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John McGann's Blog

Ford Crown Victoria P71

Posted January 29 2009 11:06 AM by jm215900 
Filed under: Editorials, Ford

Panther Cars are Cool


Fortunately, cars aren’t sentient beings- they don’t have feelings, among other things.  That’s good because I have a confession: I bought this car to flip it. It was cheap, and all the work it needed was stuff I could do pretty easily. There were just a couple dings to knock out and I’m OK with a paint gun; I figured I’d have the thing turned around within a month, hopefully with a couple grand extra in my pocket. These are tough times, and it pays to be industrious. 

I should have known better. I never have been a car flipper. I get attached. I’ve only owned a total of five cars in my life and I still have three of them. So not surprisingly, it took about a day for me to get attached to my Vicky.

That leads me to my next confession: I’ve always been a Chevy guy. Bowtie blood runs strong in my family: save for one oddball Japanese commuter, my dad has owned nothing but Chevrolets as long as he’s been driving. Blue Ovals were the Hatfields to our McCoys, the Klingon’s to our Federation, the Empire to our Rebel Alliance-- you get the point!

So, it’s not without a sense of gravitas that I admit I’m a Ford guy, now. A Ford guy who can appreciate Chevrolets. I’m swimming in Mod Motor specs, comtemplating wild engine combinations. I want a Mustang. Actually I want several Mustangs, a Marauder, and a ’67 Fairlane 500. I don’t have the money for any of that right now, plus I have no plans to sell the Vicky, so time will tell if any of that comes to pass.

Currently, however, I’m at a crossroads with my Crown Victoria. I’ve done some bolt-on stuff, but if I really want it to be fast, I’ll need to get serious. Though I didn’t buy it to work on for magazine articles, we want to do some Mod Motor edit in CC, and there are a number of combinations we can test out. Trick Flow just released a new set of 2-valve Mod motor heads. I’m learning that you can swap 4-valve heads onto my block without too much work- check out the Cobra-motor CVPI the guys at Ford Racing put together for Car and Driver’s One Lap of America a few years ago. We could also do some sort of forced induction set up. A turbocharged or supercharged CVPI could be the ultimate sleeper. Take a gander at the car owned by Chris from ADTR Racing to see what I’m talking about.

Got any suggestions or requests? Mod motor guys, what do you want to have answered about your engines? We’re up for anything.

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Chevrolet Camaro Research
Chevrolet Camaro When purchasing a new car it is important to be prepared and know all the information in order to make a good decision. Research the Chevrolet Camaro and find reviews and information on fuel economy, features, options, specs, reviews and more. The 2010 Camaro goes for a suggested retail price of $33,430.00, and has drivers side crash test ratings of 6 stars and passengers side crash test ratings of 6 stars. The Pontiac G6 and the Dodge Charger are other vehicles that might interest you.
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