Ah, the Crown Victoria! The successor of the LTD and predecessor of the Taurus is – hands down – the most popular recipient of the Panther rear-wheel-drive platform. Produced between 1991 and 2011, the full-size and body-on-frame sedan was adapted for police duty in 1992, and these days, you can pick up the interceptor for only a handful of bucks!
The car that Throttle House has recently tested “now services the Hollywood spotlight,” and thanks to the durability of the Crown Victoria in Police Interceptor flavor, the car also happens to run like a charm despite its old age and hard life. The 4.6-liter V8 from the Modular family is pretty reliable and easy to maintain, and the 4R75W from the AOD family of automatic transmissions also happens to be widely known for its durability.
It’s easy to think that Ford made a mistake discontinuing the Crown Victoria and Vic-based police interceptor, but then again, the times were a-changin’ in the latter part of the 2000s. The Taurus switched to a unibody and front-wheel-drive platform because Ford wanted to move to something lighter, more efficient on fuel, and a little bit more technologized.
You could say that passing the torch to the Taurus was the best thing that Ford could do, yet don’t forget the state of the U.S. market in this day and age. The final example of the U.S. model rolled off the Chicago plant’s assembly line in March 2019 as the Blue Oval intends to drop every passenger car from its lineup with the notable exception of the Mustang.
When asked about the way it drives, the reviewer behind the wheel starts off by claiming the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor “is actually very smooth. The ride is nice, the power delivery is predictable, the steering is predictable, and the body is really well controlled.”
In other words, there’s a certain something that you can’t experience in any other car except for a big V8 sedan. Driving “17.5 feet of pure American justice” is even better, adding to the appeal of the Crown Vic.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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