Well that's the way Elwood Blues put it anyway.

Saturday I took the airport courtesy car for a short errand. It is basically an old worn out crown Vic cop car. I have read a little, I think on this forum, about the desirability of these old cars, and now I know why. That old thing accelerated hard, handled well for a big sedan and was SOLID!

It was a huge surprise. I wish I would have noticed the mileage.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I'm currently driving a Ford Taurus SHO, and from what I can read, it's pretty much the Police Interceptor version of the Taurus, but with glitzier rims. It definitely feels like a solid car, and handles very well, considering its 2.1 ton curb weight.

I rode in a crown vic cab in Chicago once. I asked the driver owner about it and he said it was an old cop car and had IIRC over 400K on it.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I got this from a Ford Mercury dealer in a small town in rural Northern California (Gridley) near Chico. It had been cherry picked at a FoMoCo auto auction (dealers only) in Los Angeles by an employee they send down there - the President of the dealer told me, that they pay expenses and airfare for, plus $100 for every car he picked out that was cherry.


And it was one of the very last ones - production stopped for the Merc's after the 2010 model year, though the P71 Crown Vic interceptors and P72 taxicabs were made for the 2011 model year too.


To this car, I added a set of Mercury sway bars, a dual exhaust setup and a full size spare tire - to replicate the Interceptor package a little. Factory mud flaps and 30% tint finished it off.

LOVED the car, but traded it in for a new Outback in April 2011 for the snow conditions.

I feel that these were the last of the great U.S. automobiles - had I had a way to save this car I surely would have.

I still miss it.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

were you on a mission from god?

Body-on-frame construction; it's heavy, but solid.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Did you use the Marauder sway bars?

I drove for Yellow Cab of SF for a few months, part time in the late 90s. There's so much money in the cab biz in SF that they buy new Crown Vics. Never seen that before anywhere.

I'm not certain if they were the police model but I think they were, based on a few remarks I heard at the yard, and the solid way they ran. Plus, a cab co. knows its cars will get some hard use, makes sense they would invest in durability and safety. I drove one with 2k mile on it. Surprisingly nimble and fast cars for their size.

Odd trivia note, they had universal keys - 3 different keys would fit all the cars. They issued you 3 keys when you started (?!?) and didn't ask for them back when I quit driving. I kept thinking some disgruntled fool would steal a few and get them to a chop shop to quickly disable GPS and get some cash. Who knows.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

A note to those that own cars used in police work....

The alternators on such cars are normally very high output versions. You can pick them up in wrecking yards for the price of a normal alternator but make sure you get the mounting brackets as they are different, too.

Sway bars, power steering coolers, alloy driveshafts... Cop cars have all kinds of nice stuff if you know what you are looking for.

My warehouse/shop is next to a large auto auction barn - they regularly have police Crown Vics for sale and they're not giving them away. The asking price is usually around $5K. Not sure if they start at a lower price at the auction, I rarely go.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

^^ This was my car, pic's taken in March 2011 with the new Marauder sway bars already on.

Prior to their installation, the car tended to wallow and float a bit on brisk mountain roads (over the Sierra Mountain passes to Reno and back).

But the ride firmed up quite nicely, and cornered flat, after that, with the Marauder sways on it.

Also, the dual exhaust added noticeable pep when accelerating and passing.

Plus, I had fabricated, and installed, a custom "dead pedal" fabricated for the car, (by a Crown Vic enthusiast in Florida who did a limited run of them) so my left foot would not hang in the air, while driving on long journeys...it looked good and worked very well.



I think it is a fabulous vehicle for driving on American interstates, at moderate, legal speeds.

It was my fourth Panther sedan, beginning with my 1982 LTD Crown Vic. They all were pretty unburstable, all lovingly cared for by me, and never once gave me a problem, making them by far the most reliable and cheap - dollar for mile - automobiles I ever owned in 47 years of driving.

The body on frame construction on them makes them a robust and safe car too.



Built at the "STAP" (St. Thomas Assembly plant, in St. Thomas, Windsor, Ontario, Canada), just across the bridge from Detroit,



(pic's of robots welding the body sides seen here ^^^^^)

The Mercury Grand Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria are technically Canadian.




Here is the last Grand Marquis ever made, depicted as it was finished on January 4, 2011 at the STAP. It was said to have been delivered to a rental fleet in Saudi Arabia, without ceremony. Had I known this I would have tried to buy it, but likely could not have, as beginning in 2008 they were sold to fleet purchasers only...



It was a death without dignity.

Even the STAP plant has been demolished....

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Great post! Thanks Jim.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

A friend had an old ford cop car back about 1985 or so. He said it was lucky to get 8 mpg. How are the newer ones?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I had an '86 Lincoln Town Car. Same platform as the Crown Vic but with an extra 3" of wheelbase and consequently a bit more weight. I averaged 18 over five years, with a best ever tank of 24 and a worst of 12.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.