Originally posted by bhbrake Up until 98 the panther platform was a good tow vehicle too, but the watts linkage they switched into the rear pushed the towing down about 2,000lbs for stability reasons. The caprices I had would tow 5,000.
I'm in my mid 30's, but was raised on frame-built V8 American sedans and have been through quite a few of them. 85' Dodge Diplomat(318), 83' Chevy Caprice(305), 98' Ford Crown Vic(4.6), 05' Mercury Marquis(4.6), 89' Plymouth Gran Fury (318), 95' Chevy Caprice wagon (350 LT1). A couple of them were sold off, but none of them had drive drain failures before 200k miles. The Chevys and Fords have all made it into 300k territory with the 83' caprice finally blowing a piston at 343k!
I'm only at 86k with the 05 Marquis right now and drive about 8k a year, so my 8 year old son will probably be stuck with it some day. Once the paint finishes delaminating I'll probably due a rattle can camo job for fun
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My cruiser that lives in the garage is a midnight blue 77' Marquis Brougham Sedan with a 400 and only 21k original miles and gets a glorious 9 mpg! I really need to get around to a photo shoot with that beast.
You would of loved my FIL's '66 Meteor (Canadian market, full size Mercury) 2 door hardtop, fastback. He had the 428 FE V8 rated at 345 hp, C6 transmission...it would move for a 2 ton + vehicle. He traded it in for a '71 Mercury Marquis 4 door with the 429 cube...385 series V8.
My parents in '69 bought a new '69 Impala 4 door HT, with the 396 cube V8 (Rat motor), the Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission and the 12 bolt rear axle. They used it for towing their RV trailers.
I have an uncle who had his own manufacturer's Agent business and he used to travel across Western Canada. In the 1960's he bought new Ford Galaxies with the 390FE V8, on a yearly basis, as racked up a lot of miles. Another uncle bought new Rambler Ambassadors, yearly, back then, with either the 343 , 390, or 401 cube 4 barrel V8's and another uncle drove around in a VW Karmann Ghia coupe...I don't know what was wrong with him.
Sounds like you have had a great collection of American rear wheel drive V8 full sizers. I wish they still made the last RWD V8, Caprice or Ford Crown Vic. It would be my choice of ride.
My vehicle of choice would be a '95/'96 Caprice wagon with the 350 LT1 V8 engine...like the one you had. Room , power, utility and if it had the 9C1 chevy police package...ie; HD suspension, reinforced frame, HD cooling...well..you couldn't get any better a vehicle.
I would like to be able to buy a new wagon, equipped this way, but with the addition of the new Ford/GM, jointly developed 10 speed auto transmission for rear wheel drive and maybe a 6.2 liter LS Chevy V8..
My personal theory as to why full sized American pickup trucks are so popular in North America is that they are the last domestic, RWD, V8 vehicles available to the consumer. My observation is that once Detroit started to make Front Wheel Drive 4/6 cylinder cars in the '70's ...the RWD V8 sedan became an endangered species. For many guys out there...the only game in town over the next 20-30 years + became the RWD, full sized pickup truck. So consumers bought the trucks as that was what was available.