Blaze86Vic

I'm a long time fan of the Panther chassis. Panther is the name of the chassis for all Crown Victorias, Grand Marquis, and Town Cars from 79 to present.

I noticed some incorrect information in the original post so I figured I'd spread the knowledge.

79-91 had either 302 or 351 Windsor engines. 351 was reserved for police or special order due to emissions regulations. Though police package could still have the 302. 351 was available in Town Cars only in Canada till 1981. 302s were CFI from 82-85. 86 was the introduction of the Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection 5.0L engine, which ran until 91. The 351 was carburated from 79-91.

1979 and some 1980 had a C4 transmission. In 82-91 all Panther chassis were equipped with AODs. 90 was the last year for the 5.0L in the Town Car which was redesigned. In 91 there was a bastard child creation 4.6L with the AOD transmission in the newer designed body Town Car. After 91 all Panther's were 4.6L Modular engines with AODEs (later updated and renamed 4R70W).

LTD was carried all the way to 1991. 2 Door coupe was continued all the way to 1987. In 88 the exterior was design optimized for a little aerodynamic improvement. In 89 the interior was redone as well. soft top was available on either coupe or sedan from 79-91. 91 marked the last year for the "box" body line of Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis, and the end of the station wagon.

91-97 body is commonly referred to as the Aero design due to it's extremely aerodynamic design. The Aero had a Drag Coefficient of .33, far better than most compact Hondas. These Crown Victorias were essentialy unchanged underneath though. Only bolt on changes were made to the chassis.

The 98 to present body is commonly referred to as the "Whale" body. 98-02 was again mostly an aesthetic upgrade, with minor changes in the bolt on parts to the chassis. However in 03 the chassis was throughly updated. Still using the original frame as the base the front was completely redesigned, as well as the rear, though there were no significant exterior or interior changes from 02-03.

The 03-04 Marauder is also a Panther. Using the same exact chassis as all other Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis vehicle in 03-04. Only minor aesthetic difference are found between the Marauder and the others. However the powerplant was upgraded to a 4 valve DOHC 4.6L with 315hp, stiffer springs, and 3.55 gears. The Marauder was only produced in 03-04.