Supercharger Calculators: Boring Ford Sedan One Of The Ultimate Sleepers

Aside from police departments around the country, one other entity which loved the Crown Vic was Bob Bondurant, who loved the cars but not their performance. In 1999, Bob decided to do something about it, by asking well-known Ford tuner Roush, to build a run of cars for the instructors to use in his racing school. Now affectionately known as the Cobra Vics, these cars started life as Ford Police Interceptor Crown Vics in the assembly line but a chosen few, 18 in fact, were diverted to the Roush shops to be converted into Crown Vics with Ford Mustang Cobra drivetrains. Hence, Cobra Vics. Although Roush has close ties to Ford, this conversion was not sanctioned by Ford, but it was not discouraged, at any rate.

The heart of the conversion was replacing the underpowered V8 with the engine from a Ford SVT Cobra, which was a 4.6 liter with overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. Output jumped by 100 hp to 300 and to keep things interesting, the 4-speed auto was replaced with a 5-speed manual with carbon fiber blocker rings. A higher gear ratio and limited slip were fitted to the diff and cooling vents were added. Before you think that this was just a simple swap, Roush considered the use the car would undergo and did a lot more things. Things like relocating the air cleaner, adding an H-pipe to the exhaust, modifying a larger-capacity Lincoln oil pan for enhanced oil volume, adding a windage tray and installing a Cobra engine oil cooler. Since the car was intended for track use, emission controls were removed, and the ECU map was recalibrated to optimize the mods. Eibach springs and custom-calibrated Monroe shocks, Winston cup sway bars and recalibrated alignment settings provide the handling prowess.

The interior received its fair share of mods too, such as Recaro seats, six-point cage and 4-point harnesses. Little things like a dead pedal and a 140 mph speedo from an SVT Cobra show Roush’s attention to detail. There are lots of other details that differentiate this car from a “normal” Police Interceptor Crown Vic and today, these cars are treasured by their new owners, who know that they own one of the ultimate sleeper cars.