The Ford Crown Victoria police car from 1990. Moscow transport museum
The Ford Crown Victoria (“Crown Vic”) is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 until the 2012 model years. The Ford counterpart of the Mercury Grand Marquis, the Crown Victoria was the largest sedan marketed by Ford in North America, slotted above the Ford Taurus.
The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (1992–2011) was marketed specifically for law-enforcement use; a long-wheelbase Crown Victoria sedan (2002–2011) was marketed primarily for taxi cab fleets.
1980–1991
For the 1980 model year, the Crown Victoria nameplate was revived after a 23-year hiatus, becoming part of the Ford LTD model range. Again, a premium trim of the full-size range (replacing the LTD Landau), the LTD Crown Victoria became two-door and four-door sedans. To distinguish the model line from its Mercury (Grand) Marquis counterpart, Ford revived the stainless-steel band to trim the B-pillars (in heavily revised form); the design was used on examples with the standard vinyl half roof.
For 1983, as part of an extensive revision of the midsize and full-size model lines of all three Ford divisions, the LTD Crown Victoria became a stand-alone model line (alongside its Mercury Grand Marquis counterpart); the Ford LTD nameplate was shifted to the midsize segment, replacing the Ford Granada. While having a separate roofline (separate doors and B-pillar trim) from its sedan counterparts, the LTD Country Squire station wagon shared its interior trim with the Crown Victoria sedan (a non-woodgrain Crown Victoria wagon was also introduced).
Discontinued after the 1991 model year, the LTD Crown Victoria (and LTD Country Squire station wagon) marked the final usage of the Ford LTD nameplate in North America. Ford of Australia produced its own Ford LTD as its flagship model line (derived from its own Fairlane) from 1973 until 2007; as neither Mercury nor Lincoln have ever officially been marketed in Australia, the LTD was developed as a luxury vehicle.
