The Town Car was the last identifiable – and successful – Lincoln before Ford management pulled the plug.
Ford Motor Company has sold 239 acres of the former Wixom Assembly Plant in Michigan to Trident Barrow Management, a privately held New York based real estate speculator. Ford retains about 78 acres, possibly land that might need an environmental cleanup before sale. In 2012, Barrow successfully acquired close to 10,000,000 square feet of “obsolete” manufacturing facilities situated on 400 acres of land in the Midwest and Northeast Markets of the United States.
The Wixom plant opened in 1957 and produced numerous vehicles over the years, including the Lincoln Continental, Town Car, LS, Mark VI, VII and VIII, as well as the Ford Thunderbird (an LS underneath and with the same interior) and Ford GT. Ford stopped production at the Wixom Assembly Plant in 2007 as sales of Lincoln vehicles, by then thinly disguised re-badged Ford models, plummeted.
The city of Wixom’s newly created Planned Unit Development District recently created by a revised ordinance will provide the new owners flexibility to develop a range of different property uses, including manufacturing, research and development, office and limited retail. Demolition of the 239 acres will begin by the end of March.
“Our goal is to make this property an asset with long-term value,” said Brian Wilson, co-founder of Barrow Development Group. “Although it’s too early to determine future plans for the site, we will collaborate with both the city and the community when planning for future development.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
