A shot from the recent outdoor car show here in town. ^__^

You're looking at the bow of a 1976 Lincoln Continental in a hue the Lincoln's '76 colour chart called Shoreline Gold; an apt name for a car that I photographed practically within a stone's throw of the beach.

I miss the days when cars had interiors like this Connie -- it was two-tone cream and gold from the headliner to the carpet. Even the leather seats were two-toned! Naturally, the "rich woodgrain appliques" that festooned the interiors of this era's American luxury cars was a lot of genuine imitation plastic fantastic, but who cares...it looked awesome.

I once briefly owned a blue-and-white 1979 example of this car, and as much as I enjoyed seeing this one, it did not inspire nostalgia. I made the nautical connection by calling the front end a bow for a reason: I think that car was roughly 132 feet long and it steered with all the quick, lively responsiveness of The Queen Mary. It didn't help that the government-mandated mid-'70s emissions controls (which were environmentally beneficial, mind you) sucked all of the horsepower out of what was still a massive engine, leaving a car that couldn't get out of its own way and still guzzled fuel like, well...The Queen Mary.

A Crossfolf Camera Presentation. :)