Exactly ten years ago, I fulfilled a young man’s dream - not that I fitted that description any more by at least three decades – of buying a car I had coveted since first I saw the model, as a brash twenty-six year old, semi-qualified accountant in Sydney Australia. My first child/daughter was but fourteen months old, “The Horse With No Name” was number one on Billboard and NASA had just launched Pioneer 10 on its Jupiter exploratory. I had as much chance of owning what struck me then, as the most beautiful car ever built, eclipsing even a 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III, as replacing Sean Connery as James Bond. This then is the car itself. A 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV V8 Coupe which many believe ranks second only to the now classic ‘66 suicide-door model favored by US Presidents. The picture was taken just last year at home in Colorado

The vehicle looks and drives exactly as it did when Rosa Schwartz drove it out of the showroom in Florida early 1972 having just handed over $7,995 for the privilege. It is completely original from the carpet in the trunk to the unmarked vinyl roof.

The door id

Directly above the glove-box

At the time, all I knew was that the car once belonged to someone called Rosa Schwartz. It mentions that on the original sales paperwork and obviously she was excessively proud of the car, emblazening the door handles with her initials and a small name plaque on the passenger side of the dashboard.

For several years I gave no thought to Ms. Schwartz ... why would I? it was mine now. What I do recall with vivid clarity, is driving along 17^th Avenue in Longmont, on my way to the store for some needed shopping mid March of 2017, my mind on nothing particular, when I heard or thought I heard something whisper softly, almost right beside me “Take care of her.” It was definitely a female voice. I pulled over and waited for some minutes hoping to hear further. I was rewarded with silence. Later, I figured I would do some research on Rosa Schwartz.

Such that Google could find were mostly spelt “Schwarz” which let them out immediately. Thinking logically then – Rosa bought the car in 1972 – she certainly wouldn’t have been a teenager. I discovered incidentally that she sold it in April 2002 to the only other person who ever owned it. He traded it in on another car in 2011 and I bought it from that car-yard just a few days later – it’s third owner. So Rosa had the Lincoln for 30 years – she could hardly be on active duty with the US army. Almost hoping I wouldn’t find her, I searched “Obituaries for Rosa Schwartz.” Bingo!

Rosa Schwartz (b, December 15 (just 3 days after me) 1939 – died March 7^th 2017 aged 78) I believe I heard from her that day on 17^th Avenue just a week or so after she died. What I realize now however, is that it is still Rosa’s beloved car ... I’m just looking after it for her.