One of the most well known names in autodom is stood to get its first major overhaul in virtually 30 years. Ford's Crown Victoria, introduced in 1979, has had only insignificant 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 the current model and will help to spawn extra models for siblings 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 vehicle industry to explain a shell game where giant automobiles were dropped down a nick in size to sit on a platform rather smaller than the prior model. Indeed, throughout the 1970s Ford's full size offerings the LTD/Galaxie 500 were enormous 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 desiring a giant automobile with all of the trappings. As time went buy the vehicle grew less and less desirable as shopper tastes modified, but the Crown Victoria's style failed to. As a pursuit, government, or fleet vehicle the Crown Victoria has done very well, but Ford has only made modest enhancements to the automobile over the years. Indeed, America's two automaker has invested heavily in trucks, vans, 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 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 government. According to reports sources, Ford's Australian operation has received a $1.4 bln grant from Australia to build a production and research facility that may be used to design and build many new models. One of the Australian cars slated to take advantage of this move will be the Ford Falcon, a full sized automobile which may become the root of the all-new Crown Victoria.
While some have theorized that 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 1 U.S. plant, make some technical refinements, and sell the vehicle as a Crown Victoria. It's going to be centered to police departments and fleet buyers essentially with some residual sales for private 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 vehicle will become the replacement for the present Lincoln City Car.
Yes, the Crown Victoria is well past its helpful age. Thanks to some assistance from down under, the 2010 model should be a refreshing change. At least Ford hopes you may think so.
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