The Ford Explorer is the Future Iconic Police Car

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
05/30/2017 at 09:50 • Filed to: Thoughts

I worked hard to recognize the Taurus and Charger because I assumed one of them would replace the Crown Victoria. Well I have come to terms that when my future kids and especially grandkids say, “Pulwis Cawr,” they will be thinking of a crossover.

When they draw a cop car, it will be an Explorer. When you are reading one of those alphabet books and get to “P is for Police,” it will be accompanied by a seemingly stock Ford Explorer picture. When you go into their room and they are playing with their toy cars there will be a black and white crossover flying in the air while your kid is screaming, “Weewoo-weewoo-weewoo-weewoo-weewoo, wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu, Wwwweeeeeeeeeeeee wwwwoooooooooooo!”

Just something to think about because at the local level, yeah you’ll see tons of other police vehicles. But when you do a cross-country trip you and your family are going to see countless Ford Explorers in nearly identical black and white liveries no matter what state you are passing through. That’s the future I’m realizing and an interesting perspective change.

DISCUSSION (26)

Your boy, BJR > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 09:56

I was thinking the Tahoe more but ok

Takuro Spirit > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:01

HOLY BLOCKED OFF GRILLE BATMAN

TheRealBicycleBuck > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:02

You know, I haven’t thought about that, but you are probably right. It might explain the behavior of some of the cars around us as we traveled this past weekend.

We were in my wife’s white Explorer.

Ash78, voting early and often > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:06

That’s hard as hell for a kid to draw. 80s Caprice - 3 rectangles, 2 circles, DONE.

Sweet Trav > Ash78, voting early and often
05/30/2017 at 10:11

The funny thing is how much faster these things are than a Caprice or a Crown Vic...

Sweet Trav > Ash78, voting early and often
05/30/2017 at 10:11

The funny thing is how much faster these things are than a Caprice or a Crown Vic...

Ash78, voting early and often > Sweet Trav
05/30/2017 at 10:13

True, I’m just not sure I could get used to them. All our cops are in Tahoes at the moment, but I think Explorers are inevitable at some point...

CalzoneGolem > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:14

I’ve been told that the interior of these is much closer to the old vics and can accommodate all the gear they need much easier than anything else being offered.

victor > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:17

So, how do you get those steelies and that grille.Shouldn’t be hard to replicate, but with a nicer interior

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Takuro Spirit
05/30/2017 at 10:18

I like to think it help it warm up faster in the winter.

bhtooefr > Takuro Spirit
05/30/2017 at 10:21

It’s so they have an excuse to pop the hood “for more cooling” (actually to block the dash cam).

190octane > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:31

What sucks about this is that there are so many damn Explorers that they’re almost impossible to pick out.

lone_liberal > 190octane
05/30/2017 at 10:41

Look for the ones without roof racks. Those are fleet specials aka cops.

Textured Soy Protein > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:42

I miss the days of cop cars being antiquated body-on-frame barges that nobody outside of cops and taxis bought. It was easier to recognize them. Sure, there was always the momentary “Oh shit, Caprice/Crown Vic headlights! Is it a taxi or a cop?” but other than that there weren’t hundreds of thousands of civilian versions of cop cars running around.

Now, at least here in Madison the most common taxis are Priuses, and while Chargers were very popular cop cars for a while, Explorers are taking over . So there’s no more taxi or cop game, but the mass quantities of civilian versions are worse.

The cop Chargers weren’t as bad because Chargers weren’t as ubiquitous as Explorers, and they were easier to spot because they generally were trimmed out very differently than the civilian versions.

But the cop Explorers look damn close to Explorer Sports. Argh.

Kinja'd!!!

The unmarked cars are particularly frustrating. You have to spot the steelies and no hood badge.

Kinja'd!!!

Looks like I can get my very own from the commercial sales department of my local Ford dealer . Time to terrorize my fellow drivers, even more than a white Explorer Sport does.

Frenchlicker > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 10:57

I never thought of it in that aspect but you are 100% correct.

Frenchlicker > CalzoneGolem
05/30/2017 at 10:59

That’s understandable. A modern car with the dimensions of an older one would have way less interior room.

Monkey B > Wobbles the Mind
05/30/2017 at 11:06

I see mostly Tahoe’s for local state and county police. County (rather large presence here) are either new Tahoe or old Crown Vics. State are either Tahoe or Caprice with a small sprinkling of unmarked Explorers. When I cross state lines locally I see very few Taurus or Explorers compared to Tahoe/Crown Vic or Chargers. . In the smaller jurisdictions I’ve noticed mostly Dodge Chargers.

PWRandSPD > CalzoneGolem
05/30/2017 at 11:51

I can also agree, I have heard the same from the Officers that are my customers. Their department has moved almost entirely over to Explorers.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Textured Soy Protein
05/30/2017 at 11:51

Cop Explorers also do not have roof rails.

CalzoneGolem > PWRandSPD
05/30/2017 at 12:15

Gotta have dat gear boi!

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein
05/30/2017 at 12:25

Tips for spotting Copsploders:

- MOST of them don’t have roof rails. ALL civilian models have roof rails. There are a few extremely unmarked ‘sploders with roof rails, 8/10 times I’d say they don’t do traffic enforcement.

- No chrome or shiny trim anywhere. Anything that isn’t physically part of the bodywork is black plastic. The Sport models have black plastic in place of chrome as well, but it’s all still shiny. Also note the headlights are blacked out inside where there isn’t any need for a reflector.

- No Exploder badging.

- MANY of them don’t have fog lights.

- MOST of them don’t have signals on the mirrors.

It’s kind of like telling an ordinary Golf from a GTI. If you go over the details it doesn’t look like much difference, but you can tell them apart fairly easy on the road.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
05/30/2017 at 12:27

Some do. The good news is there are very few and around here at least they’re almost never doing traffic enforcement. Maybe 2/10.

Textured Soy Protein > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
05/30/2017 at 12:51

Yes, I know there are plenty of little things that make it decently easy enough to figure out if an Explorer is or isn’t a cop car. But that’s not what I was getting at.

When cops drove Caprices and Crown Vics, not many non-cops drove them. If you saw a Caprice or Crown Vic on the road, the mere fact that it was a Caprice or Crown Vic was enough to give you a pretty high level of certainty that it was a cop (or taxi), because the non-cop versions were not popular among consumers. You could assume it was a cop, and then look for identifying details to tell you if it wasn’t a cop.

But now, with so many non-cop Explorers on the road, there are way more cop false positives, which is annoying. Even though there are plenty of difference between a white or black Explorer Sport and an unmarked cop car, upon first glance out of the corner of your eye, a non-cop Explorer Sport is similar enough to a cop Explorer to trigger the “oh shit, a cop!” reflex.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein
05/30/2017 at 12:59

True enough. But as far as the corner-of-the-eye reflex goes, so were the Towncars. And I live fairly close to the airport, so... plenty of black panthers to go around. The thing is, though, the only reason they were so identifiable is because they carried on fleet-only production for so long. Give the Explorer 10 years lifespan past it’s civilian brothers and you’ll spot every one of those too.

That being said towards the end of the run with the Crown Vics there were so many ex-cops I was getting false positives all the time.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Wobbles the Mind
05/31/2017 at 15:47

I made this same observation to myself the other day! Every time I see a two-tone explorer in white/black I think cop. Then as I drive past I see a soccer mom driving it and can see the roof rails and other telltale signs of non-cop vehicle.

Most cops around here patroling the highways and such though are the new Caprice ones which definitely stand out as being a cop.

jkm7680 > CalzoneGolem
05/31/2017 at 16:48

The Vics were better, especially the seats.