DetNews: New Ford Police Interceptor to be Taurus-based

AutoBlog: DetNews: New Ford Police Interceptor to be Taurus-based

Will the new Police Interceptor be a toughened Taurus SHO?Just a quick note: The Detroit News is reporting that the next Ford Police Interceptor will be based on the same platform as the Taurus. For you platform geeks out there, that's the Ford D3 chassis that underpins everything from the the Lincoln MKS to the Volvo XC90 to the Ford Flex (though the Flex and the Lincoln MKT ride on a lengthened version called D4).

Yesterday, we explained that a new Police Interceptor is showing up tomorrow (Friday, March 12) in Las Vegas and that it probably won't be riding on the Panther platform. Regardless, the concept will be unveiled at the Vegas Motor Speedway.

There's still no official word from Ford on the matter, however. However, if the new Interceptor is in fact Taurus-based, that means no rear-wheel drive Falcon in the United States. Which is a definite bummer. Also, while there are all-wheel drive variants of the D3 platform – and we think it's safe to assume that if the new Police Interceptor is D3-based it will be AWD – it lacks frame rails. Has Ford figured out a way to make a unibody car tough enough for police work? We shall see. And if the new PI is a Taurus, will it be based on a modified 365-horsepower SHO? We'd wager yes. Let's just hope they fit some bigger brakes for cop duty, eh?