The end of an era...

Yesterday was a sad day for us CV owners...

http://alnk.org/58sillyiguana

The Last of the V8 Interceptors :P

Not really, and it will be very sad when that day does come.

Panther platform, we hardly knew ye.

Also, i'm surprised the last one didn't end up in a museum. Pretty significant history there.

mndsm wrote: Panther platform, we hardly knew ye. Also, i'm surprised the last one didn't end up in a museum. Pretty significant history there.

No doubt. Nearly a million sold. Amazing. If I'm not mistaken the last 6 months has been nearly all fleet vehicle production. Police departments and taxi companies were buying them up.

Yeah, they were saying that production was up some silly amount because all the fleet/livery folks loved em so much, they put in orders for as many as they could.

mndsm wrote: Yeah, they were saying that production was up some silly amount because all the fleet/livery folks loved em so much, they put in orders for as many as they could.

Which SHOULD tell them something.

I'd love to see Ford just do a refresh and keep selling the things with the Ecoboost 6 and Coyote motors.

markschoen wrote: No doubt. Nearly a million sold. Amazing. If I'm not mistaken the last 6 months has been nearly all fleet vehicle production. Police departments and taxi companies were buying them up.

TEN million

mndsm wrote: Yeah, they were saying that production was up some silly amount because all the fleet/livery folks loved em so much, they put in orders for as many as they could.

The whole reason they were killing them was because production was down, 80k a year for plants set up for 250k.

Sucks. Now I have to learn different kinds of headlights in my rearview mirror so I know when I'm being tailed by Johnny Law.

Grizz wrote:

mndsm wrote: Yeah, they were saying that production was up some silly amount because all the fleet/livery folks loved em so much, they put in orders for as many as they could.

The whole reason they were killing them was because production was down, 80k a year for plants set up for 250k.

Or FoMoCo could have, oh I don't know, actually updated the damn things? 2011 models still using the same 4.6 2V from 01? Check. No styling updates since 1998? Check. Still using the same 4-speed auto from 1992? Check. Killed the Mercury version? Check.

They could have stuck the 3V in there in 06, the 5.0 in 12 (and the new 3.7 V6), updated the styling/interior, etc, etc, etc. Nope, they just let it die. See the E-Series, Ranger, and all of Mercury for more examples of Ford's willingness to invest in good selling and well-serving products.

RIP Panther and RIP Crown Vic.

In reply to Javelin:

Or they could have just sold them to the damnable civilians, but that would have made sense.

They were dinosaurs, but come on...who doesn't want a pet dinosaur? I will miss them. The last of the finest.

I'm sure that CAFE regs have something to do with the panthers demise too. 24mpg in a passenger car just doesn't cut it these days. The question now will be: what does Johny Law like more, FWD Ford (probably well built and dependable) or RWD Dodge (probably not up to use as a battering ram).

HappyAndy wrote: I'm sure that CAFE regs have something to do with the panthers demise too. 24mpg in a passenger car just doesn't cut it these days. The question now will be: what does Johny Law like more, FWD Ford (probably well built and dependable) or RWD Dodge (probably not up to use as a battering ram).

Driven both-I prefer the Dodge. Don't forget the GM/Holden rwd from the general-I think it will be the best of the bunch.

In reply to Grizz:

Civilians weren't that interested in the things anymore.

I think one of the things that sucks is no more Town Car for the car services. What's left the MKS, Chrysler 300C, Cadillac DTS? Probably it will end up being the 300; it has a long wheelbase option and is actually the cheapest of the three. Back when I was a chauffeur the company I worked for had Town Cars and DTSs, I said what would have been pretty much ideal would be a TC with the Northstar. Though, looking at the specs for the MKS, Ford could have just dropped the 3.7 Duratec into a TC and had pretty close to the same power.

griffin729 wrote: I said what would have been pretty much ideal would be a TC with the Northstar.

N* was junk, great engine when working, but very finicky. I think an LSx would be the answer here...

In reply to Raze:

I'll give you that one no problem. That was based off of comparing a Town Car and a DTS. LSx would be both easier and in many ways better.