After discontinuing the traditional Crown Victoria cop car in September, Ford brought its newest police cruisers to a driving range set up at Ontario Place Thursday in hopes of wooing police with the upgraded cars.
Ford is now offering redesigned models of the Taurus and an SUV Explorer, which are equipped with the heavy-duty wheels, brakes and transmission needed for police use.
"The vehicle really is purpose built," said Ford employee Dave Shuttleworth. "All-wheel drive, we think is going to be very popular."
But there's a catch. When the Toronto Police Service heard Ford was discontinuing its Crown Victoria model, it stocked up and it now has enough reserve cars for at least two years, with many of them sitting unused atop the Traffic Services building.
By the time Toronto is ready to add more police cars to its fleet, Chrysler and GM will also be in the market.
Chrysler has a Dodge Charger Pursuit and a line of special-service vehicles and GM offers everything from patrol cruisers to prisoner transport vans.
Ford would not give the cost of the new police cars, saying only that they were competitive.
With files from CTV Toronto's Tamara Cherry
