Last of the BIG Lincolns

by David Burrell They do not make them like Bill Kington’s 1970s Lincolns anymore. He has five of them and whenever he takes one out for a ...

by David Burrell

They do not make them like Bill Kington’s 1970s Lincolns anymore.

He has five of them and whenever he takes one out for a drive it always attracts attention.

“I get the thumbs up, lots of cheery waves and stares of disbelief that such a big car actually exists,” Bill told us.

Make no mistake, Bill’s Lincolns are huge automobiles. At six and a half meters long and over two meters wide they occupy a decent piece of roadway.

Bill acquired his collection on impulse.

“I went to a classic car show with a friend who is a collector," he said.

"A 1970s Mercury was being negotiated into a tiny car space and jiggling like a jelly in the process.

"It looked like fun to me. My friend explained that a late 70s American car had all the comforts of modern cars and are very keenly priced compared to a similar aged Australian classic.

"By that night I had bought a 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V coupe and within 12 months had I bought three 1979 Lincoln Town Cars.”

Bill is right about the current price of late 70s American autos. You can land a low mileage, fully optioned example in Australia for under $25,000.

One of Bill’s Town Cars has a mere 10,000km on it. “It’s like new and still has that new car smell," he said.

“They tended to be bought by retired folk, who had a bit of money, and who kept them in top condition and did not drive them long distances."

So how does Bill decide which car to drive?

“That’s easy,’’ he admits, “I rotate them out of a storage facility as often as possible. I have an aim of improving each one a little bit while it is in the garage. It maybe a touch up of the paint, or cleaning it or having it serviced.”

Some folks have all the fun!

David Burrell is the editor of retroautos

 

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