The Ford Crown Victoria was a large sedan of the type they don't really make anymore. It's fairly famous in these parts because it was built in St. Thomas. It probably would have been cancelled in the eighties, except for the fact that it was frequently used for police cars.
Police, at least in North America, tend to like their cars big. I never really understood why. Of course, comfort and room is important if you spend a big part of your day in a car, but in small cars the space is mostly taken out of the back seat, and anyone sitting there is not going to be comfortable anyway.
So for years, if you saw a Crown Victoria on the road, you knew it had to be one of two things: a police car, or an unmarked police car. Okay, there was a third possibility: it could be a senior citizen refusing to give in and get a smaller car; either way, you knew you were slowing down.
But now that's all changing. The Crown Victoria has been retired, and each of the Big Three car makers are selling police cars based on normal-sized cars that the average person might actually drive.
I hadn't realized how much I had come to depend on being able to spot police cars a mile away. A few days ago, I slowed down when I saw a Dodge Charger (now a common police car) parked at the side of the road. But it turned out to be a used car for sale, and happened to be white. No, I didn't buy the car - who would want a car that makes everyone around you slow down?
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