Why “Panzer” Platform?

[Panzer Platform]

I got a question from a DCT member about my username “Panzer” Platform.
This was my response.
@rcg530 @safedrivesolutions @Vortex Radar @viofo @VIOFO-Support @Jeff_Vantrue @ly-70mai @BlackboxMyCar
@DashCamMan @Nigel @kamkar @Karagandinez @Kremmen @LateralNW @Mtz @Paul Iddon @DT MI @gse @ogzogz

Yo ---------,
I get this question a lot, don’t worry it has nothing to do with war mongering, or Nazis.
When I started my YouTube channel February 2019 the original name was “Budget Panther Fan”.

https://www.youtube.com/c/PanzerPlatform

Ford Motor Company’s “Panther” Platform was a modular automobile platform from 1979-2012, (longest running American platform in history 33 years).

Ford Panther platform - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ford Crown Victoria (available to the public)
Ford Crown Victoria Taxi Cab (commercial fleet only)
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (commercial fleet only)
Mercury Grand Marquis
Mercury Marauder
Lincoln Town Car
Lincoln Town Car Executive L (Limousine commercial fleet only)

It’s an “old, but gold” design no longer in production.
The reason for it’s success is due to its basic structure shared with full size trucks.
All models have;
1.) Body on frame design instead of unibody.
2.) Front mounted V8 engines.
3.) Longitudinally mounted transmissions.
4.) Rear wheel drive with live rear axle.
These four basic characteristics contribute to the durability, reliability, longevity, and extended service life along with cheap, and easy maintenance & repairs.
The general concept goes back almost 100 years.
It’s the epitome of K.I.S.S. design strategy, (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
From 1991 to early 2000’s the engine, transmission, rear end, and other components were shared with the F-150 Full Size Truck, E-150 Full Size Van, Mustang, and other Ford, Lincoln, Mercury products.
Ford got their money’s worth reusing the same tooling, machinery, and parts bins.
Cars with these characteristics earn a reputation over time being known as “built like a tank” because they are heavy duty, can take abuse, and last longer than average cars.
That’s why they were used as police cars, taxi cabs, and limousines.
Funny enough, no Panther Platform cars were made in USA.
They were assembled in Canada with parts made in Mexico, and abroad to maximize bean counter profitability.

Back to Panzer.
Shortly after starting my YouTube channel I was watching a WW2 documentary because I’m a history buff.
It said the reason Germany was dominant in the first part of the war was they had better tanks than the British, Canadians, US, and other allied forces.
That’s when I first heard the word Panzer.
I never heard that word before so I googled it.
The word Panzer has its origin in Latin, and Old French.
In French it’s called Pancier meaning “belly armor” or “breast plate”.
Like what a medieval knights wore.
In Latin it’s called Pantex meaning “paunch or belly”.
In German in means “Coat of Mail” or “Armored Vehicle”
So the word Panzer is more accurately interpreted as simply armor.
But because the Germans were so successful with their tanks they named “Panzers” that’s what everybody remembers.
Especially since it’s so recent, and we don’t have knights jousting anymore.
I wanted to shorten the name of my YouTube channel to Panther Platform but it was already taken.
So after learning the true meaning of the word, I settled on Panzer Platform because again my cars are built like tanks.

Here is the “about” info on my YouTube channel;
Hello my name is Chuck McCoy.
I'm a retired government employee.
This channel is dedicated to helping owners of Ford's 4.6L V8 Panther Platform with maintenance, and repairs.

1992-2011 Ford Crown Victoria
1992-2011 Mercury Grand Marquis
1991-2011 Lincoln Town Car
2003-2004 Mercury Marauder
1992-2011 P71/P7B Police Interceptor

Need help with a Panther problem or, Check Engine Light DTC?
Email me: BudgetPantherPlatform@gmail.com

Playlists:
1.) Maintenance & Repair
2.) Product Reviews
3.) Viewer Q&A
4.) Extras

I provide well researched & accurate information, (alert me to any false & misleading info).
My channel is NOT monetized.
I am NOT an Amazon Affiliate.
I make videos for fun.

Here’s two videos about the Panther Platform;

 

[Dashmellow]

Shortly after starting my YouTube channel I was watching a WW2 documentary because I’m a history buff.

That’s when I first heard the word Panzer.
I never heard that word before so I googled it.

Like many kids my age (and no doubt many reading this thread) we first heard the word Panzer watching WW II movies on TV along with famous TV shows like "The Rat Patrol" which was all about fighting the Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps) in northern Africa which consisted of the German Panzer Regiment 5, that was later joined by the 3rd Panzer Division eventually evolving into The Panzer Group which was, in turn redesignated as Panzer Army Africa under the command of Erwin Rommel, famously known as The Desert Fox.

Personally, I also grew up hearing stories from my uncle who was an Army captain during the Battle of the Bulge when, among other skirmishes and intense battles during that campaign came up against the 2nd Panzer division whose defeat proved instrumental in achieving the German's demise in what was one of the most important battles of the war.

The simple fact is that the word is universally associated with and defined today as a name and description for the German armoured vehicles, particularly tanks used by the Nazis during World War II.

I believe most people would not intentionally choose a formal name for their YouTube channel or forum identity using a word uniformly understood to be and widely associated by most everyone with German Nazi WW II weaponry. Surely, if you wanted to associate your Ford Crown Victoria cars with a powerful, strong military vehicle like a tank, the intelligent and perhaps more patriotic thing to do would have been to choose an American made WW II era tank like the Sherman (built by Ford, no less) or the Pershing (General Motors - body by Fisher (Tank Arsenal).

One can do any kind of search one likes in any dictionary or search engine and you can confirm that the word Panzer is indeed widely and solely considered to be a reference to the Nazi German military vehicle for the last 91 years. Don't confuse the name with its etymology.

 

[LateralNW]

@Panzer Platform
One simple Google search for panzer =

German tanks in World War II​

Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks. Wikipedia

It is a divisive term.

 

[Nigel]

the word Panzer is indeed widely and solely considered to be a reference to the Nazi German military vehicle for the last 91 years.

Only by some amateur historians!

The word is in everyday use in plenty of other situations.

It is in everyday use in Ukraine today, due to the Panzer Leopards and Flakpanzer Gepard (Cheetah in English).

An example from the USA:

And a modern world famous event from Germany, and I suspect the number of people who know it from those situations is higher than the number that associate it with Nazi Germany:

 

[Agie]

How can any self respecting "history buff" have never heard the word Panzer before?

Like many kids my age (and no doubt many reading this thread) we first heard the word Panzer watching WW II movies on TV along with famous TV shows like "The Rat Patrol" which was all about fighting the Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps) in northern Africa which consisted of the German Panzer Regiment 5, that was later joined by the 3rd Panzer Division eventually evolving into The Panzer Group which was, in turn redesignated as Panzer Army Africa under the command of Erwin Rommel, famously known as The Desert Fox.

Personally, I also grew up hearing stories from my uncle who was an Army captain during the Battle of the Bulge when, among other skirmishes and intense battles during that campaign came up against the 2nd Panzer division whose defeat proved instrumental in achieving the German's demise in what was one of the most important battles of the war.

You can try to spin your selection of the name Panzer every-which-way-to-Sunday, with all this verbosity and distraction about the Ford Crown Victoria and related models and your obfuscating focus on the obscure and outdated etymology for the German word Panzer but the simple fact is that the word is universally associated with and defined today as a name and description for the German armoured vehicles, particularly tanks used by the Nazis during World War II.

I believe most people would not intentionally choose a formal name for their YouTube channel or forum identity using a word uniformly understood to be and widely associated by most everyone with German Nazi WW II weaponry. Surely, if you wanted to associate your Ford Crown Victoria cars with a powerful, strong military vehicle like a tank, the intelligent and perhaps more patriotic thing to do would have been to choose an American made WW II era tank like the Sherman (built by Ford, no less) or the Pershing (General Motors - body by Fisher (Tank Arsenal).

One can do any kind of search one likes in any dictionary or search engine and you can confirm that the word Panzer is indeed widely and solely considered to be a reference to the Nazi German military vehicle for the last 91 years. Don't confuse the name with its etymology.

Your choice of the name Panzer and your shallow explanation and rationalization for using it is about as tone deaf as the Ivy League College Presidents in the news lately for their own tone deaf explantions for their flaccid response to violent anti-semetic rhetoric happening on their campuses which has brought them scrutiny and derision.


View attachment 69709

We should all start a thread where we can all explain the origins of our usernames, I'm sure new users would find that beneficial LoL

 

[Dashmellow]

Only by some amateur historians!

The word is in everyday use in plenty of other situations.

It is in everyday use in Ukraine today, due to the Panzer Leopards and Flakpanzer Gepard (Cheetah in English).

Jag Panzer - A heavy metal band? Really?

And PanzerPlatte - A German road rally? (How convenient that you left out the word platte 'slab' or 'plate')

The word panzer does mean armored in German as explained in the dictionary definition I provided above but you are intentionally ignoring the name "Panzer" (not the German adjective) that has a connotation world wide as referring to the eponymous term for the Nazi Panzer Tank Division.

Panzer in this context is equivalent with the German term Wehrmacht which translates in German to "defense power" but literally no one would would ever associate the term Wehrmacht with anything but the German Nazi armed forces for the Third Reich just the way people all over the world primarily associate the word Panzer with the Third Reich German WW II tank divisions.

I suspect the number of people who know it from those situations is higher than the number that associate it with Nazi Germany

I suspect you have no idea what people really think outside of the UK.

While anyone searching the word "panzer" will come up with the same result as @LateralNW, you on the other hand strain to find some other answer.

 

[Dadi_T]

Jag Panzer - A heavy metal band? Really?

And PanzerPlatte - A German road rally? (How convenient that you left out the word platte 'slab' or 'plate')

The word panzer does mean armored in German as explained in the dictionary definition I provided above but you are intentionally ignoring the name "Panzer" (not the German adjective) that has a connotation world wide as referring to the eponymous term for the Nazi Panzer Tank Division.

Panzer in this context is equivalent with the German term Wehrmacht which translates in German to "defense power" but literally no one would would ever associate the term Wehrmacht with anything but the German Nazi armed forces for the Third Reich just the way people all over the world primarily associate the word Panzer with the Third Reich German WW II tank divisions.



I suspect you have no idea what people really think outside of your parochial bubble in the UK.

So get real Nigel. Once again we are treated to your usual petty spin and word games. While anyone searching the word "panzer" will come up with the same result as @LateralNW, you on the other hand strain to find some other answer.

 

[kamkar]

Panser, that is actually the Danish equivalent to the American Cop . In Danish it pronounce very much like Germans would say Panzer, just go easy on the "Z" and end up with a "S", so pretend you are a super mellow and perhaps stoned German when you pronounce it.
The clean / preferred name would be police, which here is politi.

Germany in WW2 had Jagd Panzers, which translate to tank hunters / hunter tank, but really they them self was just tanks / panzers.
These was pretty much in any flavor of German tanks.

Jagdpanzer - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Why someone would attach JAG to Panzer i dont know, for me Jag is Judge Advocate General`s Corps

 

[Nigel]

Why someone would attach JAG to Panzer i dont know, for me Jag is Judge Advocate General`s Corps

Apparently it did come from Jagdpanzer, but they preferred the sound without the "d"!

And the PanzerPlatte rally stage is named because it takes place on a German military testing/training ground for armoured vehicles, a particularly good stage because it has lots of obstacles designed for tanks, that will shred the rally cars if someone makes a minor mistake!

 

[kamkar]

Plattenspieler is German for record player.