FORD CROWN VICTORIA & PANTHER PLATFORM SAFETY INFORMATION

NOTE - This page provides information on Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor vehicles up to and including Model Year 2011. This is NOT applicable to the new Sedan Police Interceptor vehicle!

Updated 7/30/2023

I've heard Crown Victoria series cars blow up. Is this true??

I can only speak from my personal experiences as an ex-police officer, deputy sheriff, and a retired 30-year government employee. I have owned one of the current model Crown Victoria Police Interceptor vehicles and one of the non-police Panther platform vehicles. I have never had issues with either fuel leakage or my car exploding in a rear-end collision. That's not to say that other people haven't had issues (I call losing your life a damned serious issue!) as there have been recorded cases of fatalities and severe injuries while law enforcement operations have taken place from these vehicles. Remember that in and among themselves that Law Enforcement and police operations are inherently dangerous and that there are real and substantial risks taken each & every time you walk out the door & get into your patrol vehicle. The only fatal accident I've ever personally seen with a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was involving a pre-1992 Crown Victoria in Satellite Beach, Florida where two officers were hit & killed by a drunk driver. A patrol vehicle was hit in the rear at fairly high speed, but it did not explode. And yes, I personally attended the funerals for those two officers. A very sad day.

My position is that this site will present any information that we can find, are provided links to, or obtain from our own personal experiences, and that this information will be presented to you, the user without "spin" or personal opinion one way or another. The only way to be completely fair to all parties involved is to let the user of the site form his own opinion after being presented with the available information resources. While there are many variables to this issue (and naturally I always regret loss of life wherever and whenever it may occur) I am not in a position to judge, one way or another, who or what position is correct, all I can do is present the available information in whatever form it takes. If you read my legal disclaimers page you will already understand my position relative to linked materials to this site.

NOTE UPDATE 7/30/2023 - The Ford Motor Company took down it's websites dealing with the CVPI on this issue in 2014 or earlier. A search of Fleet.Ford.Com last made in 2018 failed to reveal any CVPI information germane to this topic. Further, most sites referring to the CVPI fire situation have disappeard from the Internet as the vehicle is no longer in production and is rapidly being retired from government service due to age. We are referring to the Wayback machine now for much of the archival information on this topic.

This is a link to the Wayback Machine's capture of the Ford Fleet page from 2012, presented to you as a historical reference.

Historical Ford CVPI fire safety page.

The following links will take you from this site to locations that present information on Crown Victoria and Police Interceptor safety issues. Further links and information will be posted as it is received & screened.

Fire Panel LLC, a private company providing fire supression solutions for the Crown Victoria. Good information here on the fuel tank issue. Archive from the Wayback Machine circa 2015. including videos.

Center for Auto Safety - Information on Crown Victoria Fuel fed fires at various pages on this site.

Official DOT - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration case study page on Crown Victoria "Post Rear End Collision Fires" - Wayback machine archive from 2005.

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