- First Name
- Ray
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2025
- Threads
- 19
- Messages
- 370
- Reaction score
- 957
- Location
- Brockville, Ontario, Canada
- Vehicle(s)
- 2024 Bronco Sport
- Thread starter
- #1
Every so often we are struck by moments, sometimes fleeting, sometimes prolonged. In those moments we mightn't be thinking anything really new, but there is something poignant or distinct about it. It's as if something crystallizes and we see and/or feel it with added clarity.
Ten months ago, last October, I was settling into a new home not yet completely furnished (still isn't really), the autumn days started getting cooler and...I found myself faced with the prospect of replacing my car.
This wasn't something I had anticipated, and in all honesty I didn't really need to replace the car. It was a good and solid vehicle with very low mileage for its age and in quite good condition. I had inherited the car when my father had passed away in October, 2017. What I had inherited was a factory stock 2004 Ford Crown Victoria LX with only about 93,000 km on it. Dad kept it clean, well maintained and in good running order.
Candidly this is not a car I would have ever considered buying for myself. For my likes and needs it was too big and too soft. But it was a solid vehicle and I was grateful for it. And it was a tangible connection to my father.
But almost from the beginning I began to think about personalizing the CrownVic--make it more my own. My general idea was not to change the overall look of the car, but upgrade it in certain respects to make it less soft, less floaty and more to my liking. I was thinking in terms of something like an American Grand Touring car.
Cosmetically the only thing I changed directly was the grille. I replaced the factory grille with a chromed version of the CrownVic Police Interceptor grille, a honeycomb mesh design that looked sorta like a factory option. It lent a hint of muscle-car vibe to the CrownVic.
The subsequent changes I made were incidentally cosmetic or even invisible because they were performance upgrades.
- 18x8.5 XXR 555 Chromium Black wheels with 235/50ZR18 tires improved the car's tracking and stickiness in the corners while giving the car a more planted and subtly aggressive stance. This was backed up by a larger front stabilizer bar and adding one to the rear as well as adding KYB shocks.
- Under the hood was a Police Interceptor air intake with a K&N air filter hooked up to a Mustang throttle-body. And from that ran Stainless Works headers to the Stainless Works cat-back dual exhaust. Unless you opened the hood the bright exhaust tips were the only hint something more than stock was going on...until you started the car.
These changes, mostly under the skin, completely transformed the car. Now it handled and wasn't embarrassed when cornering. It tracked a lot better and no longer wandered due to average tires and too soft suspension. It was now more confidence inspiring and actually fun to drive. The upgrades made the car feel lighter and more athletic. And to top it all of it looked damned cool. I didn't tint the windows, I didn't lower the car and I didn't try to make it look like a police cruiser. It looked like something a genuinely cool character in a movie might drive. I loved it!
But...the car was still twenty years old. It was still heavy, and while not bad on gas for what it was it certainly wasn't on par with modern fuel efficiency. It wasn't helped by the fact that although you could drive it sedately the sound of that dual exhaust when you put your foot into it was...addictive. It was also not the most convenient in terms of day-to-day use. The seating position was slightly off centre from the steering wheel, the seats were nice leather but they weren't supportive bucket seats, and while the trunk was huge it wasn't the most convenient thing to load or lift things out of.
Even so I had had the car for seven years and figured I'd likely have it for several years more. But then I discovered a hidden secret, a ticking bomb (figuratively speaking).
Slight detour. My father had succumbed to esophagus cancer even though he had given up smoking and drinking thirty some years before. But the seed of his cancer was planted decades before when he used to smoke and drink in his younger days--sadly a rather common and familiar story for many men of that era. In like manner while Dad had maintained his 2004 CrownVic and garaged it at night he had neglected the underside of the car. He hadn't paid enough attention to what could be going on underneath and behind the otherwise immaculate body and paint.
I first noticed something in the spring of last year when I came out of work and noticed a discolouration at the bottom of the rear fender behind the rear passenger side door. One look told me instantly what it was: corrosion. What I didn't know was whether it was surface rust or deeper. I made a mental note to have it looked at to see how bad, but all that went out the window when my Mother, now 93, had a fall in April and didn't recover from her injury and its effects. I largely forgot about the car and had to focus on managing Mum's affairs and looking eventually for a new place to live.
Flash forward to September and I next took notice of the corrosion spot to see it had grown some and I now noticed another spot at the bottom of the driver's side front fender. I couldn't ignore this anymore. I took the car to two different places to get it examined, and both places had come to the same conclusion: the fenders were rusting from the inside. And at this point things didn't look great behind the rocker panels. The frame was still solid enough and the engine bay was good, but the body was beginning to reveal what lay behind it. Suffice to say to replace the fenders and give it a good paint job would not be cheap. Furthermore if the rocker panels needed to be replaced they likely could not be replaced with factory parts, but would have to be made. And if you wanted the paint to match all over then you're talking about painting the entire car. But the real catch is no matter how great the paint job is it's still a spray-on and not a factory baked paint job. So in truth you're really talking about an ongoing issue that you have to put money into recurrently.
This might work if you're talking about a car you restore and use occasionally, but it's something else if your car is your daily driver. And I couldn't afford keeping two cars on the road. A lot of this crystallized when I talked to my older brother about it.
I really started to think about this. I even started started thinking about the possibility of getting a new vehicle. But I was very attached to the CrownVic and I began thinking that maybe the problem wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Then one morning I put my hand down by the corrosion of the rear fender and felt behind it with my fingers...and metal flaked and broke off in my hand. I stared dumbfounded at the rusted pieces in my hand and went cold in shock.
You'd think, it's just a car, but...well, it is what it is. I had invested money, time and emotion into the CrownVic on top of it being a connection to my father. I was really bothered by it and even felt rather sad. I agonized over it for a couple of weeks before deciding what to do. Maybe more accurately I decided to act on what I had been trying (unsuccessfully) not to consider.
My thinking had been all over the map, but in the end in early October I called up the General Manager of our local Ford dealer (whom I knew) and went to see him that afternoon. Later that afternoon I went home, called my brother and exclaimed, "OMG, what the hell did I just do?" My brother replied simply, "You used your head and didn't let emotion and sentiment rule you. You did what Dad probably would have done when it comes to a car."
Here we are ten months later and that moment of clarity hit me this evening when I went out to run to the grocery store. I found myself thinking how much I liked driving my Bronco Sport and comparing it to my departed CrownVic. It's certainly not the first time I'd thought of this, but for some reason it really hit me today.
These past several months I have thought a lot about the CrownVic. I even still wonder if I had done the right thing. But...I would eventually have had to keep putting money into it to address the corrosion problem. As much as I liked driving my upgraded CrownVic my Bronco Sport steers better and feels like it handles better--it's really nice and fun to drive.. It feels quick and not held back by weight. The Bronco Sport is certainly better on gas. The seating is better in my Bronco Sport. And the rear hatch and cargo area is a lot more convenient than the CrownVic's trunk.
I still kinda miss my CrownVic. I think about it kinda like how you might think about a good friend from long ago or even an old girlfriend. But I really like my Bronco Sport and I think it's a better vehicle in many ways. My Bronco Sport isn't as cool as the CrownVic was, but it is cool in its own way. But part of the appeal of the CrownVic is that it was distinctive among contemporary vehicles presently on the roads. It was a very analog car in our computerized digital age. It was different, and even its shortcomings added to its appeal. I also thought of it as a very masculine car by nature.
But the Bronco Sport is much more my kind of vehicle. It isn't any bigger or any smaller than it needs to be. I think it looks cool, but (to me) there is also a lot of intelligent thinking behind it. I feel it really suits my lifestyle and, as I've often said, I really enjoy driving it.
Ten months ago, last October, I was settling into a new home not yet completely furnished (still isn't really), the autumn days started getting cooler and...I found myself faced with the prospect of replacing my car.
This wasn't something I had anticipated, and in all honesty I didn't really need to replace the car. It was a good and solid vehicle with very low mileage for its age and in quite good condition. I had inherited the car when my father had passed away in October, 2017. What I had inherited was a factory stock 2004 Ford Crown Victoria LX with only about 93,000 km on it. Dad kept it clean, well maintained and in good running order.
Candidly this is not a car I would have ever considered buying for myself. For my likes and needs it was too big and too soft. But it was a solid vehicle and I was grateful for it. And it was a tangible connection to my father.
But almost from the beginning I began to think about personalizing the CrownVic--make it more my own. My general idea was not to change the overall look of the car, but upgrade it in certain respects to make it less soft, less floaty and more to my liking. I was thinking in terms of something like an American Grand Touring car.
Cosmetically the only thing I changed directly was the grille. I replaced the factory grille with a chromed version of the CrownVic Police Interceptor grille, a honeycomb mesh design that looked sorta like a factory option. It lent a hint of muscle-car vibe to the CrownVic.
The subsequent changes I made were incidentally cosmetic or even invisible because they were performance upgrades.
- 18x8.5 XXR 555 Chromium Black wheels with 235/50ZR18 tires improved the car's tracking and stickiness in the corners while giving the car a more planted and subtly aggressive stance. This was backed up by a larger front stabilizer bar and adding one to the rear as well as adding KYB shocks.
- Under the hood was a Police Interceptor air intake with a K&N air filter hooked up to a Mustang throttle-body. And from that ran Stainless Works headers to the Stainless Works cat-back dual exhaust. Unless you opened the hood the bright exhaust tips were the only hint something more than stock was going on...until you started the car.
These changes, mostly under the skin, completely transformed the car. Now it handled and wasn't embarrassed when cornering. It tracked a lot better and no longer wandered due to average tires and too soft suspension. It was now more confidence inspiring and actually fun to drive. The upgrades made the car feel lighter and more athletic. And to top it all of it looked damned cool. I didn't tint the windows, I didn't lower the car and I didn't try to make it look like a police cruiser. It looked like something a genuinely cool character in a movie might drive. I loved it!
But...the car was still twenty years old. It was still heavy, and while not bad on gas for what it was it certainly wasn't on par with modern fuel efficiency. It wasn't helped by the fact that although you could drive it sedately the sound of that dual exhaust when you put your foot into it was...addictive. It was also not the most convenient in terms of day-to-day use. The seating position was slightly off centre from the steering wheel, the seats were nice leather but they weren't supportive bucket seats, and while the trunk was huge it wasn't the most convenient thing to load or lift things out of.
Even so I had had the car for seven years and figured I'd likely have it for several years more. But then I discovered a hidden secret, a ticking bomb (figuratively speaking).
Slight detour. My father had succumbed to esophagus cancer even though he had given up smoking and drinking thirty some years before. But the seed of his cancer was planted decades before when he used to smoke and drink in his younger days--sadly a rather common and familiar story for many men of that era. In like manner while Dad had maintained his 2004 CrownVic and garaged it at night he had neglected the underside of the car. He hadn't paid enough attention to what could be going on underneath and behind the otherwise immaculate body and paint.
I first noticed something in the spring of last year when I came out of work and noticed a discolouration at the bottom of the rear fender behind the rear passenger side door. One look told me instantly what it was: corrosion. What I didn't know was whether it was surface rust or deeper. I made a mental note to have it looked at to see how bad, but all that went out the window when my Mother, now 93, had a fall in April and didn't recover from her injury and its effects. I largely forgot about the car and had to focus on managing Mum's affairs and looking eventually for a new place to live.
Flash forward to September and I next took notice of the corrosion spot to see it had grown some and I now noticed another spot at the bottom of the driver's side front fender. I couldn't ignore this anymore. I took the car to two different places to get it examined, and both places had come to the same conclusion: the fenders were rusting from the inside. And at this point things didn't look great behind the rocker panels. The frame was still solid enough and the engine bay was good, but the body was beginning to reveal what lay behind it. Suffice to say to replace the fenders and give it a good paint job would not be cheap. Furthermore if the rocker panels needed to be replaced they likely could not be replaced with factory parts, but would have to be made. And if you wanted the paint to match all over then you're talking about painting the entire car. But the real catch is no matter how great the paint job is it's still a spray-on and not a factory baked paint job. So in truth you're really talking about an ongoing issue that you have to put money into recurrently.
This might work if you're talking about a car you restore and use occasionally, but it's something else if your car is your daily driver. And I couldn't afford keeping two cars on the road. A lot of this crystallized when I talked to my older brother about it.
I really started to think about this. I even started started thinking about the possibility of getting a new vehicle. But I was very attached to the CrownVic and I began thinking that maybe the problem wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Then one morning I put my hand down by the corrosion of the rear fender and felt behind it with my fingers...and metal flaked and broke off in my hand. I stared dumbfounded at the rusted pieces in my hand and went cold in shock.
You'd think, it's just a car, but...well, it is what it is. I had invested money, time and emotion into the CrownVic on top of it being a connection to my father. I was really bothered by it and even felt rather sad. I agonized over it for a couple of weeks before deciding what to do. Maybe more accurately I decided to act on what I had been trying (unsuccessfully) not to consider.
My thinking had been all over the map, but in the end in early October I called up the General Manager of our local Ford dealer (whom I knew) and went to see him that afternoon. Later that afternoon I went home, called my brother and exclaimed, "OMG, what the hell did I just do?" My brother replied simply, "You used your head and didn't let emotion and sentiment rule you. You did what Dad probably would have done when it comes to a car."
Here we are ten months later and that moment of clarity hit me this evening when I went out to run to the grocery store. I found myself thinking how much I liked driving my Bronco Sport and comparing it to my departed CrownVic. It's certainly not the first time I'd thought of this, but for some reason it really hit me today.
These past several months I have thought a lot about the CrownVic. I even still wonder if I had done the right thing. But...I would eventually have had to keep putting money into it to address the corrosion problem. As much as I liked driving my upgraded CrownVic my Bronco Sport steers better and feels like it handles better--it's really nice and fun to drive.. It feels quick and not held back by weight. The Bronco Sport is certainly better on gas. The seating is better in my Bronco Sport. And the rear hatch and cargo area is a lot more convenient than the CrownVic's trunk.
I still kinda miss my CrownVic. I think about it kinda like how you might think about a good friend from long ago or even an old girlfriend. But I really like my Bronco Sport and I think it's a better vehicle in many ways. My Bronco Sport isn't as cool as the CrownVic was, but it is cool in its own way. But part of the appeal of the CrownVic is that it was distinctive among contemporary vehicles presently on the roads. It was a very analog car in our computerized digital age. It was different, and even its shortcomings added to its appeal. I also thought of it as a very masculine car by nature.
But the Bronco Sport is much more my kind of vehicle. It isn't any bigger or any smaller than it needs to be. I think it looks cool, but (to me) there is also a lot of intelligent thinking behind it. I feel it really suits my lifestyle and, as I've often said, I really enjoy driving it.
Last edited:
