1962 Super duty, now that is a police car that demanded respect in my misspent youth.
Posted on 11/14/2010 10:37:47 AM PST by llevrok
Medford police Officer Jason Montalbano loves his Crown Victoria, its bulk, its toughness, its engine’s quiet purr. He takes his police cruiser to the car wash at least three times a week. He dangles a yellow “Vanillaroma’’ scent tree from the console to mask the stench of stogies smoked by the overnight patrol officers. And sometimes, late at night when the city is quiet, Montalbano, the son of a cop, will take the 250-horsepower sedan out onto Interstate 93 and hit the gas until he is flying down the open road.
Like his father and thousands of other officers across the country, Montalbano is a diehard Crown Vic devotee. For more than 30 years, the hulking, blunt, long-nosed car has been an officer’s battering ram, mobile office, dinner companion, and stoic partner. But now, that love affair is headed toward the scrap yard.
In 2011, the last Crown Vic will roll off the Ford assembly line to make way for a new police vehicle — the 2012 Ford Interceptor, a sleek cruiser with all-wheel drive, better gas mileage, and new gadgets, such as rearview cameras and radar sensors that detect vehicles in surrounding lanes. As the Crown Vics wear out, police departments will have to look for new options, and that realization has left some officers feeling despondent.
“Ford is making a big mistake,’’ said Quincy Officer Mike Foley, who has been driving Crown Vics for at least 12 years. “I will probably shed a tear when the last Crown Vic goes down the assembly line.’’
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Notice how all the cops on this thread are ignoring that little tidbit.
1962 Super duty, now that is a police car that demanded respect in my misspent youth.
The post-1991 Crown Vic/Grand Marquis didn’t use the original Panther platform, but a heavily modified version. They also dropped the 5.0L pushrod V8 in favor of a new OHC aluminum engine.
“Chrysler had the M-body Diplomat and Gran Fury through 1989, but then gave up on the police market until the Magnum.”
Yep, except that the Fury was the Fury II after 1980, a totally different frame size. They moved down to the so called “mid” sized frame which the Crown Vic is also a member of, as you have already mentioned. I think that they limited the engine to 318 largest, in the Fury II also? I don’t remember seeing anything but 318s in them, (Fury IIs).
IIRC you could get the Fury OEM in all current MoPar engine sizes, until the very last years, where it was limited in OEM to 318.
“Yep, except that the Fury was the Fury II after 1980, a totally different frame size. They moved down to the so called “mid” sized frame which the Crown Vic is also a member of, as you have already mentioned. I think that they limited the engine to 318 largest, in the Fury II also? I don’t remember seeing anything but 318s in them, (Fury IIs).”
The M-body Gran Fury had been sold in Canada since 1977 as the Caravelle. It was brought to the US in 1982 and sold along with the Diplomat/Fifth Avenue through 1989. These were actually midsized cars that were smaller than the Crown Vic. They were originally offered with a Slant Six, 318 V8 (either two or four-bbl carburetor), and 360 V8.
Civilian M-bodies used only two-bbl 318s from 1984-89 (six-cylinder engines were dropped in 1983), while the four-bbl version continued in police cars. The 360 was not officially available as a factory option after 1979, but some police M-bodies were nonetheless equipped with them.
Before the Crown Vic was the LTD. I owned a ‘75 LTD for years, best and favorite car I ever owned, rode nice and crushed econo boxes with ease.
I started driving Crown Vics in 1982. They were redesigned for the 1992 model year with the 4.6 OHC. The Crown Vics lagged behind the Chevy Caprices during the 90s, when both were at similar design ages, and now the Charger has eclipsed the CV as well.
Did you find this on fark?
Fark, yes.
>>The Crown Vic is considered a full-sized car by today’s standards, but back in the ‘70s it would have been mid-sized. You only need to have seen the LTD and Marquis of that era to know what I mean.<<
Like I said, I rent every week so it seems big to me. But I had to look back.
In college I had a 1969 Buick Wildcat (God, I loved that car — Frankenstein/pea soup green with a black landau roof and the big engine option (430?) — all the electrical everythings...
Anyway, I used my Google Fu and the best I have been able to come up with is my Wildcat had a wheelbase of 123” and a length of 214” vs. the ‘long’ Crown Vic wheelbase of 114” and length of 211”.
But everything I have seen has suggested the Wildcat was considered a pretty large car.
Just for the heck of it, I Googled up the 1969 Cadillac Eldorado — wheelbase 120” but length 221” — 10 inches longer than the Wildcat but certainly not a major step up.
Ah memories — that Wildcat was a powerful SOB. Too bad it “died” of artheriosclerosis. Too many years of prior owners not taking care of the cooling system.
Most except this one. Please ignore my comment.
Ahh so once again the answer is to get insulting.
Its funny, every night on my way to work five or six state troopers are on their way back to the barracks, doing 85 down the MA Pike. Some night I am going to pull in behind them and see if I can do 85-90 from Sturbridge to Framingham.
No, i do not have a ton of respect for the cop on the beat. And no, I do not think they protect us all that much.
For the most part, they are arrogant punks with a badge and permission to give people a hard time.
“Before the Crown Vic was the LTD. I owned a ‘75 LTD for years, best and favorite car I ever owned, rode nice and crushed econo boxes with ease.”
Yes, the huge LTD of 1969-78. When GM downsized their big cars in ‘77, Ford scoffed at them, saying that they would never sell and that buyers wanted “road-hugging weight”. The smaller Caprice (and its cousins) sold in huge numbers, and Ford was obliged to follow suit. Thus the Panther platform LTD was born in 1979.
Chrysler’s financial troubles prevented them from following a similar path. They got rid of their 1974-vintage Monaco/Gran Fury/Newport/New Yorker in 1977-78, but were left without a full-sized car when they were selling well (600,000 Caprice/Impalas in 1978). Since Chrysler was unable to afford a totally new design, their only response was to simply take the midsized Monaco/Fury and give them a new body. The R-body Newport/New Yorker/St. Regis/Gran Fury cut a poor figure against the Caprice and LTD and was laid to rest in 1981.
Crown Vic’s are very cool...They make a freeway pursuit Crown Vic’s with full roll cages.
“Its funny, every night on my way to work five or six state troopers are on their way back to the barracks, doing 85 down the MA Pike. Some night I am going to pull in behind them and see if I can do 85-90 from Sturbridge to Framingham.”
Reminds me of a hilarious story I read on a car forum once. Guy says that he used to have a big-block ‘71 Caprice that he would use to tear past the highway patrol at 83 mph. They just ignored him because there was no way their emissions-choked St. Regises (this was in about 1982) could catch up. He said that it pays to know your enemy.
“No, i do not have a ton of respect for the cop on the beat. And no, I do not think they protect us all that much.”
I’ve heard this a lot from the hardcore 2nd Amendment advocates. They’ll tell you that if a guy is breaking into your house, you’d better have a gun handy because by the time you call 911 and the cops arrive, you and your family will be dead and/or raped. Connecticut home invasion, anyone?
My apologies and I’ve already chewed my own ass out.
the 2012 Ford Interceptor, a sleek cruiser with all-wheel drive, better gas mileage Power increased by a massive 13 horsepowers and it's E85 compatible!
Meanwhile 
2011 "Caprice" PPV 355 horsepowers and a proper rear wheel drive car.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.