Buyers seeking roomy and not too old sedans are pretty much limited to cars like today’s Nice Price or No Dice Crown Vic. While that target audience may be small and getting smaller by the day, let’s see if this low-mileage car’s price can still hit the target.
In late 1963, Ford dropped the Fairlane’s 260 CID V8 into the compact Falcon, offering buyers of the smaller car both performance and panache. Six months later, that platform and drivetrain would find its way into the then-new Mustang, thus creating the eponymous pony car category.
Ford never patented the idea of shoving a big V8 into a little car, and in fact, it wasn’t alone in employing the concept back in the 1960s. Many companies have followed suit in the years since, a fact exemplified by the 2005 Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG we judged yesterday. That compact C203 saloon had to be modified in order to fit the M113 V8 under its hood, but fit it did. And at $8,500, its price tag seemed fit enough for most of you, earning the car a solid 65 percent Nice Price win. That was the second such result this week.
While the mantras to achieve performance may be very similar, it’s safe to say that Mercedes-Benz and Ford are two very different car companies. Sure, they do compete in some of the same categories, but each company’s approach is almost always from a different angle. That has naturally engendered different brand equities for each of the two carmakers.
Take for example this 2008 Ford Crown Vic LX. Can you think of a Mercedes model with which it might directly compete? It’s the size of an S Class, but when new it was priced like a low-end C Class. It’s also a prime example of what an American luxury car once was, while almost all of Mercedes’ products are stringently more Germanic in their presentation of ostentation.
A couple of notable aspects about the panther platform Crown Vic: it is the last body-on-frame sedan sold to date in the States, and because of that factor, it was once beloved by law enforcement nationwide.
Now it should be noted that this LX is a purely civilian model, not the Police Interceptor that the cops once called their office. There are both good and bad aspects of that positioning. The most positive of those is the higher level of kit the LX carries. In front, there are leather seating surfaces on wide bench-bucket seats with power controls on the door (just like, ahem, Mercedes.) You also get some plasticky wood trim that the Interceptors lack and a leather-topped back seat that likely hasn’t been vomited/peed/you-don’t-want-to-know’d on.
What you also get inside is plenty of room for five and automatic climate control that everybody gets to share. Power windows and locks also make an appearance, as does a double-DIN stereo head unit with both CD and cassette. On the outside, the car has Ford’s wonderfully useful keypad entry.
Power here is provided by Ford’s 4.6 liter SOHC “Modular” V8. With a single-pipe exhaust, that mill put out 224 horsepower. With dual pipes that number bumped up to 239. The ad doesn’t offer a pipe count in the description, nor any under-car pics meaning that the actual number of ponies in the corral will have to remain a mystery for now. The only transmission offered in this generation of civilian Crown Vic was Ford’s 4R70E four-speed automatic with a column shift. The instrument panel does come with a tachometer but you kind of have to wonder how much use that is in a car of this nature.
According to the ad, the car has so far managed a mere 85,600 miles over the course of its life under two owners. As evidenced by the noticeable dent under the fuel filler on the rear fender, one of those owners wasn’t as careful as they should have been. Other than that, the bodywork looks clean and is accented with copious amounts of chrome trim and seemingly clean headlamp lenses.
Sixteen-inch factory alloys underpin and look both too small for the car and a bit worse for wear. Maybe this would be a good impetus to replace them with some larger steelies. Those wheels are wrapped in Michelin tires with just 4K on them so perhaps that’s something for further down the road. The title is clean and the seller demands “CASH ONLY!!!” and an in-person title transfer at the DMV. Sheesh, what happened to them to assert such a demand?
If you’re into going to the DMV to make this Crown Vic your own, you’ll want to bring along $4,900 — in cash — to seal the deal. To say that this is a lot of car for the money is simply pointing out the obvious. The question, however, is whether it’s a deal considering all the other options that money could afford.
What do you think, would this civilian Crown Vic make someone feel like royalty for that $4,900 asking? Or, for that price, would you demand an Interceptor rather than just a scepter?
You decide!
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.