WILL THE 2011 FORD POLICE INTERCEPTOR BE A FALCON OR TAURUS?

The upcoming demise of the Ford Crown Victoria and thus its role as a taxicab and police pursuit vehicle will see Ford replacing the Crown Victoria Interceptor in 2011, Ford announced today. Fuel economy, durability, safety, and performance are categories in which, Ford says, improvements will bemade over the Crown Victoria. For those not familiar with the current Ford police package, it rests on a vehicle which underwent its first facelift and engineering changes sometime during Taft's presidency. Of course, the Crown Victoria was the only car big enough to accomodate William Howard Taft.

Ford Announces Interceptor Will Be Taurus

All kidding aside, the Crown Victoria remains a beloved car in many police circles, at least the circles in which nobody was involved in a rear-end collision with an exploding Crown Vic. Ford's promise to efficiently phase out the Crown Victoria while phasing in a new police car inspires plenty of speculation in the automotive world.

Check out February 2010's GCBC post on the

Top 5 Unconventional Police Car Choices

Curious, isn't it, that so much of this speculation comes from people who love to drive fast cars fast? What, we care about which vehicles pull us over? Apparently. The Police section of GoodCarBadCar.net is one of this site's most popular zones. Regardless, the car you see pictured here is the Aussie-built Ford Falcon XR8 Police vehicle. The Falcon's one of those cars North American auto enthusiasts really want to see for sale here. You know the kind, like the Pontiac GTO (nee Holden Monaro) or the Pontiac G8 (nee Holden Commodore), both of which are classified in the "nobody bought them" classification. Regardless, the Falcon is certainly coolish and, with its rear-wheel drivetrain, is likely pleasing to the ears of cops.

Yet the new Ford Taurus is capacious in both the cabin and the trunk. And Ford boss Mark Fields did say this new car would be engineered in the USA. If that's going to be the Falcon, it'll be reengineered, and that could be what Fields meant.

After a few days with the Taurus last week, it seems to me that the Taurus would be a perfect police car. No police force is going to receive another body-on-frame package like the Crown Victoria so they might as well stop whining about its rugged nature. Though rear-wheel drive is great for a good many, it's not useful to have cops stuck on steep roads in the northern states or in Canada. Plus, the Taurus can be had in wicked fast SHO form, a perfect highway patrol chase car. And again, there's the roomy factor. In both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive formats, the Taurus could be one sublime Interceptor, a perfect alternative to GM's new Chevy Caprice PPV and perhaps a nice mainstream mainstay to put Carbon Motors out of business.

We shall see. One way or another, expect Ford to put up quite a fight. Dearborn's own sells between 45,000-60,000 Interceptors each year - about 75% of the market. That's revenue no automaker would want to lose.