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Nobody sets out to collect a 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car. It was 233 inches of four-door sedan, built by the tens of thousands, bought by people who wanted a quiet ride and a soft seat, and usually traded in when the next one came along. That is exactly why this 38-years-owned 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car on Hagerty Marketplace is worth a second look. The seller describes it as an original, non-restoration car, it is offered at no reserve, and the high bid was $2,400 as of Nov. 3. The auction ends Monday, Nov. 9 at 2:55 p.m. ET.
The Lincoln Everybody Bought in the 1970s
The Town Car name began as something far more exclusive. In 1959 and 1960, Lincoln offered a Continental Town Car as a coachbuilt formal sedan, and only 214 were built. The name came back in 1970 as a trim package with leather seating and deeper carpet, became a permanent flagship in 1972, and went on to be the most popular Lincoln of the decade.
By 1977 the Continental had grown into the largest mass-market car in the world, after General Motors and Chrysler downsized their full-size lines. It rode a 127.2-inch wheelbase and measured 233 inches nose to tail. For 1978, the 400-cubic-inch V8 became the standard engine, with the 460 as an option, and both were paired with Ford's C6 three-speed automatic. Lincoln built roughly 88,000 Continentals that year. Then the full-size Continental was downsized for 1980, which makes 1978 and 1979 the last years for this traditional, enormous version.
What the Seller Says About This One
According to the listing, this sedan was assembled at Lincoln's Wixom, Michigan plant and carries the 400 V8 and three-speed automatic. It is finished in white over a blue interior with blue exterior accents, pillow-top cloth seating, a padded vinyl top, opera lights and windows, power windows and locks, air conditioning, cruise control and a power antenna.
The ownership story is short. The seller states that the car has had two owners: the first from 1978 to 1988, and the second from 1988 to the present. The car is now being sold on behalf of the second owner's estate with a clean Michigan title. In the listing, the seller calls it "100% original with only wear parts replaced," including tires with fewer than 3,000 miles and a recently rebuilt original carburetor. Rear air shocks and a two-inch tow receiver have been added. In a reply to a bidder, the seller said the hitch was used twice a year to launch a ski boat at the family cottage in northern Michigan, where the car was driven in the summers.
Read the Mileage and the Flaws Before You Bid
This is not a low-mile time capsule, and the listing is careful about it. Hagerty's mileage field reads 10,000 miles, marked TMU, meaning true mileage unknown. In the comments, the seller wrote that the odometer has rolled over and now reads 109,000 miles, and that the marketplace's policy is to show only what the odometer displays. Anyone bidding should treat it as a six-figure-mile car.
The seller also lists known imperfections: exterior wear, an air conditioning system that does not blow cold, and a passenger-side rear power door lock that works intermittently. The seller also mentioned age cracks in the paint on the rear bumper filler. On Nov. 2, the seller posted additional undercarriage photos and said cold-start, tailpipe and driving videos had been sent to Hagerty for upload. As with every Hagerty Marketplace auction, the information comes from the seller, and bidders are responsible for their own inspection.
Why Anyone Would Want It Now
The case for a car like this is not horsepower or rarity. It is that cars like this were rarely kept. Big sedans of the era were commonly driven until they were worn out and replaced, which is part of what makes a long-held, unrestored example interesting to see in 2026. This Town Car also carries the kind of period details that a restoration tends to smooth over: the opera windows, the pillow-top cloth seating and the fender skirts that were redesigned for 1978 to uncover more of the rear wheels.
It also fits a pattern we keep noticing in the auction listings. A one-owner Mercedes-Benz S320 and a one-owner Pontiac Firebird Formula both got write-ups here for the same reason: someone held on to a car long after most people would have moved on. The family-hauler side of that story shows up in this 1950 GMC Carryall Suburban, and Lincoln's own oddball history gets a look in our story on the Lincoln Mark LT pickup.
Whether a 1978 Town Car is a project, a cruiser or a rolling piece of malaise-era luxury is up to the buyer. What is hard to argue is that it is a different kind of survivor than the usual muscle car or sports car. The listing includes 61 photos, and you can see the full description and bid history on the original Hagerty Marketplace listing.
