Robert Lane
19 October 1999
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. " - Martin Luther King Jr.

Florida Highway Patrol Crown Victoria.

Ford's Crown Victoria will get another style change for 2002 - but unlike the Impala and Malibu, the Crown Victoria will keep its rear wheel drive chassis.

Aside from the Crown Victoria's desirable styling, I can't even imagine many Police agencies would even want a front wheel drive vehicle, unless it's some small town or village. Sure some towns use the Chevy Lumina or Ford Taurus as Police vehicles, but just jump one hard curb and you might run over the engine with the real wheels when it falls out. Serious Police departments need a rear wheel drive vehicle with plenty of dependable power. The Crown Victoria is currently the only product capable of delivering those needs. The Crown Victoria has proven to be the only effective automobile suitable for the daily rigors required for Police and Special Service vehicle applications - period.

The hard statistics speak for the Crown Victoria Police Package: 49.6% of all Crown Victoria's sold are Police package equipped. The Crown Victoria alone commands between 80-90% of the law enforcement's vehicle market share. Very impressive indeed.

Florida Deputy Mark Hamilton isn't a big fan of the Crown Victoria - he can't fit into one due to his size. So he drives the next best thing, a Ford Expedition.

Aside from the reported transmission failures, the only problem Police officers have with the Crown Victoria is a lack of power. While increased power in a Police vehicle might seem a little TOO trivial - just consider what a difference a few seconds can mean when waiting for the Police to arrive. While time is money to the average citizen, time is a precious commodity for every officer responding to a call.

I can't begin to count how many Police officers have asked "When is Ford going to upgrade the Crown Vic's engine with more power or drop the 5.4L in?" That must be on every Police officer's wish list.

Well after years of Police officers asking, demanding and even some begging (very little), Ford has heard you! Ford will put some more pep into the Crown Victoria. You can skip the 2001 model year Police Crown Vic though, it will continue to use the same 200 horsepower 4.6L SOHC V8.

According to Ford's internal documents, the 2002 Police Crown Victoria will get a big power boost - but it won't come from the 5.4L V8. The 5.4L Police Crown Victoria is still a dream for now. The problem is that the 5.4L is selling so well in Ford's truck line that it's outstripping Ford's ability to produce an adequate supply of them. And we all know how lucrative the truck market is for automakers = high profits. There is also some possible concern that a 5.4L Crown Victoria would hurt Ford's C.A.F.E. rating costing them more in fines then making the car would actually be worth. Of course Ford could follow Daimler's lead and just pass the "guzzler" tax onto the window sticker - but some cities might baulk at forking extra tax payer's dollars if that ever happened.

What will Ford do for the Protectors of the Peace and their demand for more power? Drop in a 4.6L DOHC V8 instead of the current 4.6L SOHC version.

Florida Highway Patrol Ford Mustang. Troop D.

Ford internal documents show that the "EN114" 2002 Crown Victoria will definitely use the 4.6L quad cam Police package and not the 5.4L V8. The engine assignment code is "J25PX" and Ford has already appropriated $106 (000) into their 1999 budget for the development process. We expect the 4.6L DOHC Police engine to produce somewhere between 225-230 horsepower. That's 25-30 horsepower more than the current Crown Vic's 200 horsepower.

Another potential improvement that the 2002 Crown Victoria might receive that will make fleet operators happy is a better fuel economy rating. More power - less fuel consumption, what a novel idea.

With Ford's increased power in the 2002 Crown Victoria, Police officers can catch more bad guys in a much more powerful way - but in the same style.