By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
And yes the box Vics that were police spec are largely gone.
@Stickguy, don't knock it till you try it... lol.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Sounds like my 04.... I always call it the Florida Edition. At least it doesn't have a Continental kit
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
It's scary how fast the time goes by. My one friend, who's had three Panthers in a row, last bought an '09 Grand Marquis Ultimate with about 54,000 miles on it, back in the summer of 2012. Doesn't seem that long ago, but I was chatting with him the other day, and he's up to around 120,000 now. And suddenly a car that didn't seem "that" old is now seven model years old!
Still, Panthers are pretty rugged and durable, and fairly cheap when they do break. So, one that's a few years older might still be a better long-term bet than something newer, like a slightly used Impala or Charger.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
It was still running well around the 230K mark, but the HVAC started acting up. It would blow air nice and cold, but would shut off at random, and then turn back on at random. Seemed like a minor issue to me, but the dealer he took it to said it was a $1000+ repair. So, he bit the bullet and traded.
I was a bit miffed at first, because CarMax only gave him $300 in trade. I told him I would've given him that for it! Heck, even a little more! He pulled the routine of not wanting to do business with a friend, because he'd feel guilty if something broke on it, but I figured hell, for $300 it was more than worth it! I wouldn't have replaced my Park Ave with it, but I think it would've made for a nice emergency/spare car.
As for the cheapening, my friend noticed that, as well. He had also found a 2011 Grand Marquis LS (I think...I don't believe they had an "Ultimate" by that year), with lower miles, and not much more $, but he didn't like the way it felt so strippo. And even his Ultimate really doesn't live up to that adjective, IMO.
Sadly, even the Town Cars in more recent years have seemed a bit Spartan. The interiors to me think of taxi cab that just happened to have leather seats put in. But still, I wouldn't mind having one.
He just replied with something like "The paint, on this thing? And then went to pick at a spot where it was peeling. I thought that was a bit sad, actually. Once upon a time, a police car was considered part of the uniform, and you did your best to keep it in tip-top shape.
Our county still has a pretty good supply of Crown Vics, and some '06-13 Impalas, but the Tauruses and Explorers are taking over.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
For 1972, there's just a 99 hp 250, 141 hp 302, and 351 with 177 or 275 hp. But, that 275 hp version must have been pretty impressive for the time. For comparison, the Chevy 454 had 270 hp, and that was the best you could get in a Corvette.
I'd imagine that 275 hp version was pretty rare though. And for '73 the bottom really dropped out, when the 351 only offered 154-156 hp.
A lot of those gross-to-net conversions were simply a paper loss, so it was mostly psychological. But, I heard that GM, at least, cut compression ratios at the same time, so there was a little bit of true loss at the same time. Chrysler, I believe, did not cut compression ratios, so the 1972 versus 1971 numbers were simply a paper loss. I'm not sure what Ford did, though.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Also saw the kind of weird purple 60 Ford that the car hoarder in my neighborhood brings out now and then.
Even our little dealer delivered a firethorn-red one new to the eye/ear/throat doctor in town. His daughter was in my high-school class. Less than ten years ago, I was back in town and saw a weathered firethorn Eldo convert, top down, pull up to a red light opposite me. It was the Doc driving. I was happy to see he still owned it. He had traded an ice blue '71 Eldo convert for it. He has since passed and I wonder what happened to the car.
I am curious about the front bumper on that Eldo. I never really paid any attention to them before, but that looks like it is very well integrated into the body, unlike most of the cow-catchers back then. I guess the entire bumper/grille assembly retracts, hence the long body fillers I see in the front fenders?
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
http://automotivemileposts.com/cadillac/paint1976cadi.html
Here's the car, claimed 1542 miles
The Caddy looks better with the top up.
and a bunch of depression era iron the last 2 days. Guy just outside my neighborhood must be cleaning house. He had a 51 Ford PU a month back he sold, and today had his Model A out, and I think showing it. Maybe the old guy died.
and driving around, some larger 20s-30s vintage sedan. Not a Ford. But could not see the badges. Looked real nice, and imposing
and today, on a 4 lane road zipping along, a rat rod. One of the square cab ones slammed onto the pavement, probably standing to about my waist. Don't know how people get in them! Looked just like some of the ones seen on TV out of LA. Similar to this one.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
It's funny, those pics look far-less to my eyes like the '72-73 GM metallic color we've discussed before, than the first pic you posted.
My guess is that is indeed Greenbrier Firemist.
BTW...andre, did you make Hershey this year? I didn't, but I heard the weather was excellent. I thought of you as I was looking through Hemmings Motor News last night--don't have it handy, but a '57 (I think) and a '59 DeSoto convertible brought big, big money at a recent auction in Harrisburg--the '57 I think was $132K and the '59, a salmon color, brought in the nineties....more than a '61 300-G that sold there. Sounds like you're ahead of the curve!
Off-topic I know, but today I did a quick drive-through the nearest Chevy dealer to see if they had a '16 Malibu or '16 Cruze out. I didn't see any, but he had a red Corvette, looked like a 'lesser' model like I like--bright wheels instead of black, none of that tacked-on ground-effects stuff, and even had the solid top (I'd want the glass roof though). A red Corvette is such a cliche, but geez, it looked nice.
I guess at those prices, a DeSoto convertible is probably not in my immediate future!
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k110/imidazol97/DSC01502_zpshnkofwdd.jpg
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
was visualizing the right car. Beautiful luxury. I remember.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
It was the "Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction" of July 16-18. The $132K car was a '58 Spruce Green and Willow Green Firedome convertible that had won an AACA Grand National First in 2014. The '59 was a Bimini Coral Firedome convertible, which sold for $85K. Not too shabby!
Got my new "Automobile" mag the other day (a gift from a newbie in our local Stude club), and it shows selling at Sotheby's in Plymouth, MI, on 7/25/15, a 1971 M-B 280SE 3.5 coupe in Graubau Metallic over parchment leather with floor-shift automatic, for $121K!! I had no idea those cars were such in demand, although they comment that good ones can be found for much lower. Still, a '70's almost-anything bringing that kind of money is very impressive.
I haven't seen it in a year or two, but there used to be one of these cars that would show up at the Mopar show in Carlisle fairly regularly, and the owner had wired up the rear windows to get them running again. So, while it had the landau trim around it, the window would still go up and down.
I imagine that building the cars this way would make them somewhat prone to water leaks?
I think Chrysler was the last domestic auto maker to offer a true hardtop, as you could get the Newport/New Yorker in 2- and 4-door hardtops through 1978. The Dart/Valiant hardtops were offered through 1976, and I think the last year for the midsized hardtop coupes was 1974. The '75-78 models had the look of a hardtop coupe, with no B-pillar unless you went for that opera window treatment, but I'm pretty sure all the windows were stationary. I've seen factory photos of them where it looks like the window is rolled down, but I have a feeling they just took the glass out.
What was the last year Ford offered a hardtop? I think 1974 was the last year for a 4-door hardtop version of the Marquis/LTD, and they're actually hard to spot, because the pillared models had frameless windows. And while the Marquis coupe didn't have a B-pillar, but I think eventually, they started making that rear window stationary. I think the LTD lost its hardtop coupe after 1974.
More 1950s DeSoto convertibles coming up for auction soon:
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/10/27/a-complete-set-of-de-soto-adventurer-convertibles-heads-to-auction-in-scottsdale/
In the comments someone who is usually pretty knowledgeable claims one of them is simply an auction queen, living out its life by going on the block every so often.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Of course, there's a big difference between #1 and #3+ cars. The level of fanaticism that goes into making a factory-correct concours car is pretty staggering....right down to the hose clamps, the color of the grommets on the windshield washer bag, and whether the bolts holding the fan shroud are plated or painted. Sometimes trophies are won or lost depending on whether a factory part or an exact reproduction is used. The reproduction part might cost only a few hundred dollars. The new/old stock factory part might cost $4000.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.