RIP Crown Victoria. . '79 - April 15, 2011

[J D]

--http://jalopnik.com/5840637/the-last-ford-crown-victoria-ever-built

No one knew you'd out live all the others, but your dependability made you a mainstay.

Woven into the fabric of America, a small town without a Crown Vic in some sort of service was unheard of. Whether delivering people home in a hired car service, or speeding the law enforcers to their destinations safely, to being retired to the service of grandparents everywhere.

The streets will be just a little more empty without a new year's panther prowling it, but generations will remember its immortality as America's Sedan.


On a somber note, this last white and tan CV is a GCC Spec model and there for destined for the Middle East, perhaps in a rich saudi's collection.

For those who've seen the inside of the factory before, the video in the link shows the last one rolling off the conveyor from the body to the paint booth.

[RF Overlord]

I realise that "you can't stop progress", "time marches on", blah blah blah, but it's just sad that this once-great country is reduced to driving around in buzzy, whiney, wrong-wheel drive cars, even if they are "made in America".

The new Taurus-based Police Interceptor is a mechanical nightmare that no small PD is going to be able to afford to maintain.

[ImpalaSlayer]

it looks so lonely going down the line :(

[a_d_a_m]

Shouldn't the subject line say "September" 2011?

[Big Black Beast]

32 years and nearly 9.6 million made. That has got to be worth a record or two. And think how many movies & tv shows they have been in. Probably more than any other car ever has been or ever will be. We'll be seeing them for years to come.

[wx4caster]

The longest running American automotive platform ... sad to see it's demise but I plan to keep mine a looong time.:)

[J D]

Shouldn't the subject line say "September" 2011?

WOW yes, crazy mix up, must be because of all the accounting, but yeah should be the September 15th.
And it seems like I can't change the title anymore. Can a mod change it for me?

[Chayton]

hitlers gonna be pissed when he hears this!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDQdyBBGA7A&feature=related

[jerrym3]

The Crown Victoria name has been around since Ford added a chrome B pillar to a Victoria 2 dr hardtop in 1955.

In reality, the 55/56 the Crown Vic was a 2 dr sedan.

They even offered a half tinted glass roof on the Vics starting in 1954 and ending in 56. (So did Mercury ala Sun Valley, but the Merc did it without a B pillar.)

While the 55/56 Chevy gets most of the attention, those early CVics sure looked good, especially the 56 model.

RIP

[massacre]

Sad day for sure.
I know you MM guys have been in this boat for a while, with no more production, but it really is sad to see a platform that IMHO performed so well, getting the axe.

[Embassy]

http://jalopnik.com/5840709/the-death-of-the-ford-crown-victoria-is-a-sad-day-for-america

[Vortex]

We knew the day would come and time marches on.... One hell of a car. Well done, Ford.

[SID210SA]

Nice touching tribute video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwgGa2407ts&NR=1

[Motorhead350]

The car isn't dead people! There are TONS of them out there right now. It's the end of production, but this doesn't mean the end of fun. There will be plenty for years to come and even years from now they will still be road worthy.

It makes me mad that a car like this is going to be in yesterdays papers as of tomorrow. We can give C.A.F.E. a huge thank you for all the good they are doing in this world for us, by putting us in smaller, slower cars and a lot are less safe. Congratulations, you are slowly killing off the world one driver at a time.

It's our right to have freedom of choice and I would advise you all to take full advantage of that right. Drive your car to the bone and when it breaks go to the boneyard and fix that dinosaur platform and keep driving. We don't need anyone saying what we can and can't drive. I will not accept the change automotive world. To hell with traction control, top speed limiters, "smart" technology on cars, hybrids and Smart cars for that matter too. V8, FULL TIME RWD, gas sucking machinery is exciting, NOT something good on gas, small and "smart". The smarter cars are the dumber drivers will become.

R.I.P.? Nope, not me. Not for any of us either. Keep drivin' em. :burnout:

[RF Overlord]

Well said, Dom.

[Marauderman]

All I can say at this moment is that we all love them is some way--I have had 4--an '88, '95 , '98 and now an '00. with just turned 71k miles.....these cars will last forever.......a little story below--

I go to get lottery ticket at a small store by house and I see a CV just exactly like mine at a house just a block away from the store---...always wanted to meet that owner---well one day it happen--I saw him leave his house and go to the store I visit ( yeah--he is that close) ..so I ask him about his CV , telling him I have a twin of his-----he says his is a '99 and has 276,000 + miles and is going strong!!!Got it as a company car being a traveling salesman --but decided to keep it cause it was so indestructible.!!!....he said the CV will have to completely die to get rid of it----Yeah --all he said all he has done is normal maintenance covering all the running parts!! as we all would do---IMAGINE THAT!

[88LTDCV351]

Both my cars will still be on the road for a long time. My brothers box Grand Marquis is about 250,000 miles. My box Crown Vic has who knows how many miles and idle hours on it. Original engine and trans and no major repairs on these cars. You just got to know how to maintain em (check the oil, tune ups, etc.).

[jerrym3]

Look at recent road test articles?

Smaller doesn't mean slower.

Many of today's family sedans have the same 0-60 as my 2003 TBird and LS8, roughly low 6's. And, they get better gas mileage.

As for safety, agreed. Smaller cars aren't as safe as larger cars.

Ford decided not to improve the panther platform, and sales tanked. (Sounds very familiar to a TBird and Lincoln LS owner.)

Now, Toyota's sedans have taken the "most likely to be driven by a senior citizen" trophy.

Chrysler still offers V8 rear wheel drive cars, but will they sell?

[btvollmuth]

This is just sad. It's emotional sad. It hurts to see them go.
I wish the last one did go into a museum, or at least a private American collection. They're a part of history.
This car is such a big part of my life. I know my Marauder will never leave my possession. And that my panther collection will only increase from here on out.

[jimlam56]

Here's a good article from NPR yesterday:
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/16/140503972/a-beloved-car-of-cops-and-cabbies-meets-its-end

[wx4caster]

Here's a good article from NPR yesterday:
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/16/140503972/a-beloved-car-of-cops-and-cabbies-meets-its-end

Very nice segment ..... thanks for the link.