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Topic starter
07/12/2024 12:37 pm
Yes, a Ford Crown Victoria wagon. And why not, indeed?
The venerable Ford Crown Victoria was revised for 1998 with rather more bluff styling than the previous “aero” body and a more formal roofline.
I don’t know if they managed to sell many of them to private buyers - the taxicab/police cruiser image was probably off-putting - and they certainly didn’t offer an estate version. Ford’s conventional wagons disappeared when they stopped building the old LTD Crown Victoria in 1991, their rôle being taken over entirely by MPVs, SUVs and pickups. But it did occur to me there might still be some old-style, full-bodied Americans who lamented the passing of the traditional full-size wagon, complete with fake wood. So for the charming gentleman with the dead-dog toupee, 26-inch inside leg and 54 inch waist, and his blue-rinsed lady wife with the rather attractive pink velour tracksuit, I decided to produce one. The Ford Crown Victoria Country Squire Zimmermatic DeLuxe LeisureWagon®.
The model I used is by Gearbox Models, which has opening doors and bonnet/hood plus steering, although I had to glue the doors shut before adding the side trim. This was a bit of a casual fun project and to be honest I have never done a model in quite such an unplanned way. Just dived in and went for it.
I didn’t take any pics of the build process, but it followed the usual routine of cutting away the back end of the roof and the boot/trunk top and epoxying in a flat piece of brass projecting backwards to the required length, then just adding bits of brass and plastic to the rear end, more or less at random, and shaping with filler until it looked about right and the curved contours kind of matched the general feel of the sedan body. The roof seemed a bit bland, so the raised, ribbed section was an afterthought. Adding a rear load bed and inner wheel arches from plastic bits and pieces and making new side and rear glazing was a simple enough job. The side and tailgate framing was cut from aluminium (not such a simple job, some careful sawing required) and the wood infills were generated in PowerPoint and turned out on a colour inkjet printer.
As I say, this was just a bit of "What if?" fun that I did in an idle moment some years ago, but I think it looks quite plausible.
Graeme.M. Ogg
London U.K.
07/12/2024 12:58 pm
Nice job Graeme! These Ford sedans were sold for civilian use for many years using basically the same body shell and cosmetic changes. They were sold in great numbers. I used a low mileage one I bought from an elderly fellow as a second car for a number of years and found it very reliable. It was pretty much identical to the one in your post. When we moved from British Columbia to Alberta we decided to keep just one car so I gave it to a fellow who was going through an undeserved rough patch in life. I'm sure he is still enjoying it today as it was very dependable. I miss these old style sedans, both the Ford and Chevy Impala/Caprice.
07/12/2024 1:13 pm
I like it although I would probably like it better without the simulated wood trim. In 2001 I bought a Crown Victoria LX which I still own. The car was originally ordered by a late friend of mine who retired from Ford. What makes the car unusual is that it has both the trailer towing and police interceptor packages. I have never seen another with this combination. The car is in mint condition and turned 100,000 miles about three years ago. Your model building skills are outstanding.
