Ford to reveal details of new Interceptor this Friday at Las Vegas

[Ford Jellymoulds]

HD Taurus or 5.0 Falcon.....OR 3.7 Falcon......

 

Should be a bomb proof RWD Falcon, Villain's & crooks are hoping it will be a gutless underpowered FWD that you can take out with one hard dab of the brake pedal and outrun with anything over 300 BHP something FWD can't handle. Maybe a AWD Taurus might be a another option but would be an expensive option something Police budgets won't be able to afford.

 

FWD cars make poor stock cars in a destruction derby, Old RWD Granada's & Volvo and Granada based hursts have always come out the best in the UK.

 

If its a Falcon Ford will have a sales winner, if its a Taurus Ford might as well kiss goodbye to another market.

 

 

 

[silvrsvt]

The NYIAS doesn't open to the public till April 2nd. I'm planning on going that weekend afterwards..too much going on that weekend with Easter.

[lfeg]

O.K., I have worked for municipal fleets in the past, and have a lot of family members in law enforcement. I know something about how law enforcement vehicles are procured, and what goes into the purchasing decisions. The 'great' FWD/RWD debate does indeed rage on, but so far no one posting here has hit on the REAL problem. It is not, in most cases, durability, or even performance. In fact, for many years the 3.8L Impala was actually marginally faster than the Crown Vic and did better in some department's handling tests. The issue is driver (officer) training. FWD and RWD cars handle differently in extreme situations, and no department wants their officers to have to stop and consider what kind of squad they are driving halfway through a high speed pursuit. That's the biggest reason FWD cars have not caught on, though they have been used with success in some north eastern metropolitan areas where inclement weather is a factor. My prediction is Ford will become a minor player in law enforcement if the next Police Interceptor is indeed based on the Taurus and Dodge continues with the police Charger and Chevy offers up the Caprice. That will be 2 RWD squads against one FWD squad. A Taurus (or other FWD) squad would have a chance should the Charger go away and the Caprice not come out. Forget about Carbon. That car is just too expensive, and it remains to be seen if Carbon Motors will even make a profit at $60,000. They have some interesting technology, but it will be very hard for any department to justify spending that much taxpayer money on just one car! If you know about municipal fleets, you might be inclined to bring up BMW motorcycles or Crown fire apparatus to support the arguement for an expensive specialized vehicle like the Carbon squad, but those situations were somewhat different. Now, if Carbon were to LEASE those expensive cars.......

 

Good points. But even with a lease I think Carbon Motors will go nowhere. Except if it is a very heavily subsidized lease that would drive Carbon under anyway. State and Muni budgets are always tight, and there is always a struggle over what to buy. Our local dept will be replacing the CV with the FWD Impala over the next few years, even though training costs will go up during the transition. And it is not totally due to the CV being discontinued, it would have probably happened anyway, just a year or two later. The big reason is that there are far more choices of FWD (and FWD biased AWD) cars out there. A part of the discussion was "do we want to be at the mercy of only one or two potential sources?". Another reason is that the departments in the area that have been using the Impala have been satisfied that it does the job. And in the departments that use the Impala around here, total cost of operation is less for the Impala. Not a whole lot, but some. So a police vehicle based on the D3, with FWD or FWD biased AWD has a market. And some are even looking at midsize FWDs for patrol cars. Back in the day there were many Fairlane and Chevelle patrol cars, so I would not rule out a Fusion size police vehicle

 

And it is kind of funny all of the doom and gloom over there being absolutely no vehicle as good as the CV for the purpose. Back when Chrysler started discontinuing the large and midsize unibody RWD cars in the early 80s, many departments complained that there would be no suitable replacement for them. Same thing when the Caprice was discontinued in the 90s, many departments complained that the only thing left, the CV, was a poor replacement. Evolution, boys. Evolve or die.

[silvrsvt]

Now, if Carbon were to LEASE those expensive cars.......

 

I think that's where they are going with it. From what I remember reading, they spoke about recycling cars also, which would make sense if they where doing leasing. Done with the lease, the car gets rebuilt/repaired and off to the next customer..

[T'Cal]

Timing plays a big part in Ford's continued success in fleet sales to law enforcement. As the CVPI fades, the new RWD Caprice becomes available to fill the void. Dodge still has some way to go to improve its reputation overall so I don't see them picking up sales unless they offer some fantastic deals. The Caprice, OTOH, has heritage even though it's a completely different vehicle than the model from the 90's. Police administrators making the purchasing decisions now were the officers driving the old Caprices 15 years ago, which many felt were the best squad car ever. The new one is similar enough to entice the buyers over to Chevy from Ford unless Ford comes up with a real replacement for the CVPI. By 'real' I mean RWD, V8 powered, realiable, affordable, and big. One way they could do that would be to heavily revise the Panther including replacing the 4.6L 2v with the new engines for the Mustang - a 3.7L 305 HP 4v V6 and a 5.0L 412 HP 4v V8 backed by 6 speed autos. By staying with this platform, many of the mounting points for aftermarket equipment could stay the same allowing agencies that already use the CVPIs to strip equipment out the old ones and reinstall them in the new ones. A Taurus based PI might work if it's converted into a RWD car or, more likely, it is offered with AWD. I don't believe Ford will put an expensive, complicated engine in it like the SHO TTEBV6 but they could use the 3.7L V6. It will likely lose significant sales to the Caprice though.

[NickF1011]

Ugh. Let's move on already. The Panther is dead. Ford has been looking for any excuse to kill it for the better part of a decade now. Special Service simply isn't a large enough market to justify a unique platform. Everybody is moving away from the Panthers except police departments, and even they are starting to shy away from it for more efficient models. No amount of updating in the world would make that vehicle a long term success moving forward. Frankly, if Ford loses the police business, they probably don't care. Profit margins in the segment have likely been shrinking for years as municipalities push for cheaper and cheaper contracts.

[jpvbs]

I found this out there - nothing at it yet

 

Ford police interceptor reveal

 

 

One of our members, Goinbroke I believe, posted a few weeks ago that the agency he works for ended up buying a large order of Chargers. As I recall, he said that because they were a lot cheaper than a CV, that is what they got, even if they didn't want them. I see the biggest hurdle Ford will have is trying to sell whatever they have at a lower price than the other guys. FWIW, the local sheriff's department were I am (Milwaukee County) has used Impalas since they came out in police form. I assume they work adequately for them as they have been using them for a number of years. The Impala seems be so common in police work around here that I don't believe police cars have to be RWD anymore.

Edited March 10, 2010 by jpvbs

[Pioneer]

If the new PI looks anything like a mass produced civilian vehicle, then Mulally should be fired.

 

Ford should let this market segment go. Low profit/low volume is exactly the opposite of whet Ford needs right now.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Pioneer

[Edstock]

If the new PI looks anything like a mass produced civilian vehicle, then Mulally should be fired.

 

Ford should let this market segment go. Low profit/low volume is exactly the opposite of whet Ford needs right now.

I agree — if Chryco and GM want to give 'em away, let them have the pleasure.

[nelsonlu]

By 'real' I mean RWD, V8 powered, realiable, affordable, and big.

 

Given that these days, a huge part of the affordability equation is the fuel cost, no such thing can exist. Reliable, affordable, and big, yes -- but that's what a police version of the Taurus will be, if done correctly. There's no need for a V8.

[Edstock]

http://www.fordpoliceinterceptorreveal.com/

 

11:30 am EST 8:30 PST

[Mark B. Morrow]

If the new PI looks anything like a mass produced civilian vehicle, then Mulally should be fired.

 

Ford should let this market segment go. Low profit/low volume is exactly the opposite of whet Ford needs right now.

 

 

Yeah, because that would negate everything else Mulally has done at Ford.

[Mark B. Morrow]

I found this out there - nothing at it yet

 

Ford police interceptor reveal

 

 

One of our members, Goinbroke I believe, posted a few weeks ago that the agency he works for ended up buying a large order of Chargers. As I recall, he said that because they were a lot cheaper than a CV, that is what they got, even if they didn't want them. I see the biggest hurdle Ford will have is trying to sell whatever they have at a lower price than the other guys. FWIW, the local sheriff's department were I am (Milwaukee County) has used Impalas since they came out in police form. I assume they work adequately for them as they have been using them for a number of years. The Impala seems be so common in police work around here that I don't believe police cars have to be RWD anymore.

 

 

Cool place holder.

 

Interceptor is still the best name for a Police Cruiser. Ford will be just fine no matter what happens to the LEO business. It's not as though there is enough profit in it to justify a dedicated vehicle or plant. Chevy has sold plenty of FWD Impalas over the years even while the CV was the competition. Obviously there was enough profit in that business for Chevy to stay in the market.

[RichardJensen]

If the new PI looks anything like a mass produced civilian vehicle, then Mulally should be fired.

Did you leave your brain at work yesterday?

[Deanh]

Fact...Ford has had several high ranking decision makers from PD depts AND Municipalities working in conjunction on the PI succesor, their input is invaluable as they ARE the hands on guys. So, it WILL be interesting what differences there actually are between the civilian and PI units, probably the usual silicone hoses, heavy duty suspension/ brakes, additional engine/ oil cooling capacity etc etc.....expect a front bench seat with column shift, fiberglass rear seatin quarters, decontent obviously....but my main curiosty is drivetrain...how ANYONE could/ would complain about a 3.7 with 305 ish hp compared to the outgoing LETHARGIC 4.6 is beyond me....and for those BRAINWASHED into thinking a 4.6V8's durability is superior, PLEASE do back it up with verifiable evidence.....my MAIN gripe with the Panther Mafia is a complete and UTTER inability to embrace progress....

Edited March 10, 2010 by Deanh

[jpvbs]

....but my main curiosty is drivetrain...how ANYONE could/ would complain about a 3.7 with 305 ish hp compared to the outgoing LETHARGIC 4.6 is beyond me....

 

It'll have a cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, and it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say?

 

What more could anyone want?

[Deanh]

It'll have a cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, and it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say?

 

What more could anyone want?

hmmm, Leisure world styling, lethargic V8, antiquated suspension, 4 speed auto and big gulp cupholders........

Edited March 10, 2010 by Deanh

[timmm55]

I think he means, if the Interceptor looks like a regular production Taurus SHO (that cost consumers $40K), it's a bad business plan.

[RichardJensen]

Oh f'r cryin' out LOUD people.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yil9wlfa0yo

Edited March 10, 2010 by RichardJensen

[akirby]

I think he means, if the Interceptor looks like a regular production Taurus SHO (that cost consumers $40K), it's a bad business plan.

 

And anyone who thinks Ford isn't smart enough to avoid that problem just hasn't been paying attention.

[Hugh]

Fact...Ford has had several high ranking decision makers from PD depts AND Municipalities working in conjunction on the PI succesor, their input is invaluable as they ARE the hands on guys. So, it WILL be interesting what differences there actually are between the civilian and PI units, probably the usual silicone hoses, heavy duty suspension/ brakes, additional engine/ oil cooling capacity etc etc.....expect a front bench seat with column shift, fiberglass rear seatin quarters, decontent obviously....but my main curiosty is drivetrain...how ANYONE could/ would complain about a 3.7 with 305 ish hp compared to the outgoing LETHARGIC 4.6 is beyond me....and for those BRAINWASHED into thinking a 4.6V8's durability is superior, PLEASE do back it up with verifiable evidence.....my MAIN gripe with the Panther Mafia is a complete and UTTER inability to embrace progress....

You don't see that the grand plan of the PM is to slowly eat away what's left of your soul. It appears to be working...

[jpd80]

OK, I've been following this for quite a few years now but as someone who lives outside of North America, some things start to make sense. About two years ago, Ford decided to halt the global rear wheel drive development and Alan Mulally announced that Ford's future in North America was with FWD/AWD.

 

Now, whilst Ford is going gang busters to convince everyone who will listen that FWD/AWD will cover their needs, I get the sneeking suspicion that Ford knows that the Taurus does not cover all the bases for Law Enforcement, most of them yes but not all.

 

The fact that Ford is having a major announcement this far out tells me that thay are very anxious about the new PI's reception, I doubt that Ford has a back up plan even though they know that a lot of the PDs prefer RWDs.

 

What will Ford do if PDs view the Taurus PI with skepticism and start looking towards the GM Caprice? Does Ford have any way to counter this?

 

Let's see what Ford is offering first but if I were the product development chief who closed his ears to RWD, I'd be getting very anxious, more so in the coming weeks....

[Fordowner]

Oh f'r cryin' out LOUD people.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the clip!!! Love that movie but jpvbs' reference went over my head seeing as how I can't for the life of me remember movie dialog (except for some caddy shack stuff).

 

So just hope the interceptor has a working lighter. I think for laughs the interceptor reveal website should role out a Taurus with a Crown Vic front grafted on or maybe for the sake of updating graft a Granada Front end on.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Fordowner

[RichardJensen]

(except for some caddy shack stuff).

Well, at least you've got that going for you, which is nice.

[Fordowner]

Well, at least you've got that going for you, which is nice.

 

ha ha, well played.

 

The interceptor website now says "watch it here March 12 11:30 am EST" - Friday [edit apparently I can't read a calendar either]. And the screen goes full screen so it looks like they will have a live feed on that website this [edit Friday]. Nice.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Fordowner