By Robert Emslie
There’s something fishy about this Crown Vic, but can you tell what it is? You should be able to, after all it’s staring you right in the face, but if you can’t, the answer may be found here.
Image source: [P71interceptor.com]
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Jeff Glucker
I always harboured a strong dislike for the Grand Marquis/1998+ bodyshell compared to the 1992-'97, but the newer nose/tail aren't bad at all. I'd rock the hell out of this (and yes, I figured it out almost instantly).
Agreed. It looks bigger and airier with the rear quarter windows.
I saw this instantly too – newer nose/tail on pre-'98 Crown Vic body. I don't consider this an improvement. I like the wide taillights on the mid-'90s Crown Vic as well as the glassy roofline. Also, the bright trim doesn't match. I would also bolt on the original 1992 grille-less nose if I was making a FrankenVic.
<img src="http://images03.olx.com/ui/1/55/09/f_344609_1.jpg">
I always liked the mini-grille on the '96 for some reason. Maybe because my T-bird of that vintage has a mini-grille too. Or maybe just for the BBS-style wheels…
<img src="http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/722124/fullsize/" width="500">
I'd have those wheels (from the LX Sport, I believe?) on a 1992-'97, all right. The 1992 nose reminds me quite a bit of the original Infiniti Q45, but the 1993-'97 grilles always looked odd to me as well. I think I'd have the later revision of the mini-grille, but painted body colour – that would seem a nice balance.
The same thing happened to both Ford and Infiniti – people whined because the no-grille front wasn't "classic" enough. So the makers lost their courage and starting pasting in chrome grilles, thereby spoiling advanced-looking designs. Sad.
In the case of the Ford, I believed they changed design because the car was having cooling issues.
The amber turn signals on the rear are a dead giveaway that it's a P71. And that looks like a Mexican license plate. I've seen plenty of those.
All Crown Vics, civilian or cop, had amber rear turn signals in the first few years of the '98+ body style.
I knew something was off, I just couldn't put my finger on it.
I TOOK THAT PHOTO! That car was parked about 2 blocks away from my parents house in South San Diego probably 5 years ago (note that the car has Baja California Mexico plates). The front end had been converted too, but that's not very noteworthy since it's a bolt on.
I saw the same car a year or two later and it looked to be in much worse shape.
EDIT you can see my car parked in front right here:
<img src="http://p71interceptor.com/hybrids/mexhybrid5.jpg">
Awesome! Good catch!
I wondered why nobody had mentioned the clean-looking Fox-body parked in front of it. Turns out it was yours! Hah! Nice find, man!
Is that a before or after shot of the Vic? I noticed the paint damage on the corner of the bumper.
It's actually not the current car I have. I sold that one to a friend who sold it to another friend. It's still in L.A. But my current car is like a copy of the first car on steroids.
Any chance that this was actually built by Ford that way for the Mexican market? The big three have been known to make odd design combos for our southern and northern neighbors.
Dodge made a Ramcharger for Mexico from 99-01. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Ramcharger#Thi…
And of course Pontiac got all kinds of strange stuff in Canada, like the Beaumont : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_%28automobi…
My guess is that it started out as a Grand Marquis. The bodyside moulding on the doors looks like Grand Marquis. Too bad we don't have a shot of the VIN plate on the dash, for decoding.
No way, the "green house" of this car was only used on 92-97 Crown Vics.
Definitely started life as a Crown Vic. Mercury never used that roofline.
Nope, this is fully custom. In Mexico, Grand Marquis were sold as Fords, but other than a Ford badge they were identical to American Grand Marquis.
Great, shows how much attention I pay to Grand Marquis. I actually like both Crown Vics and Grand Marquis.
Ford did make some unusual variations on the LTD in Mexico during the 1970s. Notice the Mercury-like grille on this car. I've seen several of these.
<img src="http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj45/mms58/Misc%20Ford%20Photos/Mexico/FordLTD1977Mx.jpg" width=400>
Last year I ran across an Acadian Beaumont up in Fremont CA of all places.
I went to pick up a foreign friend on the way to a job site, and there was what looked like an old Chevy for sale across the street. So I went to check it out and snap a few photos. It turned out to be a 64 Chevy. No wait, 65 Buick. WTF?!?! Um 63 Pontiac? What the hell IS this? I may as well have been looking at Martians landing in Wallmart. The badges said "Acadian" and "Beaumont".
Since I was the American car guy my buddy asked what it was. I embarrassingly had to say "I have no freaking idea, some kind of crazy mutant. Must be something from them weirdos up in Canada".
It's kinda like that Johnny Cash song about the Cadillac he built…