1998 Ford Crown Victoria police car

G'day all, since there was some interest in another thread, this is my "panther", a '98 Ford Crown Victoria P71. It served for just under 10 years as a sheriff's vehicle in a county in Indiana. This model was is made in Ottawa, Canada until its demise last year. In the Middle Eastern market, it was the Aussie Chevrolet Caprice's arch rival, and of course in more recent times the Caprice PPV has replaced Crown Vics in some police departments across the USA. It uses a truck-like body-on-frame construction so is very tough, as well as being supremely comfortable. The last models look basically identical to my '98, and by the end of its life it was only used by law enforcement agencies in the US. It has siblings in the Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car. It's powered by a 4.6 litre V8 from the same family as the 5.4 that used to power the Falcon XR8. It produces roughly 185kW, about the same as an AU XR8 of the time.

I stumbled upon this one for sale early this year. It was a dream car since childhood, as I used to watch all the US cop shows but never knew what their Ford was until we first got the internet in the late '90s.

I've yet to take it on a proper drive (using an unregistered permit, it will only be going to the tyre store etc for "roadworthy" purposes) but from my experience thus far, as soon as it is in sight people come flocking to ask questions about it. I've never known a car that is so universally liked.

First picked up:
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120203_002.jpg
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All Ford Day, Geelong:
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120218_001.jpg
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120218_002.jpg
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120219_089.jpg
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120219_002.jpg

Shown to a group of children:
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120328_014.jpg
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/20120328_016.jpg
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/2012_Untitled-3.jpg
http://wmcaprice.com/forum/2012_Untitled-2 copy.jpg

Just in case you're not convinced this is the greatest car in the world, here's a couple of general Crown Vic vids to correct you :D
Crown Vic on hardcore offroad trail in Utah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=KFwPXEeJ3aI
A couple of female shoe thieves vs. a San Diego, CA officer in a Crown Vic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...tt7xBw#t=2406s

Lots of vids of my cars on my Youtube channel: http://youtube.com/user/wmcapriceforum
And finally, a shameless plug for my Caprice FB page: http://facebook.com/wmcaprice

Cheers.

That's one gorgeous car!! The cop cars, even the more modern ones, are always popular at shows here. Yours looks complete--most that stay here have to be changed so they don't really look like police cars anymore...not sure of exactly how the laws work, but I'm sure they vary from state to state and even one locality to another, although I've seen some cop cars here preserved apparently intact, as yours appears! I think that Crown Vics and their counterpart at GM, the old Chevy Caprice, were some of the best-built American cars (and America has built a lot of crap since the 1980s)--these are on par with some of the best anywhere for reliability. I picked up an old 1991 Chevy Caprice LTZ about 7 years ago for $2500 with 203,000 miles on the clock. It has the police suspension and dash, but the civilian motor (1992 LTZ cars did get the cop 5.7 liter instead of the civilian 5.0 liter). The 5 liter was good for 170 hp and 245 ft-lb of torque; the 5.7 liter was 180 hp and 300 ft-lb of torque in the early 90s. It still rides, handles, and corners incredibly well for a car of its size, and now was 268,000 miles...complete gauge cluster (no idiot lights) from the factory, and a digital speedo in (!) MPH only. I love my Caprice, and I love the Crown Vics just as much--will try to email you a pic of my Caprice if I can find one on my computer (feel free to post it if you want to). Awesome car, dude!!

Hey mate, cheers for putting this up, that car is epic,.
Whats the deal with the computer, is it functional or what?

Cheers guys!

The computer works but requires some sort of cartridge for data which I don't have, so it just comes up with a blank screen. There may be a few options to rectify this but I'm prioritising mechanical issues currently.

It is rare for a law enforcement agency to sell a complete police car, but occasionally happens. A few bits on mine have been replaced including the roof lights, some livery and the UHF radio.

The latest mod is a pair of front DBA gold slotted/crossdrilled rotors, which, despite being Australian-made, were cheaper to import from the US. I use the same brand on the Caprice.

Cheers.

I was wondering how long it would take you to post this up. That car is awesome, and the fact you have it in full street trim is even better. As you say, very rarely do they sell the cars with full police packs. Awesome buy mate!

Did you get one of the latest CarCraft magazines with the build up of one of these cars in it?

Cheers for the heads up matey. Looks like they have a bunch of build-up articles online too: http://www.carcraft.com/sch/02/crown-victoria/articles/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Troutman

Cheers for the heads up matey. Looks like they have a bunch of build-up articles online too: http://www.carcraft.com/sch/02/crown-victoria/articles/

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No probs, it is one of their project cars. They have all the projects they have done to it in one magazine......the fellow sort of sounds like he is from the same mould as you! How much detail he knows about the cars. There are 20 or 30 pages on that car.
Another link.
http://www.carcraft.com/project_cars/

I'm on the website CrownVic.Net and just did a search. Looks like the carcraft article is something of a Bible (or a reference point at the very least). Good to see the carcraft team put in that sort of effort.

They will be a classic in the future when we're all driving four cylinder Hyundais, harking back to a better day. In the States the Crown Vic is a $2,000 beater, and drivers get their fair share of 'cop' jokes... but wait until they start getting rare...

http://i.qkme.me/rl9.jpg

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7jaywl1zm1qery84.png

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Aye they were in production for so long that they became very distinctively easy to spot cop cars. Now we gotta get used to spotting chargers and sho taurses, although chicago PD uses Tahoes now.

The good ol column shift, $1500 is budget motoring, preferred the Mercury Marauder spec

Crown Vic is there with the Impala and imho, the insane Dodge Monaco 440, really, who puts 7L plus motors in cop cars?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMagP52BWG8