image posted by William Rubano
(first posted 9/27/2015) Is this a genuine Florida state police car used for PR purposes or such? Because it’s hard to imagine someone doing this faithful of an impersonation and getting away with it. I ask rhetorically, as a little bit of Googling answered my question.
Turns out that there’s a number of restored FHP Mustangs out there, and here’s a web site that details all of the equipment and markings, for restoration purposes. It doesn’t say anything about issues of using a vehicle like this on the street that giver every impression of being an actual working police car, except for being out of date. I believe out here on the West Coast, the states have some pretty specific restrictions about light bars and such. And I doubt the CHP would be ok with someone driving around with CHP badging on an ex-cop car. I guess things are different down in Florida.
The FHP bought some 1663 Special service Mustangs beginning in 1983, one of the largest users of the stealthy and fast little pursuit. These are early ones with the old fashioned bubble-top light. Doesn’t that look archaic now?
But the Mustang’s unlikely use as a police car was in California. The CHP was very unhappy with their Dodge St. Regis, which were so slow that anyone with a decently fast car could just drive away from them. The CHP first tried a few Camaros, but the 305 V8 at the time was plagued with weak camshafts, which quickly became a problem when running them at higher speeds. So in 1982, the CHP contacted Ford, since the Mustang 5.0 was an obvious alternative, and more practical than the Camaro, with its Fox-body sedan-like high beltline and seating, as well as better visibility.
The 1982 Mustang was the first year the 5.0 was back, in a big way. Although rated at a rather modest 157 hp, and with only a two-barrel carb, it was nevertheless quite brisk for the times. Already in 1983, a four barrel carb upped that to 175 hp. SSP (Special Service Package) Mustangs got a raft of special equipment, including engine oil cooler, silicone radiator hoses, transmission fluid cooler, and reinforced floor pans even, along with the usual police equipment like calibrated speedometers (140 mph 1982 – early 1989; 160 mph until its end in 1993).
I became quite familiar with one, but not too familiar. When we lived in Los Gatos, we often drove up to San Francisco on Sunday mornings, on four-lane I-280. Traffic was always very light on this splendid freeway which skirts the city in the hills above it. In my Mercedes 300E, I typically made the drive at between 95-110.
But as I approached the rest area where that ugly statue of Junipero Serra overlooks the freeway, I looked up there, and if I saw a little black Mustang up there, I hit the brakes. There was always an attractive young female officer behind the wheel, ready to swoop down on speeders. This was before the CHP was allowed to use radar, so she would have had to actually get in behind me and time me. I waved to her as we rolled by. Stephanie referred to her as “your girlfriend in the Mustang”. I always worried that one Sunday she would change her spot, and nab me. But she never did. Like so many of us, she was a creature of habit. And it worked to my advantage.
The bubble-top light… I miss them and besides that can be use for a good opening intro of the Naked Gun movie trilogy or the closing credits of the first seasons of Hawaii Five-0.
The Michigan State Police still use them, even on top of modern Dodge Chargers (their preferred car).
Which Naked Gun cribbed from Police Story.
Arizona DPS also used these. in the early 90s. I got pulled over on the I-10 near Phx Sky harbor airport. the Dps officer was driving a pursuit Mustang. I was in my 86 Audi 4000. Istarted asking him about his car. he invited me back and popped the hood and gave me a full rundown on how it was outfitted……He ended up giving me a warning. Sometimes having gearhead radar helps.
That is most definitely not an official Florida state car, as it has NY plates on it, along with all the cars around it.
Still makes me wonder how that setup can be legal, as it looks very convincing and could likely be used for nefarious purposes.
Laws differ state to state, in my state (OK) you just can’t have any blue lights anywhere on your car, red lights front facing, or the Highway Patrol’s “patented” paint scheme (black & white with little zig zag behind rear door).
Most old police cars I see on the street here just cover up the “zig zag” and remove markings. I would assume anyone with a car as done up as the FHP Mustang above are ex-LEO themselves, and that would take care of any issues in a traffic stop…
I’m sure that they remove the markings before surplussing them. If it is against the law to drive a vehicle with their “patented” paint scheme then the probably do that too before putting them up for auction.
My Daughter and I both have retired P71s and at the auction lot they have the light bars and markings removed. What has been interesting is the response they get in Bellingham where she is not going to school. Around here I occasionally get a wave from still in duty cars approaching since mine still has the push bar with the wrap around PITT bars and I can get people to get out of my way thinking that I’m pacing them or something. But in Bellingham lots and lots of people stare and stare as you go by or when you are sitting next to them at the stop light.
I don’t drive it this way , except parades and police functions as allowed , when I do drive it , the lightbar is covered in a black wrapping and Out of Svc on Both rear wing Windows, Show car on back window & backwards show car on front & a decommissioned magnet covering state trooper trunk marking
I wouldn’t say “definitely” just because of the NY plates. There is a retired GA. SSP Mustang that hits the shows here in Illinois.
Thanks Sean, She’s real .. as I say ” She Is, what she WAS !”
She’s retired , but a TRUE FHP SSP !!
Sorry Ed , My SSP IS the real deal , She has NY plates due to her being auctioned in 2001 , restored to her original condition and shown at carshows wherever I can , DONT hate !!
Retired, car was used from 1993 until 2001 , it’s the last Marked SSP unit from daily Svc use !
JD
FHP 1222
But wouldn’t putting a perpetrator in the back seat be considered cruel and unusual?
SSPs were used primarily as Interceptors & chasers of higher/sportier/ faster cars of the day , When needed , the Paddy wagon was called in for “ Cuffs & stuffs “
The RCMP ran these up here in BC for a while. I remember we had just rebuilt my buddies super beetle and had it up to about 75mph (130 km/hr ish) coming into Kamloops where it drops to 90 km/h. We saw this blue mustang and figured it couldn’t be the cops and went past him. On come the lights and we pulled over. He was impressed we could get that beetle going so fast as he hadn’t clocked another doing that speed. So he just have us a ticket for going 10km over the limit. After that day we kept a keen eye out for notch back mustangs of that vintage…
I miss the days when they actually had to clock you. Gave a sporting chance. And anyway, if some one was aware enough to be able to play cat and mouse, chances were good the cop would realize the person driving was not drunk or impaired. This replica really needs steel wheels and dog dish hubcaps. Of course today, you would have a fleet of cruisers after you, spike strips, pit maneuvers, police dogs and even bullets raining down from helicopters. Not to mention innocent drivers unlucky enough to be taken out if they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
My mother who rocked a sporty little BMW in the ’70s used to say that radar was “Unsportsmanlike” and shouldn’t be allowed on that basis alone, lol!
These were fun little cars .
The CHP versions had stick shifts and there weren’t enough Chippies who know how to drive sticks so they had to create a special driver training class to teach them how , much to the amusement of all the gearheads…..
67Conti : you’re correct , this car is in NO WAY ‘ restored ‘ ~ it’s a nice tribute but ” restored ” means only one thing , not whatever you claim it to be .
-Nate
I google Florida laws regarding fake police cars and found that people have been arrested for this.
Yay, this car is retired & a Show car only now . Driving this kind of vehicle takes great responsibility MOST can’t handle or the hassles with the law some seem to THINK apply ….
Good stuff! They made a good choice with the Fox Mustang Coupes because they WERE light and fast. Camaro’s of the day with the 305s were slow in comparison.
The Special Service cars also had a HD Cooling Fan Clutch and a High-Output Alternator to aid in powering up their equipment.
Current Michigan State Police Trooper Vehicles STILL have the huge single bubble top light on top of their cars too. Color from state to state varies – but in Michigan, cars are trooper blue and the light is red.
When MSP vehicles go up for sale at the end of their service life, the police equipment is removed and all markings are removed and blasted over with the trooper blue paint – but in a very hasty way. this results in an other than ideal
paint job – but hey – the car still has all of its factory mechanicals.
Neat article!
The Michigan State Police still uses the bubble top light. They recently changed the bulb mechanism to LEDs. They say it offers better aerodynamics.
Not a good quality photo – but here is a current Michigan Trooper cruiser – Dodge Charger – with the red bubble top light…
The newer Charger in MSP paint even looks more impressive, as I saw one on I-75.
Looks like someone wearing a modern cut suit and shoes with a bowler hat.
What’s the purpose of the sideways thing on the hood with STOP lettering?
Tradition. Before patrol cars had effective emergency lights, the officer would pull up beside the offender and hand signal him to pull over for a traffic stop. At night or in bad weather, an MSP officer would illuminate the sign on the hood instead. It reads “STATE POLICE STOP” when lit. They obviously haven’t done this for decades, but still install the signs. I believe they still light up too. Neat, but strange.
To my young eyes these were the real life Mad Max V8 interceptors. I remember watching worlds wildest police chases of Fox in the 90s and whenever they’d pursue a stolen Porsche or Vette you’d eventually see one of these pop in view from the regular cruisers dash cam, weaving through traffic close behind the suspect. Such a cool image.
When I lived in Illinois, near the Wisconsin border, the Wisconsin state patrol had Mustang notchbacks in a nice blue color scheme. Illinois did not have them. I would see the Mustangs on I-43 between Beloit and Milwaukee.
I always thought Wisconsin was a cooler place than Illinois and letting the cops drive Mustangs just reinforced that. Though I haven’t lived in the midwest for 20 years, still like Wisconsin and think Illinois is a corrupt joke.
We didn’t have too many Mustang patrol cars in Michigan either.
The state I remember seeing the most in was Georgia! I remember them having a ton of Mustangs – and thinking that their officers were pretty lucky!
Yep, I remember seeing a few in Atlanta ( thankfully never professionally).
and think Illinois is a corrupt joke
Apparently Wisconson State Police thinks so too, considering they specifically target Illinois plates to ticket…..
Greetings from the shore of Lake Voyageur near Eagle River. We drove up from Illinois on Saturday and didn’t see a single WSP car the entire trip. Very surprising given the number of construction zones and lane reductions along I-39/US 51.
In Illinois you only have to worry about ISP if you have Texas or Arizona plates or if you even remotely look like you might be Hispanic.
You didn’t see them because they’re all concentrated on I-94, which happens to be the most direct route from the Chicago area 😛
Here below is a Fox, a Camaro and a Caprice as well.
Two equipped with the “wig-wag” lights instead of bubble tops – but you’d see both.
Figure this is early 90’s – judging by Camaro fascia.
The El Paso PD had one in a plain brown wrapper that would sneak up behind people cruising into the city limits from the surrounding desert landscape at very high rates of speed. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.
After Mustangs were decommissioned – the Ford Crown Victoria became the favorite of the Troopers.
But the sporty cars were void in the segment for some time after.
Back in the day, the Alabama State Troopers had some AMC Javelins.
That damned MGM Grand ad has rendered the page unreadable by jumping back and forth to the ad? I gave up on reading the page and have vowed that
next trip to Vegas, I will avoid all MGM affiliated resorts.
I’ve had a similar problem over the past several days. Clearing my browser cache has helped…..so far.
“CHP was very unhappy with their Dodge Miradas…”
The California Highway Patrol was fed up with the 1980 Dodge St. Regis; they never ran the Dodge Mirada as a patrol fleet, though they did run its four-door sibling the Dodge Diplomat for many years.
They hadn’t even really objected to the 1979 St. Regis, but it had the 360 engine, while the 1980 had the 318.
The 1980 St. Regis wasn’t really that slow for top speed in a Malaise-era car. The one I was assigned in my department was bought new from the CHP and it would do 110mph. But it was tuned by our Chief and his brother, who were car buffs, and it still took a long time to get there.
My employer had the ’79 CHP St. Regis also. For 1980, they didn’t go with the CHP, instead opting for the Ford Fairmont with the little V8 (255 ci?). I didn’t work for the police department, but I did drive one of the Fairmonts once…..very slow, and I liked Fairmonts/Zephyrs in general. Then they went with Malibus the next year, and followed with Dippys until they couldn’t get them anymore.
Oops; slip of the…finger. Meant St. Regis. Fixed.
Let’s see a few more cop cars please
I-280 is a great drive in that area, wide, sweeping, with great views, and even currently, still has a lighter than normal traffic flow, and man that super ugly statue!, remember when I first saw it in the mid ’80’s when I arrived here in sunny Cali, i thought it was a gnome or goblin from an amusement park or such. I think it has been removed but the “fred flintstone house” is still one of the sights from the road.
At that time, Mr. N. may recall) a popular bumper sticker here read “welcome to California, now go home”, all I can say is, “I should have taken the advice”!
I’m pretty glad about that light traffic flow on 280. A month ago my girlfriend and I had a flat on her Honda Shadow on one of those gorgeous sweeping curves…and laid down the bike in the left lane; I went flying into the shoulder…somehow traffic stopped around us and we made it.
MO Highway Patrol has been running nicely-equipped full size Chevy and Ford full size pickups with NO markings, nabbing speeders around St Louis. Sneaky buggers…
Those pickups are down around Lake of the Ozarks also.
You can bet it’s not an “active duty” patrol car when it has alloy wheels instead of black wheels and “dog dish” hub caps.
I lived in California and currently live in Florida and have never been stopped in either state. Texas is another matter. I was pulled over in Texas, twice, in the 80s…..both times in small towns.
Maybe it’s because I never really noticed it before but Florida has (seems to have) a HUGE turn over with local and state police cars.
You’re partially correct, these particular wheels seem to be replicas of the Saleen wheels used in the period, in a larger diameter. The 87 and up SSPs however used the alloy 10 hole wheels the LX 5.0 and previous 85-86 GTs, they were simply painted black, with the caps left aluminum
Indiana had a fleet of these starting in about 1988. They were all different colors and totally unmarked except for small lights in the back window which the troopers usually tried to cover up with one of those baseball caps with the net backside. They all came with the black alloy wheels and aluminum caps. However it wasn’t long before the black was gone from all those wheels. It seemed to me that the troopers liked to customize their cars with things like tinted windows, extra trim, etc. to disguise them. Most were pretty sharp looking. At the time I was driving an ’86 Mustang fastback. I started noticing that when I came up behind a lot of vehicles they would suddenly slow down requiring me to pass them with my dog of a four banger. Later the State Police went to Camaros for several years. Now they have a few late model Mustang GTs, all unmarked, of course.
So far , no one @ L.A.P.D. is liking the new Chargers….
Certainly not the patrol officers and certainly not the mechanics .
They’re *so* screwed up computer wise , they cannot swap engines from one wreck to a dead chassis….
Plus of course , too dang small and crappy visibility in any direction .
-Nate
Some body imported an ex CHP Mustang a few years back for use as a pace/safety car for a race track, youd think one would be ideal as did the importer but it required much modding to the suspension to be capable of pace car speeds on a track,
A similar thing happened to noted Ford racer Dick Johnson in Aussie he imported two Roush race spec Mustangs from Germany for Bathurst, he is famously quoted after practice as saying “it couldnt pull a sailor off you sister” refering to the Mustangs uphill performance or lack thereof.
I read somewhere one reason the Camaro was dumped by the CHP was the shotgun wouldnt fit in its assigned position vertical on top of the trans tunnel between the cops
Sometimes a Ford police car gets a new life as a wedding car, far away.
Wow….Paul is writing, car by car, my vehicular history. Earlier this week, he described my 1980 Pinto Wagon, and today the Mustang LX police special, which I owned concurrently with my Pinto in 1991.
My 1988 Mustang LX police special story:
In April of 1991 I went to Nationwide Auction yard in El Monte, CA (now defunct) which specialized in municipal and private fleet sales and commercial trucks. I was not shopping for a pony car, but this all black cop Mustang (all black body, blacked out aluminum wheels, gray cloth interior) was in a corner of the inspection lot, and I gave it a look. Papers in the glove box indicated it was a Montebello, CA fleet vehicle. The dome light had been replaced with a larger fixture, and there was a switch under the dash that would kill ALL the lights in the car. I am assuming the car was used by a detective. It never had a spot light or police insignia anywhere–it was probably a great surveillance car…in the dark, it was virtually invisible.
It was a 1988 model, had only 31k miles, and,most importantly, a 5sp manual. BINGO! I only had $5000 to bid. Later in the day, I got the car for $4800.
I had a trailer hitch installed so I could drag around my beloved motorcylces. Otherwise, I kept the car completely stock. At the time, Mustangs were in current use as active law enforcement vehicles, mostly by CHP, and I must admit that when on the freeway in the Mustang, I received much more deferential treatment by my fellow motorists compared to when I was driving my Pinto wagon.
Debbie, the lovely woman I took on a first date in my Pinto, had agreed to marry me, so I put the Mustang up for sale. By then, the car had gotten up to 42k miles, and the original Eagle GT tires had gotten thin, and the clutch throw-out bearing was making a bit of a squealing sound. I decided to convert the Mustang into a diamond engagement ring. I sold it for $4000 in 1992. I miss that Mustang, and such a limited edition Mustang would have been a keeper for investment purposes, but I made a good call on the woman, so no regrets. There is no better investment than marrying the right woman.
–Paul, next up is my 1981 Dodge D100/225 slant 6 pickup, (sourced from that same auction yard), then my 1993 Nissan Altima, then my 2001 Mazda MPV (we had our first son in 1999!), then our 2011 CX9 and my 2015 Mazda6 manual.
Around here they never used them as marked patrol cars. For a while in the late 80’s and early 90’s they had one used by the commerical enforcement division where they target semis and other big trucks. It of course was unmarked and the only clue was the small antenna on the trunk.
I did have an encounter with one in Utah way back when but thankfully he was not gunning for me. He was hiding in the median behind the structure for an overpass. He apparently got a hit on his radar on a car in front of me and came out of his hiding spot like a bullet. I have to believe it was not stock the way that it accelerated.
That’s an odd choice for commercial enforcement. WYDOT uses Ford Econolines for that to carry the scales, but there is usually a Charger or Police Interceptor at the spot too.
Strangely, the WHP vehicles vary between the parts of the state. By us, they run all Chargers, except for one new Ford Interceptor. Down by Cheyenne, I strangely saw at least three Caprices.
Still, I’m guessing that Mustang wasn’t for weight enforcement, but speeding or other violations?
Yes it was for speed or general safety enforcement, not spot checks of weight. one of the other cars they used back in that time were a Volvo Turbos.
For the weight enforcement they currently use F150 crew cabs but before the 1/2 ton crew cab was a thing they used Astros, Aerostars, and Explorers.
Around WA they also seem to use different cars by area. When the Charger came out they bought a batch of them and their experience led to them stock piling Crown Vics with some being stored for 9 months until they were put in service. The supplemented those with Tahoes, which seem to mainly have been reassigned to Eastern WA as the last few times I was over there that was all I saw at that was the older ones before there was a 4wd pursuit model. The they bought a batch of Caprices before switching to Interceptor Utilities.
That makes sense, then. A Volvo would be a pretty unsuspecting sight, and pretty quick to boot.
A year ago, I saw a WYDOT weight enforcement checkpoint. The vehicle they used then was a 1990s Econoline-based motorhome.
Those Caprices were an odd sight. I have to say that I like the looks, but don’t know much else. I’ve heard some nightmares on Chargers from one of the mechanics for the state (Not WYDOT), though….
Would love to see some restored FOX platform Ford LTD’s from 1983-1986 with the V8? love the sleeper aspect of those cars – I wonder if most actually used the V6’s
From what I understand the actual police package Foxes were all 5.0, the one I had was.
He’s just doin’ his job — he’s the Highway Patrol.
Love Junior Brown, his steel-git, taco hat, and Highway Patrol (that’s a great live version).
I helped out as an assistant instructor one year (’82 I think, possibly ’83) at an SCCA driving school at Sears Point (now Sonoma Racewy, north of San Francisco). A woman CHP officer was a guest, just watching, not on track. I spoke with her and she was interested in getting tips on instruction techniques for teaching officers how to drive the new, stick shift Mustangs. She told me that many (male) officers couldn’t drive manual transmissions. I wonder if she was Paul’s friend from the I-280 rest stop? Woman CHP officers were very rare in those days.
BTW the CHP evaluated Volvo 850 Turbos as well as Camry V6es. Not sure if it was felt they wouldn’t hold up or were just not American. I’m still amazed at how many CHP Crown Vics are still in service for active highway enforcement. I still see more of them than the new Explorers. They must really be getting up in mileage now. On recent trips to other states it seems like the classic Fords have all been replaced by Chevy PPV’s, Chargers or Taurus/Explorer Interceptors.
I seem to recall certain jurisdictions purchasing extra CVPIs in 2010-2011 to have as backstock when the writing was on the wall for the Canadian plant. Certainly when I lived in Queens (2012-14), I saw this to be true with bigger cab companies…a sea of yellow surplus, affixed with window stickers, waiting to go into service. Sadly, many brand-new P72s were stocked at lots by the Hudson and East Rivers, and many of them were ruined in Hurricane Sandy.
Here in Detroit right before the bankruptcy, DPD was running Crown Vics with over 250,000 miles, body damage, peeling paint, and the occasional transmission issue because of the financial situation. It was bad enough that some of the local rich guys and foundations donated something like 100 cars to DPD just so they could have enough cars to run.
I’m pretty sure the worst of the lot have finally been sidelined, but there are still a lot of old CVPIs here being thrashed daily in police service. It’s crazy to me how durable those things really are!
Conversely, “make it last or you’ll have to either patrol in your own personal car you bought with your own money or walk” is a pretty sharp incentive to NOT thrash it.
The 5.0 police pursuit cars also got the early ’69-70 351W camshafts, which Ford also used in their 302 marine engines.
WOW. I’ve never heard of that before. How badass. Is there a link to a history of this engine?
North Carolina Highway Patrol ran those notchback Mustangs starting in the late 80’s and into the 1990’s. Most of those were out of service by the mid 90’s, but then they decided they wanted more pursuit cars as they had quite a number of 1998-2002 Camaros. The last of those didn’t go out of service until 2007-08 or thereabouts. The Camaros were all slicktops, but fully marked in the attractive black & silver NCHP livery. I can no longer recall whether the Mustangs used a light bar or not, though they were in full livery as well.
NCHP maintains one each of the Camaro and Mustang in their “heritage” fleet, which can be seen at shows, the state fair, and other events. The fleet also includes a 1920’s Buick, 1940’s Ford, 1964 Custom 500, 1978 Fury, and 1996 Caprice, and I’m sure they’ve got at least one of the Crown Vics slated for the heritage fleet also. They’ve mostly (fully?) switched to Chargers at this point but they ran Crown Vics through the end of production and stockpiled quite a number for later use.
This is a photo from the 2009 State Fair of the ’78 Fury, with the ’64 Custom in the background. In the foreground you can just see the fender of the Mustang, though for reasons lost to time it didn’t merit its own photo.
That black-and-silver two-tone, so fashionable at the time, almost makes it look like a “Sales Bank” car that was bought with others at a knockdown price and run as-is. All it needs is a red pinstripe and whitewalls to complete the look!
City of Cincinnati police cars have 5 digit license plates…first 2 digits indicate the model year, the last 3 digits are an asset code or serial number of some sort. At any rate, it’s easy to tell, at a glance, how old a police car is…there are LOTS of 2006 Crown Vics still in daily service. I can only imagine the beating those cars have taken in inner-city use for a decade. The newer cars/SUVs seem to be a mix of Explorers, Chargers, just a few Ford Tauruses and I have seen ONE of the Chevy police cars, the police version of the SS.
In one of the auctions coming up this weekend there are a bunch of 2000, 2001 and 2002 retired P71s going across the the block. That auction does not reveal the selling agency and since those are plain white the could be from a number of depts that use their services. The county auction has a 1997 coming up this weekend and I still see an occasional really old one pop up on the state site, currently there is a 1997 on there too and it is just over 100K but I bet it has a ton of idle hours on it.
Definitely not FHP wheels on that car.
I rode in one of these piloted by an FHP Officer in 1995. That little car would move!!!
In the 80s, East St Louis IL was running cars in every color imaginable, because they were retired taxi cabs that the city bought at auction. Supposedly, less than half ran at any given moment, and if you believe the rumors, some police officers bought their own radios so they could stay in contact with each other, and dispatch. Now they have casino revenue and run a normal fleet of cars.
Wow, This IS MY FHP SSP Mustang , and YES, She IS what she was . This is unit 1222 and has a special page on http://www.sspmustang.org and look up The Last FHP , and I’ll tell you the rest …..
good post and responses. i lived next to a 2 lane route my sr yr in college. the small town has 5.0 and you often heard it ripping up thru the gears to catch revenue…i mean speeders. one thing touched on in the responses was emergency lighting..like some others at CC i find it very interesting. theres a couple 70’s cop movies featuring lighting that really fascinated me and was happy to learn about later( Mars Aurora light bar and federal signal “hill light” for 2) . a case could be made that the qty of lighting on cop cars is excessive and costly, but a bigger question is quality or brightness. the same setup that is quite visible on a sunny day is blinding at night. yes i see the light..but NOTHING else. side note..i was in paris in 2000 and saw unmarked cars with blue “Kojak”(Cojacque?) light affixed, rotating incandescent type. in 2014 they had wmswitched to LED that lit up sucessive sectors to emulate the beacon…very cool, at least my nerdy eyes