'88 Crown Vic Wagon or '88 Mustang?

So my wife and I are trying to have kids and I've been considering a new 'fun' vehicle that would replace the Miata and have a good amount of room. I know, only on GRM would someone consider a Crown Vic Wagon as a fun substitute for a Miata.

I've been looking at Fox body Mustangs, but I'm just not sure about the car seat-ability. So here is a Wagon:

http://sheboygan.craigslist.org/ctd/4416103860.html

My thoughts are some decent tires and an exhaust would be my first modifications. I don't do any automotive sports, so I don't have any delusions of making it a racer, but I like to go for fun drives on some local roads. This would be a summer only cruiser; mostly back and forth to work 28 miles one way.

How is the AOD transmission? Is there a more efficient, modern transmission to gain some MPGs or is that the last of the Windsor bellhousing pattern autos? My wife likes the idea of having a bench seat, so doing a manual swap is probably not in the cards.

How much different is the 5.0 liter in the Mustang compared to the crown vics of the same year? If I got this thing, I'd probably be looking at the junkyard for an Explorer's 5.0 to get the heads and intake and whatever else that I could easily bolt on to it.

TL;DR: Can a Crown Vic Wagon be a kid friendly replace for a Miata as a good summer cruiser or should I look at a Fox Mustang?

There's a GRM member TheFamilyTruckster who built up a pretty good Crown Vic Wagon using cop car bits and some other stuff.

I wouldn't really consider a Fox Body "family friendly", and I'm a huge Fox fan.

Just for cruising? In highschool we had fun cruising in my friends 1990 Crown Vic woody wagon. Super comfy bench seats! I'm not sure it can really replace a miata. Apples to oranges. What about a Ford fairmont?

N Sperlo wrote: I wouldn't really consider a Fox Body "family friendly", and I'm a huge Fox fan.

This! It sucks getting into the backseat of a fox body.

RossD wrote: I've been looking at Fox body Mustangs, but I'm just not sure about the car seat-ability.

Nearly non-existent. A Fox body Mustang is about as small as a mid '90s Civic inside, maybe a little smaller.

How is the AOD transmission? Is there a more efficient, modern transmission to gain some MPGs or is that the last of the Windsor bellhousing pattern autos? My wife likes the idea of having a bench seat, so doing a manual swap is probably not in the cards.

Decent for efficiency, but needs some upgrades if you start throwing tons of power at it. Not a concern at stock-ish power levels.

How much different is the 5.0 liter in the Mustang compared to the crown vics of the same year? If I got this thing, I'd probably be looking at the junkyard for an Explorer's 5.0 to get the heads and intake and whatever else that I could easily bolt on to it.

Different heads, cam, injectors, and several other things. An Explorer 5.0 improves on all of them except the cam. More details here: http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/5-0l-talk/61648-5-0-vs-5-0ho-whats-difference.html

In reply to RossD:

I think that you might be stuck with an AOD and its cousins. I thought that you could get the 5r55 behind a 5.0 but a quick search points in the direction of v6s and non windsor 8s. I "think" that the pistons and rods are different on the HO and GT40 motors than the non HO models. IE, grab the entire explorer motor and do a light rebuild while it is out. Add cam, double the stock HPs.

Also, I hate you for showing me that you can get a CLEAN CV wagon for that little at a dealer!

Anyone want to buy my Miata?

Those Crown Vics are IMHO so incredibly not fun. I personally would look for basically anything else. I mean they are great highway cruisers but so it a fun road and well berkeley it.

BMW 5-series comes to mind.

Priorities. Kids can fit in the back of a Fox, especially once they are in boosters, not rear facing baby seats. I know people who have taken a family of four from Michigan to Florida in a Fox notch back. I'm the idiot who's had two S197 Mustang convertibles in a row as a family car though. The only reason we are moving in on the shortest person in the family is not 5'8" and we've outgrown them. Fox bodies have the advantage for booster seats in that they have a more bench type rear seat than the sculpted buckets of our car. Booster seats fit in the back better. In fact the Fox had better usable rear room than the SN95 cars.

For track or autocross work Fox cars need a lot of work, but for fun road use nothing more than springs shocks and bars are needed which are dirt cheap these days.

A crown Vic of that vintage is going to need work, more than just off the shelf cop car stuff I would imagine.

I also found a '84 BMW 733i with a manual transmission, but I have this fear that I'd be replacing all of the rubber IRS suspension bits. It would be a lot more fun than the wagon...

http://appleton.craigslist.org/cto/4415093257.html

Also, since I like my forum threads fast and loose... '85 T-bird with a 351W and a 5 speed: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/cto/4439039758.html

Foxboy = Zero car seatability. I've owned a couple and they shouldn't even put rear seats in a Mustang or Camaro. Baffles me why they even bother with them. I'd rather see some cars just be a two seater with more up front room. Same thing with an Infiniti G35 Aero Coupe I had. Just put two seats in it. Who would try and ride 4 people in them anyway? I ran into the same problem when my kids were little. I wound up getting a Nissan Murano SL AWD. Sporty for an SUV, 256hp 3.5 liter same as in the 350Z, Maxima, Altima, and Infinities. 18" wheels all the way around. Handled well for an suv and road like a freaking Caddy. Hella tons of room. Saw 145 mph on I40 with it ;) shhhhh...dont tell anyone :D. I'm 6'2" and my son has been the same size since he was 15 and I could put my seat all the way back and he'd still have PLENTY of room. Do NOT get the CVT tranny version tho. I still have mine sitting in the basement waiting for the price of transfer cases to come down ;). That's how much we loved it. I tried selling it but every time someone came to look at it or called my wife would start crying. So, I decided to just hang on to it and fix it for her sooner or later. I did get 160K on the clock before I had the first problem with it.

RossD wrote: Also, since I like my forum threads fast and loose... '85 T-bird with a 351W and a 5 speed: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/cto/4439039758.html

That Thunderbird is hot. Very hot.

Cruiser? Go big or go home. I am so digging this wagon.

In reply to David S. Wallens:

That car is one of the reasons I started considering a wagon.

In reply to Conquest_LR4:

My wife and I plan on getting a newer Grand Cherokee for year-around family moving, but the Miata replacement would be for grabbing the little one from the day care place on the way home from work kind of thing.

In reply to Powar:

I know!!! It is hot, but it's a bit above the price range I'm looking for at the moment. Scoop it up!

That '88 only has lap belts in the rear, just like my '87 LSC. They make retrofit kits but I didn't feel like dropping the coin and going through the hassle. They still have harness type child seats so those were fine in my '87 but I use the boosters in my '92 LSC since it has shoulder belts in the rear.

Oh yeah, buy one of these! :

Lots of interior space.

You all will be better protected in the Crown Vic over a Fox body Mustang.

Consider the reason that you're buying the car, get the big wagon.

Panther wagons are getting kind of rare, but they're well worth it from a utility/comfort/reliability standpoint. The example you posted appears to be a steal for what you're getting.

In reply to TeamEvil:

The safety of the Fox bodied cars are a concern.

In reply to Richard Nixon:

Thanks Mr. President, I believe you're correct.

I like the wagon as long as you're not looking for sporty. Cruiser, yes. Sporty? No.

Ah, it's all relative. I autocross my bone-stock `88 Caprice Estate and have a blast; I am even quicker than some other drivers in faster cars. I get to drive home in air-conditioned comfort while they get to thrash about on freeway expansion joints.

So, maybe a Fox body or maybe a wagon?
Why not the Fox body based wagons?
Fairmont, small LTD, etc.

I've been looking for those too, but there always seems to be something that turns me off, either price or rust or ... nonexistent when compared to the big cars or Mustangs.