The upcoming demise of the Ford Crown Victoria and thus its role as a taxicab and police pursuit vehicle will see Ford replacing the Crown Victoria Interceptor in 2011, Ford announced today. Fuel economy, durability, safety, and performance are categories in which, Ford says, improvements will bemade over the Crown Victoria. For those not familiar with the current Ford police package, it rests on a vehicle which underwent its first facelift and engineering changes sometime during Taft’s presidency. Of course, the Crown Victoria was the only car big enough to accomodate William Howard Taft.
All kidding aside, the Crown Victoria remains a beloved car in many police circles, at least the circles in which nobody was involved in a rear-end collision with an exploding Crown Vic. Ford’s promise to efficiently phase out the Crown Victoria while phasing in a new police car inspires plenty of speculation in the automotive world.
Curious, isn’t it, that so much of this speculation comes from people who love to drive fast cars fast? What, we care about which vehicles pull us over? Apparently. The Police section of GoodCarBadCar.net is one of this site’s most popular zones. Regardless, the car you see pictured here is the Aussie-built Ford Falcon XR8 Police vehicle. The Falcon’s one of those cars North American auto enthusiasts really want to see for sale here. You know the kind, like the Pontiac GTO (nee Holden Monaro) or the Pontiac G8 (nee Holden Commodore), both of which are classified in the “nobody bought them” classification. Regardless, the Falcon is certainly coolish and, with its rear-wheel drivetrain, is likely pleasing to the ears of cops.
Yet the new Ford Taurus is capacious in both the cabin and the trunk. And Ford boss Mark Fields did say this new car would be engineered in the USA. If that’s going to be the Falcon, it’ll be reengineered, and that could be what Fields meant.
After a few days with the Taurus last week, it seems to me that the Taurus would be a perfect police car. No police force is going to receive another body-on-frame package like the Crown Victoria so they might as well stop whining about its rugged nature. Though rear-wheel drive is great for a good many, it’s not useful to have cops stuck on steep roads in the northern states or in Canada. Plus, the Taurus can be had in wicked fast SHO form, a perfect highway patrol chase car. And again, there’s the roomy factor. In both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive formats, the Taurus could be one sublime Interceptor, a perfect alternative to GM’s new Chevy Caprice PPV and perhaps a nice mainstream mainstay to put Carbon Motors out of business.
We shall see. One way or another, expect Ford to put up quite a fight. Dearborn’s own sells between 45,000-60,000 Interceptors each year – about 75% of the market. That’s revenue no automaker would want to lose.
It makes philosopichal theoretical sense to me that police vehicles would be different than what is available to normal car owners. Like the GM Caprice, the Carbon Motors car, and the Falcon, but not the Taurus.
The Ford Taurus shouldn't be a cop car. It will be, but it shoudln't be. The Impala is a PRIME example of how much cops and police departments wholly hate front wheel drive. An all wheel drive Taurus would be even worse, because no all wheel drive drivetrain would be able to handle the abuse of service life. The Crown Victoria will be missed. It could have been improved. It could have been better. It….could have been. That's it. Now, the Caprice is an effort I applaud. And any dealership worth a salt will be selling 9C3 Caprices on their lots as soon as they arrive on our shores.
The problem with the Taurus is that it's V6- and FWD-based. Police forces need less maintenance and downtime in vehicles they'll run the living dogsh** out of, and a V6-FWD won't stand up to that kind of abuse. That's why the Crown Victoria outsold the Impala almost four to one in municipal sales– it comes standard with good ol'fashioned American V8-RWD durability in a Built Ford Tough package. V6 and FWD are a big mistake here. General Motors learned that lesson with the Impala and is now offering a redesigned V8-RWD Caprice for police. Sadly, it appears Ford is making some of the same mistakes and will relinquish control of the government-vehicle market to Government Motors. Ironic, isn't it?