Ford Panther platform
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The Panther platform is Ford Motor Company's large, rear wheel drive sedan automobile platform. It uses traditional body-on-frame construction. It was introduced in 1978 for the 1979 model year, and is still in use in 2005.
The first Panthers were the downsized Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis models. Both were available in coupe, wagon, and sedan bodies. The following year, 1980, the Lincoln line was downsized onto the Panther. The Lincoln coupes lasted only two years, but Ford and Mercury coupes lasted until 1987, and wagons until 1991. After that, only four-door sedans were produced.
Vehicles currently using the Panther platform include:
- Ford Crown Victoria
- Mercury Grand Marquis
- Mercury Marauder (No longer in production for '05)
- Lincoln Town Car
2008
Daimler Chrysler and General Motors has caught on to the rush of going back to RWD cars whereas Ford never changed it on the Panthers. Ford is rumored to be considering replacing the Panther platform with a derivative of the Australian Ford Falcon in 2008. This would be the replacement for the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis, while the Town Car will be replaced with an all wheel drive sedan based on the Ford D3 platform.
See also
Current Ford platforms:
- B3 - subcompact FWD (ex: Mazda Mazda2)
- C1 - compact FWD (ex: Mazda Mazda3)
- CD2 - small SUV AWD (ex: Ford Escape)
- CD3 - mid-size FWD/AWD (ex: Mazda Mazda6)
- EUCD - mid-size FWD/AWD (ex: next Volvo S60)
- D2C - sports RWD (ex: Ford Mustang)
- P2/P3 - full-size pickup (ex: Ford F-Series)
- U2/U3 - full-size SUV (ex: Ford Explorer)
- T1 - large SUV (ex: Ford Expedition)
- V2 - minivan (ex: Ford Freestar)
- VN - full-size van (ex: Ford Econoline)
- D3 - full-size FWD/AWD (ex: Volvo S60)
- DEW98 - mid-size RWD (ex: Lincoln LS)
- Panther - full-size RWD (ex: Ford Crown Victoria)
- VH - sports RWD (ex: Aston Martin DB9)