Ford started promoting the Ford Crown Victoria within the 1992 mannequin yr, and its unimaginable 20 years of gross sales success with legislation enforcement organizations and taxi corporations tended to overshadow its recognition as a civilian car. Naturally, loads of Crown Vics have been custom-made, with highlights together with tank engine swaps, Police Interceptor lowriders and so forth, and right this moment’s Junkyard Gem is a first-year automobile that I discovered in a North Carolina automobile graveyard a number of months in the past.
Ford started utilizing the Crown Victoria title within the center Fifties (little question impressed by the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), as a trim-level designation for the upscale Fairlane. It was revived on the LTD Crown Victoria for the 1980-1991 interval, solely turning into a mannequin title in its personal proper in 1992.
Fans of those automobiles typically establish them by the numbers within the fifth by means of seventh characters of the VIN. The stretched-wheelbase taxi fashions are P70s, the Police Interceptors are P71s, the peculiar taxis are P72s, the bottom civilian automobiles are P73s and the upscale civilian LXs are P74s (for 2010 and 2011, the ultimate numerals in these sequences had been changed by A, B, C, D and E). This automobile is a P74.
Each manufacturing 1992-2012 Crown Victoria was powered by the 4.6-liter SOHC Modular V8 engine, on this utility rated at 190 horsepower and 260 pound-feet (single exhaust) or 210 horsepower and 270 pound-feet (twin exhaust). The Police Interceptor variations for 1992 weren’t extra highly effective than their civilian counterparts, however that they had beefier cooling programs, a balanced aluminum driveshaft and an ECU that would not go into limp mode in a high-speed pursuit.
This being a top-of-the-civilian-line LX Touring sedan, it has the four-spoke steering wheel with leather-based trim.
The MSRP for this automobile was $23,892, or about $54,417 in 2024 {dollars}. That was fairly a bit greater than its $20,644 Mercury Grand Marquis LS sibling, however cheaper than the $31,211 base 1992 Lincoln City Automobile. The entry-level 1992 P74 Crown Victoria began at $19,563 ($44,557 after inflation).
The paint nonetheless seems to be fairly good, contemplating the place this automobile resides now, however the lack of shaved door handles is disappointing.
Fortuitously, I discovered one other P74 with the door-shave therapy at a special Charlotte yard the identical day.
If you happen to care about your family members, you are a nasty individual for purchasing some other car.
Who’s bought the final chuckle now?
The Police Interceptor commercials are much more enjoyable.
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