This Crown Victoria is only included by default. I’ve covered it before, in a piece that has a few medical related parallels. Given it received coverage over nine years ago, and it hauling my posterior to various medical facilities is still one of my bigger memories I have about the car, it’s a bit telling.
Such is life.
Knowing Marie and I were looking for another car, my father-in-law (he of the keen automotive nose) found this Ford in May 2005. The downside, if you want to call it that, is I strongly suspect he was given a line of complete hogwash about the car’s history.
Why? The seller, a gentleman in his mid-70s, claimed he had purchased it new via connections claiming it had never been marked, used as his personal car, etc. Sure, whatever. However, fluorescent light from a Dairy Queen one night showed the outline of where the car had had decals down the side. Whoever removed them did a great, but not perfect, job.
But that is all in the past and utterly irrelevant. What is relevant is how in 60,000 miles of ownership this Crown Vic became the de facto transport mobile for the various medical issues my wife and I endured.
For whatever reasons, our thirties were not good to us from a medical standpoint. In fact, I was ecstatic to turn forty as it figuratively put the issues behind us. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
When Marie and I were transitioning to St. Joseph in 2001, I was there during the week while she was wrapping up things at our place in Cape Girardeau. One day, as I was out and about, I stopped at the McDonald’s in the little town of Rock Port in the very northwest corner of Missouri.
Rock Port has a population of 1,278 as of the last census in 2020. In 2008 Rock Port was able to establish itself as being the first town in the United States to be powered exclusively with wind turbines. Wind turbines are a big thing in Northwest Missouri as the wind always seems to be blowing. Of course, the terrain helps. I once heard a joke that a westward facing ant farting in Central Nebraska could be felt in Northwest Missouri as there are no hills to stop the wind.
That’s just one of several state jokes I’ve heard. Another is why all the trees in the northern tier of Missouri counties curve to the north and another old favorite is about the Missouri General Assembly deeding the Bootheel to Arkansas. Of course the punchlines are not very nice; if you’ve heard them, that is good. If you haven’t, I shall keep you in suspense.
No doubt there are unflattering jokes about the other 47 states.
I digress.
Driving back south on I-29 toward St. Joseph, I was partaking of a McDonalds’s quarter pounder with fries, all washed down with a tub of delicious Coca-Cola. About half-way in my seventy mile trip back to St. Joseph I started having trouble breathing. It wasn’t reflux, and eating as such was (sadly) not unusual for me at the time, but I had what felt like a knot in the middle of my chest right below my sternum. A heart issue crossed my mind, but I was only 28; I attributed the episode to stress from the move, a move I was having second thoughts about despite having already committed to it.
A few years later such episodes were still happening on occasion, with stress still receiving the blame; when Eileen was about two, a really bad episode hit on a Sunday . It was so bad Marie took me to the hospital; when staff sprayed nitroglycerin into my mouth, the pain immediately went away. That was an attention-getter. It earned me the honor of spending the night in the hospital and having a stress test the next morning.
What was it? It was not my heart so much as a sneak preview for what a large portion of my thirties would look like.
In 2007, when I had my reflux surgery as mentioned in the Taurus COAL, it was the Crown Vic that drove me back home to Hannibal from St. Louis. The front seat had lots of room to stretch out, which works out great when one is drugged off their gourd on pain medications.
In 2009, it was Marie’s turn. One day she was in the Taurus coming back from nearby Quincy, Illinois. That evening she said the road was moving back and forth on her and she did not feel confident driving until it was diagnosed.
After a few trips to a specialist in Kansas City, most of which were in the Crown Vic as its behavior was generally more predictable than that of our Taurus, she had corrective surgery on her ear. Since she was now the one who was drugged up, she was the one who was able to stretch out in the front seat.
She got two more similar opportunities in the next few months due to other issues.
However, this Crown Victoria did serve in other capacities other than playing a supporting role in our own personal general hospital.
Speaking of general hospitals, another story about this Crown Vic springs to mind as elements of this story could have led to a visit to the closest general hospital.
This is over two acres of fireworks under one roof. It’s located just south of Hannibal.
It is only somewhat joking when I say we Missourians are avid practitioners of Darwinism. Case in point? Fireworks here are not only legal, but we have mega-outlets selling all varieties fifty-two weeks of the year, often with a “Buy 1, Get 10 Free!!!” special. The time around July 4, Independence Day, brings about all manner of tents and other temporary fireworks stores. Most towns have ordinances against blasting fireworks within the city limits but there is a wee bit of a difference between making a rule and enforcing it. Thus, enforcement often isn’t a thing as the cops generally seem to have other priorities.
Our house is indicated; said neighbors were in the house marked 1915. Property belonging to the Department of Mental Health is seen on the lower right.
That first year after getting the Crown Vic, so this would have been July 2005, our neighbors behind us and across a large open area were blasting the hell out of their fireworks every night. There was a rather large area between our house and theirs, which faced a different street, and they made use of their large lot. I had tired of finding the remnants of bottle rockets in my parched yard and on the roof of my house.
A day or so before July 4, they started blasting right before dusk. Giving them a little time, I backed that Crown Vic out of the garage with the lights off, drove to the west edge of lot, and pulled over the curb. I then aimed the spotlight their direction before blasting them with about 10,000,000 candlepower of light. Those kids scurried away like rats off a sinking ship and never did I hear anymore fireworks from them. It was great.
At that point in time we had two sedans. In a sense it was a pretty good combination yet the downside was the ongoing confusion with insurance. It seems having two cars having the same brand and model year creates confusion for insurance carriers. They were two different models of cars, how hard could it be?
Well, I knew from prior experience as this was the second time it had happened. For the first few years after we got married, Marie and I had a 1996 Ford Thunderbird and Escort simultaneously. I’m hoping to avoid a duplicate model year reoccurrence in the future.
Having these two did give us nice flexibility. Does one car need gas? Well, let’s just take the other one. It wasn’t like there was any profound fuel mileage difference. There was a holder for a child seat in the back of each car, so it was a great situation.
With that setup Marie drove the Taurus primarily while I drove the Crown Vic. Which reminds me…I did have to give this Crown Vic a short stay in the figurative automotive general hospital.
Shortly after purchase, it starting making a weird noise in the rear – or maybe I started to notice it. It seems the pinion gear in the rear axle was retiring for whatever reason, something I was not real thrilled about. Ford had a 30,000 mile service interval on the differentials of heavy-duty Crown Vics, so given the noise I figured nobody had ever serviced it.
The repair estimate was around $800. In turn, a few calls to salvage yards netted me a rear axle from a Grand Marquis with 50,000 fewer miles and the same 3.27:1 gear ratio for only $400.
Taking everything to my father-in-law’s house, my brother-in-law (a mechanic) showed up just as we were getting started. Replacement of the rear axle did not take long and that Ford was amazingly quiet afterwards. The pinion gear had been worse than I thought.
Even with the replacement rear axle, this Crown Vic was deceptively good in snow.
Don’t get me wrong; it wasn’t perfect but neither was it the helpless pig some might think due to its being rear drive. One just had to be slow and steady.
One day it was snowing like crazy while Eileen was in kindergarten at a parochial school in Hannibal. Marie had called and asked me to get Eileen after school. Timing rarely worked out for such things so I was happy to do it.
Going to downtown Hannibal, I parked in the parent line to retrieve Eileen. Looping back around the block to head back toward the house, I got stopped at a signal. This particular intersection was where I needed to turn left, with my path being up a slight incline the entire way.
As I was awaiting a green light, I looked in the rear view mirror and could see an impatient mother of another child behind me. She was in an SUV of some variety.
Taking off from a dead stop like your butt is on fire is rather foolish in a snow storm. Further, the slow and steady I mentioned about driving the Crown Vic in snow meant just that – take off slow and steady. One could gently nudge their speed upward once moving but anything else was wasted effort.
When my light turned green I carefully turned left up the incline. The female behind me didn’t appreciate this and was riding my ass like a mad ex-wife. All I could see was her grille as she was that close.
She appeared to need a polite reminder that not everyone had a vehicle that could navigate every situation like a mountain goat.
Thus I mashed my accelerator two-thirds of the way to the floor. I had enough experience with that delightful Ford to know what to expect and it worked like a charm.
All that snow I was driving through was slung all over her windshield and the front of her vehicle. That Crown Vic did not go sideways, it simply dug in as best it could. She got close a second time and got a second reminder.
Not that I advocate such things, but it wasn’t like I could walk up to her window and say her behavior was not nice.
Age has mellowed me…somewhat.
Found on the web
Of all the positive traits this Ford had, the one I liked the most was its easily accessible and copiously sized trunk. The mail-slot trunk openings on current sedans are somewhere between sarcasm and vindictiveness.
The longest trip we took in this Ford was from St. Joseph to somewhere up in Wisconsin when Eileen was three or four and during the time we were trying to determine the cause of the oil light flickering in our 2001 Taurus. We had two large coolers and an obscene amount of luggage, all of which easily fit into the trunk.
The only real downside was since the trunk could accommodate so much, it made it difficult for me to see I had inadvertently popped open the drain plug on one of the coolers and it was draining itself onto the trunk floor all afternoon. Better, the shape of the trunk was such all the water was able to pool toward the rear of the trunk (front of the car) and it got rather deep.
However I could place everything we needed with room to spare.
This Ford is the car I used to commute when moving from St. Joseph to Hannibal in late 2006 and again five years later when moving from Hannibal to Jefferson City. By the time I moved to Jefferson City, the old Crown Vic was eleven years old and had around 135,000 miles.
That number of miles on its 4.6 liter engine really wasn’t that much. The car was highly reliable and ran as great as it ever had. However, given the car’s prior life in service and it living in two of the more snow intensive areas of Missouri, rust had developed on the bottoms of the rocker panels. Rust is where I draw the line; perhaps it is an arbitrary line for me or perhaps it is due to having grown up as far south as I did. It could be argued either way.
Regardless, in January 2012 I sold my Crown Victoria. A guy bought it for his parents as he was aggravated they were still driving their old Buick LeSabre that had over 350,000 miles on the odometer.
I saw the car a few times after that as the parents lived in a house facing I-44 near the town of Buckhorn, just west of the Army’s Ft. Leonard Wood. Suddenly one day the old Crown Vic was no longer parked there but I did later see it being driven by a young guy in nearby St. Robert.
That was the last I ever saw of that Ford. It was a throughly good car that ran and drove beautifully. It also was the best example of why I appreciate police package cars – they are big, have lots of room, and drive far better than what people realize. Plus the entry price is quite reasonable.
It was a great representative for what it was. While I don’t really miss it, I certainly enjoyed my time with it.
(Author’s Note: General Hospital premiered April 1, 1963, on ABC and is still in production. It is the second longest running daytime drama in American television history and the longest running series ever on ABC.)
I had never realized how many of your cars were former police units – I was always afraid to try one of those, but perhaps I overlooked a number of good choices. I love the spotlight on the fireworks story – You didn’t impersonate a law officer so did not get in trouble. You could not help the conclusions they might jump to. 🙂 And I am reminded of my knee-jerk reaction to get off the gas pedal whenever I saw one of those black grilles.
I also never experienced one of these later-version Panther cars, and understand that there were several improvements, mainly in stiffness, from my 1993 version (though at a tradeoff of some interior features).
I also agree on the snow ability – with decent tires, these were well balanced cars and handled slick conditions well. I will partially agree on the trunk – it was really big and well shaped, but I will wager that if your family had been much larger than it is, it would not have seemed quite so perfect.
The number of old police units I’ve owned never really occurred to me until putting this together. After this being the fourth such car covered in five weeks, I can guarantee next week’s entry is quite different.
One tidbit not covered here was my father-in-law purchased the car before I knew about it. He called that night to say he had looked at it; when I said the car sounded fine, he said that was good as it was in his driveway. It was mine before I ever saw it.
This one was indeed stiffer than the ’92 and you are correct about the interior. However, as we were hauling but one child, all the wipeable plastic worked well. That said, she was not a messy child, which was nice. And we were concerned about what to get had there ever been a #2.
Driving this Crown Vic, I’d be awfully tempted to buy and place four Stetsons on all four outboard seats for passengers to wear upon entry. 🙂
I like those little button hub caps. The smallest ones ever in modern history?
Potentially so. I think they were also used on base model Rangers during that time.
Yes Jason ;
The look exactly like the ones on my base model Ranger .
I assume the police package included a limited slip rear axle ? .
-Nate
I know this is somewhat relative pertaining to one’s physical stature, along with what other vehicles you are exposed with, but I always seem to notice comments about how roomy these Panthers are to people. Now, I’m not necessarily disagreeing with that observation, but at a very thin and long-legged 6’2”, I do not come to that same conclusion. I can understand the spaciousness of width these cars bring to that perception, but beyond that I’ve never felt much goes past acceptable, particularly rear seat room for a vehicle that has a wheelbase of 114+ inches. The 1998 Honda Accord felt massive to me in this regard for comparison. Can’t really comment on trunk space as I’ve never so much as opened one on a Panther, but I’ve never felt any sedan I’ve been exposed with in 25+ years can’t readily handle 3 people’s worth of vacation stuff, and I’m quantifying that with a lot of Corolla exposure over those years.
At 6.3″, I couldn’t agree with you more. On the few occasions I’ve taken one as a taxi, I was surprised at how fairly cramped the back seat was. A Camry always felt significantly more spacious back there.
The basic architecture of the Panther was laid out in the mid 70s, and Ford chose to one-up GM by going to an even shorter 114″ wb compared to their 116″ for these downsized cars. That’s pretty short, for a classic RWD sedan. And the results are what all Panther owners (and arrested folks) had to live with for decades to come.
The combination of a full frame and it being fairly low also add to its cramped feeling. The VX30 (2001) Camry was a game changer in terms of interior space, especially the back seat, for mainstream sedans, especially considering its 107″ wb. And the VX40 (2006) added another couple of inches, all to rear seat leg room. From then on, it stayed best in class for rear seat room.
The benefits of modern FWD architecture, especially when fully optimized, is very real.
I’ve learned over the years that, at least for legroom/hiproom measurements in particular, the numbers won’t always translate into an accurate estimation of comfort in my case. I’m sure there is a standard that the industry uses to obtain the numbers, and I’d be curious to know what that exactly is because of this. Some examples off the top of my head I’ve encountered involved the second generation Mitsubishi Eclipse coupe vs. spyder; on paper the convertible is considerably worse according to the specs. Real world? The “smaller” drop top is wildly more tolerable. The Toyota Yaris hatchback circa 2015 also has a misleading rear legroom figure of 33.3 inches that I was able to comfortably access and move my legs about with zero clearance issues, something I could not say with a friend’s Accent hatchback with an identical numerical figure.
I am with you and Paul on this one, in a couple of ways. First, the 114 inch wheelbase was a moderately stupid decision in the late 70s when these cars were conceived. That was the wheelbase of the 49-51 Ford, a much taller car. It was also the wheelbase of the 1964-67 GM A body, designed up front as a mid-size car. It was a poor choice for a large car with 60s A body proportions – it was acceptable (though not extravagant) up front but cramped in the back.
Second, it was an even dumber decision as time passed. There was a 117 inch wb Town Car version from the start, and a later 120 inch Ford version for taxi fleets and a nearly 124 inch version for the “L” version of the Town Car. I never understood why the swb version survived as the main version of a vehicle designed to be a large, comfortable car. The redesign in 1998 should have been a 117 inch wb Ford, a 120 inch wb Mercury and a 123.7 inch wb Lincoln.
I think the 114.7″ wheelbase made sense when conceived in the 70’s. However if not by the 92 redesign then for the 98 redesign they should have moved the CV and GM to the Lincoln’s 117.7″ wheel base and moved the TC up to the 120.7″. I think the 117.7″ as the only CV would have saved them the need for the 120.7″ taxi/export version.
For what it’s worth, I was referencing the front seat, in which there was the width of the car working in its favor and no infuriating console, so it was much roomer than most sedans in that regard. She also had the seat back all the way.
For reference, I am 5’11” with a 32″ inseam. From what I’ve gathered here over the years, I am likely in the fat spot of the bell curve in regard to physical size of adult men.
You mention rear seat; I won’t disagree about the rear seat being compromised. The rear seat of our Passat surpasses any Crown Vic with legroom, although width certainly differs.
For the referenced trip, we had two full-sized coolers in the trunk along with food and many suitcases. It all fit without issue. I’ve not been around a Corolla much, I’ve never even opened the trunk of one that I can remember, but the Crown Vic has 20.6 cubic feet of trunk versus 13.1 in a Corolla. That a Corolla was referenced in the link below is pure coincidence.
https://www.autopadre.com/cargo-space/ford-crown-victoria
I don’t know what’s weirder, the fact that we have the exact same measurements, or that I find the Panther intolerable to drive or ride in. It’s supremely uncomfortable in the front, and a punishment in the back (appropriate for criminals).
There may be an annoying lack of console (nowhere to put anything), but the giant driveshaft tunnel forced my feet into a confined footwell that felt nearly level with the seat bottom. The seats had no support, but also didn’t coddle you like an old recliner. It was the worst of both worlds
I hated driving her 2008 Grand Marquis when taking my mother to appointments. It killed my back and I could barely walk after the hour trip home. The 2012 Taurus that replaced it? I can drive it all day with little fatigue and minimal back pain. Polar opposite.
(I’m happy to report that her cancer is in remission and she’s healthy enough to drive herself again. She also prefers the Taurus over the MGM, “no contest”. Perhaps her Panther was her “sick car” as well. Not sure what that implies.)
As my wife said while furniture shopping yesterday, you just don’t know how it fits until you sit in it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. My parents had a 2000 Grand Marquis and my mother detested it. She wasn’t much more fond of the 2007 Ford 500 or the 2012 or so Taurus that came later. The 2020 Escape has her happy.
The sick car thing? There’s no telling, but that’s how I most remember this car. It wasn’t the most comfortable ever, but it wasn’t horrible either. But that’s just me and I know everyone’s experiences vary.
“… No doubt there are unflattering jokes about the other 47 states… ”
Nitpick: 49.
Abe Simpson would disagree… 😉
https://www.facebook.com/NothingButSimpsonsClips/videos/ill-be-deep-in-the-cold-cold-ground-before-i-recognise-missoura-s6-e9-homer-badm/323003548367575/
He talks about three states, NE, MO, and AR, there are 50 total, so 47 others, no?
“ Age has mellowed me…somewhat… “
I’m a lot older than you, and maybe even mellower, but I see this type of reaction to being tailgated on a snowy hill as PERFECT.
On your part there was no real proof of malicious intent, no damage done, and there had to be an internal head-slap on the part of the driver behind you for having had this happen twice. Like Homer’s Simpson’s ‘doh!
Or am I giving your tailgater too much credit?
And what kind of idiot tailgates a Crown Vic with spot lights and dog dishes which had to be visible as you were making the turn?
Again, too much credit?
When I was young and less mellow tailgaters were a problem in my smaller cars (especially the PT Cruiser and Miata), but in the past 9 years I’ve noticed they rarely tailgate the Tacoma pickup truck.
You may be giving the tailgater extra credit, but that’s okay. Overall I want to think that maybe she just had to use the bathroom or some such. I don’t want to think she’s as intellectually challenged as she appeared to be.
Good point on size of vehicle and being tailgated. Nobody has ever tailgated me in our old Ford van.
I believe I’ve gone on record re. being all about being mellower with age, but I think your younger self’s treatment of the crazed lady in the car line was great. And I’m with RLPlaut…anyone tailgating a police package Crown Vic (I mean, it SAYS so on the rear of the car…) deserves what’s coming to them.
As far as the fireworks go, I’m actually surprised that the kids scattered, given that fireworks are more or less legal in MO. They’re not legal in MA, and yet their ready availability in neighboring NH means that pretty much anyone who wants explosives has explosives. For some (i.e., several of my neighbors), July 4th celebrations start somewhere around July 15th, and run until about July 14th the following year. Generally, I give it a pass except when things are tinder-dry and the explosions go for more than 20 minutes and the dogs are about ready to lose their minds. Whereupon I call the cops…who dutifully come by, tell the miscreants/patriots to calm down…and that works until a few days later when apparently the need to blow stuff up becomes unbearable and it starts all over again.
I think I need to get a spotlight on my car…or better yet, an ex-police vehicle…and try that. Can’t hurt.
Oh, and now I want a Royale with Cheese. 🙂
When the fireworks thing happened we were in the middle of a bad drought. Grass was worn and crispy in late June and this was around July 1. Seeing a bottle rocket stick on my roof was the last straw.
We were in the middle of town, so one would think there might be more hesitancy than to blast at will. Apparently not. But, if nothing else, it told me those kids did have a conscience.
This reminds me of a story about our uppity next door neighbors in St. Joe. I will need to work that into a future reminisce.
These were great cars, and I can see how you kept this in your family’s fleet for 60,000 miles. Sometime in the mid 2000s I drove a fairly recent Police Interceptor Crown Vic (it was in my employer’s fleet) on a trip up to Maryland. It was remarkably comfortable and pleasant to drive, even being several years old and well-used, and I added the Crown Vic to my list of cars to consider in the future. In 2007, we bought our Crown Vic Sport.
Incidentally, for a while when I had the Crown Vic, we had three Fords (the CV, our Thunderbird, and the Contour). Now we’re just down to one Ford… the Thunderbird remains, but it’s having some issues now, so it’s survival is far from certain. Anyway, I don’t recall having any insurance mix-ups due to that.
I love the story of shining your spotlight on the neighbors’ miscreant kids. Classic use of a former police cruiser!
Sometimes cars that aren’t the most space efficient, fuel efficient, or cutting edge just seem to endear themselves. While I cannot say I am a devout disciple of Panther-dom, I do see their virtues.
However, I really don’t see myself ever getting another one, either. Good cars but they had their season in the sun with me.
I agree – the Crown Vic worked for us, despite being what many people would argue was an archaic, inefficient design.
But I’m not longing for another one. Especially since ours was far from trouble-free. For example, I too had problems with the differential… one was a relatively simple pinion seal, the other was some repair (which I now forget) that was well in excess of $1,000. And the car only had 77,000 mi. when I sold it. Good riddance.
Was it a 2003? Some of the early axle shafts weren’t properly hardened by the supplier, So they wore which takes out the bearing as well. I just did that repair on my 300a Marauder about 2 months ago.
It was a 2006 – that repair was done in 2018 with around 70,000 mi. I recall them replacing the bearings, but I don’t remember exactly what the diagnosis was.
As much of a big Ford fan as I am, I’ve never had the pleasure of driving one of these. From all the usual Panther love I see on this site, I’ve apparently missed out.
As you all know by now, a big Ford was my first car, and I can attest to the fact that despite being RWD, it did just fine in the snow. I learned to drive in the snow in that ‘73 LTD.
Alas, in 1979 when the Panther LTD first came out, I couldn’t afford one at the age of 19, and purchased a Fox platform car instead, the Fairmont Futura.
While I got to drive a few B body GM products in the eighties, I never got to drive a Panther. I’m still amazed that there are a few of these running around here in Baltimore County Police livery.
Great piece, Jason… I’ve really been enjoying these, even though I’ve read them too late to comment. BTW, General Hospital is the only daytime soap that I ever really watched, but that was a long time ago, during the Luke & Laura days. I was hoping you’d get around to giving this one the nod. Sorry to hear about the health issues that gave this soap opera the nod, though.
Your comment has been seen!
Next week we make a figurative rebound. No more sickness, no more Panthers, no mention of either snow or fireworks. Well, fire, but no fireworks.
Speaking of GH, a while back I saw a movie featuring the guy who played Luke. It was called “Carpool Guy”; he played the part of a homeless guy and the movie had several daytime veterans in it. It’s a bit predictable but delightfully different. It’s free on several streaming platforms.
Great Coal Jason. I wholeheartedly agree, these last Crown Vics were great driving cars. I especially liked the 2003 and newer versions with the updated chassis. I can’t say I thought they were all that great in the snow. For a RWD sedan they were decent, especially with a LSD, which also made it easy to get sideways. I also owned a RWD suburban and fullsize wagons around that time and they were far better in the snow. So to me the Crown Vics weren’t that great. When I moved to the country I ended up living on a hill, and you had to plan things right to make it up the hill in winter with a Crown Vic. That said, like you mentioned they were great at plowing through fresh deep snow as long as you took your time and kept up the momentum.
On the interior space, I am a little taller than most on this thread and have a lanky frame. I thought the front seat space was excellent, great leg room and head room. The legroom is better than any FWD sedan I have driven. The rear seat was not good, as mentioned a Camry is far better (only in the rear).
Well. I love the Panther platform cars. In my opinion the body on frame construction is ruggedly superb. It didn’t run from 97 to 2011 for no reason. This might be the last truly great American car. The trash we make now doesnt hold a candle to these cars. They are rugged and drive smaller than they truly are. I like the snow rooster tail story. It is fitting of this vehicle.On wet roads you can relive your Dukes of Hazzard dreams. My 2008 is my favorite car I’ve owned in a long time.