There are plenty of strange ways to modify a Lincoln Town Car, yet it’s difficult to imagine anything competing with this. Perched several feet above its roof is an enormous golden dragon stretched across what looks like an ornate Japanese temple.
Look lower and things get even wilder. Golden carvings cover much of the structure, with dragons, decorative panels, and intricate details surrounding the compartment where a coffin would traditionally be carried.
This isn’t somebody’s eccentric custom project built for car shows. It’s a Japanese-market Miyagata hearse, a highly elaborate style of funeral vehicle influenced by traditional Japanese architecture.
Now the 1997 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series has made its way to America and is looking for a new owner. According to its Mecum listing, it’ll cross the block without reserve at the auction house’s Las Vegas sale on November 14.
A Lincoln Wearing A Japanese Temple
The Town Car was converted into a Miyagata hearse for the Japanese market before being imported to the U.S. in late 2024. Mecum describes its elaborate exterior details as handcrafted in keeping with traditional Japanese funeral customs.
The conversion is hard to appreciate from specifications alone. Its towering rear structure features black, gold, and copper-colored elements, with the huge golden dragon dominating the roof and another maze of ornate carvings below.
Even the rear doors used to access the coffin compartment are heavily decorated. Against the Lincoln’s otherwise conventional black bodywork, the result is spectacular.
Underneath, It’s Still A Town Car
Look past all that decoration, and there’s a familiar 1990s American luxury sedan underneath. Power comes from Lincoln’s naturally aspirated 4.6-liter V8, producing 190 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque.
It’s paired with a four-speed automatic transmission and self-leveling air suspension. That last feature probably came in handy once somebody decided to install what amounts to a small temple on the back.
Up front, the cabin is surprisingly ordinary. Black leather upholstery, wood trim, automatic climate control, power accessories, and a digital instrument cluster make it look like a normal Town Car from behind the wheel, although a Panasonic head unit has also been fitted.
What Do You Even Do With It?
Despite being nearly three decades old, the Lincoln has apparently lived a fairly easy life. Its digital odometer shows just 19,717 miles.
Mecum hasn’t published a pre-auction estimate, and with no reserve, there’s no telling where bidding will end. Finding comparable sales isn’t exactly easy when the vehicle in question is a dragon-covered Japanese hearse based on a Lincoln Town Car.
Its next owner could preserve it, return it to funeral duty, or simply unleash it on the local Cars and Coffee circuit. Whatever happens, pretty much any car parked next to it is going to look boring.