(first posted 9/17/2018) “It’s got a cop motor, a turbocharged 3.5, it’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It’ll run good on regular gas. Whaddya say? Is it the new Blues Mobile or what?”
When The Blues Brothers reached movie theaters in 1980, their Bluesmobile – a Dodge Monaco – was six years old. Now, the earliest of the Police Interceptor Sedans – aka the police version of the Taurus – are approaching that age, ready to be snapped up for cheap by ex-con musicians.
Should they make a Blues Brothers 2020, I imagine they’d be more likely to use a police-issue Dodge Charger. With its aggressive styling and optional V8, the Charger exudes menace. The high-waisted Police Interceptor isn’t without its charm, however, and it’s been a relatively popular police vehicle.
Police fleets are shifting ever more rapidly to SUVs though, including Ford’s own Explorer-derived Police Interceptor Utility. And with Ford’s recent announcement of the imminent axing of its sedan lineup, the Police Interceptor Sedan’s days are numbered. Ford had projected 75% of its police volume would go to the sedan with the remainder to the utility but in the end, the ratio was flipped. Last year, the Utility was the nation’s best-selling police vehicle with over 50% market share. Interceptor Sedan sales, in comparison, have plateaued despite Ford’s aggressive pricing and enthusiastic pursuit of fleet purchases as well as Chevrolet’s discontinuation of the Caprice PPV.
It makes sense, however, that police officers – with all of their equipment – would prefer an SUV, particularly one that’s just as easy to drive as the Interceptor Sedan (they share a platform, after all). The Interceptor Sedan – like the Taurus it’s based on – is hardly a bastion of space efficiency. With the divider up, occupants in the rear have very little legroom. At least Ford took steps to make the cockpit less confining than in the Taurus, moving the shifter to the column to free up space for a special console that houses various items of police equipment.
It’s not just the column shifter that differentiates the Police Interceptor Sedan from the Taurus. No Interceptor Sedan comes with the MyFordTouch system, nor do any offer keyless entry – just old-fashioned keys here. Mechanical enhancements include heavy-duty shocks and springs and improved engine cooling. And that Interceptor name means this sedan can withstand a 75-mph offset rear collision without bursting aflame.
The powertrain lineup of the police Taurus is slightly wider than that of the regular Taurus. There’s a choice of front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, the former available only with the 2.0 EcoBoost four-cylinder (known as the Special Service Police sedan) and 3.5 V6, the latter only with the 3.5, 3.5 EcoBoost and, not available in the regular Taurus, a 3.7 V6 shared with other corporate products like the Lincoln MKS.
Even the 2.0 four-cylinder is quicker to 60 mph than the old Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, even though its horsepower and torque figures are slightly lower (240 hp/270 ft-lbs versus 250 hp/297 ft-lbs). The 3.5 produces 288 hp and 254 ft-lbs; the 3.7 has 305 hp and 279 ft-lbs. The real hero is the EcoBoost 3.5 which well and truly puts the old Vic in the shade with 365 hp and 350 ft-lbs.
The venerable Crown Vic’s regular presence on American and Canadian roads for decades means it has become a familiar and respected part of automotive scenery. The Interceptor Sedan’s much shorter shelf life means these won’t get the opportunity to establish the same kind of reputation. Nevertheless, these are competent police cars, safer, better-equipped and more economical than the Crown Victoria Police Interceptors they replaced. No, there won’t be any rear tire-smokin’ chases in these, à la The Blues Brothers, but you could probably still have plenty of fun in one of these with the turbocharged 3.5 V6.
You’ll just have to install a cigarette lighter.
Photographed in Washington Heights, Manhattan, NYC in September 2018.
The Taurus is fast, no argument there, but theres not a cop on the job today that drove a Crown Vic that prefers a Taurus to a CV or a Charger. The Taurus is very cramped, trunk space is a joke for a police car and its one of the worst cars Ive ever driven for visibility. Plus the Taurus (and Explorers) are having transmission and brake problems and the Explorers have been recalled for exhaust gases entering the interior when idling for any amount of time, which is what police cars do.
Since the old megasedans are long out of production, SUVs are the way to go for police work, especially since many PDs are in the process of, or have already abandoned their pursuit policies.
So LTDan, why has the Taurus Interceptor been selling so well? I keep reading that Ford has wrestled much of the market from the Charger, mostly on the (alleged) reduction of repair and maintenance costs. Has Ford just been really aggressive on pricing in a way that satisfies the accountants and officers be damned?
Just call me a curious civilian.
“satisfies the accountants and officers be damned”
that^^^
The Charger is still the cheapest police vehicle. My state’s contract for 2018 V6 Chargers was $23,100 while a Ford SSP Sedan was $23,948. For what ever reason there isn’t a listing for the 2018 Interceptor Sedan the 2019 WAS $24,282, as today was the last day to submit an order for it.
Looking this up showed that orders have already been opened for the 2020 Interceptor Utility and it reveals the new power trains that I assume will be similar to those in the Civilian version.
2020-0519-010 2020 Ford Police Interceptor AWD Pursuit-Rated Utility/SUV, 3.3L V6 Direct-Injection (136-MPH Top Speed), 10-Speed Automatic Police-Calibrated Transmission (Column Shifter), 255/60R 18 All-Season BSW Tires; HD Steel Wheels, HD 80-Amp 730CCA Battery, HD 250 Amp Alternator, 21.4 Gallon Fuel Tank, 3.73 Axle Ratio (K8A/500A) THIS IS THE BASE VEHICLE — Please review standard specs to view complete description. $0.00
2020-0519-011 NEW – Alternative Engine, 3.0L V6 EcoBoost with 10-Speed Automatic Transmission, 3.31 Axle Ratio (148-MPH Top Speed) (99C/44U) $4,041.00
2020-0519-012 NEW – Alternative Hybrid (HEV) Engine System [Includes 3.3L V6 Direct-Injection Hybrid Engine System, Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (does not intrude into the cargo area), police calibrated high-performance regenerative braking system, DC/DC converter 220-Amp (in lieu of alternator), H7 AGM Battery – 800 CCA / 80-Amp, 19-Gallon Fuel Tank, 8-Year/100,000-Mile Hybrid Unique Component Warranty] (Not compatible with 3.0L V6 EcoBoost option) (99W/44B) $3,302.00
The other thing is a big boost in the price of the base vehicle. The contract for the 2020 is $32,800 while the 2019 was only $29,394.
Ford completely redesigned the Explorer in 2020, and it now has a longitudinal engine and rear wheel bias again. The police have noticed.
Fast but no match for a Hellcat:
Kowalski!
For 2020 they’ve updated the car again, there using the 2020 ford police responder (a ford fusion) there like a hybrid verison of the crown vic, alot of cops say its like bringing the crown vic again only without the crappy fuel milage. Its got wigwag (somethin the taurus didnt have since it had projector headlights) and places of hideaways and a third window for small lightheads such as the whelen ion, and even better the 3rd brake light is built into the frame giving places for lightbar and traffic sticks at both the top and bottom like the impala had. There actually really nice cars but there more for a city police department vs say a sheriff office that has alot of back roads. Our sheriffs and town police departments here in southern IL is going for explorers, we had tahoes but them having only rear wheel drive they suck in the snow. (Pluse there chevy so they do nothin but brake down lol) our old sheriff was gonna go all chevy using tahoes and impalas then the our new sheriff is switching to explorers. The town chiefs are going to FPIUs as well but may start using fusions as well.
Wouldn’t be the first Ford Bluesmobile (from a lamentable movie)…
“(from a lamentable movie)”
I would choose much stronger language than lamentable, but civility suggests I should hold my tongue….
While I won’t begin to suggest that the sequel is anywhere close to the original BB. It has grown on me over the years. If nothing else, BB2000 provided Dan Ackroyd with a way to pay tribute to those who had passed on, and a showcase for another group of veteran musicians and some up & coming talent.
I read an excerpt from John Landis that the studio interference did the movie in, like having a kid and making the movie PG rather than R like the original. Dan Ackroyd didn’t care, he just wanted to showcase the music, which was nobile enough, but when you consider how AWFUL the movie was in every way in between the performances, and how immediately poorly received it was people stayed away from it in droves and missed all of it anyway. I saw the original because it was filmed place in my home city, Chicago, with lots of recognizable landmarks, it had awesome car chases, the story was fun, it was funny as hell and all the musical numbers were woven together perfectly. I didn’t give a crap about the blues or even music in general when I first saw The Blues Brothers, but I did afterwards.
When I saw Blues Brothers 2000 I felt sick. The music, and musicians while good, was a scattered mess within the “plot”. It wasn’t funny, the car wasn’t cool, it had none of that sketchy/sleezy career musician vibe, it was clearly filmed entirely in Canada, there were no real car chases and what action there was was filmed, edited and coordinated worse than a low budget 90s TV show. That movie did a disservice to everyone in it and everyone who watched it expecting entertainment on par with the original. I actually hate that movie more today than when I first saw it(ironically, before the year 2000)
Speaking of the original BB, the “Curl up and Dye” beauty shop was real. They went out of business a few years later.
When equipped with the 2.0 Ecoboost it is not a Interceptor Sedan it is a Special Service Sedan which means that is it not “pursuit rated”.
They also are not available for purchase cheap, at least not the EcoBoost version. Those go for twice what a V-6 Charger goes for and a good chunk more than the Hemi Charger or Caprice, at least at the auctions in my area. I bid on one at the County’s last Auction and stopped bidding at the $8K level while it went to over $9K.
Here’s your second chance. It’s $6500 obo and still black and white.
https://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/d/2013-awd-340-hp-echoboost/6678120519.html
The one at auction was all black and it is interesting that he says he is going to paint it. Currently Ford’s factory black and white option is a car or utility that is painted all black and has white wrap on the doors. It is probably a cheaper for Ford and it makes the worth more on resale. In the world of Crown Vics an all black one is worth near twice a black and white, while an all white splits the difference.
Good spot, I’ll amend the text.
Will, this was good enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
Thinking about it, the similarities are plentiful between the Monaco and this version of Taurus – both sold in paltry numbers on the retail side, both are reasonably attractive, and both could be had with prodigious power for the times. And both will likely be most remembered for being police cars.
The guys on the other side of the Blues Brothers have been all-Explorer for some time.
I’ll agree about the post-2010 Taurus’s visibility, high belt line, etc.
That’s why I’m partial to the ’08-09 restyle of the (formerly) Five Hundred, with bigger greenhouse and trunk–and perhaps more interior space as–as well as the 3.5 engine. I have no idea if those saw police duty anywhere, though:
I don’t think so. Ford was still offering the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor until 2012 and then switched over to the Taurus. It is possible that some saw duty as unmarked cars like this one in the picture but I don’t think there were fleets of them around. I have seen several of the 4th gen used as sheriff cars.
Ford did not offer a 2012 CVPI, 2011 was the last MY for US spec Crown Vics of any flavor. Now if you were in a Gulf Council Country you could have had a 2012 which was the unique Export model.
The featured car with its shitty paint and dents on the fender, could be the unmarked cop car in a remake of the 1986 movie Running Scared. In that movie a beat up impala was used
But even good looking Impalas of that era are hard to find, much less beat ones.
That last pic of the Taurus reminds me of a song
What department is this car from? Does not look like former NYPD.
LAPD considered a Tesla Model S for “high-pursuit” but finally decided it cost too much. Ideal for long “idling” and no question of catching up with the offender (unless it’s another Model S).
Someday these could become Bluesmobiles too…
That or the police cars from Demolition Man 🙂
I’m pretty sure GM supplied most of the vehicles in that film. You can even see some GM-Hughes logos on some of the fancy-schmancy gadgets in the squad car’s interior shots.
Never seen a crown Vic police car up close but here is the question: with all the good things I read on this channel and others about crown vics why did ford stopped making them?
As a deputy sheriff, I drove several examples of the final two generations of the Crown Vic. They made good police cars because they were robust, simple to fix, and reliable. By the end of their run, however, they were simply outclassed, especially when the Charger arrived. We used to joke that the 4.6 V8 was the only V8 in the world that thought it was a V6. V6 Accords of the same era could easily outrun them.
BUT…
For those of us that drove and depended on them, there was noting we’d rather drive. I have a 2018 Interceptor now, and it’s honestly better in virtually every way (except visibility). As any car guy knows, sometimes there is an older, inferior car we love better; there’s no reason…we just do. I will say, though, that the sound of that screaming 4.6 behind the sound of a siren was the voice of the angels when you needed help and could hear it coming.
I believe there were various safety regulations coming into effect for the 2012 model year and that is another reason why production for the Crown Vic was stopped in 2011.
It was the stability control mandate that went into effect for 2012 MY vehicles which is why all the 2012 Crown Victorias were export models for Gulf Council Countries.
As mentioned below safety regulations played a part but the other thing was much of the tooling and equipment was just plain worn out after so many years.
In my part of California, and even elsewhere in the state, the Taurus Interceptor is not that common. My local PD and sheriffs have mostly Explorers and Crown Vic’s, and statewide the Highway Patrol has Explorers, Chargers and again, a few Crown Vic’s hanging on (plus pickups, Expeditions, etc). Obviously it varies regionally, but the Taurus doesn’t seem like it will be remembered as a successful police car in the grand scheme of things.
I live in a smaller town, where they don’t replace cars every year. My department has two Taurus’s, two Explorer’s, and CV as backup. The service shop is the Ford dealership that is next door to the borough hall – reason enough to buy Ford. The PA state police often take their cars to this dealership as well.. It’s a poorer town, so the Taurus’s are run most often to save on costs…
I hate the high belt line and gun-slit windows on these things.
“these are competent police cars, safer, better-equipped and more economical than the Crown Victoria Police Interceptors they replaced” But nowhere NEAR as durable as a Crown Vic. I’d like to see how well those transaxles hold up after just 10 years of police use that the Crown Victoria endured through its entire lifespan. I see RETIRED units still being driven every so often (look for the badge on the left side of the trunk). What good is being faster if your ride is always in the shop? Time will tell, but it wouldn’t surprise me if whatever Crown Vics are left at end of the next decade will still be rolling along while everything else is in the junkyard. The Mustang is still here; why not make a Police Interceptor off of THAT car (I realize it only has 2 doors)? Again, time will tell.
I’d still have me a Crown Vic. Conventional layout and simplicity rule for me. I’d have to see how the new car looks with an enormous loudspeaker on top while driving on the beach. There the traction of the modern drivetrain might come in handy. Blues Brothers 2000 did nothing for me, but those boxy Vics drive okay. At least my ’90 Grand Marquis did. Like running people over with your couch. Good times.
Not too long after this comment, I drove an ’02 Grand Marquis LS (with the great seats) as a daily driver for awhile.
So I’d still take a Crown Vic over a Taurus.
Rear foot room was laughable though.
I’ve been bugging the model kit manufacturers for years to do the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor–I’ve alway thought it looked cool in my city’s livery. Don’t forget the civilian versions of these cars, Taurus SHO and Charger R/T are offered because they use so much of the police running gear.
“Don’t forget the civilian versions of these cars, Taurus SHO and Charger R/T are offered because they use so much of the police running gear.”
I don’t know if that’s true for the Taurus, in terms of engines. The Police Interceptor Sedan–while available with the top-spec 3.5-liter EcoBoost and AWD from the Taurus SHO–is also available with all of the other Taurus powertrains…including the 3.5-liter/FWD and 2.0T/FWD. It even gets a 3.7-liter/AWD combination that isn’t available on the civilian Taurus. (However the 3.7-liter was used in both FWD and AWD guises on its sister, the Lincoln MKS). And…many of the interceptors purchased by fleets have those more-pedestrian engines, and not the EcoBoost. The take rate isn’t that high.
And it definitely isn’t true for the Charger R/T. Given FCA’s marketing and customer base, there’s more than enough demand for the civilian Charger R/T and its HEMI V8 that it in fact justifies the Charger Pursuit, and not the other way around.
And all that police running gear makes these quite the late model used car value now, if you can live without leather seats, keyless entry, and My Ford Touch.
Ford also recently began selling the plug-in hybrid Fusion Energi in police-interceptor spec (called the Police Responder Hybrid)…the idea being that there’s no reason to idle and waste fuel on traffic duty when you can leverage the battery in a hybrid. It’s certainly not quick enough for pursuit (a buddy of mine owned a 2013 Fusion Energi and it was sloooooow). But the Police Responder Hybrid’s days are also numbered.
They’re also planning a Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid, which, judging by the name, appears to be both fuel-efficient and fast enough for pursuit. I’d wager it’ll be a hybrid version of the upcoming 2020 Explorer.
The Energi is slower than the standard hybrid thanks to the extra battery weight and a less favorable final drive ratio.
See above for the pricing and power train specs for the 2020 Interceptor Utility. Orders are now open with a Job1 date of June 2019.
It doesn’t help that the Energi was almost an afterthought; thus the big battery is just stacked inside the trunk and puts mass in a very unfortunate spot.
This same friend traded his Fusion Energi in for a ’17 Volt, and it drives far better.
To be a cash strapped department now…this is gone, the Charger is gone, and the Durango (albeit not a sedan) will be gone in the near future.
NY state and its counties, municipalities used to have a lot of these but lately seeing mostly Chevy and Dodge.
So, here we are many years later and I still see ex L.A.P.D. Crown Vics as daily drivers, most of the beaters are gone, I assume due to lack of any maintenance but like the Impalas and Caprises before them they’re still soldering on long after retirement .
My first thought when reading 3.5L V6 was ‘they’ll never catch any kids with these’ but maybe so ~ .
-Nate