After blitzing through the entire Bad Obsession Motorsports catalog in a little over a week, YouTube’s algorithm has me pegged as the kind of person who would enjoy some gnarly DIY project vehicle builds. And for possibly the first time ever, YouTube’s algorithm is 100 percent correct. So when it delivered up a build series developing a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria into a desert racer truck for me to watch, I was hooked instantly.
Now, before you go tearing into me about how this isn’t as obsessively crafted or meticulously built as Project Binky, you’re absolutely right. This Crown Vic desert racer was built to a seriously tight budget, just $4,000. I’ll give builder Austin Coulson a little leeway in that regard, because the finished product turned out super cool for having started with an old Ford sedan. He turned that sow’s ear into a regular silk purse.
My third car was a Crown Victoria (after I crashed a Grand Prix and got burned by a Triumph TR-7) and I loved it dearly. The Ford modular 4.6 V8 is a pretty great engine, and the chassis is soft and long enough to soak up pretty much any bumps from the factory. I ran my 1992 “aerovic” to a runner-up position in the Detroit region SCCA rallycross RWD Prepared class championship back in the day. It’s a damn fine automobile, if I do say so myself.
Obviously Mr. Coulson has done quite a lot of suspension work to his Crown Vic, including removing it completely and replacing it with proper off-roady bits. But the big V8 and the original steel chassis remain. Though, to be fair, that’s pretty much it. Oh, and that engine doesn’t sit up front where it used to anymore. You know what? I don’t want to spoil it for you, go ahead and dive in from episode 1. It’s worth a watch.
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