Influenced by the SR-71 Blackbird, the Ford Stealth Police Interceptor concept.
Any resemblance to the legendary SR-71 Blackbird spy plane is purely intentional, says Ford designer Melvin Betancourt, of the new Ford Police Interceptor Stealth Concept, which will make its debut at the SEMA show, later this week.
The police car business was thrown up in the air by Ford’s long-overdue decision to finally pull the plug on its aging Crown Victoria, the rear-drive sedan of choice for most law enforcement duties. All three of the Detroit makers have been struggling to fill the cop car vacuum, along with industry newcomer Carbon Motors, which is developing a ground up police car to be powered by a BMW diesel engine.
Ford, in particular, has shown off two optional alternatives to the old Crown Vic cruiser, including both a converted Taurus and a specially-updated version of the all-new 2011 Explorer SUV. But the Ford Police Interceptor Stealth Concept is designed for more limited, if more demanding duties.
This Taurus-based model is designed to lie in wait, concealed by its black paint, tinted windows, darkened mesh grille, black trim and even blacked-out tailpipes, ready to swoop down on miscreants. (Which is likely to give nervous shivers to most of the folks touring the 2010 SEMA show, an annual Las Vegas event that has traditionally specialized in performance parts and components.)
Even the interior is designed to be stealthy, with hidden compartments for computers, radios and additional weaponry.
“There, but not there,” suggests designer Betancourt. “The (basic Taurus-based) Police Interceptor sedan is already a unique vehicle. I just started looking at ways to give it that mysterious but high-tech look.”
The body of the Stealth Concept has been lowered an inch, with graphics designed to give it the look of extra width, as well, using modified 22-inch wheels with staggered rim sections.
The result, the designer claims, is a “’don’t mess with me’ feeling.”
The lights on the car – hidden in the mirrors, behind the thickened metal grille and just beneath the windshield header – are designed to be virtually invisible until illuminated.
And if seeing the Stealth Interceptor come to life in your mirror isn’t enough to bring a law breaker to an immediate stop, Ford has equipped the concept with a 280-hp 3.5-liter V6 that, it claims, is 25% more fuel-efficient than the outgoing Crown Vic Police Interceptor’s 4.6-liter V8. For those anticipating high-speed pursuits, there’s an optional twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6, borrowed from the Taurus SHO, which bumps the numbers to 365 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque.
The idea behind the Stealth Concept is “all about concealing everything,” explains Betancourt. That’s more than just being able to hide in a speed trap. The radio, for one thing, is hidden inside the console, along with a built-in computer. There’s even a secret compartment in the glovebox for stashing additional weapons.
The SR-71 Blackbird, for those who don’t know, was a product of the vaunted Lockheed “Skunk Works,” conceived in 1955, under the codename Archangel, as the successor to the useful but vulnerable U-2 spy plane. Renamed Blackbird, it first flew – at speeds in excess of Mach 3 — in 1964 and continued providing a more flexible but equally untouchable alternative to satellite cameras until its retirement, in 1998.