Save the whales!

"Old-Busted-Hotness" (old-busted-hotness) 04/28/2019 at 05:38 • Filed to: None

10

11

I’m doing my part, brought this beast home today:

1988 Crown Vic, Southern car (no rust at all) with 49K on the odo. Real miles, no rollover. Original paint with not even a door ding. It drives like the Love Boat.

Captain’s quarters:

That’s a lot of blue velour. No cupholders, but I got 4 ashtrays. None of them have ever been used.

Now for the not-good stuff:

Won’t shift into OD. Probably the 3-4 shift valve is stuck. This may free up in time. It shifts fine otherwise, and the fluid smells OK. Will have a tranny guy look at it, there’s a good one locally.

Tires are junk. Brake inspection and tire change today, when it stops raining. Needs an alignment.

AC is inop, and it’s an R-12 system. So either find an outlaw to recharge it, or convert to 134.

Only one speaker works. But the power antenna works, too.

Fuel l eak, somewhere. That, I need to take care of right away.

Pretty short list for a 31 year old car.

Original window sticker included, shows $665 for the upgraded Brougham Roof Treatment and $167 for the High Level Audio System (which is gone, replaced by a Sony CD player that only plays thru one speaker). This was a $20,000 car in 1988 ($43,000 in today’s money).

Even with the problems, not bad for $6500. It’s got good bones. This is my third ‘88 CV and by far the nicest.

Old-Busted-Hotness > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 05:59

11

Two things that differ from a modern car:

Visibility is fantastic. You can see all 4 corners easily, the windows are so tall and pillars so thin it’s like driving a greenhouse.

Seatbelts release by pushing a chrome button in the middle of the buckle, not a red button at the side where the belt goes in .

I love luxury with no sporting pretensions. It’s not a BMW and doesn’t want to be.

Best of all, no touch screen.

Sovande > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 06:40

1

Good lord. I had no idea those cars could be worth that much.

It’s beautiful. I love the interior. Good luck and have fun! 

Jordan > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 07:42

0

Nice. That would be a good car for a road trip.

vondon302 > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 08:35

0

Cool boat! 

Old-Busted-Hotness > Sovande 04/28/2019 at 08:54

0

Most of them aren’t. I paid for low miles and lack of rust.

Also, turns out the fuel leak is just an O-ring on the sending unit, easy fix.

shop-teacher > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 09:31

0

Niiiiice!

someassemblyrequired > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 09:43

2

Ultimate panther gen (just wish they had kept the 2 door into that era ).  Great find, have fun with it!

Sovande > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 09:46

1

Nice! And I applaud the decision to find one with no rust. I am replacing floor pans in a 1983 Chevy Caprice Wagon and it’s a pain in the ass. 

Jayvincent > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 10:07

0

What dreamboat! Even has the period correct w hite walls. You are a true time traveler, rolling around in a 1988 bubble of joy. Enjoy it

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Old-Busted-Hotness 04/28/2019 at 10:58

0

That is one sharp car 

Tristan > Old-Busted-Hotness 05/11/2019 at 14:35

0

These are such fantastic cars. Simple, comfortable, reliable, well-built, capable of soaking up miles with respectable fuel economy, and easy to hot rod if that’s your prerogative .

On one hand, I’m glad they’re receiving some attention as classics and being appreciated. But on the other hand, I’m sad to see my cheap car of choice from my youth getting expensive! The most I ever paid for any of the several  I owned was $1,200 for my minty ‘83 two door. Usually I could pick them up for a couple hundred bucks, and I even bought a nice ‘85 Grand Marquis from a police auction for $30. I wish I still had one or two of those. They’re just such a joy to drive.