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Ford builds an SUV for cops

Ford announces the Police Interceptor utility, a police car based on its new Explorer.

Wayne Cunningham Managing Editor / Roadshow
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
Ford
Ford Police Interceptor utility
The Explorer-based Police Interceptor utility vehicle joins the Taurus-based sedan in Ford's police car arsenal. Ford

New Ford police utility vehicle targets tech (photos)

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Last March, Ford announced that, with the discontinuation of its Crown Victoria, its new Police Interceptor vehicle would be based on the Taurus. Now, Ford announces a similarly outfitted police vehicle based on the new Explorer.

The Ford Police Interceptor utility offers the same sort of heavy duty brakes, suspension, and engine cooling equipment as the Taurus-based sedan, designed to handle the rigorous duty of police work. The Interceptor utility comes with a 3.5-liter V-6 producing 280 horsepower.

Similar to the sedan, the Interceptor utility gets the Ford Sync system, along with safety features such as blind-spot detection. Unlike the sedan, the utility offers 800 pounds of cargo-carrying capacity.