Posted on 11/14/2010 10:37:47 AM PST by llevrok
Medford police Officer Jason Montalbano loves his Crown Victoria, its bulk, its toughness, its engine’s quiet purr. He takes his police cruiser to the car wash at least three times a week. He dangles a yellow “Vanillaroma’’ scent tree from the console to mask the stench of stogies smoked by the overnight patrol officers. And sometimes, late at night when the city is quiet, Montalbano, the son of a cop, will take the 250-horsepower sedan out onto Interstate 93 and hit the gas until he is flying down the open road.
Like his father and thousands of other officers across the country, Montalbano is a diehard Crown Vic devotee. For more than 30 years, the hulking, blunt, long-nosed car has been an officer’s battering ram, mobile office, dinner companion, and stoic partner. But now, that love affair is headed toward the scrap yard.
In 2011, the last Crown Vic will roll off the Ford assembly line to make way for a new police vehicle — the 2012 Ford Interceptor, a sleek cruiser with all-wheel drive, better gas mileage, and new gadgets, such as rearview cameras and radar sensors that detect vehicles in surrounding lanes. As the Crown Vics wear out, police departments will have to look for new options, and that realization has left some officers feeling despondent.
“Ford is making a big mistake,’’ said Quincy Officer Mike Foley, who has been driving Crown Vics for at least 12 years. “I will probably shed a tear when the last Crown Vic goes down the assembly line.’’
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Good info, thanks.
I understand that you know this stuff.
MoPar wasn’t making it it easy.
Gran Fury wise 1974- 1977 they used the C body.
Turns out that 1980-81, after a three year hiatus without any production, MoPar used the R body, (the old B body).
Then, till 1989 they used the M body.
This idiot should lose his badge for it, too.
“MoPar wasn’t making it it easy.”
Yes, nonstop badge-shifting was supposed to improve sales but rarely did.
“Gran Fury wise 1974- 1977 they used the C body.”
This generation had the unfortunate luck to arrive in showrooms during the autumn of 1973 when the oil embargo hit. The Newport/New Yorker sold decently, but the Dodge and Plymouth versions found few takers except police and taxi services.
“Turns out that 1980-81, after a three year hiatus without any production, MoPar used the R body, (the old B body).”
The 1971-vintage B-bodies (Coronet and Satellite) lasted through 1978. Satellite became Fury in 1975 and the Coronet Monaco in ‘77 (while the big C-bodies became Royal Monaco and Gran Fury). Like their full-sized cousins, they found few non-fleet buyers by the end.
Since as I said, Chrysler could not afford a total redesign, they just took the old B platform (which dated back to 1962) and put new bodies on it, creating the R-body Newport/New Yorker/St. Regis of 1979-81. They also had an R-body Gran Fury in ‘80-81.
“Then, till 1989 they used the M body.”
Which was an upscale Aspen with slightly different styling. The M-bodies were originally compacts, but by the ‘80s were considered midsized as cars got smaller everywhere. So in 1982, they simply brought the Plymouth M-body down from Canada and sold it as the Gran Fury.
I’ve always been a fan of the 1974 Dodge Monaco equipped with the Police Package - It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas.
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