According to the fine folks at the St. Thomas assembly plant, the final Ford Crown Vic will not be sold, but kept by Al Jazirah Ford of Saudi Arabia as the ultimate showroom conversation piece. If you're wondering why this matters, CobraJoe gave the proper answer today in response to a comparison between the Crown Vic and Camry:
There are many differences between a Camry and a Vic.
One is reliable, the other is nearly unkillable.
One is practical, the other will constantly surprise you with it's abilities.
One has a good reputation, the other didn't need to be changed much in 30 years.
One has decent performance, the other can be built to go as fast as you can afford.
One is the defining sedan for today's market, the other has no direct competitors for 15 years.
You're right in saying that both are created for conveyance instead of driving, but one is the last holdout from the old school American style cars.
Body on Frame construction is more expensive, heavier, and not as rigid as unibody, but that gives the car special properties. It gives the car a better ride and less NVH because it separates the cabin from the mechanical bits. It allows a little bit of flex in the chassis, which makes it much more durable in abusive conditions and gives a longer service life in all conditions. Finally, it gives the driver a feeling of invincibility. There's no reason to slow down for potholes, speedbumps, rail road tracks, or even animals. You know the car can take it in stride without even giving the passengers a shock to feel.
FWD might give better interior space, slightly better fuel efficiency, and lighter weight, but RWD has it's own advantages. It makes it easier to fix, it gives a better weight distribution, it has less parts to wear out (especially on a simple solid rear axle), it has no torque steer, and is a lot more fun to drive.
Even the V8 has plenty of benefits. Sure, it didn't make as much power as the Camry's V6, but it can last a long, long time because it is a fairly unstressed engine. It also doesn't need to rev high to get the car moving quickly, can easily be built or swapped for more power, and still gets close to 30mpg on the highway.
You don't need to love it, but you should be able to understand why a Jalop would.