The New Crown Victoria
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 small 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 state help – Australian to be specific – the new Crown Victoria will be a clean break from this model and will help to spawn additional models for brothers Mercury and Lincoln. Yes, you may not have considered a Crown Victoria up to this point, but the coming new “Crown Vic” may just change your opinion about that.
You have to go back all the way to the late 1970s to when “downsizing” was a term used by the auto industry to describe 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, throughout the 1970s Ford’s fullsize offerings the LTD/Galaxie five hundred were huge 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 whole 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 consumer tastes changed, but the Crown Victoria’s style failed to. As a pursuit, government, or fleet automobile the Crown Victoria has done very well, but Ford has only made modest improvements to the car over time. Indeed, America’s 2 automaker has invested significantly in trucks, SUVS SUVS and select autos, but the Crown Victoria quickly began to show its age. Today’s model is extremely outmoded and it hasn’t had a comprehensive refreshing in more than 10 years, so an overhaul is warranted.
Ford’s impetus for change is coming from an improbable source : a foreign govt. According to news sources, Ford’s Australian operation has received a $1.4 billion Grant from Australia to build a production and research facility which will be used to design and build several new models. One of the Australian cars slated to gain from this move will be the Ford Falcon, a full sized vehicle that will become the root of the all-new Crown Victoria.
While some have theorized that the the new Crown Victoria will be built in Australia and imported to the U.S., this is unlikely to happen. Instead, Ford will expand the Falcon’s production to at least one U.S. plant, make some technical refinements, and sell the vehicle as a Crown Victoria. It’s going to be focused 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 marginally stretched and masses more classy version of the auto will become the replacement for the current Lincoln City Car.
Yes, the Crown Victoria is well past its useful age. Thanks to some aid from down under, the 2010 model should be a refreshing change. At least Ford hopes you will think so.
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