trim for its year-old Ford LTD. As with the previous generation LTD Landau and LTD Brougham, the LTD Crown Victoria directly challenged the Chevrolet Caprice and Pontiac Bonneville (both downsized for 1977) and the Dodge St. Regis (discontinued in 1981). Originally slated for replacement by the Ford Taurus in the early 1980s, the model line saw relatively little change throughout its production. As the decade progressed, fuel prices stabilized, leading to increased demand and further development of the model line. For 1988 and 1990, the LTD Crown Victoria underwent multiple revisions and updates. In early 1991, Ford introduced the Ford Crown Victoria as a 1992 model. Dropping the LTD prefix, the Crown Victoria underwent extensive body, chassis, and powertrain upgrades over its predecessor, remaining in production through 2011. Chassis The Ford LTD Crown Victoria uses the rear-wheel drive Ford Panther platform architecture. As part of a major downsizing over the 1973-1978 LTD Brougham/Landau, the LTD Crown Victoria shed 18 inches of length and nearly 1000 pounds of curb weight. While the Panther chassis was all-new, the basic suspension layout was carried over, adopting a double wishbone independent front suspension and a coil-sprung live rear axle. The front brakes were vented discs with rear drums. Powertrain For its 1980 introduction, Ford produced the LTD Crown Victoria with two engines (both of them V8s). In place of six-cylinder engines as standard equipment, a 130hp 4.9L V8 (the previous 302, rounded up to 5.0L by Ford) was standard, with a 140hp 5.8L V8 (351) as an option. The Ford C4 3-speed automatic transmission was paired to both V8 engines. For 1981, Ford took additional steps to increase the fuel efficiency of its full-size vehicles. A smaller-displacement V8 became the standard engine, with Ford adding a 120 hp 4.2L V8. Following its introduction on the Lincoln Town Car and Continental Mark VI, the LTD Crown Victoria received throttle-body "electronic central fuel injection" for the 4.9L V8, replacing the carburetor. From Lincoln, the AOD overdrive 4-speed automatic transmission was paired with the 4.2L V8 and was an option with the two larger V8s. For 1982, the AOD replaced the 3-speed automatic entirely. For 1983, the engine line was revised, as Ford ended production of the 4.2L V8 across all model lines. The 5.0L effectively became the only engine available, as the 5.8L carbureted V8 became restricted to fleet sales (particularly police vehicles); in Canada, the