Thursday, September 15, 2011

Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls off Canadian assembly line

Last Ford Crown Victoria rolls off
The last Ford Crown Victoria, a four-door sedan that has been a popular police car and taxi cab model for three decades, has rolled off at Ford's St. Thomas Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada Thursday.

A Ford spokesperson told the New York Times that the last Crown Victoria, which is colored white and has the VIN number that reads 2FABP7CW8CX104292, will not join the numerous taxis in North America but will be exported to Mexico or Saudi Arabia.

With the end of production of the full-size rear wheel drive body-on-frame platform for the Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car, Ford is promoting the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS flagships for consumers. Ford is also promoting the Transit Connect Taxicab to replace the Crown Victoria for urban taxi cab usage. Some taxi operators have expressed concerns about replacing the roomy Crown Victoria with smaller, more compact vehicles, due to a "bumpier, more cramped ride" and "knee-bumping back seats and flimsier frames". For police pursuit use, Ford is promoting the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor and the Ford Explorer interceptor to replace the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.