Build A Police Auction Project Car

Different departments decommission their cars in different ways. Generally, all the police equipment is removed from the car before it is sent to auction, however, in numerous visits to Ken Porter Auctions since buying my car, I have seen cars for sale with full prisoner cages and plastic back seats intact. You will not find radios, sirens, or emergency lights, though, as that would be illegal. Sometimes the push bumpers and spotlights will be left on the car, other departments remove them for reuse in a new patrol car. In addition, some departments do a better job of filling antenna holes than others. Mine had rubber caps in the six holes drilled in the roof and decklid.

Different departments decommission their cars in different ways. Generally, all the police

I love Crown Victorias. I like their looks, and I'm fascinated with their technology. I'm impressed with how they've adapted to their roles in fleet service as police cars and taxis, and I admire the amount of abuse they can take in those roles. As you'd expect, I'm saddened by the news that they will be discontinued at the end of this model year. Folks, this is the last body-on-frame, front-engine, rear-drive, mass-produced car on the planet. That architecture resonates with me, so I bought one, an '03 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (CVPI) At the time, it had 133,000 miles on the odometer.

If you hate seeing a four-door sedan in the pages of this magazine, hear me out. There is more to the Crown Victoria than just strobe lights in your mirrors or cardigan sweaters and slip-on loafers at the Elks Club parking lot. These cars boast technology that would have been lusted after by American car buyers in the '60s, and even the '80s for that matter. Exotic things like a fully boxed frame, rack-and-pinion steering, dual exhaust (on Police and Sport packages), wide use of aluminum parts under the hood, an overhead cam 4.6L engine, and big, four-wheel disc brakes.

Admittedly, time and technology marched on while the Crown Victoria and its chassis-sharing Panther platform brethren, the Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car, seem to have been relegated to back-burner status for nearly a decade. The current body style dates to 1998, and that year also ushered in the Watt's link rear suspension. 2003 saw a major redesign of the front suspension, adding rack-and-pinion steering, redesigned lower control arms, an aluminum engine crossmember, and a coilover style front spring and shock package. And that's all. Minor electronic and emissions stuff has changed-the switch to drive-by-wire in 2004, 17-inch wheels in 2006-but otherwise, a car rolling off the assembly line as this is being written (January 2011) is virtually identical to one made in 2003. That is unheard of in this era of three-model-year design change cycles.

The last Panther platform car will roll off the line at the St. Thomas assembly plant sometime this August or September. New regulations for rollover crash standards and government-mandated fun-killing stability control systems were the straw that broke the Panther's back. Ford execs determined it would cost too much to bring this aging chassis into compliance. In 2012, Ford will begin selling a new Taurus-based Police Interceptor. But the Panther platform legacy will live on in the pages of Car Craft. Here is the first of a series of articles documenting the restoration and buildup of an '03 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a former Santa Barbara County Sheriff's patrol car I bought at Ken Porter Auctions in Gardena, California, in September 2008.

I bought the car at Ken Porter Auctions for $2,000 out the door. Ken Porter Auctions has been in business since 1952 selling surplus vehicles from a number of cities and counties in California. The car being bid on in the photo is similar to how mine looked when I bought it, except the front doors on my car were spray-painted black instead of being X'd out. That's ring man Vinnie Lopez keeping track of the bids for auctioneer Justin Holmberg.
I bought the car at Ken Porter Auctions for $2,000 out the door. Ken Porter Auctions has b
More fun awaits on the inside of the car. Here you'll often find a mix 'n' match of interior panels. I've talked with fleet managers of several different law enforcements agencies, and they've all said the same thing: When new cars come in, the parts they don't use (padded back seats, rear door panels, and so on) get tossed into a pile. When the cars are retired, they grab from that same pile and send the cars to auction with whatever back seat was close at hand. Notice the multicolored upholstery in the photo (above). Dash trim often falls victim to damage during the removal of wiring for the sirens and computers. My car was mostly intact, but my back seat is a nonmatching blue vinyl that nicely contrasts my charcoal cloth front seats, and there are a few holes in my dash. Neither of those issues bothers me in the slightest.
More fun awaits on the inside of the car. Here you'll often find a mix 'n' match of interi

Check for extra stuff-I found a live .40-cal hollow-point round under the floor mat!
My car was originally owned by Santa Barbara County. I recently contacted Mitch Gerstner, fleet manager for the county. Looking up my car's VIN, he told me it was a patrol car for the sheriff's department assigned to the Lompoc station. He granted me access me to their maintenance facility to see where my car was serviced. A couple of current patrol cars were in for maintenance during my visit.
My car was originally owned by Santa Barbara County. I recently contacted Mitch Gerstner,
Aft of the front seats, a patrol car is an unpleasant place to be. Check out the plastic seat, window bars, and hard plastic door panels. Apparently, prisoners have little need for cupholders or armrests. My car has holes in the floor and doors where barricades were secured.
Aft of the front seats, a patrol car is an unpleasant place to be. Check out the plastic s

Here is an example of the equipment my car would have been fitted with: the in-car computer allows the deputy to run license plate and driver's license numbers and the console contains a scanner, the Federal Signal Smart Siren controller, and a Motorola CDM 1250 radio.
Here is an example of the equipment my car would have been fitted with: the in-car compute

The county technicians then outfit the cars with push bumpers, a prisoner cage, and the required logos, numbering, and lettering. The tray next to the spare tire contains the electronics for the radio and GPS module. It slides out to allow easy inspection or repair of components. Many of these items are recycled from cars that have been retired.
The county technicians then outfit the cars with push bumpers, a prisoner cage, and the re
This is a new Crown Victoria getting outfitted for patrol duty. Santa Barbara County buys them from Ford in the California Highway Patrol paint scheme: black with a white roof and white front doors. The spotlights are also installed at the factory.
This is a new Crown Victoria getting outfitted for patrol duty. Santa Barbara County buys
Here's some of that exotic hardware referenced earlier. Note the aluminum control arms, rack-and-pinion steering, and big front sway bar.
Here's some of that exotic hardware referenced earlier. Note the aluminum control arms, ra

More cool stuff resides out back. Here, you can see the Watt's linkage that attaches to the front side of the differential housing. Also, the yellow panel on the front side of the gas tank was installed to prevent gas tank ruptures. Ford designs its cars to withstand 75-mph rear-end collisions without puncturing the gas tank. Look closely and you can also see plastic guards around the sway bar mounts and spring perches.
More cool stuff resides out back. Here, you can see the Watt's linkage that attaches to th
Because Ford is discounting the Crown Victoria, Santa Barbara County recently bought 38 new Crown Vics and will be storing them at the county garage until they are needed to replace outgoing patrol cars. Because all their equipment is designed and wired to fit a Crown Victoria, it would be a significant investment to switch to a different manufacturer's patrol car and then outfit it with all-new equipment. Moreover, the technicians told me they wanted to wait to see how reliable the new police cars from Dodge, Chevrolet, and Ford prove to be before deciding which model to buy. In the meantime, they all said the Crown Victorias have proved so reliable, they now keep each car for 150,000 miles before retiring it. The patrol cars receive maintenance inspections and oil changes every 4,000 miles.
Because Ford is discounting the Crown Victoria, Santa Barbara County recently bought 38 ne
Stay tuned for the next installment: paint on the cheap.