Port Orford is littered with CC’s, most of them showing the signs of decades of use, even if it’s just for scooting around town. But this one, found sitting in front of the library, is a cream puff. I don’t guarantee it’s still available, as this was shot a little while back. It’s obviously led a very sheltered life, with nary a sign of sunburn or little tell-tales of the salty air.
Like Port Orford itself, it’s a bit of a period piece.
I’m not exactly a Panther fan, but I can see why others are. But the front end of this one looks a bit pinched and generic. But it’s got those nice alloys.
The interior looks as pristine as the exterior.
My only time in Panthers was as a taxi passenger in the back seat, and I always found it surprisingly tight and uncomfortable. Give me a Camry back seat, please.
It’s got the immortal Ford keyless entry. I still remember the code from my ’83 T-Bird: 23252. Will it ever die?
The grand finale of America’s big RWD sedans.
Just in case…
I grew up driving huge full size cars that had that 1970s floating, numb feeling. The moment I could find a ride that wasn’t – I never looked back. So it was a bit of a disappointment when I discovered that this throw-back way of driving existed in the form of a 2010 Mercury Grand Marquis LS. I rented it for a week and I was happy to return it. I expected a ride like that in a Lincoln Town Car, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to find it in the Mercury version, yet I was. The car was genuinely unfun to drive. The blank clueless instrument panel that would have felt at home in a car one third the price, the driving experience felt similar to when I swallow anxiety medication when I fly and I double-dose. Comatose.
It was out of sheer politeness that I remained on the car lot after a used first generation Lincoln Aviator struck out. The very accommodating salesman wanted a sale, so I decided to give him another opportunity, but then he led me to the service garage lot, filled with dust colored cars, and showed me a Crown Victoria. He promised me that it wasn’t just another Panther. He unlocked the door and inside was black leather bucket seats, a center console, and a T-handled shifter. So I was intrigued. When he took it through the car wash – it looked really good. I discovered that Ford made Panthers that were based upon the ride and feel of the Police Interceptor and Mercury Maurader. This Ford version was still a CV – but it was a CV Sport.
I’ve had that car for over a decade. It gives me all the comfort of a traditional Panther without the float or numbness. I wish Ford had made that chassis for all the Panthers, not just the police cars. It now has 222,978 miles on it and it has gone from hauling kid’s car seats, (you can fit three across!), to being the first very first car for each kid when learning to drive. (it has the mailbox post still imprinted upon the front bumper in scratches).
Panthers are cheap to fix, (they made over 2 million), and becoming less ubiquitious on American roads. It went through the exhaust manifold melt-down, the dropped transmission, and clutch fan – without costing me anything over $1500 in parts and service. As I age, I better appreciate the creature comforts in my Panther.
If I needed to get a Grand Marquis, I would replace the exhaust manifold almost right away with a heavy duty one. Letting the vinyl job they used in these to warp, could be a death blow to those near-perfect V8 engines when they fail. I would get firmer shocks, try to get the float and numbness out of the ride, by incorporating a lot of the stock Police Interceptor parts. The I’d drive the hell out of it. These are good cars.
I never drove a Sport like yours, but did drive a 1993 LX, which had the better suspension with the sway bars. It was a really good handling car. One of these of the floaty variety would not be nearly as satisfying.
Of the (too) many white cars I have owned, I have never had one with blue interior – this could be a nice daily driver for someone. Maybe CC needs to buy it and have its first-ever CC raffle? 🙂
A solitary time in a Panther as well. Was witness to a stranger forcefully grabbing another stranger’s arm in public. An assault. Quickest way for Ottawa Police to get me to a local station, to give a witness statement, was in the backseat of a late ’90s Crown Vic. Not a pleasant place (hard vinyl back seat), or memory.
Out here in LA (Cali), it’s still common to see a Panther CV going lights and siren to a call. Yes, it’s getting much less common, but you still see them a lot. And that kind of surprises me since they were last produced in 2011. Yes, that’s 13 car years ago and for a police cruiser it’s kind of like dog years from the abuse and heavy use. It’s a true testament to those cars and I know that the boxes they use now (Explorers) are NOT nearly as reliable or good. I rode in a nearly brand new Explorer (Uber) yesterday and was not impressed in any way! But that’s for another story.
I feel Ford/Lincoln made a huge mistake dropping them instead of brining them up to current standards. Not everyone wants a German sports car with rock hard seats. Not everyone wants an SUV. Some (many) of us still want a full sized sedan with comfy seats and a column shifter.
Here in Santa Cruz we still have several marked CV patrol cars on duty, though they started getting replaced with Explorers ten years ago. I’m seeing more Tahoes and F150’s here than Explorers now, and I saw (and posted an Outtake) of one of the ex-PD Explorers in civilian guise recently. That trend, plus the fact that Chargers and Tahoes seem to be taking over from Explorers with the Highway Patrol, doesn’t seem to speak well of the Explorer patrol cars.
There are still some old, marked CV interceptors doing front line duty as patrol cars in Indianapolis, too. The newer cars are late Taurus, Explorer or Chargers.
“Some (many) of us still want a full sized sedan with comfy seats and a column shifter”
Camry’s been the huckleberry of this demographic for two decades. Quiet, smooth, available V6, better packaging, larger backseat, reputation for durability. Avalon, Impala, a few others as well. The inefficient body-on-frame sedan went away for multiple reasons.
You’ll have to look to Mercedes if you want the column shifter, though. And nothing outside the pickups will get you the front bench seat anymore.
Sorry Petrichor: I’m never buying any Toyota in any way. I buy American brands, have in the past and will continue to do so forever. I’ve had outstanding luck with my American brands. The fact that you seem to be promoting them is sad.
The Camry DOESN”T offer a split bench seat, nor a column shifter.
Dan, the Camry has a higher domestic part content and Kogod Auto Index score than most trims of the Silverado and is assembled in the United States. The GMC Terrain I rented last month is a full-on import in comparison, with a final assembly in Mexico and only a 36% domestic content. It ranks lower than a Volkswagen Passat. My Ford was assembled in Mexico and has an engine and transmission built overseas. It’s even lower than the Terrain. What constitutes “American” to you?
You used the correct terminology, however. You buy American “brands”, which isn’t always the same thing as buying American “vehicles”.
You can defend them all you want. I’m never giving Japan a dime of my money as long as I can help it. I buy “American brands” that are assembled in “America” if and while I can.
I don’t care where they assemble them, when you buy a Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, etc, you are sending money back to Japan. I fully understand this is a “global” market any more today, but I still do what I can. So I’d suggest for those who you tell to go buy a Camry that they go buy a Malibu.
The irony of the fact that you said previously that you currently work for a Mazda dealer is unbelievably thick here.
There are precious few “American” cars actually assembled in the U.S.
These are currently sold vehicles NOT built the US but badged as US brands:
Ford Maverick
Ford Mustang Mach-E
Ford Edge
Ford Bronco Sport
Chevy Equinox
Chevy Trax
Chevy Trailblazer
Chevy Blazer
Chevy Silverado (some versions)
Buick Encore (both normal and GX)
Buick Envision
GMC Terrain
Jeep Renegade
Jeep Compass
RAM pickups (some versions)
Dodge Charger
Dodge Challenger
Dodge Caravan
Chrysler 300
Chrysler Town & Country
I’m sure I left some out but that may be a longer list than what is manufactured here by those same makers. At this point there are likely more different non-US branded vehicle nameplates manufactured IN the United States than there are US branded ones. And I’m sure all of the American workers employed by those brands building their products would rather it be that way while many of their American company brethren have seen their jobs sent elsewhere outside of our borders.
A US market Toyota Camry or Honda Accord (along with MANY other Toyota/Honda models and numerous other foreign-badged products) is engineered in the U.S., suppliers are based in the U.S., assembly is in the U.S., and they are promoted and sold in the U.S using US-based marketing firms and dealerships. Putting bread on the table of likely many more U.S. citizens and residents than this Mercury Marquis that was built in Canada (not part of the U.S.) or more particularly (egregiously?) a Buick Encore or Buick Envision that is mostly or entirely engineered in Korea and China respectively, assembled in Korea and China from components manufactured in Korea and China, and shipped across the ocean using likely non-American crews and ships burning non-American bunker oil and a small proportion of whatever markup there is going to support Mary Barra’s 29 million dollar pay package and relatively few American “workers”. The independent American dealer perhaps sees a larger return trickling to their American workers from those sales than the brand itself itself does.
Foreign makers producing here actually export more American-produced new cars out of the United States than the American brands do, contributing positively to our balance of trade on top of employing hundreds of thousands of workers directly and millions more indirectly.
Last I checked, Japan is an American ally that does not restrict most vehicular imports the way America restricts imports from Japan and other countries. What’s your particular beef with Japan or is it every other country? They seem to invest quite a bit in the United States and support a lot of Americans including, per your own statements, yourself, while plenty of supposedly true-blue American companies build their “all-American” products outside these borders, which does zero for the common man and woman besides those corporations’ upper executive ranks.
The loyalty seems misplaced as the US brands sure don’t seem to have all that much loyalty towards employing American workers, at least not like the supposedly “foreign” brands do.
That’s about the depth of “reasoning” I expected was behind your statements.
The Honda Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline, Passport all rank higher on than the Malibu on the Made in America ranking that accounts for HQ location, R&D, assembly and parts sourcing. And there are numerous other Japanese branded vehicles nipping right on its heals, including the Camry.
But if this is rooted in some retrograde anti-Japanese bias (didn’t see a mention of Germany or South Korea) then I suppose this won’t be persuasive and the impending cognitive dissonance will be silenced by a quick retreat into the comfortable and unchallenged. Best of luck.
Ah, and here’s Jim with his pro-Japanese bias. Thanks for the book.
I don’t like anything from Japan. I won’t buy anything from Japan, even if “assembled” in the US. They are not our friends. It’s all about money and unlike you I will not forget what they did to the US at Pearl Harbor.
I’ll point out to you that I don’t drive anything on your list, but I’d drive one of those before any Toyota or Honda and yes, even a Mazda. Just because I work at a dealer that has Mazda doesn’t mean I have to like them. I don’t.
Dan, you’re embarrassing yourself badly. This kind of retrograde intergenerational bigotry plays out favorably only within your own head. If you truly believe that no money should go to Japan, that it is a guiding principle, you are an immense hypocrite working for Mazda, who has the least US content per car of any of the Japanese automakers. That’s a serious compromise of your own stated principles, and I’m not sure buying a US brand atones for it. If you sold Mazdas here, you helped send A LOT of money to Japan.
Love Mazda, btw. Really nice vehicles as I’m sure you’ve seen.
Ah, and here’s Jim with his pro-Japanese bias. Thanks for the book.
You should probably actually read “the book” before you criticize it. Those aren’t biases, those are facts based in reality, like it or not. I don’t particularly care for globalism either but you have your head buried in the sand if you think GM and Ford aren’t global either. And where does that money to the top go? Think the American CEOs and upper managers you want the money to go to are putting their generous salaries back into the US? Buying US goods and taking vacations in the continental US?
re: Pearl Harbor. Get over it. The casualty ratio between Japan and the US during the pacific theatre was 10:1 and we dropped not one but two nuclear bombs on populated cities, and not to mention the firebombing campaign which was even worse. The US got its revenge for Japan’s attack on a military target 70 years ago, you don’t need to harbor a grudge on behalf or your father or father’s father’s generation.
I’ll get a good laugh when I too get accused of having a pro Japanese car bias as I gaze at my Fords through the window.
Guys, do you really think all of your facts and name-calling will have the slightest impact on Dan? Not. Please don’t waste anymore time or bandwidth on these useless debates. Go take a walk; it’s beautiful outside.
I’ve read numerous studies that confirm that trying to convince someone that has strong emotion-based opinions with facts or reason only hardens their position. That largely explains the current socio-political state our country is in.
Well, it’s currently hailing outside here Paul so I can’t take that part of your advice.
But I’ll gladly heed your call to walk away. You are entirely correct that this isn’t remotely productive. I’ve heard the same research about fact immunity and entrenched beliefs, but dang it if it still isn’t frustrating and occasionally difficult to not respond to such demonstrable nonsense.
The comments/criticisms are fine, but I’ll just point out one thing. This article wasn’t about anything Japanese. I didn’t comment anything about Japanese. Petrichor felt the need to inject pro-Japanese comments onto my comment. Why? Came across to me like a totally needless comment that would have fit better within an article about Japanese cars and not a Mercury GM. So it looks like I took the bait allowing the regulars on here to pile on. Quite the crew on here.
BTW, I don’t actually sell where I work. I’m in the fleet department with Volvo. I do everything possible to avoid anything with Mazda. But it’s a job and nothing more. I like the managers and people I work with. I don’t have to like the product nor drive them. I proudly drive a Chevy.
The fact that these were the last dinosaurs made me requesting a CV when I was in Miami for a weeks holiday, ten years ago. The lady at the rental car desk offered me an upgrade to a SUV but I decined. Enjoyed my week with the CV, using the column auto gear lever was very convenient. I could never understand why this got out of fashion. “Sporty” console gear lever, bah!
I have purchased only three cars in my life (was given one and inherited another), and all three were Panthers – 1989 LTD Crown Victoria (purchased one year used), 2004 Crown Victoria (brand new), and 2010 Grand Marquis (purchased four years used and still own). Grand Marquis has 95,000 miles, and I drive only about 125 miles per month. I am retired and 59 and hope the Grand Marquis lasts the remainder of my life, although I wouldn’t be surprised if parts for it stopped being manufactured in the not too distant future.
Not a car sold here new we got Aussie Japanese and European Fords but as usual Panthers have turned up used way over here theres even a police version club in NZ
I do find the white exterior lends too much of an ex-law enforcement feel to its appearance. From that perspective, doesn’t make a difference whether it is a Grand Marquis or Crown Vic, still looks like an old police car.
Even if they want a no-effort quick sale, a 10-minute polishing away of the yellow haze on headlight lens, makes any old car appear much newer. Especially noticeable, on a clean, white car. Almost like yellowed teeth, on a person.
Yeah black too, even the cool Marauder can’t quite shake the used cop car thing to me, I’d rather have the silver or burgundy variant for that reason.
It’s not helped by the fact that the 92-97 Grand Marquis had its more formal roofline folded into the only roofline for the 98+ panthers, a Grand Marquis in the 90s didnt look (as) much like a cop car when the Crown Vic had its fasterbacked 6 window roofline, but after 98 and lasting a whopping 15 years in duty really watered these earlier Grand Marquis down.
I understand Panther love very well .
I still don’t want one as I don’t like driving big vehicles but these are fine automobiles no matter what the use .
I believe Ford stopped production because they weren’t selling in sufficient numbers to be profitable .
Just last Friday a pristine B & W Panther CV Interceptor zoomed past me, I didn’t realize there were any left that weren’t all beat up .
New factory headlights are out there, one just needs to search a bit .
Remember : you can’t spell Grand Marquis without grandma…..
-Nate
Not only were sales low, I don’t think the Panthers met new rollover crash regulations.
Meanwhile in 2006, downunder, you could have a Ford Fairlane with slightly more wheelbase, three-across width, a bigger – well, certainly deeper – trunk, vastly more rear legroom, a four-litre twincam VVt straight six with 270 bhp (or a 5.0 US V8), and double-wishbone rear IRS. (Edit: this is a derivation of a 1998 release, but the 1996 was still vast, legroom and all. Got year wrong, sorry!)
Alas, for only one year after 2006. Not enough takers by then.
This studio-type shot of the rear legroom is still accurate: it was truly huge.
Per above, this is a ’96, essentially an ’88 design, with live axle.