In terms of historic American police cars, no other car brand does it like Ford. So much so that the brand has been a key player in the police car market for at least seven decades. According to Ford themselves, they claim they currently have 2/3 of the police vehicle market with 3 different models currently patrolling the streets.
Their expertise seems to know no bounds. But where did it all start? Which was the first police car devised by Ford? And how have Ford vehicles evolved through the years? Let’s find out!
The Very First Ford Police Car
In 1950, Ford became the very first automaker to propose a specially designed vehicle to be used by officers of the law. Despite the fact that it wasn’t technically the first ever police car (there was some coach in the late XIX century which was used to transport drunks apparently), it was certainly the first to be produced in series to provide support for American police units.
The Police Package vehicle debuted with an emphasis on durability and performance. After all, cops need a car which can catch up with the baddies while also being as simple as possible to reduce the amount of potential issues in the future. The cool as heck name “Interceptor” would not be used officially until 1951 with a configuration of a flathead V8 with about 110 HP.
In a period of over 7 years, Ford started sneaking in more and more power to their Police Package vehicles. By 1958, the police exclusive Special V8 Interceptor managed to produce the whopping amount of 303 HP thanks to its 6 cylinder engine. This led cop cars to become a vital part of Ford’s business. By the early 60’s, 58% of all American police automobiles were being produced by the Blue Giant.
Chrysler's Competing Police Cars
Despite dominating early on, the now defunct Chrysler Corporation noticed the big opportunity they were missing out on. Since speed and power were the main concerns for law enforcement agencies; Chrysler, mainly through Plymouth, began to devise police vehicles of their own. At the moment, the brand had been well positioned within costumers as providing “cheap speed”. That reputation made it easy to market their offerings and, surprisingly, they left Ford out of their own game.
So much so that the police car market, from being basically created and dominated by Ford in the 50’s, switched dramatically towards Chrysler for at least until the mid 80’s. If that’s not a fumble worthy of Dak Prescott, I don’t know what is. Anyway, Ford was obviously pissed about this. They had to find a way to convince law enforcement agencies their cars were still fast and cool. But they had to reimagine themselves. And they would do it with an iconic vehicle.
The Ford Crown Victoria Rescued Ford's Police Cars
The fuzz would notice Ford’s efforts once more through a very special police car. In 1983, the full-size sedan Interceptor LTD Crown Victoria became the primordial vehicle of choice by the US police thanks to its spacious interior, comfortable ride and obviously amazing performance thanks to that 5.8 liter V8.
The “Crown Vic” soon established itself as an iconic cop car within the industry, even beating the Mustang in terms of popularity at some point. Only the Chevy Caprice we all remember from the 90’s Jumanji film was able to compete with it mainly because it carried with it a Corvette engine.
Nonetheless, by 1998 Ford police cars once more dominated in terms of sales all throughout the United States and Canada. The Crown Victoria was key to that success, becoming the first ever car to be tested to meet a 75 MPH rear impact crash test. So not only was it fast, it also became notoriously safe for drivers. Once more, it became hard to argue why you would choose any other vehicle.
American Police Switched From Sedans To SUVs In 2012
Despite the “Crown Vic’s” success as a police car, the inevitable trend towards sport utility vehicles started to become evident. As sedans started shrinking in size and SUVs did the opposite, it didn’t take long for law enforcement officers to prefer the latter. Ford acted quickly and officially retired the mighty Crown Victoria Police Interceptor from duty in 2012.
And its replacement would be none other than the SUV version of the Police Interceptor equipped with V6 engines and standard full time and intelligent all-wheel drive. The car was now rougher than ever before. Traversing through messy terrain became borderline laughable for the new cars. And of course, they preserved their speed and dependability which made them vital in the first place.
After a couple of different iterations with hybrid motorizations, Ford became once more the king of cop cars. Their current line up consists of three vehicles. The F-150 SSV is the versatile four-door configuration. The Expedition/MAX SSV is used for off-road duty and specialized tasks. Finally, the F-150 Lightning Pro SSV is the all-electric option based on the brand’s bestseller with a 0-60 time of under 4 seconds.
After decades of trial and error, unexpectedly fierce competition and a complete renovation; Ford demonstrated it still is the preferred vehicle by the US police forces. Technology and electric power trains will surely be the next chapter to follow. We are already seeing the benefits of the hybrid police cars from Ford and we’re very excited to see what the Blue Giant has in store for us.
Sources: Ford Police Vehicles, CNBC News