I just had a remarkable experience in a car — but it's rapidly vanishing
Most new cars have a quality of staying new longer.
This is a good thing generally, but back in the day, cars would develop more character as they got older. Who can forget that first ride in a well-weathered Volvo 240 station wagon from the 1980s? Not me.
A decade or more ago, a special type of car ruled the streets of New York City: the Lincoln Town Car.
It was the preferred vehicle of high-end car services. It was usually black. It was built on what was known as a "body on frame" architecture, which was a throwback to the large rides of the 1960s and '70s.
As these cars performed their service to the population of the Big Apple, driving high-priced magazine editors around the city, bringing well-heeled bankers and lawyers back home from Wall Street and Midtown to their residences on the Upper East Side, and taking countless passengers to the region's airports, their already plush ride got softer. More importantly, their leather rear seats took on the patina and quality of a wonderful old couch.
The comfort was off the charts. Mmm ... mmm ... mmm!!!
But it's all going away, as spiffy new Uber-mobiles arrive on the scene and the legendary Town Car, discontinued by Lincoln in 2011, fades from view.
Well, not quite yet. Some glorious old Town Cars have moved into taxi fleets, and I encountered one in Brooklyn about two weeks ago.
The second I landed in that back seat, I knew I was in for a special ride.
My lord, look at that seat! The exquisite leathery plushness! The worn-in texture! I want it in my house. Well, maybe my garage.
It was the most comfortable ride-for-hire I've taken in years — in a cab, in an Uber, in a car service, heck, even in some of the very luxurious vehicles I've been fortunate enough to test out. Ford and Lincoln just got it right with those Town Car seats.
Thank you, beat-up old Town Car. Thank you.
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