Cops Bummed as Ford Kills Crown Vic

In June, Ford brought the heads of the nation’s top police fleets to its Dearborn headquarters and had them test drive its latest Taurus. The goal: to convince them that there would be life after the Crown Victoria. The Crown Vic is the unrivaled king of cop cars, making up 85% of American police fleets. But Ford is pulling the plug on the lumbering vehicle in 2011, the Detroit News reports.

Most people would love to trade the badly outdated Crown Vic for a sleek new Taurus, but cops love the Crown Vic’s roomy interiors, rear-wheel drive, and body-on-frame construction, which makes the cars tough and easy to repair. Cops are also trained on the Crown Vic, and accessories like light bars are built specifically for them. “It will definitely cause us some grief,” says an LAPD official. “We would have to start all over.” (More Ford stories.)