As I’m sure my fellow Calgarians know, it snowed last night. Lots.

There’s no denying it anymore; winter has arrived. That means it’s time to convert cars to winter mode and/or park them for a while. The Focus and Grand Prix are still both in summer mode but that’s okay, Last night – thanks to Mario – the Thunderbird was parked in storage and in its place in the garage now is our trusty old Continental.

It has been a number of months since we even saw it, let alone drive it. All it did was sit in a storage bin collecting dust. The decision was made that this winter it’d be brought home and I’d use it on the bad days while the Focus stayed inside, safe and clean. For those following along, yes the Focus did start as a winter car for the Grand Prix. Now it’s being preserved too. At this rate, by next winter I’ll be parking this one as well….

Anyway, here’s Big Red. ’98 Lincoln Continental. Rust-free, accident-free, super comfy and an outstanding cruising car. It was my father’s, and my grandfather’s before that, so I’m the third generation in this family to drive it.

My first jobs on the to-do list are to give it a good cleaning to remove months of dust, and inspect/service the whole car. Fortunately it already has its winter tires on so it is good to go in that regard. There are a few pieces I want to repair or replace (worn trim pieces and the like from 15 years of age) but not too much. I intend to keep this one as it is.

-Bill