Government Loves The Crown Victoria

By Author: Lenette Sanderson
Total Articles: 60
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One of the most well known names in autodom is poised to get its first major overhaul in just about 30 years. Ford's Crown Victoria, introduced in 1979, has had only insignificant changes since its introduction, but a new plan by Ford to overhaul the crown jewel of its fleet is apparently in the offing. Thanks to government assistance - Australian to be exact - the new Crown Victoria will be a clean break from this model and will help to spawn additional models for siblings Mercury and Lincoln. Yes, you may not have considered a Crown Victoria up to this point, but the approaching new "Crown Vic" will change your decision about that.

You have to go back all the way to the late 1970s to when "downsizing" was a term used by the vehicle industry to explain a shell game where huge vehicles were dropped down a nick in size to sit on a platform slightly smaller than the prior model. Indeed, across the 1970s Ford's fullsize offerings the LTD/Galaxie five hundred were enormous beasts of burden. By the point the then new Galaxie five hundred Crown Victoria was released at the end of the decade, Ford was playing catch up to General ...
... Motors who had earlier mastered the entire downsizing strategy.

Initially, the Crown Victoria had a broad appeal for drivers wanting a large vehicle with all of the trappings. As time went buy the car grew less and less desirable as buyer tastes modified, but the Crown Victoria's style didn't. As a pursuit, government, or fleet car the Crown Victoria has done very well, but Ford has only made modest improvements to the vehicle over the years. Indeed, America's two automaker has made significant investments in trucks, SUVS SUVS and select vehicles, but the Crown Victoria quickly started to show its age. Today's model is terribly outdated and it hasn't had a thorough refreshing in more than a decade, so an overhaul is warranted.

Ford's impetus for change is coming from an improbable source : a foreign regime. According to reports sources, Ford's Australian operation has received a $1.4 bln Grant from Australia to build a production and research facility that will be used to design and build several new models. One of the Australian automobiles slated to take advantage of this move will be the Ford Falcon, a full sized vehicle that will become the basis of the all-new Crown Victoria.

While some have theorized that the new Crown Victoria will be built in Australia and imported to the U.S, this is improbable to happen. Instead, Ford will expand the Falcon's production to one U.S. Plant, make some technical refinements, and sell the auto as a Crown Victoria. It's going to be centered to police departments and fleet buyers basically with some residual sales for personal buyers. In addition, the Crown Victoria will spawn a new Mercury Gran Marquis while a little stretched and lots more elegant version of the vehicle will become the replacement for the current Lincoln Town Car.

Yes, the Crown Victoria is well past its useful age. Thanks to some help from down under, the 2010 model should be a refreshing change. At least Ford hopes you will think so.
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