# Crown Vic Discontinued what does this mean for the police and taxicabs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428 "2013-01-08T01:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/41 "2013-01-08T13:51:27Z")
Say whatever the fuck you want, I can’t stop you. I’m just trying to help others not be mislead by your incorrect information. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/42 "2013-01-08T14:28:58Z")
Ford started selling a long wheelbase (LWB) variant of the Crown Vic in 2002. [According to Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Crown_Victoria#Long-wheelbase_commercial_version_.282002.E2.80.932012.29), this was only available to fleet buyers, and wasn’t used for police interceptors. It’s the only factory-stretched non-luxury model that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/43 "2013-01-08T15:14:00Z")
It means [this.](http://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/Root/index.html#) Check out slides 5-9. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/44 "2013-01-08T15:17:16Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > With Taxis, hybrids have changed the dynamic a bit. Taxis rack up huge amounts of stop and go miles, which means they take full advantage of the hybrid system. The economics of when you recover the premium you pay for the hybrid system are still pretty iffy for a “civilian” but a hybrid taxi pays for itself pretty quick. As a result from a strictly cost perspective, a new hybrid is starting to make more sense than a used cop car. In Chicago, I’ve seen a few Prius taxis in recent years…but what I’ve really seen is an awful lot of Scion xB taxis. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/45 "2013-01-08T15:26:35Z")
The gas mileage of Crown Vics / Grand Marquis wasn’t bad at all, considering they weighed nearly 2 tons. I drove a '97 Grand Marquis for about 5 years and never failed to get 19-20 city mpg. Highway was at least 24, and sometimes as high as 28. I’m not a really aggressive driver, but I don’t poke along on the interstates, either. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/46 "2013-01-08T15:31:42Z")
[Another cite](http://www.crownvic.net/news/extended_vic.shtml) for the stretched taxi version, with specific reference to the use of the fixed barrier. But in view of it I must retract the “often requires” and substitute “in some cases involved” since it was not a universal option even when in production and we don’t know if it may or may not be reinstated in future vehicles. Was not aware however that this version was only made available in the taxi package and not the police cruiser. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/47 "2013-01-08T15:35:25Z")
An anecdote: back in the old days many police departments went through a bidding process for their vehicles. The department I volunteered with in the early 70s dropped the ball when they wrote the specs, especially with the engine, which allowed some undesirable models to get a foot in the door. The result: the department ended up with AMC Matadors. :smack: Although they had a 401 ci engine, they were dogs and a lot of cars could outrun them. They also had a nasty tendency to wallow and fishtail, resulting in accidents. In the next purchasing cycle, the spec read “minimum 402 ci engine”. They ended up with Dodges with the 440. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/48 "2013-01-08T15:39:22Z")
Among other assets, the Crown Vic was capable of surviving enormous rear-end collisions. The Police model web page had a picture of one that survived a 70 MPH impact to the rear; the passenger cage was sufficiently intact that all passengers had a possibility of survival. It’s not just about road performance. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/49 "2013-01-08T15:42:30Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Among other assets, the Crown Vic was capable of surviving enormous rear-end collisions. The Police model web page had a picture of one that survived a 70 MPH impact to the rear; the passenger cage was sufficiently intact that all passengers had a possibility of survival. > > It’s not just about road performance. Then again, the survivors could perish in a horrible, fiery death due to the location of the gas tank: [http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/studies/CrownVic/Index.html](http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/studies/CrownVic/Index.html) Many Crown Vic police cars were fit with automatic fire suppression systems for just that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/50 "2013-01-08T15:55:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > How “refined” is a car that was barely changed at all from 1997-2007? And at the tail end of that was only directed towards low-margin fleet sales? It may not have changed in your eyes but all the things that make a car better were changed. Ride, handling, gas mileage… fixing all the little things that break. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/51 "2013-01-08T16:13:31Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > If you had read the thread, you would have seen that Ford has introduced a dedicated police vehicle and it’s already on the street. Not a converted passenger car, a dedicated police pursuit vehicle. You can’t refine much more than that. > > IMO yours was a really unwarranted post. I have yet to see a new Ford police car. I see plenty of Dodge police cars. IMO your opinion doesn’t matter. You’re not the one buying the cars. The Crown Vic was king in this area and now it’s gone. It held 70% of the market. It was a well established car that fleet operators had experience maintaining and now that connection has been broken and it’s obvious. They went with a smaller Taurus platform that’s now a lot harder to work on. And coming out with a totally new car is the polar opposite of refinement. It’s a whole new vehicle filled with unknown problems waiting for a recall. Ford, Chevy and Chrysler have a history of introducing new cars that required years of refinement to bring up to standard. Police pursuit vehicles get the piss driven out of them and make terrible beta test cars. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/52 "2013-01-08T16:16:06Z")
By that logic, they ought to have stuck with the Model T, which once held 93% of the US police vehicle market. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/53 "2013-01-08T16:20:16Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Among other assets, the Crown Vic was capable of surviving enormous rear-end collisions. The Police model web page had a picture of one that survived a 70 MPH impact to the rear; the passenger cage was sufficiently intact that all passengers had a possibility of survival. > > It’s not just about road performance. Trunk space. The Crown Vic was amazing, my best friend had a decommissioned taxi cab as her car. Once we went to Ikea and bought a houseful of furniture and that Crown Vic seemed to have a bottomless trunk, we were putting box after box into the trunk and always seemed to have room for more no matter what, it was like it was going into another dimension or something. The SUV drivers that were watching us load pallets of stuff into the trunk had an expression of stunned amazement. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/54 "2013-01-08T16:31:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > By that logic, they ought to have stuck with the Model T, which once held 93% of the US police vehicle market. Yes, by that logic they should have stuck with the model T. The last Crown Vic was nothing like the first Crown Vic except for the name. That’s what happens when you refine something. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/55 "2013-01-08T16:40:06Z")
Count me as a Croen Vic fan-my brother has been driving them for ages. At the end of their production run, Ford had a very good, very reliable car with few bugs. True, they used a lot of gas, but on long trips to Florida, he got almost 30 MPG. Such a shame-there was still a good market for these cars. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/56 "2013-01-08T16:44:39Z")
I guess I have trouble with the concept of using the word “refined” for a car whose tooling was getting so old and worn out that things like visible flash was present on interior trim. the real problem was that the Panther cars weren’t selling enough to justify keeping St. Thomas Assembly open, and thanks to being the last body-on-frame car it couldn’t be built at any other assembly plant w/o massive re-tooling. In the end, it wasn’t worth keeping it going. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/57 "2013-01-08T16:53:52Z")
They’re still making body-on-frame trucks. Is there a reason they couldn’t move production to one of those plants? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/58 "2013-01-08T17:03:38Z")
Back in the dim, dark days when I was a deputy sheriff, our patrol cars were Plymouth Satellites with the 383. Man, that was a fine car. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/59 "2013-01-08T17:04:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They’re still making body-on-frame trucks. Is there a reason they couldn’t move production to one of those plants? they’d still have to re-tool. simply being BoF doesn’t mean you can plunk it down on a truck assembly line. Plus that assumes said truck plant would have the capacity to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428/60 "2013-01-08T17:22:53Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I guess I have trouble with the concept of using the word “refined” for a car whose tooling was getting so old and worn out that things like visible flash was present on interior trim. > > the real problem was that the Panther cars weren’t selling enough to justify keeping St. Thomas Assembly open, and thanks to being the last body-on-frame car it couldn’t be built at any other assembly plant w/o massive re-tooling. In the end, it wasn’t worth keeping it going. “worn out tooling” doesn’t make sense. All manufacturing facilities have to update their machinery as time passes. They did away with the Mercury line so those sales would still be valid. Losing a 70% share of a fleet market is not going to be easy to fix particularly when it involves a competition between a Dodge Charger and a Ford Taurus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crown-vic-discontinued-what-does-this-mean-for-the-police-and-taxicabs/646428.md?page=4)