Posted on 09/15/2011 7:54:27 PM PDT by Olog-hai
The last Ford Crown Victoria rolled off a Canadian assembly line Thursday, marking the end of the big, heavy Ford cars that have been popular with taxi fleets and police departments for decades.
Since 1979, almost 10 million Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Cars — so-called Panther Platform vehicles — have been sold.
Demand for better fuel economy and performance has choked off sales over the years. The Crown Victoria and Town Car get just 24 miles per gallon on the highway, a figure matched by some large three-row SUVs today. …
The Crown Victoria and its cousins have been popular with fleet users because of their roominess, legendary ruggedness and relative simplicity. Most cars today are built with so-called unibody engineering in which the body sides and roof play a role in keeping the body rigid. The Panther Platform vehicles were engineered with an old-fashioned body-on-frame design that's mostly used by pickup trucks today because, while heavier, it's better able to bounce back from heavy, punishing use. "You couldn't kill it no matter what you did to it," Ford spokesman Octavio Navarro said of the Crown Victoria. For some fleet buyers there's no obvious replacement for these rugged cars. …
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
I can tell you what my department did. We went to the Chevrolet Impala. Has to be the worst police vehicle ever. A front wheel drive no room in the back seat piece of bull dung. I had one for two years and hated every minute of it. There’s only one police vehicle and it’s the Crown Vic.
So 80,000 units isn't worth the effort? Downsize the factory why don'tcha? Or is this really 80,000 vehicles @ 24 mpg wreak havoc with Ford's CAFE requirement?
This does suck!
Oh well, they’ll be as collectible as the ‘96 F series truck, which are just as indestructible.
If we ever go MadMax, those are the only two vehicles we’ll need.
Grab ‘em now.
It's the perfect car for a young driver.
When he parts with it I'm thinking of taking it back and giving it a complete refurb (don't tell my wife!)
You know, I have never been a Chevy guy, but I’ve got to hand it to the Caprice. Those bastards run like they stole YOU and are easy as pie to work on (except the computer).
Lightweight and extremely sensitive handling. They do fishtail a bit, though.
I think 2007 was the last year they made the Crown Vic.
I was going to do the Bluesmobile spiel...but that was a Dodge.
According to wikipedia, they did (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Crown_Victoria), for the general public in the U.S. They killed consumer sales in Canada in 2000, and only had police fleet sales there. They were only available as fleet vehicles from about 2008 on in the U.S. So, no wonder sales were down. Purposely limit your sales, then complain sales are down, then end production.
The last Crown Vic is headed to Saudi Arabia.
I love them so much that I looked around until I found a 2005 Excusion with the same 6.0 Powerstroke Diesel, because it was not only the best year for the Excusion, but sadly the last.
We have been all over the mountains from Colorado to Montana, and she flies up, over and around, even pulling a 16-ft. trailer full of ATV's or our 36 ft. camper.
Take out the third row seating and throw in a double sized matress and some pillow, and the rider gets to stretch full out and sleep while the driver takes over. We still have 4 captain's chairs in the front 2 rows.
But I think 2010 plus/minus a few years will be seen as another golden age of muscle cars. There was never a time with so many relatively affordable cars rated at 400+ NET hp. Not only more power but they burn far less fuel, corner much better, stop on a dime, start easily in the winter, the exhaust wont stink up the block and most will go past 100k miles with no major problems.
The high end cars are even more incredible. Sub 4-second 0-60 times, top speeds close to 200mph and cornering at nearly 1g. All found in cars straight from the showroom.
Yes, the cars of today have a different character but the performance blows the original muscle cars out of the water.
Yep. We bought the last new Excursion in Northern California. It was a 2WD 2005 that had been sitting on the lot for a year back when gas first hit $3 in 2006. That thing takes of like a jet when I come to a mountain pass and put it to the floor.
With Fords, the last production year usually yields the best machines. The ‘new’ models take ten years for them to debug.
I do admire the new Ford pickups but they just don’t have the sheet metal of yesteryear and the electronics are just way too Big Brother.
Very very good. I use to drive a taxi in New York city and these things would be pushing half a milllion miles and still be ripping along. You got to figure they run those Crown Vic taxis non stop 24 hours a day 7 days a week, one guy does a 12 hour shift then another does 12, the engine is always always running except when it needs an oil change, and that’s city driving - stop go speed up brake go brake, they just get the hell beat out of them, and my whole time driving I can’t once think of a breakdown other than a flat tire, and they don’t break down. They only take them off the road after3 years by law.. Now our Envior-weenie Mayor wants to get rid of those types of cars like the Crown Vic and replace them with Al Gore sanctioned ones which should last about month before they melt.
Here's the kicker ... it is the same color as my Explorer and the F250 that my husband drives. Looks like a fleet parked outside. :)
Should be a breeze to maintain given the availability of yard metal.
I hear ya’. The Vic’s an incredibly reliable vehicle.
It would surprise me if the CV followed the innovation model used to develop the Taurus — a lay-it-on-the-line engineering attitude that brought the best ideas and criticisms forward.
Fed fleet mpg standards make it impossible to sell these
and make money.
Federal regulations have killed too much of America.
I miss the old Chevy rear wheel drive Caprice Classic, last one had was a 1981, was a great car.
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