My brother-in-law and I were bs'ing tonight and he asked me "What was the first fast cop car?" I answered "I honestly don't know, but maybe Elliot Ness's cars had to be one of the first". He had a teacher who said something about a 66 Caprice with a big block but I know there were many others before that. I know my Dad even owned a early 60's Chrysler that was a former CHP car that he said was pretty fast. Even the first 442 was basically a cop car optioned Cutlass. I am not just talking run of the mill cop cars here, I mean modified for greater than reg. performance by the factory or that old County Sheriff who loved performance. Anyone know any more? If you have pics you gotta post them and stories of the fast cop car that caught / passed you by in your fast car are welcome.
My dad used to drive a 440 mag A body Mopar as a cop car in the 1960's. He said it hauled serious ass when it would stayed tuned. I used to live in Vacaville in 1988-1989. My pops worked at the prison.
Errr, every sheriff's car that got outrun by a bootlegger comes to mind. Then again, I'm from the South, so I thought of that. hahah
Ford published a book called "Ford at Fifty", celebrating the company's 50th anniversary in 1953. In that book there's a picture of a '51 Ford police car, and the caption says "This squad car, a Ford with a special engine, would be dangerously fast for non-police use." A Merc crank, I suppose?
I've heard from two guys now, and this may or may not be true, that in the late 60's - early 70's, a few LA county sheriff's were real close to Ed Donovan and had a few 440's worked over by the engine master resulting in acceleration from 60-140 MPH greater than any road going vehicle on the road in at the time. Anybody else ever hear of such tomfoolery?
My guess would have been the "K" special police pursuit versions of the MoPars. Like Elwood Blues said "Cop Tires, Cop Brakes, made before catalytic converters, and 440 cubes under the hood". Not that this was the first High Perf Police MoPar, but I had a '69 Dodge Polara that my Grandfather owned when he was a Chief of Police (company car provided for personal/public use since he was on call at any hour of the day or night). The big car just burned rubber from a stop, but on the freeway she really got up and went! I have childhood friend who is now a cop who confirms this car was a "legend" when talked about in the police locker rooms. On a side note, the huge 4 core radiator made for many cool cruises (it was used since cop cars idle a long time). (from http://www.allpar.com/squads/history.html_ 1969 was the year of the ultimate squad; for a quarter century afterwards, nothing could match its performance capability - the 1969 Polara Pursuit. This was the apex of the high-power era, the last year before lower compression engines and tightening emisions requirements. The 1969 Polara Pursuit, with its 375 bhp 440, sleek new "fuselage" bodystyle, and standard 3.23 axle, could do 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.3 seconds (at over 99 mph), and run out to a top speed of (or, by some accounts, above) 147 mph! It took a 25 years, a Corvette engine, and a four-speed transmission for any other police cruiser to match these figures. In LAPD use, the 383-engined Belvedere Pursuit was extremely successful and well-liked, gaining the (accurate) nickname "four-door Roadrunner". Why the 1969 CHP Polara was such a big deal (by Mike Sealey) It held the record on the Chrysler test track in Chelsea, MI, until 1994 for highest top end achieved by a factory-built 4 door sedan (149.6 mph). The record was eventually broken by a 1994 Caprice with an LT1 but it took 25 years and a Corvette engine to finally do it. CHP and LAPD were prized enough customers that Chrysler made specific parts for each department, factory part numbers and all. CHP even had its own cam grind among other things.
O.K. more information: While early Ford V8s had a reputation for the speed and power desired by police departments, Plymouths were a popular choice for police work even in the early years. In actual tests, the Greeley, Colorado, police department pitted 1935 Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth models against each other before deciding on which make to buy for their police work. With Officer Lavern Claus at the wheel, accompanied by Street Superintendent W.H. Welsh, the three cars were paced over a level one mile pavement course. From a standing start the Chevrolet covered the mile in 80 seconds, reaching a top speed of 78 miles per hour. The Ford ran the mile in 68 seconds, topping out at 82 mph while the Plymouth clipped through the mile in just 60 seconds, reaching a top speed of 90 miles per hour. In addition tests on the Plymouth, Officer Claus recorded 0 to 60 mph in 20 sec.; 0 to 75 in 42 sec.; 0 to 80 in 51 sec.; and 0 to 90 in 60 seconds. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>Acceleration Standard</TD><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>Chevy</TD><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>Ford V8</TD><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>Plymouth Six</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#edebef>Full Mile - Time</TD><TD bgColor=#edebef>80 seconds </TD><TD bgColor=#edebef>68 seconds </TD><TD bgColor=#edebef>60 seconds </TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>Full Mile - Final Speed</TD><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>78 mph</TD><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>82 mph</TD><TD bgColor=#e0ffff>90 mph</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> HTML: http://www.allpar.com/squads/history.html
weren't the Hudson Terraplanes quite a bit faster than anything else on the road in the early-mid 30's????
John Dillinger drove a Terraplane, but I don't think any cops did http://hetclub.com/dillinger/dillinger.htm "According to outlaw historians the 1930's bad-boy John Dillinger and his gang preferred the 1933 Hudson Terraplane 8 as the fast getaway car because it blew the Ford V8 right off the road!"
old cop cars are cool got a 92 crown vic missouri state police "interceptor " sittin around here . i can tell you it goes quite a bit faster than the 140 speedo . the only problem i see and i have freinds who are in various dept.s of law, is none of them despite training can drive worth a sh-- .i only knew of one locally and he raced on the dirt tracks with me under an assumed name as he was forbidden to by the dept he was with , that could give me a run . i dont do it anymore but a few years ago if they wanted i'd prove it too any of 'em willingly . out ran 'em for years they couldn't drive then and the majority still cant . as for me i've just gotten old and dont feel the need to get nut's anymore . the fastest i've ever seen was an old polara i beleive and a 66 galaxie with a 427 that were both owned by an uncle and they would both flat scoot .
I owned a 1970 Mercury Monterey that was purpose built for the California Highway Patrol. Very limited production and not sold to the public. I think the Missouri State Police had some too. It came with a 428CJ and a 160MPH speedometer. Just about every critical component was special. I have the CHP specs and some photos which I'll be happy to put up. At that time the CHP used manual steering only, believing that power steering was not safe during a high speed pursuit. That and its bulk made it a handful around town but it was a great pleasure to drive on the freeway. On one trip down highway 5 I enjoyed the cheap thrill of rolling up on people who were doing 80 and seeing them suddenly realize a "cop" car was behind them. (it was still in it's original black and white) Then I'd blow past them at 100 or 110. I had it up to 120 and it felt like there was more. That same trip it threw a rear wheel at 85 going up the Grapevine so I didn't get to find the top end. The car and I made out okay but that's another story.
[SIZE=+1]The Speed Six was probably the most successful racing Bentley, with two consecutive wins at Le Mans, but it also carried formal coachwork.Two Speed Sixes were used as patrol cars by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Western Australia Police Force, probably the only Bentley Police cars in the world. Carrying Bolton saloon bodies, they served from 1930 to 1947; when they were withdrawn from service it was said; "There has hardly been a major crime committed in this State which has not been affected by one or other of the Bentley's.[/SIZE]
My dad bought a '73 plymouth fury police package new, 2 dr, 400, 727. 5800 lbs. It had the certified speedo and map lights when only cop cars had map lights. I saw it indicate over 140 once. That was enough in a 6000 lb car that cornered like a blue whale.... Heard an account of a warmed over 53 dodge getting clocked at 156 in 1956 on the radio the other day... I tend to think Plymouth was one of the pioneers, if not the first.
Anybody remember the early sixties ford "Interstate"? Something about a Galaxie with a 406 tri-power. One of my Navy buddies family used to run a ford dealership in or near Galax VA.
Police motors sure went down hill later. My A has a '90 351W Police Intercepter. It has less than 200 hp, and are supposed to have a marine/police cam thats a bit warmer. In High School during the 80's we were afraid of the 5.0 Mustang LX Police Cars. The local cops were looking for any reason to kick the hell out of those cars.
In '57 Olds built 4 door sedans with J-2,posi rear,sway bars and a recess under the right front seat for radio gear. I had one. '33 terraplane 6; former PA state trooper car. Lots of older cars were special built for the police.
The fast cop cars were cars they took from the busted bootleggers, and alot of them where flatheads at first, then the Hudson.
This is probably kinda LATER than you guys are thinking, but I knew this fella (retired State Trooper) good old boy from South Carolina (?) - he was a trip. He had the department "record" for having wrecked the most cop cars (he was in MANY high speed chases) Matter of fact he told me he even wrecked acouple cars that the department never knew about - he'd bang up a car at the beginning of a shift and swing by his buddy's body who'd fix it before the shift was over. He also had the most "discharged firearm" incidents as well. Dude was definitely a cowboy. His alltime favorite cop car were the 426 hemi cars - he said they were the fastest cop cars he ever drove bar none. He smashed a few of those too! He had more stories than I have blades of grass in my lawn.
I knew a Mopar collector who had a '68 GTX with a Hemi...and while we're looking through his collection of cars he's showing that one to me (unrestored; dirty, neglected, but SOLID and complete), and he's wondering what the hell the deal is with everything on it...the body was originally dark green, but the top of the hood, the doors and the decklid were painted white. There were access holes in the valve covers above eacy rocker arm, covered with a piece of wrinkle-coated sheemetal and held in place with four sheetmetal screws, and it had a wierd bracket that held a second heavy-duty alternator. "MAN, THAT'S A COP CAR!" he looked at me like I was nuts. Extra alternator to run the lights and radio, access holes in the valve covers so the city garage could quickly adjust the valves, and the white painted body panels. He did a little digging on the car's history and found out it was a cop car for some Southern Sherrif. He later sold it to a guy who was going to restore it to just another '68 Hemi Road Runner, stripping off all the cop stuff. While my dad worked at AMC in the early '70s, they special ordered a pair of AMX cop cars...again, for a Southern Sherrif. And of course, there's the '55 Buick Century; 322 Roadmaster engine in the lightest body (Special), with a manual transmission. Those cars were supposed to be legendary too. '54 was the rebirth of the Century name...the first time around, it earned the name "Century" because it would do 100mph. More than a few Century's saw duty as cop cars. Straight 8 with twin carbs! -Brad
Couple of cool cop cars that a guy owns near here. A Polara, and a Galaxie. Not much o look at but I think the Galaxie has a 427 in it. Don't know much about the Polara as it is always locked. They do look cool though.
this was not the earliest versions but as long as we telling storys. Had friends tell me about a cop car at the california-nevada border that was a 56 ford with a chrysler 300 hemi that was a pursuit vehicle. we stopped by on a trip to Vegas and what they had was a 56 ford with a 300 horse supercharged 312 that was pumped up a bit. that was 1958 and it was still in service then when I was younger and dumber in 1959. I had the first year Triumph Bonneville. it was as fast as most anything on the streets at the time. I never even looked back when a city cop turned his lights on, I was gone like a rabbit. till one night a CHP officer gave a lesson in driving. his car was a Dodge D-500 and it was much faster than a Triumph Bonneville and cornered nearly as well. the only place I could pull him was from about 35-75 mph everytime I got to 3rd gear he would gain on me. I was scared shitless but couldn't bring myself to stop. we went thru three cities and I was turning every corner I could find finally got lucky and found a dirt trail in the Arcadia foothills and he flew by. I was so out of breath that I got off my bike and just let it fall. since that night in 1959 I'd pull over for a foot cop if he asked me
Here are a few pics from my agency. I have no idea what kind of car this is (I've only been working here forever haha).
In '58 I was the recipiant of a ride to the Redwood City police station in a new 348 Chevy cop car. The CHP had just taken delivery of their new 430 Mercs. A discussion between my driver and a highway patrolman about which was faster was setteled, with me in the back seat, leaving the Redwood City harbor. The Chevy was faster off the line but the Merc had the top end. Later my dad came and got me and everyone lived happly ever after.
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