2010 Crown Victoria Model

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 minor changes since its introduction, but a new plan by Ford to overhaul the crown jewel of its fleet is allegedly in the offing. Thanks to state help – Australian basically – the new Crown Victoria will be a clean break from the current 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 approaching new “Crown Vic” may just change your mind 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 explain a shell game where giant automobiles were dropped down a nick in size to sit on a platform slightly smaller than the previous model. Indeed, thru the 1970s Ford’s full size offerings the LTD/Galaxie 500 were massive beasts of burden. When the time the then new Galaxie 500 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 huge automobile with all of the trappings. As time went buy the vehicle grew less and less fascinating as client tastes modified, but the Crown Victoria’s style didn’t. As a pursuit, presidency, or fleet automobile the Crown Victoria has done very well, but Ford has only made modest improvements to the automobile over time. Indeed, America’s #2 automaker has invested heavily in trucks, vans, SUVS and select autos, but the Crown Victoria quickly started to show its age. Today’s model is terribly outdated and it hasn’t had an exhaustive refreshing in more than a decade, so an overhaul is warranted.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 stories sources, Ford’s Australian operation has received a $1.4 bln Grant from Australia to build a production and research facility which may be used to design and build many new models. One of the Australian autos slated to benefit from this move will be the Ford Falcon, a full sized automobile which may become the basis of the all-new Crown Victoria.

While some have speculated the new Crown Victoria will be built in Australia and imported to the U.S, this is doubtful to occur. Instead, Ford will expand the Falcon’s production to 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 essentially with some residual sales for personal buyers. In addition, the Crown Victoria will spawn a new Mercury Gran Marquis while a slightly stretched and lots more and plenty more sublime version of the automobile 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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