Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls of the assembly line

Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls off the line in Ontario; factory closes | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

This stalwart of the American car industry is now history. Many thousands will be available in the fleet aftermarket for years to come, but the old girl is finally out of production.

Last of the large rear wheel drive sedans, the Crown Vic suffered imo from a lack of interest by Ford to freshen up the vehicle, condemning it to heavy duty fleet use by virtue of its low cost to own. It sported an ultra reliable engine and transmission, at the expense of so so driving dynamics, dull as dishwater interior and poor fuel economy. Unless drove nothing but flat out runs on the highway or you had very little to spend on a used car, the Vic was a poor choice for transportation.

However, some people bemoan the loss of the Vic. Are you one of those? Did you like the Vic? Why or why not?

The 1955 model was pretty sharp.

ChuckBerry said:

Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls off the line in Ontario; factory closes | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

This stalwart of the American car industry is now history. Many thousands will be available in the fleet aftermarket for years to come, but the old girl is finally out of production.

Last of the large rear wheel drive sedans, the Crown Vic suffered imo from a lack of interest by Ford to freshen up the vehicle, condemning it to heavy duty fleet use by virtue of its low cost to own. It sported an ultra reliable engine and transmission, at the expense of so so driving dynamics, dull as dishwater interior and poor fuel economy. Unless drove nothing but flat out runs on the highway or you had very little to spend on a used car, the Vic was a poor choice for transportation.

However, some people bemoan the loss of the Vic. Are you one of those? Did you like the Vic? Why or why not?

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Damn those Chicken Littles!!

ChuckBerry said:

Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls off the line in Ontario; factory closes | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

This stalwart of the American car industry is now history. Many thousands will be available in the fleet aftermarket for years to come, but the old girl is finally out of production.

Last of the large rear wheel drive sedans, the Crown Vic suffered imo from a lack of interest by Ford to freshen up the vehicle, condemning it to heavy duty fleet use by virtue of its low cost to own. It sported an ultra reliable engine and transmission, at the expense of so so driving dynamics, dull as dishwater interior and poor fuel economy. Unless drove nothing but flat out runs on the highway or you had very little to spend on a used car, the Vic was a poor choice for transportation.

However, some people bemoan the loss of the Vic. Are you one of those? Did you like the Vic? Why or why not?

Click to expand...

Count me among those.

I've never owned one, but lately, my wife and I have been talking about a possible successor to our present car, and I've been expressing the hope that perhaps we could afford a Crown Victoria. We'd be in the used-car market, so the end of production doesn't remove this from our possibilities.

My previous car was a 1996 Mercury Mystique. It was the best car I ever had. Alas, it was totaled in a collision a few years ago. Good thing the young woman driving the Honduh that rear-ended it was so cute, otherwise I might have been very mad at her.

My present car is a 1997 Ford Contour. As the Mystique is the Mercury version of the Contour, and as this car was a year newer, had a lot fewer miles, and a better motor (the Duratec V6 instead of the Zetec I4), I thought it should be an even better car. It's turned out to be a money pit.

I've decided that the big problem with modern cars in general is that the transverse engine makes repairs and maintenance much more expensive and difficult than it would otherwise be. They are more reliable, but when they do break, it's a much bigger deal to get them repaired.


Your post, of course, points out the big virtues of the Crown Vic: “…low cost to own. It sported an ultra reliable engine and transmission…”

After my recent experiences with my Contour, I would gladly “…so so driving dynamics, dull as dishwater interior and poor fuel economy…” in exchange for the simple, reliable design of the Crown Vic.


An interesting note: A some point in my youth, my parents had a 1975 LTD station wagon—an ancestor of the Crown Vic.* It was a huge station wagon even for the pre-gas-shortage time in which it was designed, with a 400-cubic-inch V8. It got seven miles to the gallon. It also had an amazingly tight turning radius for such a big car. It was one of very few cars I've ever driven that could make a U-turn in the street in front of my parents' house.

Helix said:

The 1955 model was pretty sharp.

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omg....that's a beautiful car!

Helix said:

The 1955 model was pretty sharp.

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Dayum, I want one!

My Grandpa might be sad about about his.Two of his favorite cars are the Mercury Grand Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria.It seems like every time he gets a new car he switches between the two.

ChuckBerry said:

Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls off the line in Ontario; factory closes | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

This stalwart of the American car industry is now history. Many thousands will be available in the fleet aftermarket for years to come, but the old girl is finally out of production.

Last of the large rear wheel drive sedans, the Crown Vic suffered imo from a lack of interest by Ford to freshen up the vehicle, condemning it to heavy duty fleet use by virtue of its low cost to own. It sported an ultra reliable engine and transmission, at the expense of so so driving dynamics, dull as dishwater interior and poor fuel economy. Unless drove nothing but flat out runs on the highway or you had very little to spend on a used car, the Vic was a poor choice for transportation.

However, some people bemoan the loss of the Vic. Are you one of those? Did you like the Vic? Why or why not?

Click to expand...

A few points

The Crown Vic was not and is not the last of the large RWD sedans

The Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger are large RWD sedans. Chevy is bringing out the Chevy Caprice ( Holden Caprice from Australia) for the fleet market (police)

All are better cars then the Crown Vic, better engines, better suspensions, and better build quality. I dont miss the Crown Vic as it should have been canned 15 years ago

Lord Tammerlain said:

A few points

The Crown Vic was not and is not the last of the large RWD sedans

The Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger are large RWD sedans. Chevy is bringing out the Chevy Caprice ( Holden Caprice from Australia) for the fleet market (police)

All are better cars then the Crown Vic, better engines, better suspensions, and better build quality. I dont miss the Crown Vic as it should have been canned 15 years ago

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I have driven large Ford Motor manufactured cars for umpteen years now and I have loved every one of them My daughter's Dodge caught fire while she drove down the freeway. No thanks. I will take a Ford any day of the week over Chrysler or Government Motors. But, that's just my opinion.

Lord Tammerlain said:

A few points

The Crown Vic was not and is not the last of the large RWD sedans

The Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger are large RWD sedans. Chevy is bringing out the Chevy Caprice ( Holden Caprice from Australia) for the fleet market (police)

All are better cars then the Crown Vic, better engines, better suspensions, and better build quality. I dont miss the Crown Vic as it should have been canned 15 years ago

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My apologies, those two cars do in fact meet the EPA standard for large cars (the Charger just barely at .1 cubic feet over the minimum requirement).

The 300 and Charger are pretty recent vehicles, my information was based on old assumptions. I don't keep up with the latest out of Detroit, sorry.

LesGovt said:

Damn those Chicken Littles!!

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Yes, it's the fault of environmentalists that nobody wants to buy old, inefficient, ugly cars.

LesGovt said:

I have driven large Ford Motor manufactured cars for umpteen years now and I have loved every one of them My daughter's Dodge caught fire while she drove down the freeway. No thanks. I will take a Ford any day of the week over Chrysler or Government Motors. But, that's just my opinion.

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I'll bet she got hot over that incident. :lamo

Deuce said:

Yes, it's the fault of environmentalists that nobody wants to buy old, inefficient, ugly cars.

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You are correct. It is the fault of environmentalists. First they get their liberal buddies in Congress to enact C.A.F.E. standards to force the automotive companies to discontinue manufacturing comfortable and safe vehicles and then they get those same liberal buddies to restrict exploration, drilling, and refining so that the price of gasoline rises beyond what it should. Nice arrangment for tyrants.

Besides, if environmentalists were truly interested in the environment and saving on energy, they would want to dictate that everybody ride bicycles and ban all cars, as well as air conditioning and heating in homes using gas or electric. But hyprocrites don't want to inconvenience themselves. Instead of actually reducing serious energy use and minimizing pollution that will kill us in the near future, the environmental whackos would rather force people to purchase very, very expensive lightbulbs. Dumb!!

American said:

I'll bet she got hot over that incident. :lamo

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Well, she got out safely, but the car was destroyed.

LesGovt said:

You are correct. It is the fault of environmentalists. First they get their liberal buddies in Congress to enact C.A.F.E. standards to force the automotive companies to discontinue manufacturing comfortable and safe vehicles and then they get those same liberal buddies to restrict exploration, drilling, and refining so that the price of gasoline rises beyond what it should. Nice arrangment for tyrants.

Besides, if environmentalists were truly interested in the environment and saving on energy, they would want to dictate that everybody ride bicycles and ban all cars, as well as air conditioning and heating in homes using gas or electric. But hyprocrites don't want to inconvenience themselves. Instead of actually reducing serious energy use and minimizing pollution that will kill us in the near future, the environmental whackos would rather force people to purchase very, very expensive lightbulbs. Dumb!!

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The Crown Victoria was not very safe

2007 Ford Crown Victoria Safety Ratings

The Toyota Camry is far safer

2008 Toyota Camry Safety Ratings

Heck even the far smaller Honda Civic is a safer vehicle

2008 Honda Civic Safety Ratings



Last but not least

The idea that Libevils (liberals) are the ones preventing refineries from being built is bunk.
Yedlin: Lougheed interview sparks Keystone debate

Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, the father of Alberta's oilsands, sparked a fair bit of discussion in Calgary towers Tuesday as a result of an interview aired early in the day by CBC.

The comment making for the lively discourse had to do with Lougheed's view that the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline would take thousands of jobs away from Albertans because the refining process would take place at Gulf Coast refineries.


snip

No. According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, about 60 per cent of the 1.6 million barrels a day of oilsands produc-tion is upgraded in the province. When North West Upgrading and the Suncor/Total Voyageur projects are on stream, that number will go higher.

The fact so few new upgraders or refineries have been built since the late 1980s is testament to the tough economics of that business; when the cost of capital is greater than the return on capital, it doesn't work. What the energy sector absolutely needs - in addition to more bodies - is pipeline capacity both westward and southward.

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The likely hood of a refinery and upgrader being approved to be built in Alberta would be very high. All it would take is a serious company truely wanting too. They dont get built because it is hard to justify the capital investment as refining has very low margins for very high costs

To reinforce what Lord Tammerlain said, large ≠ safe. Only in head on collisions does weight (and thus momentum) tend to help reduce injury, but it is far more a factor of safety engineering than size. I would much rather get into a wreck in ANY compact car made today than in the whales of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Accident injuries in this era were particularly horrific, as momentum would often impale drivers into steering wheels (breakaway steering wheels and airbags serve to eliminate this hazard), shards of glass would shred flesh and puncture blood vessels (safety glass keeps the glass intact and/or causes it to break into squares rather than shards, thus significantly reducing their ability to penetrate flesh), and head on collisions would cause the entire motor to ram into the passenger cabin and crush the occupants (breakaway motor mounts that direct crash energy up and down...ever wonder why the hoods of cars in front end collisions make that tent? They are designed that way so that the edge of the sheet metal doesn't enter the cabin and cut passengers heads off.)

Hooray for modern engineering, hooray for science.

ChuckBerry said:

To reinforce what Lord Tammerlain said, large ≠ safe. Only in head on collisions does weight (and thus momentum) tend to help reduce injury, but it is far more a factor of safety engineering than size. I would much rather get into a wreck in ANY compact car made today than in the whales of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Accident injuries in this era were particularly horrific, as momentum would often impale drivers into steering wheels (breakaway steering wheels and airbags serve to eliminate this hazard), shards of glass would shred flesh and puncture blood vessels (safety glass keeps the glass intact and/or causes it to break into squares rather than shards, thus significantly reducing their ability to penetrate flesh), and head on collisions would cause the entire motor to ram into the passenger cabin and crush the occupants (breakaway motor mounts that direct crash energy up and down...ever wonder why the hoods of cars in front end collisions make that tent? They are designed that way so that the edge of the sheet metal doesn't enter the cabin and cut passengers heads off.)

Hooray for modern engineering, hooray for science.

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agree with all of the above.

however, part of me does wish they could make them look like they used to. finding a car that doesn't look like every other piece of plastic on the road with a grey plastic interior can be a real challenge.

when i bought my most recent car, i wanted something quick, good on fuel for commuting, and distinctively stylish so that i would want to drive it every day. in my price range, that left the mini cooper s and not much else. seems like there should be a lot of cars built for that niche, but there just aren't.

Helix said:

agree with all of the above.

however, part of me does wish they could make them look like they used to. finding a car that doesn't look like every other piece of plastic on the road with a grey plastic interior can be a real challenge.

when i bought my most recent car, i wanted something quick, good on fuel for commuting, and distinctively stylish so that i would want to drive it every day. in my price range, that left the mini cooper s and not much else. seems like there should be a lot of cars built for that niche, but there just aren't.

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In europe there is

Next year Hyundia is introducing the Veloster which when equiped with the expected turbo engine should be quite good

Lord Tammerlain said:

The Crown Victoria was not very safe

2007 Ford Crown Victoria Safety Ratings

The Toyota Camry is far safer

2008 Toyota Camry Safety Ratings

Heck even the far smaller Honda Civic is a safer vehicle

2008 Honda Civic Safety Ratings

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Whenever I can, I buy American. I don't want to ever see you bitchin' about jobs going overseas or money going to foreign countries when car is manufactured in U.S.

LesGovt said:

Whenever I can, I buy American. I don't want to ever see you bitchin' about jobs going overseas or money going to foreign countries when car is manufactured in U.S.

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And, I also said comfortable. You go drive a Camry or a Civic. As for me, no thanks.

Whenever I can, I buy American. I don't want to ever see you bitchin' about jobs going overseas or money going to foreign countries when car is manufactured in U.S.

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Many, if not most, foreign cars are manufactured in the United States. They have been for a long time.

LesGovt said:

Whenever I can, I buy American. I don't want to ever see you bitchin' about jobs going overseas or money going to foreign countries when car is manufactured in U.S.

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The Camry is built primarily in the US. Toyota if I recall correctly only imported around 2000 Camry's into the US. The 300 000+ sold last year were by in large manufactured in the US. If you desire a large car the Toyota Avalon would fit the bill. It is also safer then the Crown Vic.

Lord Tammerlain said:

The Camry is built primarily in the US. Toyota if I recall correctly only imported around 2000 Camry's into the US. The 300 000+ sold last year were by in large manufactured in the US. If you desire a large car the Toyota Avalon would fit the bill. It is also safer then the Crown Vic.

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You mised the second part of my statement. I buy American from American companies. I don't need or want a car manufactured by a foreign company. I like all profits to stay in the U.S. I realize that many constantly bitch about American companies, but then promote foreign ones. Not me.

Graffias said:

Many, if not most, foreign cars are manufactured in the United States. They have been for a long time.

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Are you guys not reading everything I say? I included the following "or money going to foreign countries when car is mannufactured in U.S."

LesGovt said:

You are correct. It is the fault of environmentalists. First they get their liberal buddies in Congress to enact C.A.F.E. standards to force the automotive companies to discontinue manufacturing comfortable and safe vehicles and then they get those same liberal buddies to restrict exploration, drilling, and refining so that the price of gasoline rises beyond what it should. Nice arrangment for tyrants.

Besides, if environmentalists were truly interested in the environment and saving on energy, they would want to dictate that everybody ride bicycles and ban all cars, as well as air conditioning and heating in homes using gas or electric. But hyprocrites don't want to inconvenience themselves. Instead of actually reducing serious energy use and minimizing pollution that will kill us in the near future, the environmental whackos would rather force people to purchase very, very expensive lightbulbs. Dumb!!

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Lightbulbs are serious energy use. They are a source of that pollution.
Expensive lightbulbs and vehicles inconvenience me too, you know. So do higher energy prices.
Did you know that cars can be run on something other than fossil fuels?