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 ...
Inevitable, I suppose, but still kind of a shame. I always liked the Crown Vic. My dad owned a couple in his day. Great car to just eat up the miles on a long highway trip.
Hmm...wonder what cops will drive now....
Indeed. ‘Tis the end of an era.
This sucks!
Dodge Chargers...
Are we to drive from Dallas to Port Aransas in a Volt?
I can’t believe I won’t even be able to buy anything close to a Town Car.
They compare SUV and big-car (ha ha - ‘79 is when they were last truly big; these are medium cars to real afficianados) mpg but fail to mention the big difference. SUVs tend to be either/or; big cars - truly big - could carry a full load of passengers AND luggage, out of the weather. SUVs can carry alot of people but then, no luggage.
I was hoping maybe my next car would be a Crown Vic or so; I hope there is another car somewhat like it.
Government Motors Volts...
Taxi car drivers weep
Same crap everyone else will drive.
Good for government - at all levels - to have to use what they’re forcing on the rest of us.
Chaergers or Tahoes in this area.
Again. See Checker.
Crown Vics will still be around a long time. They will continue to make replacement parts for them, just like they make replacement parts for many newer, popular, late models.
That is what I was thinking when I saw the post.
The best cars we ever drove were Crown Vics and Lincoln Town Cars......that’s when the kids were growing up and the vacation trips were great in those cars. Now that we’re old (hehee) we’ve moved on to Toyota Avalons.
Hmmmmmm...Better go back a bit further then that!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=808&bih=447&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=oL9yTtv-CaTv0gGEx_GVDA&sqi=2&ved=0CFUQsAQ&q=picture%20of%201955%20ford%20crown%20victoria
Crown-Vics are good machines.
I have seen a few Chargers in my area, but most Police still drive Crown Vics. If they have a SUV it is usually a Explorer or a Expedition.
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