Anyone who had the chance to attend the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in the early 2000s will no doubt remember piling into the instructor cars for an orientation lap. But even the most hair-raising taxi ride you’ve ever taken never had you sliding around in the back of a Crown Victoria like this, with the instructor at the wheel power-sliding through the corners and whipping the big sedan around the 1.6-mile track. Bondurant had 18 of these body-on-frame Fords in its fleet, and every one of them was a fire-breathing monster with the heart of a 1960s moonshine-runner. Now, with this auction on Bring A Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of the Hearst Autos Group) is your chance to own one.
BRING A TRAILER
The Ford Crown Victoria can trace its name back to a Fairlane model from the 1950s, one intended to evoke a genteel open carriage from the Victorian area. This example is better known as the Cobra Vic, and the details on it are a bit like finding out that Queen Victoria had a full sleeve tattoo hidden under all that black crepe. Under the hood is a 4.6-liter V-8 out of a fourth-generation Mustang Cobra, coupled to a five-speed manual transmission.
BRING A TRAILER
Years in service as a fleet vehicle for both police services and taxicabs have made the Crown Victoria a familiar silhouette on the road. However, most of these working vehicles have been retired, and if you see a Crown Vic on the streets these days, it’s probably privately owned. The cars have a large fan base, as they’re comfortable, spacious, tough-as-nails, and relatively easy to work on. Add in a roughly 200-hp V-8 on ex-police interceptor models, and a Crown Victoria is one of the last of the old-school sedans.
BRING A TRAILER
This Cobra Vic dials up the potency. Built by noted Ford tuner Roush Performance at the request from Bob Bondurant, each one got the aforementioned 4.6-liter V-8 good for 320 horsepower, upgraded cooling, a 22-gallon fuel cell, Eibach lowering springs and Monroe shocks, slotted brake rotors, and a modified limited-slip differential with 3.73 gears. There’s also track-specific items like a roll cage and halon fire suppression system and a switch to disable the anti-lock brakes.
Sold mustang
