“Can I drive your car?”
“Sure, why not?”
And with that, I was on the driver’s seat.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the good fortune of finding myself in the land of the free for business. Naturally, the second that my relatives got the tiniest hint that I was going to a place an hour from them, the whole “business” thing quickly got transformed into a five day career/family/friends/sightseeing extravaganza that concluded on a red-eye back to La tierra madre while loaded with so damn many books that the TSA decided to have a looksie around my bag.
It was one of the best times of my life; the work was light, and the miles walked and driven go by in a blur when you’re doing great things with great people. Great people who will tolerate you getting distracted every five minutes by some random car they see a million times a day (Sorry everyone, it’s in my genes). In a blink of fun, Saturday was upon us, and I was enjoying the final hour of the single day spent on my American family’s home where we enjoyed a banquet of Chinese food. (The definition of simple pleasures: being giddy at the fact I finally ate out of those little boxes of Chinese food you see on the movies all the time.) With one of my cousins’ long time friends.
Said friend owns a 2002 Crown Victoria.
Even if the chances of her actually saying yes were incredibly slim, every moment of my adult driving life was preparing me for this moment. From going through the extra hassle of getting an international license even though I had no reason to think I would leave the country when I got it, to the fact that I’ve formed part of that select group of people my age that actually like the Panther cars instead of being disgusted by their size, their boxy design and the fact you can’t Snapchat an Instagram of a corn flake that looks like Robert Downey Jr. from the infotainment system. I had to ask, even if I had only known her for about 45 minutes at this point.
Fortunately, it seems as though she saw a lot of my family in me, because…well…look at the first two lines of this article.
And so it was that with only a couple of minutes before I was due to leave and prepare myself for the flight home, that I slid into the magnificent and incredibly wide bench seat of the Toreador metallic beast. And instantly, I was reminded of just how big this car is, the seat was nowhere near all the way back and yet I had to move it about an acre or so to reach the pedals and move it up a bit (at 5’9” I’m the very definition of average height).
Okay, let’s start it up. Left foot on the brake and I heard somewhere that modern Fords only need you to move the key to start for a bit and then they crank until required. That didn’t work, and by this point I think that the owner, right next to me, was probably rather wishing she had said no. But finally, after reacquainting myself with the American way of laying out controls (where’s the handbrake? Oh, the pedal. Where are the lights? These are the wipers? Oh right, dash.) and enjoying my first proper experience with a column shifter, I was off.
How was it? At first I was incredibly confused. This is a Crown Victoria, the steering shouldn’t be this darty. Then I remembered that my daily my driver has about ten degrees of play on the steering wheel and realized every correction I did was like making it do a tiny little elk test. After a couple hundred yards, I got the hang of it. Right at the moment I was to stop for an intersection. I tapped the brakes. For years, I heard car reviewers complain about mushy brake pedals, and right now I was getting a lesson on what that meant. It was like pushing into a bag of flour. The only reason I knew I was actually stopping was that the car did a bit of a nosedive. It was all very comfortable mind you. After experiencing all these motions I felt like I had to give some commentary.
“Dropping anchors!”
Tiff Needell would’ve been proud.
The nosedive and early cornering woes also game me other insight: what you people actually mean when you call cars like this “Landyachts”. With all the body motion and roll, it really did feel like I was driving a firm waterbed. This wasn’t helped by my realization that although the steering was very precise compared to one in a car from the eighties, it wasn’t actually telling me anything about the road. Any rumbles, grooves or pattering that it could’ve presented to me were quietly silenced somewhere before making their way to the steering wheel. It wasn’t the best of first impressions and it lasted all the way to a gas station where I experienced transcendent joy at pumping my own gas (La tierra madre is like Jersey that way) and caused sensible chuckling from the owner by taking the pump out of without shaking those last few drops out of it.
We climbed aboard and checked the clock, which told us it was already way past eight o’ clock. My time left in the country had long since been reduced to single digit hours and just the trip back to the hotel would take an hour of those. Time was upon us, and we had to make up for it. We quickly left the station and I pointed that enormous red and chrome nose back home. And then, in the middle of a country road with American Classic Rock FM on the stereo, was when I realized I was in the middle of an American movie. And this is the part of the movie where the driver puts his foot down.
Who cares about the mushy brakes? who gives a toss about it being a landyacht? A yacht is comfy, a yacht is big and right now, as the 4.6-liter Modular thanked me for unleashing it with a delicious growl and a willingness to punch through the horizon, a yacht is fast. Never meet your heroes? Pah! They may give a bad impression at first, but give them enough time and they will likely remind you why they are your heroes after all. And then your passenger will remind you that in this country speed limits are actually enforced. At which point the brakes will, finally, make sense.
After an unsurprisingly short amount of time we arrived back home. I thanked her and apologized for scaring her, at which point she said it was actually very fun. Sadly, we didn’t have any more time to relax, as I had to do many quick goodbyes and climb into another car with my family to take me back to the hotel. All the while feeling amazing about all the good times I had that week and thinking about ways to get a Crown Victoria back home. The CVPI should make the steering more precise and the brakes less spongy right?
I’ll find a way around the fact that it doesn’t fit in most local parking spaces.
Nice write-up. Something about how the brakes are proportioned on the Panthers plus the type of rotors they used is very underwhelming in that rather traditional American cruiser way. And the electric steering assist is beyond mushy. That’s why they used to build personal luxury coupes – at least beginning in the mid-80s – which utilized sportier suspension bones, steering racks (though this does have one, it’s ruined by that terrible assist) and superior braking components. The final generation of the Eldorado is a very impressive GT, and so were Mark VII and VIII and their cousins Cougar and Thunderbird. The pre-electric assist vehicles were the best of the bunch when the only help you got was via a hydraulic power steering pump.
But the Panthers – Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, and the Town Car – were always like those traditional luxobarges, down to the steering (which here, with a steering rack mushed electrically ironically achieves a similar feel to the old steering box setup which was mushy by design). But that’s precisely why some folks dig them, it’s a throwback to a bygone era, to cars which began to be phased out already in the early 80s.
Personally, I wish they had kept them as a limited production model, just because it’s a unique experience and it could easily be conformed to the modern safety standards. But the industry – and Ford especially – are all about moving forward. And so the dinosaurs had to become extinct.
Except for a few still prowling this great land. Which is the only place where they ever made sense to begin with…
Personally, I wish they had kept them as a limited production model, just because it’s a unique experience and it could easily be conformed to the modern safety standards.
It wouldn’t have needed to be that limited of production – between fleet, livery and the approximately 30K annual units they sold retail, Ford could have quite easily kept a plant open making an updated Panther.
Despite what the legions of internet bashers would have you think, they’re great for what they are – cheap, rugged full-size vehicles that you can reliably run for hundreds of thousands of miles.
I agree. The bigger issue was political, namely Ford did not want to be associated with that type of car anymore. And while the Panther dominated the streets the Maker inevitably remained associated with it. Hence lowering the volume without killing it off completely might have been a win-win solution.
And I’d never bash the Panther. Critique some of its aspects, yes. Like the terrible electric assist on the steering, the brake boost that could have been better proportioned to improve the feel – the car stops just fine, actually – it just feels all mushed out, and the absence of the DOHC 4.6 from the Mark VIII outside of the Marauder experiment. That motor should have been in every top of the line Panther (or available as an option) from the late 90s onward.
The electric assist should have been relayed with a dedicated on/off button (how hard is that?) to bypass the cheapo solenoid under normal driving conditions where the power steering pump is all you really need anyway, any further assist is for parking situations (or for self-driving cars, but that’s when it’s by wire and a different story). Just like that the car would steer much better, and it’s not an expensive upgrade, just a relay, a switch, and some extra wiring. To offset the cost of this upgrade, drop some of the silly equipment like the pulldown trunks on the Town Car.
The brakes should have utilized a Mustang setup. You already have the parts, so use them. I’m a Ford boy, they swap parts indiscriminately between platforms (as does everyone else). If something doesn’t get shared it’s not because they couldn’t do it or it wasn’t cost effective, it’s because they didn’t want to do it. But anyway: a Mustang brake booster (at a minimum) would do wonders here. I almost think the rotors themselves are actually sufficient for the task.
Throw in the DOHC 4.6 – at least on the top of the line models – and you have a killer vehicle. We know from the Marauder that it fits. Then, like in the Marauder you move the shifter to the floor and voila, we have a fairly competitive modern car.
I think it’s not so much “political” as the market changing—the Panther never dominated the streets. For its largest sedan Ford went from dedicated RWD full-size platform to a shared (and, if we take its Volvo roots into account, not young) FWD platform to a stretched Fusion platform (and I’m not sure whether that’s coming into the states). The full-sized sedan market dried up and people who bought them are mostly fine with one of the above substitutes or, more often, a truck.
(I guess going the Chrysler muscle car route might have been an option, à la the Interceptor concept, but even those have an uncertain future now.)
Oh, by “dominating the streets” I meant the sheer number of them. Between the cabs, police, and livery they were everywhere not too long ago… and you looked at them and thought “Ford”.
Mustang brakes really wouldn’t have done anything to help, and they don’t bolt on since the spindle mounting is significantly different. Panthers actually used quite large brakes by the end, and the 03 frame and suspension redesigns really transformed them.
IMO the thing that kept them from being modern was primarily the 98 styling, which basically was the return of the box Panther, and kept going for way too many years. I’m sure fleet operators appreciated the years of interchangeability but it’s poison to the eyes of the rest of the buying public. I think the 3V should have become the standard engine in 06, that replaced the 2V in most other applications, had about the same power as the Marauder 4V, was lighter and simpler. And behind that ditch the 4 speed 4R70w for a 5 or 6 sp auto(both were available) and make a dash that didn’t look geriatric even for 1975 standards.
Yeah there really isn’t a good excuse to have at least slipped the 3V in there. If not for the retail version you would have thought they would have offered it in the P71. For the trans the police users would probably preferred the proven and cheap 4R75W. It really wouldn’t have cost much for them to do the few unique items and a calibration for the Panther chassis.
A 2002 Panther does not have a steering rack, they still use the old recirculating ball style steering box. Rack and Pinion steering was introduced with the new front suspension in 2003.
No Panther ever had electric power steering assist, they are all hydraulic. However they do have an EVO or electronically variable orifice which controls how much fluid flows and thus how much boost is added. At speed and with low steering wheel speed they give next to no boost while at low speed or with quick steering inputs they have a fair amount of boost. Which computer is in the car controls the maximum amount of boost. Get one with the HPP package and the maximum boost is less. Get an early P71 and the amount of boost is huge while on the later models they boost rate is similar to that of the HPP cars.
The booster doesn’t play into the squishy brake feel, that is the master cylinder. My Daughter’s 2003 has the softer pedal and when I added the power pedals I used a later booster from an 2005 like mine which has a firmer pedal and the softness of the pedal did not change at all.
Ford discontinued the Panther for a couple of reasons, none of which was because they didn’t want to be associated with a car like that. The two big reasons were the mandated stability control and the fact that a lot of the tooling and equipment in the plant was at or past its economically useful life with some stampings going back to 1998, 1992, or in the case of a few floor pan pieces 1979. It just didn’t make sense to make the investment needed to add the stability control and keep the machinery working.
“A 2002 Panther does not have a steering rack, they still use the old recirculating ball style steering box. Rack and Pinion steering was introduced with the new front suspension in 2003.”
Thanks – I knew it was somewhere there. Well, that explains even more. The steering boxes were pretty subpar.
“No Panther ever had electric power steering assist, they are all hydraulic. However they do have an EVO or electronically variable orifice which controls how much fluid flows and thus how much boost is added.”
That’s what I was (incorrectly, in terms of language) referring to. I don’t like it!!! I don’t like the feel of it or what it does. Owning a Fox body which simply utilizes a power steering pump to a rack and nothing else I have to question why that other stuff is even necessary. It ruins the steering feel.
“The two big reasons were the mandated stability control and the fact that a lot of the tooling and equipment in the plant was at or past its economically useful life with some stampings going back to 1998, 1992, or in the case of a few floor pan pieces 1979. It just didn’t make sense to make the investment needed to add the stability control and keep the machinery working.”
Yes, I’ve heard that reasoning. Sorry, but with the killing they were doing (and were set to do for the foreseeable future) in fleet sales I just don’t buy it…………………
Another problem was in 2012 MY pedestrian crash standards were more stringent, which would’ve necessitated a front-end redesign that Ford wasn’t about to do.
Scoutdude is right about the stampings: apparently some of them were pretty much toast at St. Thomas.
Moreover, in the mid-2000s the Detroit automakers were being roasted for their reliance on “fleet” sales. That, and Al Mullaly’s “One Ford” plan meant the company was moving towards global platforms in their passenger car lineup.
Other reasons abound.
There was no 2012 MY pedestrian crash standards implemented in the US. The Notice of Proposed Rule was supposed to be made in 2011. See page 17 of this document. http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/2011-2013_Vehicle_Safety-Fuel_Economy_Rulemaking-Research_Priority_Plan.pdf Which would mean that it would not be implemented for several years afterword.
Also check out this article from 2012 http://www.autonews.com/article/20120423/OEM03/304239967/european-safety-styled-cars-due-in-u.s. where they note that the NHSTA was working on setting the rules in 2012, not that they had been implemented.
Also note that had there actually been an implementation of pedistrian crash standards in 2012 it would have likely applied to only a portion of a mfgs vehicles.
Look at the Stability control rules. 06 was when the NPRM was issued, 07 was when the rule was finalized and it did not apply until 09 and at that point it was only required on 55% of 2009 MY year vehicles. It then upped to 75% for 2010 MY, 95% for 2011 MY and finally 100% for 2012. In other words the Panthers and Rangers only managed to hang around until 2011 because they made up less than 5% of Ford’s under 10k GVW fleet.
The way the speed sensitive steering works is that a low speeds and with quick steering wheel movements the orifice is fully opened allowing full hydraulic assist. At speed and with moderate steering wheel angle changes the orifice is almost completely closed cutting off most of the hydraulic boost. Or pretty much what you say you want, a way to eliminate the boost in other than parking situations.
Personally I love it as it gives you essentially manual steering at speed with good feel when you are at the limits and enough boost to make parallel parking easy.
Fact is mandated stability control was the big driving force behind giving the Panther and the Ranger the ax.
Yeah it’s funny I’ve always blamed the assist. I guess it must be squarely on the suspension then? Because even on a fairly lightly used 2010 Town Car – which I get to drive from time to time – there is just too much slop under virtually all driving circumstances… and the thing has had a very easy life, so it’s as close to factory new as can be.
Being a Town Car it would have a different steering module than the CV and GM that at least in the older models I have driven they don’t seem to turn down the boost at speed as much as even a standard civilian CV or GM let alone compared to a P71 or HPP equipped car and it starts off with more assist too.
If it is truly slop then there is probably something wrong, if it is just wandering then alignment would be a likely suspect.
livefast1982curr wrote: “That’s what I was (incorrectly, in terms of language) referring to. I don’t like it!!! I don’t like the feel of it or what it does. Owning a Fox body which simply utilizes a power steering pump to a rack and nothing else I have to question why that other stuff is even necessary. It ruins the steering feel.”
I don’t know whether it’s the mfgs pushing this
numb/mushy steering onto the market, or if the
buyers of this size & class cars demanded it,
but you and I certain were not the drivers they
had in mind when they implemented this
“steering”(and that goes for numb Camrys and
other mid-pack sedans).
My ideal power steering would be fully effective
up to 20mph, fade away up to 30mph, and be
totally removed from anything 31mph and above.
Perhaps there could be a switch or lever on the
dash to select “Minimum Assist” or some such.
In short, power steering that is effective where
needed most: In close quarters, parking, backing
up. Over 30mph, let caster, camber, and toe
have their intended effects!
FWIW the EVO is present on the MN12/FN10 Tbirds/Cougars/MarkVIIIs, and standard standard on SCs and all V8s. It’s much preferable to full assist(I unplugged mine just to try it once) and an on/off relay would behave as such. The EVO module is designed to behave in a linear manner.
+1 Having once owned a 93 XR7 V-6 and a 94 XR7 V-8 the module does make a difference. The steering on the 93 was much lighter on the highway although it was still much quicker and more precise than the Panthers
The headlight switch location isn’t so much an “American” thing as a traditional Ford (and Mercedes) thing. It makes a little more sense considering that the RH side of the steering column is needed for the shifter, leaving no room for another control stalk.
Sure it is a traditional “American” thing as that is where the headlight switch was on the majority of cars going back several decades, and not just on Fords, GM, Chrysler, AMC and IH all used that location at some point in the past.
Fun cars to play with. Saw one on a web board that had a 5 speed manual swapped in.
It is quite fun to get to experience firsthand someone’s first drive in one of these, particularly when that someone is from somewhere overseas. Coming from a place and age where these were so common as to not give them a second thought, It is a great pleasure to see one of these fresh from the eyes who consider these quite foreign.
The Panther evidently proved to be a fine goodwill ambassador for our middle-American tastes. I, for one, am happy that you enjoyed your brief drive.
As a fellow member of that group of people that like the Panther — plus I own one — I enjoyed reading about your experiences.
My car is a 2006 Crown Vic LX Sport, and it has none of the Landyacht characteristics of a floaty ride and spongy brakes, etc. In fact, some people who ride in my car for the first time comment on how it feels like a “normal car” (like they were expecting a pillow on wheels, or a rattletrap taxi…).
I’ve driven CVPIs as well, and they’ve felt similarly tight, so I recommend trying an LX Sport, CVPI or a Crown Vic with sport suspension next. My car has given me almost ten years and 60,000 of trouble-free driving — I’m a big fan of Panthers as a result.
From the pics posted (140MPH speedometer, no cruise control), I think that WAS a CVPI.
Did you eat the Chinese with chop sticks ? In the movies it’s always Chinese take out [even in a remote small town trailer park] and eaten with chopsticks [ even in a remote small town trailer park ].
You can try some other movie cliches as well: sitting on the back of a couch, drinking milk straight out of the carton, eating ice cream out of the box and talking with your mouth full to get the full Hollywood experience, Gerald. [All my pet peeves in movies].
And when you get really really old you can have deep romances with 20 year old women.
Of course you’ll have really scored driving in New York City and parking precisely in front of your apartment building destination. In a convertible.
Love your write up Gerald. This Crown Vic sounds just like the 66 Mercury Montclair my parents had when I learned how to drive. I imagine I’d be all pinball eyed coming to your country and taking in the automotive landscape.
Thanks !
Tried eating it with chopsticks, stabbed a shrimp, went back to a fork.
Movies and TV always use Chinese because you won’t have many continuity problems if you don’t actually see the food (same with eating ice cream or drinking milk straight out of the carton). It also means the actors probably aren’t actually eating the food, so they don’t have to continually spit it out between takes.
One other thing: the base steering wheel of the final Panther generation is just awful. It’s like they wanted to punish you. That steering wheel only works when it’s in the Town Car leather/wood trim. The leather is cheap, they should have wrapped the Crown Vic wheel in it and left the wood bits for the Town Car.
That is a cheap looking wheel but if you notice it’s cruise control delete, so it was most likely a fleet vehicle.
As much as people on auto boards like to bemoan the lack of stripper vehicles, the Crown Vic was one of the last pass cars where such packages were still available.
That picture of the wheel is from a P71 which is why it is not leather wrapped. The 140mph speedo and vinyl floor mat is a dead giveaway to it being a P71. Also that is not the final Panther steering wheel, that one was used until 2005 and a new one with revised air bag where the air bag moves to operate the horn switch instead of the switch being part of the air bag was introduced. Personally I prefer the older pictured wheel as I find the entire air bag moving to activate the horn cheesy at best but it does look and feel the best with the leather wrap and the cruise, climate and audio controls.
If you look at the pictures used I’d say none of them are of the actual car he drove. The lead pic has a civilian model with the (fairly rare) straight spoke aluminum wheels, keyless entry and a leather interior. Then you have a 03 up with the Y spoke wheels, Another is a P71 with the Street Appearance Package that gives the vehicle full wheel covers and chrome trim.
I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen those wheels shown in the lead pic – either in RL or online.
In November I bought a “retired” police car, an 09 model. Apparently NON police cars have a (much) quieter exhaust system as no mention was made about the loud boom the engine makes when the key is turned to start the engine.
As far as the placement and/or function of the various controls….the author never used the windshield wipers. I’ve owned about 5 or 6 different Japanese cars that “do the wipers” better than Ford does theirs on every vehicle AFAIK. EVERY time I try to use the wipers I have to think about it, they are in no way intuitive.
As far as the steering, I wouldn’t say the newer Crown Vics are darty but they could use a bit more feel. When turning right at speed, I’ve had the sensation I could I turn the car into a metal banana.
Brakes? I would somewhat agree, and would welcome hearing from someone who has firmed them up.
It is more the lack of sound insulation in the P71. For example the P71 doesn’t have the underhood blanket that is on the civilian cars and they don’t have much insulation under the thin vinyl floor mat compared to the thick blanket under the carpet on the civilian models. They do have duals which puts a pipe on the driver’s side that isn’t there on civilian models without HPP which does give the driver a little more exhaust noise than they would otherwise hear.
The simplest way to firm up the brakes a bit is to switch to braided stainless brake hoses. They don’t balloon as much as the rubber ones do, giving a little firmer feel. Of course before doing that a proper bleeding of the system is a good place to start since you don’t know the history of the vehicle.
Thanks for the tips.
I actually like the sound of the exhaust, so adding sound insulation is way down on the list of mods I would do to my car. Though I have to admit I was a bit surprised by the lack of an underhood “blanket”.
Would consider adding Ford’s exclusive “touchpad” locking/unlocking if it can be added to a car WITH power locks, but WITHOUT remote/keyfob activated door locking. And am just starting to diagnose why the cigarette lighter doesn’t (perhaps a missing fuse?).
Fuse is a good place to start looking for the lighter problem. Of course the first question is whether you have no power to the socket or if you are only going by the lighter not getting hot which could be a problem with the element itself.
If you aren’t using it for lighter purposes then there is the power point under the ashtray/cup holder assembly that many people do not notice because it is stuck so far back.
The other thing being a retired police car is that they may have cheeped out and not got the option power distribution systems and co-opted that circuit to power something else or just unplugged it because they didn’t want their officers smoking in their cars.
You can add keyless entry but it would be a lot of work as the wiring for the door module is integrated into the entire power door lock system. On cars with only power door locks they are all on one circuit connected directly to the switches.
With keyless entry and with remote entry the driver’s unlock circuit is separate from the circuit that unlocks the rest of the doors. The switch on the door as well as the key pad are connected to a computer. That way when you push the remote button once or enter the code only the driver’s door unlocks. You then have to push the 3/4 button or the unlock button a second time if you want the other 3 to unlock. But if you press an interior un-lock button the computer unlocks all 4 doors simultaneously.
Good write up, thank you. Panther articles are always appreciated. I have a 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis LS in that same color, Dark Toreador Red with alabaster leather. The stopping power feels fine to me, but I’m big and can get on the pedal hard if need be. I also find the steering to be communicative, and have no trouble placing the big beastie right where I want it. Best of all is the V-8 snarl with the windows down. With summer coming, you’ll find me cruising around in the evenings, taking in the breeze, with a Nationals game on the radio. Yup, you can tell I’m a ‘Murican. 🙂
Gerald: you are ahead of me. I’ve been in the USA 30 years and never managed to drive (navigate) a Panther.
I always wanted to like these cars, and drove one each time I was in the market for a new car. However, the execution was sadly wanting compared with the long gone GM competition. They were plasticky and cheaply made, and drove like a lot of plastic parts were rubbing together. I noticed on the two year old Town cars I had been looking at, a lot of the plastic pieces had come off, and the last Marquis we looked at, brand new on the dealer lot, the sun visor had broken. Excellent idea but very poor execution. The Chrysler LX is a far better implementation of the idea.
I have never driven an LX but did rent a Lincoln Town Car in 2003. I was really looking forward to this, not being from the USA I had never actually driven one before. I understand the plastic comment. The dash board comprised dozens of small plastic parts and many creaked at the sight of a bump or pot hole. Ride was good but very soft and I had not ever before experienced as much body roll. It had a compass in the rear view mirror though, which I thought was a great idea. It had sat Nav as well. I never really got totally comfortable in that front seat on long-ish drives (anything over an hour) – it was very soft and ‘squirmish’. I dont know which engine it had – being a Hertz car it would have had the very standard engine I suspect – but power was a disappointment, though the drivetrain was very smooth. I am glad I drove one and there was much to like but I am not sure I would buy one. Perhaps I have just become accustomed to the firm feeling of German offerings.
All 2003’s got the same basic SOHC 4.6 engine, ~225HP. The biggest ptoblem with the “engine” was actually the gearing. In 2003, most non-police Panthers got 2.73 gears unless they were spec’d with the towing package or as limo conversions. The gears were simply way too tall, though they made 28+MPG on a highway trip not especially hard to pull off. Even the later 3.27s were a big help. My 2011 PI has 3.55s and the difference is very noticeable.
I have always wondererd about driving these cars. All the reviews I have read have been written by professionals who can´t actually communicate their sensations to normal people. Now I feel like I know what this car is like: a Chevy Caprice!
I still really like these things.
As the owner of an 09 P71, here are my final (?) comments on these cars:
A Crown Victoria is no Lincoln, obviously, and the ride is tuned for 2 completely different types of customer. My car rides like the live axled car it is, but it’s not “squishy” nor is it pickup truck hard.
Most new cars have a fair amount of plastic in their interiors. My car has 105,000+ hard miles on it, and the interior looks pretty good: no squeaks/rattles, no parts missing/hanging by a “thread”, even the upholstery is in pretty good shape for the mileage with some ground in dirt and 2 small tears in the vinyl covering the rear seat. If there is a weak spot it’s the pull out drawer for the ashtray/cupholders that sticks and also feels like it could drop a large drink on the floor….but never does. Oh, and the glovebox door which doesn’t shut all that satisfyingly.
As far as driving: in mixed driving I get about 20 mpg. On long interstate trips I get about 22-23 mpg.
Coming off a Honda Civic with a manual transmission, this car takes a bit of adjustment to all that length and width, but at speed it handles like I imagine an older (2000+ model) Mustang would handle….with a touch more boost in the power steering and a bit less feel to the power brakes.
Over 50 years of driving, I’ve driven several different 60s and 70s Galaxies, LTDs, and Country Squires, this is NOT your father’s or grandfather’s full-sized Ford.
Would I buy another one? Probably not, as I don’t really need a car like this, but I am more likely than ever to consider a Ford as my next car instead of limiting my interest to Hondas.
Note the console they sell at the larger Walmart stores fits perfectly between the P71’s bucket seats. Nice little locking storage area and cup holders for the front and rear seat passengers.
For the cup holder/ashtray you may just need to give it a good cleaning to remove the built up gunk that was spilled down there over the years.
My favorite post-boxy-era Crown Vic(after late 1990s
they became too homogenized, and after 2000 could
not tell from a Grand Marquis!): You really knew the
1992 & ’93 were Crown Victorias!
Yup the aero nosed 6 window is the best looking of all the CVs and GMs. Which is why I can’t get rid of mine.
Agreed. The 98 restyle looked like an ahead of their time retro reboot of Box Crown Vics. The 92-97s looked great, and ironically the 6 window roofline fit more in the styling paradigm of the Five Hundred in the aughts
I rented one in the early 2000s to drive from Chicago to Detroit and back, I absolutely loved it with the exception of the total cheapness exuded by the dash. Other than that I wanted one!
A fun read, well done. When I got my first Lincoln, it took some adjusting compared to the Volvos I drove for 20 years, but once you’re acclimated, they are a pleasure to drive. I just got a new set of whitewalls for mine! 108K and runs like a Swiss watch.
I have never seen one of these with no cruise control buttons before, how odd!
Police Vics (only) had cruise control optional. This had me tearing my hair out last fall, because most I saw did not actually have it!
This is our 2002 Crown Vic
Hello:
I own a 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis LS Limited Edition. This is my second MGM. My first was a 2004 GS which I drove nearly 300,000 miles and sold for $2800. I liked it so much, I purchased the 2008. My 2008 currently has 70,000 miles on it.
I love these cars. The cabin is large & roomy; the trunk is cavernously spacious. My LS has all options, so the vehicle is very luxurious to drive. The handling is sharp & tight and the big car handles superbly.
Many underestimate this presumed “Grandpa” ride, but it’s not your Grandpa’s Marquis. Just today I had to make a 350 mile trip, mostly on the turnpike. Don’t tell the police, or my wife, but I drove that car as fast as 99 MPH. The large, heavy sedan cruised excellently, no shaking, or shimmering, just a straight, smooth cruise. The car holds tight to the road and handles lane-changes, curves perfectly without excessive body roll.
I love these cars. As a matter of fact, I have 8 different vehicles in my collection; two of which, are Mercedes Benz. I have to say, I enjoy driving this MGM, as much as, I like driving my big S430 Saloon, or my 190e Sport Saloon.
Thanks for reading!
Yours truly, a faithful Ford/Lincoln/Mercury and Mercedes, enthusiast and collector.
—Gene
A guy in the North of England sells these stating they can take a rear end hit at 75mph.T
rue or false?.
Read the reason police departments do not buy the Caprice is that its made in Auz. Well
al VIcs were made in Canada!.
The reason police departments didn’t buy the Caprice was that it cost more than the Fords and Dodges. Now, many departments are switching to SUVs (Explorers) for the extra space.
Interesting story Gerardo. I’m not sure if there were still Crown Vic rental cars available when I was in the US 4 years ago, I suppose we were more focused on experiencing the country rather than its cars. The overall driving experience sounds like local non-sports-model Fords of the time; torque for days and comfort prioritised over on-the-limit antics.