What Isn't Wrong With This Picture: The Last Of The Panther Interceptors Edition
Panther lovers will be sad to hear that this, the last of the black-and-white Crown Vic Interceptors, has gone down the line according to the Ford St Thomas Assembly Plant’s Facebook page. The last Panther ( reportedly a Town Car) is scheduled to be built on Monday, and the plant’s “about 1,500” workers will be laid off on the 12th of September. If you know someone who loves the Panther chassis, please be sensitive to their needs in this difficult time. Remind them that there’s always the used market, and that someday their beloved brutes will tear ass across a post-apocalyptic landscape, and be known as “ the last of the V8 Interceptors.” This is going to be OK…
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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I live in Hamburg, New York, and I know some of the people who are losing their jobs at the stamping plant. This is not a good sign for our economically troubled community.
Lots of work in the oil patch out here in Alberta-100k a year if you want to get your hands dirty...maybe it's time for a fresh start.
Get over the Panther! It's a platform that's at best mediocre... and has not been substantially updated since 1978, back when we still had LTD IIs, horrible 93hp Mustang IIs and Pintos. We are in Goldarn 2011! The automobile industry has changed!!!
"...last of the V8 interceptors..WOULD'VE BEEN A SHAME TO BLOW IT UP!" Well when I went to the bank in my 87 GMC Suburban (manual trans 4x4 2500) a few years ago, 2004 I believe, I came out to the otherwise nearly empty parking lot and made a startling observation. On the left was a V8 Volkswagen Tourag, as wide as my GMC, and probably higher HP. On the right was a Honda Ridgeline, longer than my GMC. The owners clearly wanted to demonstrate that they had thought about a US SUV/4x4 but chose foreign for their own reasons, or it was an odd show of respect. But just the fact that foreign car companies decided that they could outdo US automakers in designing and manufacturing the types of vehicles traditionally dominated by Detroit, and the US public would respond, spoke volumes about where the forward thinkers were in the auto industry. I concede I wouldn't have bought the GMC if I didn't know how to fix it when it had issues. But 277k miles later it is strong as can be. Will the VW or the Honda last that long with only a new starter and radiator? More importantly, will anyone care?