Thats an interesting trade. I can sort of relate in a backwards way. My first car was a 86 Cougar with messed up 3.8 engine and sorry 3 speed auto tranny and all kindof probs. I still think its a really cool body style though. Next car was my uncles 89 Mercedes 190E 2.6 faster than the cougar by a long shot...not great off the line but would really move on the highway with tall gears and high power band. Dad is driving my Mercedes now but its still mine
Someone gave us this 87 Lincoln Continental. So now I'm back to being a little slower but this time with alot more potential for the future and double the torque from the small block 5.0...extra 1000 pounds too which kinda slows it down. The mercedes had really nice handling in comparison and was borderline sports car in some respects...really nice on curves. Mercedes also had some excellent 4 wheel discs brakes and could stop on a dime. Lincoln has 4 wheel discs so its impressive for a boat but still doesn't compare. So anyways I can totally relate to the differences you are seeing just not in the same proportions of fun-ness