Sad day for Detroit. Rest in peace; Ford Crown Victoria.

[Whitehouse]

Link

A eulogy by Jalopnik.

Today, the Ford Crown Victoria, a slope-nosed metal box with an unquenchable thirst for gas built with manufacturing methods Henry Ford would have recognized, died after 32 years of production. Here's why its passing marks the sad end of a great American era.
The vibrant white Crown Victoria that rolled off its Candian assembly line this afternoon marks the last of a V8-powered breed, an endangered species of vehicles that modern America was built by and for. It's not that the "Panther" platform underpinning the Vic, the Lincoln Town Car and other models was ever groundbreaking — it was derided as slow and small from the moment it launched in 1979.

Yet no other American car has ever proven as durable, which is why Ford built 9.6 million of them. Taxi and police fleets routinely put 200,000 miles on Crown Vics and Town Cars. Having its body built separate from its frame meant Crown Vics could survive collisions that would total lesser unit-body vehicles. And police departments grew to rely on them not just for their roominess and durability; hitting a curb at high speed in a Crown Vic wouldn't end a pursuit by bending a drive shaft the way it could in a front-wheel-drive car. It even does well off-road.

Even though most of the Panthers built became taxis or cop cars, the Panther cars were superior interstate cruisers. They came from the era when thousands of children were tortured by squirming next to their siblings on road trips, without infotainment cocoon and yacht-quality captain's chairs to save them from the inspirations of boredom.

By the 1990s, older Crown Vics became sought after by hot rodders; there's often still no cheaper way to get a V8 car turning its rear wheels, just like the 1932 Ford V8s that sparked hot-rodding culture in America. All engines make noise, and a modern turbocharged four-cylinder can surpass the Crown Vic's power, but a V8 makes a feeling, a tremor that transmits through steel and plastic and time.

The official cause of the Crown Vic's death is neglect. The Panther platform made a mint for Ford over the years, but the line was already a corporate stepchild by the late 1980s. The last major coin dropped by Ford on those models came in 2003 with the souped-up Mercury Marauder, which only exists because the executive in charge was a member of the Ford family. Today they're collectors items, a status rare among Ford sedans from the past two decades.

It wasn't a lack of money or know-how or popular demand that doomed the Crown Vic and the Town Car; making old tech new is how Ford has made the F-Series pickup America's most popular vehicle, and taxi companies have been hoarding the last Panthers they could buy. Rather, it was a lack of will by Ford, a bet on technology and global engineering rather than simplicity and affordability.

The Crown Vic isn't the last American rear-wheel-drive V8 sedan, but thanks to a combination of regulations and avarice, it may be the last one that's accessible — not just to everyday buyers, but to people who love it enough to make it their own. Just as Henry Ford imagined his cars should be.

[401don]

Sad day for 1200 workers in St. Thomas too.

[Whitehouse]

And here it is, the last ever FCV.

[Bigb23]

Crown Vic ? Saw that backseat once. Never again. Now the Impala ----------------

[Jimaz]

So is it true they'll be replaced by Chargers in police fleets? Will that be true for all police fleets? I saw a police Charger in [[I think) Shelby Twp. recently.

[Magnatomicflux]

We'll see, Jimaz. I think the Charger will have the lions share of cruisers from here on out, but Ford is supposed to be releasing a new police interceptor this year, if not already[[my money is on the Taurus) to replace the Vic. It could very well be a whole new, police specific vehicle, but I doubt it. GM also has a new Caprice for police, but I don't know if it's out yet. Then there's some company out there making police cars only. I think it's called the E7. Designed by police, for police.

[Rochelle St.]

The E7 is made by Carbon Motors.
Hope we get to see some Chargers in Detroit Police livery soon, they should look cool.

[luckycar]

I've got 2 CVs and a Grand Marq.if you got to have one.Priced to sell......

[Russix]

I had 1987 Grand Marquis Coupe.
I stripped pretty much everything that was non-essential to it's operation[[interior had been trashed).
Tuned up it ran pretty fast. Always wanted to drop a 351 Windsor with T-56 trans in it and go Mustang hunting.

[downtown_racine]

I too had a Grand Marquis coupe back in the day, it was an 1986 and was a nice car to drive and had nice crushed velvet interior and power everything.
The late model CV's were built with some of the most durable and proven bulletproof parts its no wonder they last forever. And being body on frame its damn near an F150. All good cars from Ford. Only brand I'll be buying.

[East Detroit]

New police interceptor is here: http://www.ford.com/fordpoliceinterceptor

Michigan State Police test is this weekend.

[manualshift]

New police interceptor is here: http://www.ford.com/fordpoliceinterceptor

Looks like a Taurus.

[DetroitPlanner]

Looks like a Taurus.

Thats cuz it is, with cop brakes, cop engine, cop suspension......

[Whitehouse]

Is every police car equiped with automatic transmission or are there also stick-shift examples? I was raised with the stick shift. Never drove an automatic, and I'm 42 years old...

Ladies and gentlemen; I think we have a debate.

[Bigb23]

I've got 2 CVs and a Grand Marq.if you got to have one.Priced to sell......

Where were you three weeks ago, Luckycar? A battle car would be a plus.

[FlyingJ]

i don't think Phoenix PD's Jason Schechterle[[retired) will miss the Crown Vic much... http://www.azfamily.com/video/featur...118688919.html

[Don K]

Back in the 80's and 90's, when CV's and Town Cars sold to actual customers as opposed to fleets [[and the Grand Marquis was in production), I would silently thank the owners of the Panther-platform cars for having contributed to my profit sharing or bonus. Those things were dirt cheap to assemble and sold for decent money. But as far back as the late 80's I said those would be the perfect cars for Ford to milk for all the profits they could and then drop, because they weren't drawing a younger generation of buyers. The demographic for these cars just kept getting older and older, and inevitably dying off, until it just wasn't profitable to to keep them in production.

Now I'm of an age [[57) where I wouldn't even consider them for buying [[too much like Dad's cars), but I will admit to a twinge of regret that the last vestige of the Big American Car is gone. Having said that, the world has moved on, and I'm more than happy driving the modern generation of mid-sized cars [[Fusion/Malibu/Camry/Accord/Mazda6). They're faster, better handling, get better gas mileage, and feel better on long trips than the overly-cushioned examples of the Golden Age.

[Bigb23]

Now I'm of an age [[57) where I wouldn't even consider them for buying

You old coot, grasp your heart, and thank your lucky stars. from another 57 year old.

[English]

Like many Detroiters & Michiganders, I have a lead foot. The Crown Victoria profile in my mind is a cop car, period -- and I'm going to get a speeding ticket. It's not until they pass and I see the regular plate on the back [[instead of the municipal/government X) that I realize I'm not on the hook for a speeding ticket.

I worked with a great older guy who drove a CV. He said it was annoying because folks always thought he was the police. So they'd always slow waaaaaay down just as he was hustling to get to work, or pretty much anywhere!

Rest in peace, CV. I will drive safely and in your memory, promise never to go more than 5-10 over.

[rid0617]

First entry 1999 Police Interceptor, 105,000 miles, 16,000 miles on new engine and transmission thanks to the City of Augusta, GA




Second entry is the car under the cover in the above picture. 1989 Crown Vic with 71,209 actual miles. Neither of these cars will ever be sold as long as I'm alive



I have drove these going back to the 1973 Galaxie 500. Then the first police car I drove was a 1978 LTD. Favorite body style. Never owned anything for Ford/Mercury Motor Company full size sedan. If anyone is curious the white car with the tan canvas top is a 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis special edition, 110,684 miles.

[gumby]

The E7 is made by Carbon Motors.
Hope we get to see some Chargers in Detroit Police livery soon, they should look cool.

We've got them up here in Flint

[mikefmich]

I was going to buy the newly designed '94 Mustang, but decided to wait until they ironed the wrinkles out of it, came home with a '93 Crown Vic that day instead. That puppy cost me only about $18,500 and it was a great cruiser with decent mileage for what it was....I had the police model too.

I did buy a Mustang a year later, but kept the Crown Vic for 5 more years. Got good money out of it when I sold it, often wish I didn't sell and ran it until the wheels fell off.

[MojoRacer]

NARCO VICI WAS A COOL CAR N EASY @ LIFT AND PUT UPON 4s Or 6s n room 4 lots of subs in da trunk

[rid0617]

I was going to buy the newly designed '94 Mustang, but decided to wait until they ironed the wrinkles out of it, came home with a '93 Crown Vic that day instead. That puppy cost me only about $18,500 and it was a great cruiser with decent mileage for what it was....I had the police model too.

I did buy a Mustang a year later, but kept the Crown Vic for 5 more years. Got good money out of it when I sold it, often wish I didn't sell and ran it until the wheels fell off.

You would have still been running the wheels off that crown. Many are documented past 300,000 with the same engines and transmissions. That's the reason I have no intention of ever selling mine. Long way to go to get to that point

[ordinary]

I almost had a tear in my eye as I read the eulogy.
I made my [[then aged 19) daughter buy an '89 Marquis. I told her, "You were born in '89 and this car was built in '89. That's perfect." She balked at first but she named him Wally and they became good friends. I told her that someday she would look back and say that Wally was the best car she ever had. She doesn't believe me.