Ford Motor Company is pushing hard to keep the police cruiser business it has dominated for decades with the Crown Victoria. As reported a few days ago, the Crown Victoria is now discontinued, the last one rolling off the line at St. Thomas in September. The 2013 Ford Police Interceptors have begun a tough round of testing at the hands of police, and the early results say they are “pursuit-rated.” Ford says the Interceptor sedan (based on the Taurus) and utility vehicles (the Explorer) passed stringent Michigan State Police tests last week.The Interceptor sedan is equipped with a 280-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 engine, a major shift away from the 4.6-liter V8 in the outgoing Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. But it comes with a booster package that ups horsepower to over 350. The utility is equipped with a 300-hp 3.7-liter V6. And while Chevrolet is trying to grab off some business with a Caprice cruiser, Ford says it has extras not available elsewhere like standard four wheel drive and optional bullet proof doors for those nasty gun fights.
