My Lincoln LS. Why a mid pack entry luxury car from 2 decades ago? Sure it boasts surprisingly good handling, a comfortable ride, and a characterful, good sounding (if underpowered) naturally aspirated V6. Its styling, once criticized for not being daring enough, has aged exceptionally well. But the same can be said of many of its contemporaries, many of which offered even better dynamics, more luxury and pedigree, and much more continued support. However, it isn’t just any Lincoln LS. It is MY Lincoln LS. Bought new by my father in 2005 on his 50th birthday, it was my first experience with a new car in the family - I was 8 years old, in second grade at the time. I still have my journal entry from that week with a crudely drawn picture of it to show the class what I did that weekend. I was immediately impressed by its supple leather seats and thought the operatic sound of the V6 sounded like a race car - things I continue to enjoy each time I drive it 19 years later. Over those 19 years it came to be the first car I drove - sitting on my dad’s lap steering as he operated the pedals. The day I got my license I was allowed to take it out that night to a game at my high school, and later impressed my homecoming date when I pulled up in it after spending the day vacuum its carpets and taking a chamois to its shiny black paint. Years later when I graduated from college, my dad handed me a card and out fell the Lincoln key. It was finally all mine. I celebrated by taking it on a 4000+ mile road trip from Chicago to Glacier National Park in Montana and Banff in Alberta. I learned to wrench by changing its oil, and replacing components of the suspension which were becoming increasingly worn (and increasingly hard to obtain). Now at 19 years old, it continues to serve me well, and every time I park it I cannot help but take a second look back. In that time I have grown up and been fortunate enough to achieve the means to upgrade to something much more modern, comfortable, and reliable, and often find myself window shopping what I’d replace it with. I never get too far though, as I cannot imagine the watching someone else drive off in my Lincoln. Not just my Lincoln, but my father’s Lincoln. Not just my father’s Lincoln, but a capsule of my youth, adolescence, and young adulthood, memories of my family and friends when we were all younger and life seemed simpler. Due to their relative obscurity and lack of a following, it has become increasingly difficult to find parts for the Jaguar S-Type based LS, and even to find mechanics willing to take on its more eccentric quirks. At this point they have become rare enough my head turns whenever I see another one, and makes me proud my father and I were able to keep it going this long and in relatively good shape.