Bye bye, Vickie, Ford designs new Police Interceptor model

When Ford drops production of the Crown Victoria next year, so too will go the Police Interceptor model that was based on it. But fear not, crime fighters, there's a new sheriff in town. Ford announced the replacement model for the Police Interceptor, and this one looks like it's based on the Taurus. It also reminds us of the near-future police cars in "RoboCop."

Similar to the current Taurus and Taurs SHO, the new Police Interceptor can be had with a 3.5-liter V-6 or Ford's EcoBoost direct injection 3.5-liter V-6 with twin turbochargers. The EcoBoost engine makes 365 horsepower, and we've tested the production Taurus SHO at 5 seconds to 60 mph. The nonturbo engine only makes 263 horsepower, but that's still more than the outgoing Crown Vic's 4.6-liter V-8.

As its Police Interceptor model, Ford fitted it with bigger brakes than the production model and reinforced suspension. The company also boasts that the new Police Interceptor passed a 75 mph rear-end collision test. We assume that "passed" means the occupants would have survived.

The seats are also modified for police use, designed so that an officer wearing a utility belt can still sit comfortably. Our favorite feature mentioned by Ford is the antistab plates in the front seats, just in case rear seat occupants get unruly.

The new Police Interceptor comes with all the technology that Ford has been fitting into its civilian cars, including blind-spot detection, backup camera with an audible alert, and cross-traffic alert, to warn of traffic when pulling out of a garage or side street.

And officers will also get Ford's Sync technology, but we assume they aren't going to ride around listening to their iPods. Ford says Sync in the Police Interceptor can be used to interface with sirens and lights, so when that black-and-white pulls up behind you on the freeway, the officer merely needs to say "start siren" to let you know you are busted.