As every enthusiast who has ever looked on in amazement as an officer in a Crown Vic executed a flawless u-turn across what appeared to be a solid concrete median (I’m look at you Cherry Hill PD) without sustaining major damage is undoubtedly aware, Ford will officially retire the iconic Crown Vic Police Interceptor in 2011. Up until this point, its only potential successors were the Chevy Caprice PPV and my personal favorite, the Dodge Charger Interceptor. While the latter is more than well equipped to replace the aging Crown Vic in the aesthetics department, some LEOs have complained about its reliability (hey, it’s a Chrysler) but sincerely doubt the Caprice would fare much better. Fortunately, those fears should be quelled as Ford announced today that they will be introducing an official replacement upon the Crown Vic’s immediately following its retirement in 2011.

“We have heard the repeated requests from the law enforcement community to continue uninterrupted support of the law enforcement community,” explained Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas. “Ford is answering the call with the new Police Interceptor – engineered and built in America.” Aside from the formal announcement, details regarding Jake’s new ride are extremely scarce and Ford would only confirm that the new vehicle will drop in the first quarter of 2010. Based purely on the extremely aggressive performance quotient currently unmatched by the Charger PI, however, I have my money optimistically placed on a rebadged Taurus SHO.

Source: Ford