When I decided to go into the police vehicle business I searched around for a vehicle that I know would be reliable and give good service for many hundreds of thousands of miles. We compared the Crown Vic to Impalas,Chargers and SUV's. The Crown Vic kept coming up as the one to specialize in due to it's longevity in service and the excellent reputation it has among police officers.

The Impala does not offer a full frame conventional drivetrain layout as the Crown Vic does, nor does the Charger. The SuV's do, but not everyone wants a truck. We have found that the Impala and Charger engine/transaxle does not hold up as well as the Crown Vic conventional layout of engine , transmission, rear end.

The Chargers seem to have more mechanical problems after only 60 thousand miles and are very complicated under the hood.Again, speaking with many police departments I've learned that most officers would rather drive a Crown Vic than a Charger when they have them in their fleet. That says a lot about the Crown Vic to me.

And above all, what sets it head and shoulders apart from the other vehicles is that it's a simple car to work on and maintain. No bells and whistles, complicated computers, front wheel drive or undesirable characteristics of a unibody chassis.

The 2011 Crown Vic, the last to be produced, is the culmination of all the improvements, skill and quality that Ford has built into this amazing vehicle.

No doubt it will be sorely missed once the Taurus Interceptor comes into service.