2020 Ford Explorer

The Explorer doesn’t quite have the stranglehold on the cop market as the Crown Victoria once did, but it’s got to be a strong market for Ford.


LA Sheriff Still Has 429 Ford Crown Victorias in Service Because It Stockpiled Them - The Drive​

Hundreds of decade-old Crown Vic Interceptors roam southern California, though they’re getting more and more difficult to keep on the road.

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Like the United States Postal Service's Grumman LLV, the Ford Crown Victoria is a disappearing symbol of a time past. From taxi services to police departments, large operators like the California Highway Patrol have been retiring their fleets of the once ubiquitous sedan for years now.

Even so, their numbers remain strong through 2023 at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, where hundreds are still in service. But even there, the herd is beginning to thin.

As one of the largest police forces in the country—and the largest sheriff's department—the LASD has been one of the Crown Vic's top users for decades.

The department guaranteed it would remain so into the sedan's twilight years with a huge last-minute order of 600 cars in 2011, the final year of production, as accountants reckoned it'd save money in the long run.

Photos of this last big batch survive online, showing hundreds of the cars around the time of their delivery.

Surprisingly, the vast majority of these 600 remain in operation today, with 429 still on the roster according to Sergeant David M. Davis of the LASD Fleet Management Unit.

"The Crown Victoria is a rugged and durable platform that has held up great over the years," Sergeant Davis told The Drive, stating that the Crown Victoria remains the top choice with older members of the force.

"Tenured deputies who have driven them for the majority of their patrol careers still prefer them to the Ford Police Interceptor Utility, which is also in use by the Department, while newer deputies seem to prefer the Police Interceptor Utility."

 
The rugged new Ford Explorer Tremor is ready to climb mountains

Or just make it through the urban jungle. Is this the sweet spot of the Explorer range?

Today, the Ford Explorer joins the Tremor family and frankly, this one’s a no-brainer. While the recent three-row Expedition Tremor SUV certainly has its use cases, the Explorer is second only to the F-150 in Ford sales. This means a far wider range of drivers can opt into having what is potentially a top-tier all-rounder.

An all-rounder with either the same 300hp 2.3-liter ‘EcoBoost’ turbo I4 the standard vehicle comes with, or the 400hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 that powers the sporty Explorer ST. Notable Tremor upgrades include off-road-ready suspension with more rugged springs and sway bars not found on the regular SUV.

The ride’s been raised an inch and as such, the approach and departure angles have been improved, with skid pads included in the front and back for when those limits are put to the test. A new limited-slip diff and 18in all-terrain tires round out the new hardware.

In terms of software, you can expect the Explorer Tremor to include the latest Ford suite of digital doodads, including Google’s Maps, assistant, and compatible apps from Google Play. There’s also a 14-speaker B&O speaker system to bump tunes with and Copilot 360 assist, which among other functions provides 360 degrees of view around the car, now presumably for more than supermarket parking lot use.

 
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