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Since Steph and I are citizens of a country that didn’t institute a constitution until its 115th birthday, we get to celebrate holidays that even the British ignore.
Today is Victoria Day, a federal holiday that marks the unofficial beginning of summer for those of us who live north(-ish) of the 49th parallel. It also has something to do with a queen that’s long since been dead.
So, instead of discussing the finer points of living in the Commonwealth, I’m phoning it in. Here’s an RCMP Crown Victoria on Parliament Hill in Steph’s home city of Ottawa (our nation’s capital, which is not Toronto).
Signing off …
[Image: Bobby Hidy/Flickr]
62 Comments on “We’re Taking Panther-themed Holiday...”
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When I see police cars, I always wonder how many shootouts and crime scenes the cars have seen.
It is a Canadian cop car…not a Chicago PD car so I’m guessing not too many.
Probably more trips to Tim Horton’s.
Your comment led me to search for Canadian donut chains! It turns out Tim Horton’s is the largest one (it’s not just a restaurant), and that Canadians eat more donuts per capita than any other country. Compared to Canadians, Americans are slackers – and American cops labor under an immense handicap.
I hope to visit Canada someday, so I can experience Tim Horton’s.
@dukeisduke, Ohio or Michigan would be sufficient. The chain does business there since Wendy’s got involved.
Tim Horton’s is great value. Coffee and a small donut is typically less than $3. I get my fix of Maple Glazed donuts whenever I visit my parents in Michigan.
As Principal Dan says, Wendy’s really fixed them.
I remember a Tim Horton’s in Flint before the Wendy’s tie up. It was behind the Farmer Jack’s.
It was the weirdest thing when they first got here. I went there with my dad after I had some such childhood thing as a dental appointment. We were just confused. They were offering a “lunch combo” of a very large coffee, a donut hole, and half a sandwich.
They have gotten so much more Americanized since then. A little bit of that Dave Thomas magic that also fixed KFC fixed them.
The coffee is outstanding for the price. The breakfast sandwiches are not quite as good as McDonald’s. However, they of course have donuts – and the special edition ones they put out every couple weeks make all the girls at the office happy.
Don’t build up Tim’s too much in your mind and heart. You’ll just be disappointed.
Coffee is about on par with McDonald’s, and Kroger makes superior donuts.
Funny to mention Tim Horton’s and RCMP cruisers. Years ago a Tim Horton’s sticker got placed upon a RCMP cruiser and a picture was taken and it made its way around the internet.
RCMP brass were incredibly pissed off especially since the rumour was that it was an officer that placed the decal.
http://pgcpics.smugmug.com/keyword/pg101/i-Xd9PGpK/A
Thankfully, for most police cars, the answer zero for shootouts.
Crime scenes, is another story.
Especially since the definition of “crime scene” can technically encompass everything from, say, a multiple homicide to a shoplifting incident.
or car accident ;)
Car ‘crash.’
Car bang-up.
Soon to include “using the wrong gender pronoun while addressing someone”.
[Citation needed]
Police depts everywhere are beginning to miss the old Crown Vics, since neither the
Charger nor the Taurus have satisfied most cops.
I suspect that’s why many departments are choosing SUVs.
Yes, the Tahoe has really caught on, at least in the DFW area. RWD, with BOF construction and durability.
In my part of North Dallas it’s a mix of Tahoe’s (Plano, Garland), Ford Explorer (Richardson), and Dodge Charger (Garland and Richardson).
In Victoria BC, there’s a few F-150 extra cabs too. The motorcycle cops ride Victory instead of BMW or Harley. I respect them more because of that.
The car doesn’t need to satisfy the cops…that’s why they arrest hookers! Ooooh. Thank You. I’m here til Tuesday. Try the veal.
Don’t make me guess on the implications of RCMP!
I thought the mounted refered to horses but I could be wrong
Hookers and donuts?
Ho’s ‘n holes.
The Explorer-based “Interceptor Utility” seems to be doing the job. Several departments around here initially tried out Caprice PPVs or Taurus-based PIs, and almost all of them have switched to the IU.
Taurus’ main deficiency is poor ergonomics and interior space, which Explorer somewhat rectifies. I think the PPV is better than both, but without a volume model behind it, fleet seemed apprehensive and those who did buy it seemed to have since dropped it.
Illinois State Police have Caprice PPVs. I want one too.
But…why? You know, a discussion should start with assertion and arguments. Otherwise it’s a bit like shooting blanks.
See:
Norwegian cops miss their old Volvos, the main reason being that the Passat that won the last round of tenders…
a) Doesn’t get warm in winter.
b) Is unreliable.
The Ford PI Utility performs better than the CVPI. It also ads utility (space for big cops, space for equipment, space for big suspects, off road(ish) capability.
The Ford PI Sedan clearly outperforms the Utility, but departments don’t buy based solely on performance.
What is the chief complaint about the Taurus ? It’s one of the very few cop cars styling that I actually like.
Edit: Nvm…Just read 28’s reply.
Cramped interior space for Blue Suits when on routine patrol ~
.
Not taking about big corn fed 250# old fat guys here ~ they young and trim ones all hate these .
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Plus , they’re dog slow , not a good thing .
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-Nate
’round these parts the Panther is still in service, but at reduced numbers. I see more and more Ford Explorers, and the county sheriffs selected the Caprice. Chargers, on the other hand, are popular with the state police. I’ve seen the odd Taurus but they’re fairly rare.
For all it’s faults – there were many – I do miss my MY01 Grand Marquis. The MGM wasn’t as plush or fast as the MY94 Roadmaster I owned at the same time, but it handled a bit better. The Marquis (white – of course) also scared any number of people, especially at night. I didn’t buy it for that reason but I did get a lot of double-takes from other drivers.
To the rest of the uninformed world, us car guys just have a strange infatuation with “Old Man Cars”, apparently.
(No disrespect to The House of Panther!)
So, then a Lincoln Town Car for Canada Day. Then a Pontiac Parisienne for St. Jean-Baptiste Day. I can`t wait.
My dad was a police officer in Ontario and drove his share of Crown Vics and Caprices over the years, along with the odd Diplomat and even an early 90s Taurus.
Happy Victoria day to all of the Canadians on TTAC!
Hear hear!
You must have been watching Parliament ;)
My favorite Queen Victoria portrayal is the one in “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”:
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/villainstournament/images/2/24/Queen_Victoria.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140416163005
Several years ago East Cleveland got a state grant for a bunch of new Chargers. The constantly-bankrupt city couldn’t maintain them and are back to rusty Panthers.
It really says something about the reliability of this platform to withstand this decrepit shit-hole. I still see some of the older plastic-grille ones in police service.
Canadian here….I never understood why we celebrate Victoria either. You’d think it would at least be celebrating the current Monarch. Not that I’m complaining, it’s been a nice quite day to work in the office.
Victoria was Queen when Canada was proclaimed an independent Dominion, and she chose the site of the nation’s capital, so it makes sense. Victoria Day was first proclaimed a holiday to strengthen ties to the Crown when some Montreal interest were promoting closer union with the United States.
I think Ottawa has it’s own municipal service? The mountie is probably there on ceremonial coffee & donuts.
The Victoria holiday dates back to when Canada was part of the British Empire.
Today Canada is pretty much a protective border for 5 home banks and their profits.
Ottawa has its own police force but Parliament is under RCMP jurisdiction.
Wait ;
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Where is all the panther love ? .
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I read the headline and clicked to read more panther love stories…..
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We’re scrapping them out as fast as we can get them turned in , a sad thing indeed and I’m a Bowtie Guy .
.
-Nate
IIRC the Toronto Police purchased the last 300 Crown Vics off the assembly line to stock up.
Also regarding the comment about Ottawa having a municipal force and yet the picture is of an RCMP car, at one time (around the ’80s and before) all these police forces had some sort of jurisdiction/policing authority in Toronto:
1- The Metropolitan Toronto Police
2- The RCMP
3- The Ontario Provincial Police
4- The Toronto Port Police
5- The Toronto Harbour Police
6- The Canadian National Railway Police and
7- The Canadian Pacific Railway Police
Go back to the ’50s, ore-amalgamation and Toronto was a bunch of boroughs and cities each with their own police force.
I don’t know about that (last 300 orders), but I do know the last one went to a Taxi service in Saudi Arabia. Likely the last 10-20 were from what I could see (paint color, trim option, etc).
Funny, because most of the taxies I saw in my two years being stationed in Riyadh were almost all (white) Corollas, Elantras or Sonatas. Come to think of it, the majority of ALL cars I saw were Corollas, Elantras or Sonatas, and almost all of them white.
Here’s the article that said Toronto Police had bought last 300. Its in the last paragraph:
http://www.wheels.ca/car-reviews/2013-interceptor-looks-likely-to-replace-crown-vic-as-a-police-standard-5/
And here’s a pic of the cars stored on the roof of the Police Services garage in downtown Toronto:
http://storage.torontosun.com/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1326660877032_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x
The last ones off the line weren’t cop cars. They were commercial.
Last VIN if you want to know:
2FABP7CW8CX104292
Now there’s some trivia.
All the final Panthers, which were Crown Victorias went to Gulf Council Countries. They were all 2012 models. From my understanding those in the GCC were upset that they weren’t told that the order form had been reopened. Since Ford already had enough orders to keep the line busy until the end of the traditional model year production they waited until all the US bound production had finished and then they ran off a bunch of cars with the Export Handling Package and stickers that said they were 2012s. I do believe that they were all destined for retail sale as they had leather and all the retail LX goodies.
So no one in North America got the “last” of the Panthers.
How do you know all this? :)
Being a Panther fan.
A couple more Panther facts, The last Mercury was the Grand Marquis which were the only 2011 Mercurys. Apparently Ford opened the order form before the other Mercurys and before they decided to give the brand the ax. The last Merc was supposed to be produced in 2010, though it still would have been a 2011 MY vehicle however a delay in shipment of some specific parts meant that the last one down the line was in 2011.
That is absolutely crazy. The internet is a trove of information.
I wonder if it was Mercury specific trim bits that delayed the build? I imagine the supply base wasn’t expecting that last build, especially if they got job last dates from overlapping platforms upon the termination of the brand.
Another interesting tidbit on the demise of the Panther, they built a few more bodies than they had orders for, “just in case”. So somewhere on Youtube is a video of a guy smashing a TC body shell that was one of those extras.
Similar in Ottawa, former municipal forces that are now all part of the Ottawa Police Service:
Ottawa Police
Vanier Police
Nepean Police
Gloucester Police
OPP also policed Kanata before amalgamation into Ottawa.
“OPP also policed Kanata before amalgamation into Ottawa.”
The OPP also policed Rockcliffe Park and had a station house there on Hemlock. They only patrolled the village and RCMP had the surrounding parkway/Sussex so it wasn’t uncommon to see an OPP cruiser parked next to a RCMP car at the boundary of Rockcliffe.
You can celebrate any damn day you want – just keep my Canada Pension and BMO checks coming. The day they arrive, I stand up and sing “Oh Canada”, then retire to watch the Cup game du jour. I love all Canadians and the country. Only by accident of birth was I able to eliminate 90% of the competition in my field and achieve my true Peter Principle ascension.
Welcome to Ottawa, Mark! It was a great weekend to be here….beautiful weather the past few days!