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Remember the Ford Crown Victoria?

The car was so big and heavy that each one rolling off the assembly line should have had the letters U.S.S. printed along the bow.

The Crown Vic hasn`t undergone any significant changes other than yearly price increases since 1979, the year then-Ford President Lee Iacocca was invited to clear out his desk before moving on to Chrysler to sell mini-vans and write books.

For the first time since `79, Ford has come up with a major redesign of its full-size, rear-wheel-drive family sedan. In recognition of the feat, Ford calls the midyear 1991 model a 1992.

Like everything else in the Ford lineup-except the Mustang-the 1992 Crown Vic that enters the market this month sports rounded aerodynamic sheet metal. We test drove the Crown Vic LX four-door sedan. Styling is a cross between that on the Thunderbird, Taurus and Lincoln Continental. It also strongly resembles the look on the new aero Chevy Caprice; though unlike its GM rival, the lower body sheet metal on the Crown Vic doesn`t jut out and then hang down like a set of jowls. The Crown Vic would look good as a taxi.

Borrowing a styling cue from the Taurus, a Ford oval floats in the center of the Crown Vic hood, where a bulbous mountain of chrome shaped into a grille formerly rested. Bulky chrome bumpers have been replaced by body-colored, lightweight reinforced plastic.

After a dozen years of maintaining status quo, Ford got around to redoing the Crown Vic and transformed the full-size family car from paunchy to petite. Slimmer and trimmer, the aerodynamic bend of the sheet metal also makes the Crown Vic much quieter.

Wheelbase is fractionally longer at 114.4 inches, versus 114.3 for the `91. Length is 212.5 inches, versus 210.9 inches on the `91, though inside you`d swear you picked up a half-foot more leg and arm room up front. Adding to the spacious feeling are door panels that are rounded, not flat and slab- sided as on the `91. That bow in the door provides the room needed to move arm and elbows without bumping into armrests or control buttons.

The rear seat offers ample arm, hip and head room, but comes up a bit shorter than expected in leg room. Oddly, the trunk is huge. Perhaps an inch of space devoted to carrying the groceries could have been devoted to allowing back-seat occupants to stretch their legs.

As for the trunk, though immense, the rounded deep-dish design is more suitable for loading a caldron than a set of golf clubs. The trunk is deep and, if filled with water, could probably serve as a portable hot tub, but the floor is not flat. You`ll get lots of cargo inside, providing the packages are rounded.

The Crown Vic is powered by Ford`s new 4.6-liter, 190-horsepower V-8. The engine delivers 210 horsepower if you opt for dual exhausts, which provide a boost in power but mean more dollars when it comes to replace the system.

The o ld Crown Vic offered a 5-liter, 150-h.p. V-8. The new 4.6 not only responds more quickly to pedal pressure, but it does so while consuming less fuel though it boasts more horsepower. The 4.6 teamed with four-speed automatic is rated at 18miles per gallon city/25 m.p.g. highway, a small but significant improvement over the 17/24 rating with the 5-liter V-8.

The 5-liter seemed to have a thirst for petrol that you had to quench each time a filling station appeared on the corner. The 17/24 rating seemed most generous. The 4.6-liter was less thirsty, was able to pass stations without wanting to pull in for a quick visit and acted as if the 18/25 rating might be on the low side.

The Crown Vic features 15-inch all-season steel-belted radial tires, four-wheel disc brakes, gas pressurized shocks, front and rear stabilizer bars and speed-sensitive power steering. That means Ford wanted the new Crown Vic to ride and handle more like a car than the old boat, which want d to float over the pavement rather than tread on it.

The `92 Crown Vic`s suspension was designed to provide a slightly firmer and flatter ride and more precise handling. The result is less of the rubbery up-and-down movement over bumps in the pavement, but you`ll still experience some lean and body roll in corners and turns.

The Crown Vic suspension comes close to having the same road manners and road-holding ability with minimal harshness as the Continental or Lincoln Town Car. But it could use a few more tweaks to perform as well when the road bends as it does when it the highway is straight.

A major plus for the Crown Vic is traction control integrated into the optional antilock brake system. Computers that regulate ABS to keep wheels from locking when you brake on slippery surfaces also keep wheels from spinning when you accelerate on those surfaces. With ABS and traction control you can stop/start on ice or packed snow.

Had ABS and traction control come along sooner, you would have to wonder if front-wheel-drive cars would constitute the majority of vehicles on the road. Those two systems eliminate the two biggest fears of owning a rear- wheel-drive car in the snow/ice belt-fishtailing when braking or burning through an inch of tread while the tires try to gain traction on ice.

With ABS and traction control plus a driver-side air bag available now, and a passenger-side bag promised to be on the way, you get a roomy, comfortable, safe big car that can haul people and tow a boat and still get more than respectable mileage.

You have to wonder whether those who want the industry to obtain 40 m.p.g. from their cars would rather venture cross country in a Crown Vic or a Chevy Geo Metro.

The Crown Vic has made such progress in becoming a civilized machine that you have to wonder how much better the Continental, Town Car and upcoming Mark VIII must become to put distance between Ford Motor Co.`s luxury line and its family sedan, plus justify the price spread.

The LX we drove starts at $19,543. Standard equipment includes air conditioning, tinted glass, tilt steering, intermittent wipers, AM/FM stereo with digital clock, automatic on/off headlamps, power windows, remote fuel door release with the button conveniently located in the driver`s door, dual remote power mirrors and deluxe wheel covers.

Our car came with preferred equipment package114, at $4,664, which included driver-side air bag, cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel, ABS and electronic traction control, rear-window defroster, power door locks, power seats, cornering lamps, illuminated entry system, power radio antenna and carpeted floor mats. Leather seating trim ran an extra $555. We`d pass on that because it serves only to magnify body lean in corners as you slip on the seat. With an obscene $535 freight charge, the sticker ran $25,297 before a $1,000 discount for option pack 114.

A passenger-side air bag is supposed to be an eventual option in the Crown Vic, and the rectangle in the dash above the glove box is the obvious location. No word on when that option will be available.

As long as Ford is working feverishly to put a passenger-side air bag in the dash, perhaps it could make a few other dash changes at the same time. The heater seemed to take a long time to kick out hot air. When it did, the blast from the ducts (which seem to be awfully high on the dash) to the left of the steering wheel will melt your watch if you hold the wheel in the 10 o`clock-2 o`clock position.

And why not install pull-out dual cupholders in the lower dash or in the driver and passenger fold-down armrests?

Ford says it expects to sell about 115,000 Crown Victorias annually, with owners coming from loyalists now driving one of the heavy boxy versions and from those who now have a Taurus who want to move up in size.

P> >> 1992 Crown Victoria Wheelbase: 114.4 inches Length: 212.5 inches Engine: 4. 6 liter, 190 h.p. V-8 Transmission: 4-speed automatic overdrive Fuel economy: 18 m.p.g. city/25 m.p.g. highway. Base price: $19,543 Strong point: Mileage, V-8 performance, size and roominess, towing capability, ABS and air bag, styling similar to Chevy Caprice but without the jowls. Weak point: Heat duct will melt watch, cupholder is your lap, puts pressure on Ford to make next-generation Continental, Town Car and Mark VIII luxury cars a cut above the Crown Victoria. >>