Over 100 Years of Ford Police Vehicles Have Led to This
Did you know that Ford police vehicles are over a century old? Soon after its foundation in 1903, the automaker from Dearborn, Michigan started selling units directly to police departments in the U.S. In 1915, the Oakland, California Police Force was so impressed that they standardized their fleet of light cars to all Ford models.
Why are we bringing this up now? Because Ford is about to celebrate 75 years of pursuit-rated and special service vehicles stretching all the way back to 1950, beginning with the Police Package which applied to the Ford Custom. Three power options were available: the Ford V-8 special, the Ford 100 H.P. V8 and the Ford 95 H.P. Six.
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The New York Police Department ordered 430 of these Fords, marking the largest order ever by a department at the time.
The first police model to be called “Interceptor” was introduced in 1954. The name had previously been used for a new 125-horsepower V8 engine which sold as an option with the police package in 1952. By 1961, a survey conducted by Ford Division showed that 58 percent of police cars operating in the 50 largest cities across the U.S. were Fords.
The iconic Mustang joined special service in 1982. It even became the topic of an eye-catching advertisement campaign that proclaimed, “This Ford chases Porsches for a living,” highlighting the Mustang’s cornering capability and rapid acceleration from 0-50 mph (0-80 km/h) in 6.3 seconds, which allowed it to keep up with exotic sports cars.
A year later, the redesigned LTD Crown Victoria with police package continued the long history of full-size Fords as police cruisers. Its available police package, featuring an optional, high-output 5.8-litre V8, helped make it the preferred choice of municipalities across North America for nearly three full decades.
The Crown Victoria became its own model in 1992 and, by the late ‘90s, accounted for 85 percent of police pursuit sales in the U.S. and Canada. It was retired in 2012 to make way for Ford’s next-generation Police Interceptors.
While the Bronco also received the police treatment in the past, that’s not the case with the latest generation. And with Ford abandoning passenger cars in recent years, except for the Mustang, most of today’s law-enforcement vehicles are Explorers and F-150s. The latter also has hybrid and fully electric variants (Lightning). Let’s not forget the Mustang Mach-E electric crossovers that are showing up for duty in many places, too.
This past August, Ford introduced its latest Interceptor, based on the new 2025 Expedition. It’s available in two- or three-row configuration with a split rear gate, vinyl floors, 24-inch panoramic display, multiple power points and a Dark Car mode that shuts off all interior lighting to help officers remain discrete during stakeouts. Under the hood is a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 which develops 400 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque.
Criminals all over the country should consider themselves warned. Oh, and don’t miss our photo gallery at the top of the page for a visual history of Ford police vehicles.
