History
In 1980, the Crown Victoria name was revived by Ford for the upper-level trim package on the Ford LTD, replacing the LTD Landau. These cars had a targa-like chrome band across the roof, usually paired with a landau vinyl roof. While the chrome band was unique to the LTD Crown Victoria, the vinyl roof was a common option on its Lincoln-Mercury counterparts, the Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car.
In order to boost mid-size car sales, the LTD nameplate was moved to the mid-sized Ford Fox platform in 1983 to replace the Granada. The LTD Crown Victoria remained on the full-sized Ford Panther platform, becoming a standalone model line. For 1983, the full-size sedans and wagons received a minor facelift consisting of a new grille and taillight lenses; a more distinctive change was the return of the Ford "Blue Oval" badge to the grille (this was actually introduced in the '82 models). The old LTD 'S' front fascia was dropped, leaving only the former high-end quad-headlight fascia. Under the hood, the 122 hp 4.2L V8 from 1981-1982 was discontinued. Electronic "Central Fuel Injection" (CFI), a type of Throttle Body Injection, was now standard on the 5.0L V8 engine. While the Crown Victoria earned a reputation for its impressive durability, the CFI engine's induction system was a source of problems for drivers who experienced chronic stalling when in traffic. 1985 saw the horn control return to the steering wheel hub from its original location on the end of the turn signal lever. This was a major complaint among drivers of Ford products in the early 1980s, who often found themselves pounding on the steering wheel hub in vain. In 1986, on all civilian models, this was replaced by "Sequential Fire" electronic fuel injection, based on Ford's OBD-1 compliant EEC-IV computer. The new engine featured better driveability in traffic than the CFI unit, although it also had stalling problems which were caused by dirt in the air intake. Ford finally cured this problem with an inexpensive spacer that was installed in the air flow duct which bypassed the dirt.
Read more about this topic: Ford LTD Crown Victoria
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