The Ford Crown Victoria is now dead - R.I.P.

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I'm also wondering now, with the Lincoln Town Car dead, what limousine services are going to use as Corporate sedans, hell or even for stretch limo's for that matter. From my understanding, front wheel drive is the worst set up to use on a stretched platform. I've heard the Cadillacs were problematic because of that. The new Lincoln flagship just doesn't have the class the Town Car had. I have yet to drive the MKZ, if that's what replaced the Town Car, but I'm sure they aren't as roomy or plush. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
It sure is a sad day Indeed. I am on my second RWD Ford, I started off with a brand new 2006 Crown Vic LXin silver(carbon copy of 1st pic) I loved that car but at 36k traded for a 2006 Lincoln Town Car which I love even more it is only up to 23,700 miles so I'll be keeping it for quite some time. I have always loved the style, ride, and size of these, kinda sad they cant be ordered new anymore.  The new Lincoln flagship is the Lincoln MKS which is on the same platform as the Taurus, it is fairly roomy, almost as roomy as my Town Car but to me it doesnt seem like it is as posh and floaty as the Town Car
 
The Panthers (Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car) were at one time Ford's most profitable car as Ford ignored it, making improvements only when absolutely necessary. Ford decided it will be too expensive to make it meet future crash protection and fuel economy requirements, so they killed it.

Ford thinks police departments will go for its front-wheel-drive Taurus (big on the outside, small on the inside) which is so far not proving popular with retail buyers. For livery service, they are pushing the Lincoln MKT, which is an odd-looking minivan/crossover thing. It is even less popular with retail buyers than the Taurus.
 
Not too surprised...

The Crown Vic has most recently, strictly been the vehicle for cops, cabbies & rental fleet units...

The age of anything large, heavy, gas guzzling & even RWD is pretty much passé (same goes for Mercury's Marquis!)...

Gone to the big see-dan valley in the sky...! It's over for now...

-- Dave
 
The Panther platform cars weren't really that gas guzzling. I drove many Town Cars of different model years with the limo service for over 4 years. And they all got very good mileage for such large and heavy cars. 25 to 27 MPG highway was the average I'd get. And even the limo's would manage over 20 MPG highway, depending on the load. My own Town Car, a 1991 has got me over 27 on the highway and at least 18 in the city depending how much foot I used.
 
A big heavy car can get decent highway mileage on flat ground if it has a reasonable frontal area and good aerodynamic drag coefficient; once the weight is moving it isn't such a big factor and at highway speeds the aero is more important. A bud of mine in west Texas has pulled similar mileage out of his family's Town Cars for years. Around town the weight becomes a big factor and as noted the mileage drops like a stone into the teens, kind of ironic considering the car's name! Lincoln should really have called it the Highway Cruiser. Around here most of the Town Cars I see belong to limo services; they don't seem too popular with private owners. The only limo driver/owner I know prefers Cadillacs however, as he says the rounded cut of the Town Car's upper rear doors makes it easy for a tired and inattentive passenger to hit his head on the roof while getting in and out.

At 32 years old the Panther platform may have been Ford's longest lived chassis, but it's nowhere near the longest produced car platform ever: that title belongs firmly to the original rear engined, air cooled VW Beetle which was in production from 1938 until 2003, 65 years. Even if you discount the pre-1945 production which was for military or promotional use the Beetle sedan was produced from '45-'03. Citroen's 2CV also lasted longer, from '48-'90.
 
My mother had the Grand Maqrquis and consistently got 22-26 MPG with the fuel injected 302.   This car was quiet, roomey, and rode like your recliner.

 

The "Vickie" is dead "long live the queen."

 

It was my understanding that the last year of production of the Vickie they only allowed government orders.  They were all supposed to be Police cars or Taxis.

 
 
When I buy my next car, I hope to find a used Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. My hunch is that a used Grand Marquis, for instance, will have been babied by an older driver and will have low mileage.
 
The city where I live did an emergency budget request for many thousands of dollars so the police department could buy some of the last Crown Vics to keep on hand as the rest of the fleet gets older and worn out.  They hope th9is will give them time to evaluate and see what they will end up with as the typical cop car down the road. 
 

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