The first Panthers were the downsized Ford LTD and Mercury Marquis models. Both were available in coupe, wagon, and sedan bodies. The following year, 1980, the Lincoln line was downsized onto the Panther. The Lincoln coupes lasted only two years, but Ford and Mercury coupes lasted until 1987, and wagons until 1991. After that, only four-door sedans were produced.
Vehicles currently using the Panther platform include:
Daimler Chrysler and General Motors has caught on to the rush of going back to RWD cars whereas Ford never changed it on the Panthers. Ford is rumored to be considering replacing the Panther platform with a derivative of the Australian Ford Falcon in 2008. This would be the replacement for the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis, while the Town Car will be replaced with an all wheel drive sedan based on the Ford D3 platform.
Ford was rumored to be considering replacing the aging Pantherplatform with the front or all-wheel drive platform based on the D3 architecture, something Ford has denied.
Ford Australia would modify the Ford Falcon to left-hand drive and US safety standards and export it to the US, which would see a revival in the Falcon name in the US market.
The Pantherplatform would be retired altogether, replaced by a completely new vehicle based on the FordD2Cplatform used for the Ford Mustang.
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