The seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe cop car Crown Vic claims you won’t find more car for the money. That’s probably true seeing as they don’t build ‘em this big anymore, but we’ll still have to weigh the size/price balance.
To all the Saab loving Jalops that weighed in, yesterday’s 1990 900 SPG was a rare car and well worth its $8,000 asking. To the rest of you it was like that creepy guy that hangs out at high school parties even though he “graduated” four years ago.
In the end, the creeper view overruled and the Saab went down in a 67-percent Crack pipe loss. That’s because rarity doesn’t necessarily equate to value, and neither does noting how much money you’ve sunk in the car. It didn’t help that eight-grand is well above the sweet spot of ‘what the hell money,’ demanding pause before any trigger pulling takes place
There are a lot of decisions that don’t actually require a lot of forethought, many of those accompanied by the request to ‘hold my beer’ just prior to the attempt. Some of those are just plain dumb, while other poor choices might land you in the back seat of a Police car as reward. You know, things like doing donuts on the street in front of a cop, robbing a bank… that sort of stuff.
Today we’re looking at a car that’s priced well within that ‘what the hell’ price territory, and one that offers you the opportunity to ride in in the front seat of a cop car with the decision too!
This 2011 Ford Crown Victoria Interceptor is—as Mad Max’s mechanic once so sagely prophesied—one of the last of the V8 Interceptors. This was the penultimate model year for Ford’s Crown Vic, the company’s final body on frame, V8-engined, rear-wheel drive sedan, likely forever. Think for a moment about how, after just seven years, those specific attributes now seem somewhat anachronistic. What a world we live in.
The cops still love the Panther platform Crown Vic and many are loathe to give them up. They eventually have to, and the cars end up for sale and eventually some of those end up here, because we love ‘em too.
This one comes in Virginia State Trooper blue over silver, and while it lacks the more obvious active duty accessories—lights, bull bar, radio and shotty between the seats—it still features elements that are unique to the P71 Interceptor.
Those include heavy duty brakes and underpinnings, a unique trunk divider, grounding straps for the trunk-mounted radio aerials, a utilitarian interior, and a certified speedometer. There are other differences between the cop Crown Vic and those civilian editions most often seen parked outside of Cracker Barrel, but those are the major ones.
Up front sits Ford’s 4.6-litre SOHC V8 while behind that is the company’s 4R75W four-speed automatic with column shift. Power from the V8 is a factory claimed 250 @ 5,000 RPM while torque comes in at 297 lb-ft at a grand earlier.
The seller claims the car ‘runs great’ and comes with the full sized spare, which they note is a rare find. There’s 134,000 miles on the car, or about 20K a year. If it was a Trooper car then most of those miles may likely have been highway cruising with extended spates of idling in between.
The interior doesn’t show an excessive amount of use nor surprisingly, donut crumbs. The driver’s seat does show some wear and tear as would be expected, but the remainder of the interior seems clean and serviceable. No traces of ‘perp puke’ in the back, or other detritus of its past advocation here!
The bodywork is equally tidy, and who doesn’t love a two-tone paint job? Classy, no? Wheels are steelies with full plastic covers. I know we’d all prefer the simpler black with a bright center cap look, but what are you going to do? The car comes with a clean title and apparently no outstanding arrest warrants or priors. Ha, ha, cop humor.
The price is no laughing matter. The selling dealer—which claims to specialize in these kind of cars—is asking $3,975 cash for this P71. You know, plus tax, license, bail, and all that.
What’s your take on that price for this Crown Vic? Does $3,975 seem a fair deal for a retired police cruiser? Or, is that just too high a pension to take on?
You decide!
Charlotte, NC Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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