This is a rare P2 Panther version of the Ford Crown Victoria built by Kenny Brown and his team in Indianapolis. It’s a supercharged version of the Crown Vic with a slew of other upgrades leaving it capable of a 5.2 second 0-60 mph time.
Kenny and his team built three key versions of the Panther, the non-supercharged P1, the supercharged P2, and the supercharged and bulletproof P3. Of these, the P2 is the quickest and generally the most desirable with collectors today.
Fast Facts – The P2 Panther Ford Crown Victoria
- The P2 Panther Crown Victoria, built by Kenny Brown and his team, is a supercharged high-performance version of the Ford Crown Victoria. It’s powered by a 350 bhp 4.6 liter V8 with an Eaton supercharger, it has Brembo brakes, and upgraded suspension, resulting in a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds and a 1/4 mile under 14 seconds.
- The Ford Crown Victoria, produced from 1991 to 2012, became an iconic police car and taxi, renowned for its tough body-on-frame design, rear-wheel drive, and V8 power. Its ubiquity in media cemented its place as the most-featured car in television and film history.
- Kenny Brown’s Panther lineup included three variants: the non-supercharged P1, the supercharged P2, and the armored P3. The P2 remains the most desirable due to its performance-focused upgrades, combining good-handling and speed while retaining full road legality.
- This 1998 P2 Panther, finished in Gloss Black with 15,420 miles, includes Brembo brakes, AutoMeter gauges, a CB radio, and power windows and steering. It is now set to be auctioned at Mecum on January 11th in Florida, representing a rare opportunity for enthusiasts to own a piece of Crown Victoria history.
The Ford Crown Victoria
Interestingly, the Ford Crown Victoria is believed to be the most-shown car in both television and movie history with 6,874 appearances across 70,335 pieces of media counting up until early 2024.
Above Video: This is the original feature on MotorWeek TV about the P2 Panther by Kenny Brown. As you can tell, they seem to quite like it.
The reason the humble Crown Vic has been so popular on-screen is because an astonishing number of them were used by both police departments and taxi cab services. As a result, whenever an American film or TV show has a taxi or a police car on screen, it’s likely to be a Crown Vic.
And a vast number of shows include either taxis, police cars, or both.
The Ford Crown Victoria, and its close sibling the Mercury Grand Marquis, made their debut in 1991. Unlike the vast majority of production cars at this time, the Crown Victoria was a body-on-chassis design rather than a unibody vehicle. It was also the largest sedan marketed by Ford in North America, and the only one to come as standard with a V8 engine, a full-length frame, and rear-wheel drive.
During its 1991 to 2012 production run, the Crown Victoria became the most common police car in the United States. The police version was initially named the Crown Victoria P71, this was changed to the Police Interceptor from 1999 onwards.
The car was powered by the Ford Modular V8 in 4.6 liter form, with a single overhead cam per bank, mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission sending power to the rear wheels.
The police versions of the model received heavy-duty suspension, bigger brakes, a larger alternator, close-ratio gears, and a modified ECU for better performance. The steering was also modified and an engine oil-to-water cooler was added.
The 4.6 liter Modular V8 has been given a supercharger and an intercooler, sending in 7.5 lbs of pressure and boosting output to 350 bhp and 400 lb ft of torque.
The Police Interceptor became so popular with police departments that when Ford announced they were ending production of the Crown Vic on which it was based, some departments stockpiled them – with the LAPD ordering 600 before production stopped.
The P2 Panther By Kenny Brown
The P2 Panther is a high-performance version of the Crown Vic developing by well-known tuner Kenny Brown in Indianapolis.
Due to its use in cinema and on television, and the inherent coolness of the Police Interceptor model, the Crown Vic had built up a loyal fanbase over its time in production.
What Kenny and his team wanted to do was create a civilian Interceptor of sorts, that would be faster than the police version but still road-legal in all 50 states.
He started by beefing up the frame so it could handle the new stresses that would be placed on it, making it significantly stiffer. Brembo brakes were then added front and back to replace the original discs, and lightweight Ronal alloy wheels were added to reduce unsprung weight and rotating mass.
Lowered, high-performance suspension was then added, helping to firm up the ride and reduce body roll to an absolute minimum.
The interior looks largely stock, with the exception of the CD radio, phone, and the control switches for the various lights.
The real pièce de résistance of the P2 Panther lay under the hood, the original 4.6 liter Modular V8 was given a supercharger and an intercooler, sending in 7.5 lbs of pressure and boosting output to 350 bhp from the original 235 bhp, and 400 lb ft of torque rather than the original 276 lb ft.
Performance was brisk, with the 0-60 mph time dropping to 5.2 seconds and the 1/4 mile time sitting at under 14 seconds.
Kenny also offered a less costly P1 version of the Panther, which came without the supercharger, and a more costly (and more heavy) bulletproof version called the P3 Panther.
The 1998 P2 Panther Crown Victoria Shown Here
The car you see here is one of the original Kenny Brown-built P2 Panther versions of the Crown Victoria.
It’s finished in Gloss Black over a gray interior, and it’s fitted with matching Gloss Black wheels with a Black nudge bar up front. As you would expect it has four-wheel Brembo brakes, and that Eaton SVT supercharger with an intercooler under the hood.
Inside you’ll find a split front bench seat with fold-down armrests, the original AM/FM/cassette stereo system, a certified-calibration speedometer, and pillar-mounted auxiliary AutoMeter Pro-Comp gauges for boost and fuel pressure.
In the rear vision mirror, this is a car that will fool almost everyone into thinking its being driven by the local boys in blue.
It also has a car phone and Cobra Sound Tracker CB radio, along with power windows, power locks, power mirrors and a power driver’s seat.
The car currently has 15,420 miles on the odometer and it’s now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum on the 11th of January in Florida. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
