the Infiniti Q45 with a whole host of techno-wizardry to complement the cushy seats and wood trim, including HID headlights and electronically adjustable shocks. A touchscreen navigation system was also available (heady stuff in 2001), but this car doesn’t appear to have it.”
I don’t want a bunch of fancy electronic gizmos prone to failure on a 130,000 mile car that’s old enough to drink. The Lincoln isn’t as sleek or sexy, but I’d trust it much more as a reliable daily over the long haul.
Techno-wizardry will never trump the Mysterious Utility Wizard we learned about yesterday, but I’m going to with the Q over the Crown Vic in a tuxedo t-shirt.
I was wondering why this got moderated into oblivion, but looking it over, I can only assume the Coleco Adam powered AI flagged it for containing both “trump” and “Q”.
It was Definitely the tuxedo t-shirt reference!
I chose the Lincoln solely for the column shifter. We need to bring back column shifters!!!
Seriously, that over-engineered console shifter on the F-150 that folds down out of the way makes me want to beat somebody with a column shifter.
Right!!!! When I saw the dumbass Ford shifter that folds to make a desk, my first thought went to a damn column shift. I think the Superduty still has a column shift so it’s not like they don’t have something in the parts bin for it.
Now you’ve got my damn blood pressure up. I’m all sorts of agitated.
Town Car all day long. You can eat up the miles in that thing, just floating along. Plus, add a class 2 hitch and you can tow your bass boat to the ramp with enough room in the trunk for all your gear and a dead body.
If you have a body in the back, I assume you’re not taking that bass boat down to the lake to go fishing.
A rope tied to a bucket filled with concrete can be used as more than just a cheap boat anchor.
Causes a lot less questions as well