Dallas star Larry Hagman bought this car in the late 1980s, soon after it was converted from a stock Lincoln Town Car into a huge limousine with a deformed body, which shows exactly where the coachwork firm cut into it and welded it back. The actor reportedly never drove the car.
This 1988 Lincoln Town Car rolled off the production line wearing superb paintwork: Dark Cabernet Clearcoat Metallic. Soon after it was completed, the car ended up in the hands of Corporate Coachworks of Springfield, Missouri.
They were the ones who cut and welded, adding length but also width to the car. They widened it behind the front doors to turn the interior into a luxury lounge, hence the deformation.
Larry Hagman absolutely loved stretched limousines. He loved luxury lounges on wheels. He bought the modded Lincoln the moment it was ready. J.R. Ewing from "Dallas" was chauffeured around in it, while he was driving the Mercedes-Benz SL on his way to the Ewing Oil offices and back to the Southwark Ranch.
1988 was a record year for the model. Lincoln sold approximately 200,000 examples, which made it the brand's top-selling model. But the sales declined each year. The aging design and the territory that the redesigned Continental started to gain at the time took the spotlight off the Town Car.
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The "Dallas" star got the Lincoln to replace another custom build that he used: his 1985 Chrysler Executive limousine. He must have enjoyed the smooth ride offered by the limousine powered by a 5.0-liter V8 engine, mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. That engine is capable of 150 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, and there are no reports regarding any interference with its stock version.
He sat in the back, in the maroon leather seats, under the glass sunroof with ceiling-mounted mirrors, drinking champagne from the glasses stored safely in the wood cabinetry and watching TV shows on the Sony Trinitron TV installed in the back, in a recessed enclosure with a retractable door. A boomerang-style TV antenna was mounted on the rear decklid.
The chauffeur area integrates two individual seats in maroon letter upholstery, while the woodgrain trim on the dashboard and door panels recalls the elegance of bygone eras. The 36-year-old limousine features automatic climate control and cruise control, while power windows and door locks round up the equipment list.
The area is separated from that of the VIPs in the back by a power-operated partition wall, and the driver can receive commands from the rear area via intercom. The driver's seat shows signs of wear, which is clearly normal for a car that spent decades on the road.
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So long that it barely fits in pictures, you stare and wonder: would it need a third axle? The Town Car rides on steel 15-inch wheels with wire-style covers and a mixed set of 225/75 black wall tires. Power-assistant front discs and rear drums provide the stopping power.
Hagman subsequently sold the car and it went to Utah and then Nevada, before being purchased by the one who sold it over the weekend for only $14,250, which is way cheaper than the cheapest car in America right now: the 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage, which starts at $18,160. And it does not have a TV set on board.
To get the car ready for sale, the previous owner replaced the vinyl roof cover with a black one and repaired the sunroof. He also served the brakes and recharged the air conditioning system with refrigerant.
The chauffeur will handle the car with the help of the four-spoke multi-function steering wheel, sitting in front of the speedometer scaled up to 85 mph (137 kph). However, with the extra length and weight, the car might not be able to reach that speed anymore.
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The odometer shows 67,000 miles, but the real mileage is unclear. The Carfax report indicates a potential odometer rollover in December 1998, when the car was a decade old.
New bright trim, front bumper guards, quad headlights, opera lamps, and tinted windows are on the list of additional features. The listing on Bring a Trailer indicated one emblem bore holes in the left-front fascia, the left-rear deck lid, and behind-the-wheel arches on the front fenders.
The fluids were all changed before the sale. The Lincoln was sold with a Carfax report free of accidents and other reported damage and a clean Nevada title. Not Actual Mileage titles were issued in Utah between 2001 and 2004.
The Lincoln also drove in Germany, where it might have stretched her legs along the sectors with no speed limit of the autobahn. It returned to the United States in 2015. It passes California emissions testing that same year.
A California Certificate of Title, dating October 1995, certifies the 1988 Lincoln Town car once belonged to Larry Hagman and his wife, Maj.
Hagman passed away in November 2011 at the age of 81 after he had defeated liver cancer and lost battle with throat cancer.
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