It was 1969, worked in a gas station that washed Ohio Highway Patrol cars. Most were big 4-door Caprices with 396 2 barrel carbed cars. One day, one sputtered in sounding like it needed a complete tune up a valves adjusted. I was astounded when I raised the hood to check for bad spark plug wires. I nearly lost it when I seen the engine. (True story) This patrol car I found out later, was called a "pursuit car" and !!!!ed if it wasn't! Under the hood was a 2=4 barreled, solid liftered 427 Chevrolet! You read that right! And ~Nyuk~ I got to drive the bad boy back to the patrol post. How would you like to find that at an auction? AWESOME!!
The California Highway Patrol in my area has a white Mustang a few years old. It stays busy; they mostly use it to go after unsuspecting truckers who are looking for black-and-whites.
I saw it go past me in the desert one day, and it must've been doing well over 100 mph. I have no idea where it was headed, but it was in a hurry.
The California Highway Patrol in my area has a white Mustang a few years old. It stays busy; they mostly use it to go after unsuspecting truckers who are looking for black-and-whites.
I saw it go past me in the desert one day, and it must've been doing well over 100 mph. I have no idea where it was headed, but it was in a hurry.
Yeah, don't screw around in Washington State on I-5, either. I've personally seen the Washington State Patrol's new 'bad boy' twice now. It's a white last-generation (late-90's) Camaro with fully tinted windows. You can't tell it's a police car until the lights that are hidden here and there start flashing. Mostly, the normal lights are fitted with strobes.
The first time I saw it, the guy had a sportbike, like a Honda CBR or Kawasaki Ninja, pulled over. Now that's impressive.
Last edited by just_a_car; 02-15-2007 at 10:53 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
I still say the baddest police cars were the 2000-2002 B4C Camaro's. I don't know how many of you all have rode/drove a LS1 Z28, try it sometime. The thing is scary. The only thing I've rode in thats come close was a '67 Chevelle SS with a 4-speed and 4.10 gears(or 4.11, I always get the Ford vs Chevy gears mixed up). And did I mention it had a 450hp 454 in it?
Our state (Louisiana) just signed a deal with Dodge. The parish over(St. Charles Parish) from us has new Chargers. They MUST be better than the old LTD's. The coolest Ive seen was the 2000-2002 Camaro SS. A few state police had them.
I still say the baddest police cars were the 2000-2002 B4C Camaro's. I don't know how many of you all have rode/drove a LS1 Z28, try it sometime. The thing is scary. The only thing I've rode in thats come close was a '67 Chevelle SS with a 4-speed and 4.10 gears(or 4.11, I always get the Ford vs Chevy gears mixed up). And did I mention it had a 450hp 454 in it?
Was it early 2000's? Sorry, meant that, not the late-90's. It's almost certainly a souped-up LS1 Z28. I sure wouldn't want to try to outrun it.
And as for the gearing, I can say with certainty that 4.11 is a Ford rear-end gearing, as I'm a Ford-guy, not a Chevy-guy... oh, and having a 4.11 Posi waiting to be put into my 1972 Mach1 (once I take out the 28 spline and replace with 31 spline axles and take out the FMX trans and put in an AOD) but I'm okay with the 3.25 non-posi 9" backing up my 351C 2v (modded to 4v w/ edelbrock performer intake and holley dbl-pumper), at least for now.
My neighbor works on old police cars. Last summer, he installed the same supercharger that they used in the 03 cobras in the crown vick. That perticular car made over 400 horses by the time he was done with it, was a pretty neat project.
I want a 01+ Crown Vic, always have. True, they are boats, but are also capable of 135mph+. And with a little work(nothing to major) they can run high 14's. Besides, everyone moves to the right when they see you coming.
Yeah, I've done a few ride a longs, there fun. The first time the guy had a CD player in his cruiser. So we were driving around the bypass listening to Highway Patrol and the Cops theme song doing about 85. Thats a nice feeling. Being on the other side of the blue lights is fun LOL.
We've got a 2006 Crown Vic and it's had a little work done to it. She can get out of trouble as fast as she got into it! We were looking at the Dodge Charger, but decided to stay with the CV.
Admittedly, the Dodges beat the Ford pretty much all the way around, but the Ford is the backbone and has an unparalled record of service. Not to mention Ford is coming back with the 5.0 and it's supposed to be a fire-breather this go round. Initial claims are 455 horses and an almost unbelievable fuel mileage to boot. A new traction control system is in the works for it and there's armor-filled doors and fenders available for it, too.
All in all, I love the Crown and will always be a staunch supporter of it.
I spent my last 12 months in the service at Ft.Knox (1979)....went to a local car dealer and bought a black '72 Satellite Sebring (same body style as Roadrunner) with a 383 4barrel.
But I came real close to buying a '70 Fury 2 door that was white and had blackwall tires...black factory steel rims and silver center caps...
Kinda plain looking but I saw it had at one time had decals on the fenders and both doors...
I popped the hood and had a big 'ol 440 engine looking back at me...looked inside and saw radio delete...rubber floors etc.
The guy at the lot came over and told me it had been the Sheriffs take home/pursuit vehicle...had headers/dualies on it with turbo mufflers...he fired it up...I took it for a drive....total blast...had a posi....fried them tires!
But she was too plain for me...took the Sebring for $1,200
He wanted $1,600 for the Sheriff's car...looking back I wish I had taken the Fury...but I was 21 and wanted sporty....
__________________ U.S. Army
1976-1979
237th Combat Engineers
Heilbronn, Germany
Joe, I almsot bought a '76 Fury with the 383 in it. Ex-police vehicle that the guy had driven while on duty. That thing was fast and it handled like it was on rails. He did a ton of work on the suspension so he could go faster in curves than normal. Short of a motorcycle, there was nothing he couldn't catch.
Wish I had bought it, but ended up with a '69 Cyclone with a 428 Cobra Jet....
years ago my brother got an ex highway patrol '76 fury with a 400 in it. definately not a race car, but it would break the 160mph mark. it was pretty good for mudding too!
88 caprice police package with the last carb on a 350. A little here a little there, and I had one sweet ride. Its was fun to have folks clear the way as I came up behind them. I never found out what the top speed was, but it's amazing what you can get out of a small block chevy.
__________________
"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Benjamin Franklin
I still say the baddest police cars were the 2000-2002 B4C Camaro's. I don't know how many of you all have rode/drove a LS1 Z28, try it sometime. The thing is scary. The only thing I've rode in thats come close was a '67 Chevelle SS with a 4-speed and 4.10 gears(or 4.11, I always get the Ford vs Chevy gears mixed up). And did I mention it had a 450hp 454 in it?
Michigan State Police had a pack of Buick Grand Nationals back in the late 80s. They were taken away after they were caught racing each other. But I'd say they would have blownaway the camaros
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