Crown Vic Taxis

[Passport1]

There are mysteriously two left running around NYC. What a car, Crown Vic fans be proud.

There Are Still Two Ford Crown Victorias Running Taxi Service in NYC - For Now

It’s the end of an era that many of you probably thought ended years ago: The Ford Crown Victoria’s time as a taxi on the streets of NYC is coming to a close, as the last two cars still eligible for duty are aging out. New York City has a rule that taxis cannot be more than seven years old. The...

www.thetruthaboutcars.com

 

[bdcardinal]

I honestly wish Ford had never stopped making them. Just give them a refresh with a Coyote 5.0L and they would have been solid for many years.

 

[CKN]

I honestly wish Ford had never stopped making them. Just give them a refresh with a Coyote 5.0L and they would have been solid for many years.

This is often said about many discontinued models. But the truth of the matter is even if they could have updated them and kept economically viable to manufacture and meet all safety standards their sales would still have dwindled down to very small numbers. On another forum today I read were the ideal pickup to this particular poster would be equipped with a rubber interior, manual windows and locks, and a 5 speed manual transmission. This is all "car forum" nonsense as nobody would buy those either.

 

[KCJeep]

My department adored them to the end, even going so far as to buy a quantity of the last year and put them in storage for future service.

Great cars, managed to finish out my career in one although I had the last one still in service in my sector.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

NYC taxi operators stockpiled them after they announced the end of production, but the stash was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

Ford should've given them the 260 hp V8 from the Mustang, and make the Marauder's V8 optional on all panthers and standard on the Town Car, and the Marauder should've had the supercharged Cobra motor.

They could've taken advantage of their Australian arm and used the Falcon to replace the panthers. GM waited too long to bring the Commodores to the US, and even then, only in limited quantities. It's as if GM and Ford management has never seen a Charger on the road and are unaware of its existence.

 

[4WD]

I drove several CV company cars - great for that era … Also owned C300/Charger sedans that had 4WIS and more get up and go in the driveline … CV’s biggest weakness was acceleration …

 

[nickaluch]

Absolute dogs but easy fix fleet cars those mechanics could diagnose and fix blindfolded

 

[dnewton3]

The Panther cars are akin to a 2WD F-150 with a trunk.
- body on frame
- V8
- RWD
What's not to like?

The reason they stopped selling them is because the only real volume market was law enforcement; couldn't justify making them, especially when they were giving price concessions on many fleet deals. Fuel economy standards were making it difficult to be viable, and also emissions (the mod-motors were aging in terms of design). Though, IMO, a 3.5L EB or Coy motor would have made the platform worthy of a few more years in terms of drivetrain.

Actually, the Panther's were going to be phased out before the last update in 2003, but the demand from LE agencies was stout at the time, so they did some chassis and suspension tweaks and milked another 8 years out of them.

The MGMs seem to be still running out there with some frequency. My buddy's son just bought a very clean 2004 with 73k miles on it ($7500). It's nice! I'm jealous!

 

[Snagglefoot]

A friend bought a Grand Marquis. “ It’s like a Lincoln without the payments”.

 

[CKN]

A friend bought a Grand Marquis. “ It’s like a Lincoln without the payments”.

NOT TODAY'S LINCOLN.....

https://www.lincoln.com/

 

[Elkins45]

I think my next new used vehicle is either going to be a Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car or some variant of a Buick sedan with the 3800 engine. I figure I might be able to get a decent one at around $4K if I'm patient.I'm leery of a Crown Vic because of all the idling on old police and taxi cars.

 

[We're Metals]

The official car of BITOG

 

[MVAR]

I drove several CV company cars - great for that era … Also owned C300/Charger sedans that had 4WIS and more get up and go in the driveline … CV’s biggest weakness was acceleration …

The new 10spd would cure that. Just look what the difference with the coyote between the 6spd & 10spd transmissions. The old ‘Vic was saddled with a 4spd

 

[OVERKILL]

The official car of BITOG

In that vein, my 17 year old just informed me that he's been talking to my dad about getting his '03 Town Car when dad finally buys a new vehicle, lol.

 

[CKN]

In that vein, my 17 year old just informed me that he's been talking to my dad about getting his '03 Town Car when dad finally buys a new vehicle, lol.

A 17 year old just wants wheels.....even a dinosaur will do.

 

[PandaBear]

With their mpg they will never last long as Taxi today, even without Uber / Lyft as competitors.

 

[LongTime_Lurker]

Having a powertrain that was not tuned to the ragged edge of performance, helps significantly. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that these cars completed a half-million city miles!

 

[AuthorEditor]

People say the Crown Vic got poor gas mileage, but IMHO it was decent for the size of car and what it could do. In fact, in my experience many current generation SUVs and larger vehicles do no better if they aren't hybrids. I kept track of my mileage for many years on my Crown Vic and a Grand Marquis, and on long trips we averaged a consistent 26mpg. One February we piled four of us into the Crown Vic for a last-minute vacation to Florida and back. The trunk was completely full, four people in the car, average speed on I95 was probably 75-80mph, but when we hit northern Florida we were hitting 90+ keeping up with traffic. Still 26mpg for that trip of about 1200 miles.

 

[4WD]

The new 10spd would cure that. Just look what the difference with the coyote between the 6spd & 10spd transmissions. The old ‘Vic was saddled with a 4spd

I made a thread previously for folks to post a past vehicle that would have changed greatly with today’s AT‘s …
Really - it never got much attention …

 

[MVAR]

I made a thread previously for folks to post a past vehicle that would have changed greatly with today’s AT‘s …
Really - it never got much attention …

I’ve long thought that several vehicles with the older 4spd autos would be livened up by the new 6, 8 & 10spd transmissions. Especially if they’re similar to the modular Fords with a peakier powerband than the pushrod engines they replaced