Why were Crown Vics so popular with police and cab drivers?

Why were Crown Vics so popular with police and cab drivers?

Well I guess they were sold as fleet vehicles, for one.

Body on frame makes repairing impact damage a lot cheaper.
The reason the Crown Vic was so popular was that it was the last BOF sedan being built.

They were roomy, comfortable, and from an era where em pee gees were meaningless

My city liked Impalas more for some reason. We had very few Crown Vics and they were the previous gens.

Did they keep them long? I saw a few different localities that started picking up Impalas when it was announced the CVs were going to end, but they didn't seem to stay in use for all that long.

Still see a whole bunch of Crown Vics on the road though.

Ford became the de facto fleet provider when GM pulled the Caprice.
Crown Vics were built on an old but simple chassis, making them cheap to build and buy in bulk. It was also durable and roomy, making it attractive to both LEO and taxi companies.
Ford changed very little over the 19-ish years the P71 was in production, meaning part stockpiles were never suddenly obsoleted. 3rd party equipment also had the advantage of never having to update their tech because of a model refresh.
The Modular 4.6 is a frequently berated but universally respected workhorse. It only made okay power but it could make that power forever.
The Vic's party trick is its endurance. Oil and trans coolers made the drivetrain bullet proof. Its prey could probably out run it, but nothing outruns a Motorola. And when the perp's ride eventually dies, there'll be a Vic, no sweat.

GM towns. Sometimes the local GM fleet sellers get a foothold in a city and they worked to keep them happy so they don't lose the fleet contract to Ford. Eventually, parts and equipment purchasing can force a city to stick with a platform longer than they would have expected.

Most cabs are toyotas now. How did ford fuck up and lose that market?

The Taurus had a shitty transmission its first couple of generations, the Toyotas just lasted longer with basic maintenance.

Impalas need to shrink again

Ford's replacement was unattractive compared to the proven Camry. They tried to fill the workhorse Crown Victoria market and the "upscale" Grand Marquis market with the Taurus making it more expensive. They also had problems launching the platform. I also wouldn't be surprised if Toyota bid aggressively to take advantage of the void left by the Vic's retirement.

Impalas need RWD again.

impalas have not been rwd in a shit long time. LIKE since the early 90s and im probably wrong. I think the last 3 gens have been fwd

1996.

they're just another sedan now
My town is littered with the early 2000's Impalas
All white too

#FLEETDISCOUNTSON

They switched the old fleets to Ford Explorers, few Tauruses and Chevy Tahoes now. But they did keep them for a long time, from the 90s year model all the way up to the 07 year model.

They decided to stop investing in the panther platform. They decided a bigger heavier car with less interior room and more difficult maintenance was the way to go.

Big RWD V8 sedans aren't really the ideal urban taxi anymore. These days it's all about fuel economy and maximized interior space, two things that Toyota is very good at.

sounds like the barra and intec i6's in the ford falcons

RIP ford bof and aussie cars ;(

because they could base the police platform off the same platform they sell to civilians

civilians stopped buying heavy BOF RWD sedans, and started buying unibody cuckmobiles like the Taurus

Ford is run by kikes (ironically), so scrapping a dinosaur platform for the same one they sell to normies only made good goyim sense

I've never ridden in a better taxi than a Crown Vic. That shit eats up the worst of NYC roads in style, comfort, roaring V8 power, and you can fit plenty of dead hookers in the trunk.

If this is an actual question you can't figure out the answer to, you're a brainlet.

>roaring V8 power

Slower than a v6 camry. I used to work for a municipal utility and drove a bunch of crown vics, they make some noise but provide very little actual power. It's amazing cops could catch anyone.

over the past 20 years it has become logistically impossible to escape the police in a hot pursuit. you don't need a sports car to catch criminals when an advanced array of technology has your every move relayed to a fleet of cops

Pursuit maybe not. But for taxi duty it's got good low-speed grunt for darting around aggressive city traffic while maintaining poise.

Similarly for shitty highways or whatever on a longer taxi journey but again with a decidedly more sedan than bus type ride.

I went to NYC a few months ago and didn't see a single Crown Vic cab. Riding in one was one of the things I wanted to do there.

The modern crew of taxi drivers don't drive right anyway. Gone are the days of the manman central european type guy pretending he's making russian dashcam videos.

It'll blow your mind then that 90%+ of police cars aren't used for high speed pursuits anyway.

They were popular with cab drivers because they'd be sold dirt-cheap after police use.