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Crown Victoria police fleet vehicles were sold to the California Highway Patrol and various other law enforcement agencies last year by Folsom Lake Ford, one of the top five police car dealers in the state, according to Fleet Director Dan Raimondi. Nationally, the California Highway Patrol is Ford Motor Co.’s largest customer, purchasing anywhere from 600 to 900 vehicles annually. Including all levels of law enforcement, Ford sells upward of 50,000 base-model police Crown Victorias each year at roughly $21,000 a car. “The difficulty for Ford Motor Co. is painting a car two-tone,” Raimondi says. “It can take 22 weeks to get an order done. You get all these volumes — it’s not just California. It’s Texas and Florida and all the little jurisdictions.” Orders on solid-color fleets take about 18 weeks. “That’s why we’re also one of the largest stocking dealers in California. If you crash your car on the holiday weekend, you can’t wait 22 months to get one — you need one now. So we have them here.” Ford has been in the police fleet business since at least 1955, and the Crown Victoria has been the automobile of choice since 1990. Raimondi admits the younger cadets favor the speed of the sleek Dodge Charger patrol cars, but for roominess and safety, he says the Crown can’t be beat: It’s the only vehicle on the market that is crash tested at 85 mph.