Last Crown Vic rolls off the line.

[Guest bkelm18]

Ford's last Crown Victoria rolls off the line - Sep. 15, 2011

Interesting. Did not know they were being discontinued. So now Ford is going to lose its market share of law enforcement agencies since I kinda doubt your local PD wants to drive Fiestas.

[MattCary]

"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."

The fact that the last Crown Victoria was produced in Canada speaks volumes about the mess we are in.

[Pain103]

They replaced it with the Ford interceptor. Doesn't look too bad but as with any new vehicle will take a few years to work the bugs out.

[TN-popo]

I've been issued Crown Vics for most of my career (my current Dept assigns cars to the officer and allows him/her to take them home). Great patrol cars.

I hope the new Fords are as good because I'm due to get a new car next year.

A couple of years ago we bought Chevy Impalas. Hate them. Not enough room (I'm 6'03") and not nearly as durable.

Edited September 16, 2011 by TN-popo

[Guest bkelm18]

Ah I had not heard of the Interceptor. Oak Ridge PD several years ago seemed had several of the Impalas. As I heard from one officer they got rid of them because they simply did not have anywhere near as much power as the Vic.

[Jonnin]

Lol back to their roots. The '66 I had was called... wait for it... the police interceptor model (galaxy series). Ford is in decent shape given that the demand for cars has to be down when things are so uncertain. They didnt take union bailout money from obama, which shows they are better managed than most. Sometimes, even when its an awesome design, the time comes to mix it up a little bit, guess they decided something new might pull in a few more buyers.

[daddyo]

Ford's last Crown Victoria rolls off the line - Sep. 15, 2011

Interesting. Did not know they were being discontinued. So now Ford is going to lose its market share of law enforcement agencies since I kinda doubt your local PD wants to drive Fiestas.

Why not? They ride bikes and motor scooters around here.

I keep looking for the B&W Priuses to appear...

[TN-popo]

I keep looking for the B&W Priuses to appear...

Ask and receive...

prius police car - Google Search

[Jonnin]

We have a VW bug police car (or did have?) -- if I remember it was in tiftonia, parked and unused (maybe a trainer or something??). Been a while since I last saw that one.

[Guest ArmyVeteran37214]

They replaced it with the Ford interceptor. Doesn't look too bad but as with any new vehicle will take a few years to work the bugs out.

http://www.ford.com/fordpoliceinterceptor/

It looks like Ford is taking a new Taurus and converting it to LEO use.

[NRA]

sad day ....... that has to be the toughest LEO vehicle ever made

Edited September 16, 2011 by NRA

[wjh2657]

Just to put all the standard post BS to rest. This has nothing to do with Obama, Pelosi, Reid, orthe Federal Reserve. This was an industry thing not the government.

The fact is that the market for big heavy gas hogs is drying up. Local police have been switching to mid sized cars (mainly budgets and gas costs) for the last decade. Local LEAs no longer go for long fast pursuits. Get the plates and set up road blocks works better. The Sheriffs' Departments around here seem to have transitioned to smaller SUV types.

About the only agencies that could justify the big cars would be the state police and all of them together don't buy enough new cars annually to justify keeping the production line open.

The fact that the last ones are built in Canada isn't a surprise. Most of the auto manufacturers moved out of U.S. to some degree to utilize cheaper foreign labor. The trick with the Canadians is that they don't need the big benefit packages. The government takes care of their medical care and retirement. Industry just pays wages.

The truth is that American manufacturers just don't want to pay for American labor. Bottom line is all that counts. If all of the American labor force should die of a mysterious plague tomorrow it wouldn't bother the Big American industries in the least. We have already died out as a market, we don'thave any money! No government can create job markets, only industry can and industry just doesn't care. They can make the money without us. Brace for a long Depression, we're in it and we are going to stay in it.

[Guest spoolie]

What are limo companies going to use now?

[Guest nicemac]

What are limo companies going to use now?

Hummers

[RobertNashville]

Kind of sad to see this happen...as an employee of a major auto manufacturer (for 14 more days, anyway) it's sort of always a sad day to see such an iconic model disappear. It was necessary financially, of course and such cars as the Crown Vic are pretty very out of step with today's market but, still sad to see it happen.

Yeas ago, I owned a Mercury Marquis (a '79 model I bought in '89) - it was a tank, huge...and a hell of a lot of fun to have (it was a second/commuter car for me as I've always bee a sports car nut at heart).

[Guest nicemac]

I love Crown Vics (and Town Cars, same platform). They are the most comfortable car on the road to ride in and surprisingly, get good mileage. (about 25 hwy) Sad to see them go.

[JAB]

The plan to end the Crown Vic has been in the pipe for several years. They announced it around the same time that they announced that this would likely be the last production year for the Ranger (the best selling truck in its class for years - maybe still is for all I know.) In fact, iirc, they actually planned to end the Crown Vic around the time the announcement was made instead of waiting this long. This was despite (at the time) having multiple guaranteed sales for LEO contracts. Unless I am mistaken, that was why so many LEAs bought Impalas and Chargers a few years ago to begin with - because Ford told them that the Crown Vics were no longer going to be available.

Edited September 19, 2011 by JAB

[Guest President Fernatt]

I'm a bit late to the party but I wanted to share in the memorial. Not only have the Crown Vics ended, but all the Panther platforms. Panther Platform was introduced in 1979 I believe. Body on frame construction, rear-wheel drive, and the obvious V8 are all components. Production has ended for the Crown Vics, Mercury Marauders (only built in '03 I think), Mercury Grand Marquis, and even the Lincoln Town Car. They are all in the history books. I actually bought a 2005 Crown Vic Interceptor this year that was retired from a police department in Missouri to prolong the legacy a bit. I love the gas guzzling beast! Other options to choose from though,

You should research the Ford Interceptor which has already been mentioned, the obvious re-designed Charger, and even the new Caprice. Yes, I said Caprice. Chevrolet has re-designed the Caprice for Police use. Not many departments (just L.A maybe) have purchased them but apparently the ole' bow tie is making another attempt at the police market after the lousy police impala performance. One more that I would love to see is the police vehicle from Carbon Motors which is still in design and limited production. I'll submit a link for it...the thing is pretty sweet!

Police Car for Police | Carbon Motors Corporation

Edited October 14, 2011 by President Fernatt

[Will H]

Oh wow... He said Mercury Marauder. I so want one of those.

That new one from Carbon Motors is very nice, but will come up seriously short in the performance department. 250 hp sounds ok, especially with 400 lbs of torque, but the car is 4,000 lbs. Most consumer sports cars and even a lot sedans will simply walk away from that car with little to no trouble. Their specs page reports a 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds. No power there.

I think the new Ford Interceptor is going to be the best bet, especially with the optional twin turbo ECOboost v6. Sporting 100 more HP and being lighter than the carbon car it will do the job very nicely.

[Guest President Fernatt]

The Marauders are beauties...if you can find one with low miles it would be a treasure!

I agree that Carbon Motors' E7 is a bit heavy but so was the iconic vic. An interceptor vic 0-60 is about 8 seconds. It's not really the speed ( they say you can outrun the car but not the radio or something like that) but the durability and the safety that make the Victorias so amazing. Vics could take a beaten and go forever. I do really like the looks of the new Ford Interceptor and if Ford makes it any bit as reliable and dependable as the vic then it will be a hit. My only thing is that...deep down...it's just a Ford Taurus. I guess the only thing that really makes me appreciate the Carbon Motors car is that it is actually purpose built just for law enforcement. It's not simply a modified family sedan.

Reality rules though, Ford has already cornered to market and will certainly prevail; unless they take too long and allow Dodge to cozy up to the departments any further.

[Will H]

The other big advantage the new Ford will have over the Vic is AWD. You can have all the power you want, but if you cannot put it to the ground it will not matter. That AWD will be awesome for that. Only time will tell about the durability.