It’s only been over the past few years that Dodge Chargers have truly come into their own as police cruiser of choice. Until the last Crown Vic was produced, its full-frame allegedly made it the police car of choice, but with it out of the picture–in much of the midwest, at least–Chrysler’s entrant seems to be outselling the Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle.
This, of course, does not seem as novel to those of you who lived through the ’60s and ’70s, and the very recent ’78 Dodge Monaco and ’67 Plymouth Fury miniatures pictured here are a useful reminder to today’s children of the modern Charger’s unibodied law enforcement heritage.
This Monaco, made in 2008 by Mattel, represents a dark time for Chrysler. The civilian version of the same car fell out of favor with private buyers soon after it was released as the Coronet in 1971, and fleet sales were a valuable lifeline for Dodge. Not that police departments minded, as it was justifiably popular, especially with its 440 V8. Until the 5.7 liter Caprice of the mid ’90s, these were the last cop cars to break 130 miles per hour. Those of us who lived through the ’80s will remember large leftover stocks of these cars being crashed to death in action movies, but today’s kids may not have benefited from exposure to such high art.
Many more of us, however, won’t remember the time when full-size Furies were used as police cars. I’m a real C-body fanatic, at least when the 1965-1973 versions are taken into account, and couldn’t ignore this model, made in 2011 by a company whose insignia is too small to make out (I kept trying and my eyes kept crossing).
It’s the better detailed of the two, with clearly visible Fury II call-outs on the fender and an opening hood, though none of these is of especially high quality. Someone better acquainted with 1:64 scale cars is free to correct me on the latter point.
I’ve read that, compared to such cars as the Impala and Galaxie, these Furies were not the most popular big sedans, but that they created reasonable business for Plymouth, despite their deeply conservative shape. At any rate, sales to fleets were a way of building sales for these late ’60s beauties, and highway patrol departments benefitted from attractive deals.
Toys like this are a cheap must-have for any Mopar enthusiast seeking to indoctrinate his children into the Chrysler cult, or for those enamored of law enforcement (i.e. not me). Playing with them made me not only feel somewhat like a kid again, but made it easy to imagine introducing such toys to the children I currently have no plans to have. I even managed to get my partner and our friend–both serious grad students–to have fun crashing them against each other and launching them off the table. With the resulting gouges in the wooden surface, along with some chips left on the toy cars’ finishes, it was also a reminder of parenting’s less glamorous side. Any more bad behavior from those two, and perhaps this post would’ve also included some real, live pictures of the local PD’s Chargers.
I think the Fury’s from Johnny Lightning.
Between the silver metallic paint and out-of-period graphics, that Monaco’s crying out for the Brougham treatment – strip away the pad-printed markings with nail polish remover and Q-tips, make a vinyl top from masking tape and (gotta be red) paint, hit the wheels with a silver Sharpie and you’re in business. Drill the rivets to dismantle it and paint the interior red to match if you want to get fancy 🙂
Definitely Johnny Lightning on the Fury II.
This is one of my favorite castings produced by them!
I was enraptured to see a 3 on the tree, this was confirmed by the absence of a trans pan on the bottom plate casting. Bonus points for 4 doors too,
I have over 400 Johnny Lightnings on the wall in my office, BTW 😀 😀 😀
I should add that Johnny Lightning makes a 1:64 77 Monaco casting as well.
Here is an example in Bronze with Poverty Caps and a bench seat
I have that Monaco. I’m really disappointed that JL seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. 🙁
They also made a Continental Mark III and ’73 Caprice Estate.
I have the Caprice Estate, and also the ’60 Ford Galaxie wagon (among others).
Seems like wagons have had a bit of a resurgence in 1/64 lately. I also recenlty picked up some of Auto World’s new releases including the ’69 Kingswood and ’64 Country Squire wagons.
I want that estate. I’ll have to look out, JL not so widespread over here.
Ever since KB Toys closed up shop, Johnny Lightning seems to have been on hiatus from general retail. I used to be able to find them at WalMart and Target but now it seems the best/only place now to get them is ToysRUs lol. I think it has something to do with no longer owned by Playing Mantis…
Lately I have been collecting more and more Greenlight 1:64, but M2 and AutoWorld have piqued my interest as well; M2 has a model of a blue 67 Nova with a 250 Straight Six in full SS trim and I am definitely eyeballing the 76 Cadillac from AutoWorld.
JL was great because they had a little of everything; from the requisite Camaros/Mustangs/E-Bodies to the ’65 Fairlane Sedan from Dragnet and a 62 Avanti to an 84 Hurst Olds Cutlass.
I have the black 69 Continental that came with an auction paddle. Its black and the wheelcovers are true to the OEMs.
Alas, I have searched high and low for the 73 Caprice Estate Wagon and it is hard to find to say the least 🙁 But in searching for that particular casting, I stumbled across the brown 64 Vista Cruiser which has since become my favorite model in my collection, so all was not lost 😀
The ’76 Caddy is nice. They’re not kidding with the “true 1/64”–that thing is huge! AW also made my day with their last release, since included not one but two ’64 Galaxies (2-door hardtop and country squire wagon). Plus that nice ’69 Kingswood wagon.
The JL Caprice Estate I actually found at Wal-Mart; there is one in my area that seems to have them intermittently. Though your best bet might be ebay at this point. The same Wal-Mart also carries M2, which I’ve become a fan of as well. Some of their scaling seems a bit off and they put out the occasional turkey (the ’61 chrysler 300 was all wrong, and the ’57 Dodge Custom Royal has a bizarre wheelbase) but most of their products are pretty nice. Especially like the Auto-Trucks vintage rigs. Those are fun, if a bit expensive.
I think my kids have one of those ’78 Monacos around the house, although ours is blue. IINM, it’s a Matchbox; Mattel has always owned Hot Wheels, and they acquired Matchbox as well at some point. Matchbox seems to be positioned as a brand that sells a wide variety of realistic vehicles, while Hot Wheels specializes in customs/hot rods/muscle cars/sports cars/fantasy vehicles etc. (back in the ’70s, Matchbox’s range included some of the latter in an attempt to compete with Hot Wheels, but now that they’re under common ownership, there’s no need to do that). Both include a fair number of vintage vehicles in their product line. Hot Wheels seems to be by far the more popular of the two, but Matchbox are widely available and easy to find in stores.
“It’s only been over the past few years that Dodge Chargers have truly come into their own as police cruiser of choice. Until the last Crown Vic was produced, its full-frame allegedly made it the police car of choice, but with it out of the picture–in much of the midwest, at least–Chrysler’s entrant seems to be outselling the Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle.”
Here in Central Massachusetts, departments moving on from the Crown Vic seem to be a mix of Chargers and FWD vehicles like Tauruses, Impalas and Explorers. There are certainly Chargers around but I wouldn’t call them clearly dominant. At this point there are still probably more Crown Vics on the road than anything else, though.
I don’t think I’ve seen a single Caprice PPV. That may be a legacy of how things have been in the past. Even before 1996, at least as far back as the 1980s, Ford absolutely dominated the local police car market. Even in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it was probably something like 90% Crown Vic, 10% Caprice (I don’t even remember seeing many Mopar police cars pre-1989). The Massachusetts State Police used whale Caprices for a time in the ’90s, and they really stuck out because there were so few Caprice police cars around otherwise.
“I’ve read that, compared to such cars as the Impala and Galaxie, these Furies were not the most popular big sedans, but that they created reasonable business for Plymouth”
I think that’s a fair assessment. The full-sized Plymouths never really bounced back all the way from the hit they took from the ’62 downsizing debacle, and never sold afterward in as large of numbers proportional to Plymouth’s overall market size as their Chevrolet and Ford counterparts. But they were still reasonably good sellers that often ranked as Plymouth’s best-selling product line in the 1965-73 era. Around 1970 sales began to drop off noticeably for some reason (quality issues? people didn’t like the styling?), went into free-fall after the 1973 oil crisis, and never recovered.
According to the Standard Catalog, fullsize Plymouth production was over 300K every year but one from 1965-1971, but never reached as many as 400K (the peak was 366K in 1969). It stayed over 250K through 1973, then fell to 120K in 1974, then below 100K for 1975.
Besides the 1962 downsizing debacle, the awkward front end of the 1960-61 models (and the 1960 model from the side view looked too much like the 1957 model, some folks joked saying “Suddenly it’s 1957”) and the introduction of the economic “full-size” and more attractive Dart at Dodge didn’t helped the full-size Plymouth either.
That’s a good point about the 1960-61 models — the big Plymouths were struggling even then, and the odd styling was likely a factor. You could even take things back a few years further to the backlash from the quality issues with the ’57 Mopars. Everyone’s full-size sales were down during the 1958-61 recession, but Plymouth was probably hit harder than most.
The presence of the Dodge Dart also undoubtedly cut into full-size Plymouth sales in 1960-61. The Dart was introduced to compensate Dodge dealers for the loss of their Plymouth franchises (prior to 1960, Plymouths were sold through all three of Chrysler’s U.S. dealer networks, and not specifically tied to Chrysler like they would be later on); there were probably a fair number of customers who had bought Plymouths from their local Dodge dealer in the past who returned to the same dealer in 1960-61 and were sold a Dart. I don’t think Dodge was taking many full-size sales away from Plymouth in the post-1965 era, though, as the full-size Dodges in that period were not good sellers at all.
Plymouth’s close ties to Chrysler after the early ’60s may have also been a factor in the trajectory of the post-1965 full-size Plymouths. Plymouth lost its status as a distinct division in Chrysler’s corporate structure in the late ’50s, when it was merged with DeSoto, and was placed under Chrysler after DeSoto was eliminated. DeSoto’s demise, along with the decision to no longer allow Dodge dealers to sell Plymouths, created a situation where the dealer networks of the Chrysler and Plymouth brands were essentially coextensive. This left Plymouth as more or less an adjunct to Chrysler, with the people running the division/dealer network looking out for the interests of the Chrysler brand first and the Plymouth brand second.
Through the ’60s and early ’70s, there was a tendency for cars of all sizes to get bigger, and for low-end full-size sales to bleed off to smaller size classes like intermediates and compacts. At Chevrolet and Ford, this shifted the emphasis in full-size marketing and sales more towards the upper end of the range (Impala, Galaxie 500), and both brands would introduce new top-end models that pushed upward into what had traditionally been middle-price territory (Caprice, LTD). To avoid conflict with Chrysler models sitting on the same showroom floor, Chrysler seemed reluctant to let Plymouth’s full-size marketing emphasis get too far upmarket. From that point of view, I guess it’s not surprising that Plymouth’s full-size sales eroded away much faster than Chevrolet’s or Ford’s.
It’s interesting that the corporation also hesitated to move the Belvedere and Satellite upmarket, too, even though there was no direct Chrysler equivalent. Ford, in particular, offered its intermediates with plush interiors and upscale exterior trim in the 1970s. The Satellites, meanwhile, were almost painfully plain through the mid-1970s.
I always liked the late 1970’s Mopar police cars, especially the 440 powered units. That said, in 1978 MSP tests, a 440 powered Fury hit 133 MPH, the last car to hit 130 MPH until the 1991 Caprice. Every 1991+ Caprice hit 130+ MPH top speed, with the LT1 cars surpassing 140 MPH. That said, even though the big 440 Fury was fast in a straight line, the significantly slower 1978 350 Powered Impala ran the road course in 92.7 seconds vs, the Fury’s 91.1 seconds, the Impala finishing a strong second. This was likely due to the superior handling of the new lighter GM B-body.
The new Caprice PPV seems to have supply issues, which is keeping it from being a serious contender in the police market. Around this area, the Ford Interceptor (Taurus) seems be the popular choice.
“Now Perry, you and your friends had better stop mistreating those toys or I am going to put them up. When I was your age, I was lucky to get any toys at all. You kids have too many and you don’t seem to care about them one bit. Maybe we will just give them to the poor children.”
Sorry, bad flashback. 🙂
I seem to remember Mopar police cars from the 60s mostly on TV. I seem to recall mostly Fords and Chevys from my hometown. The late 70s Mopars did see Indiana State Police duty IIRC.
Sound like you need to buy ‘Smash Up Derby’ for your friends, and let the adults respect these things for what they really are… A pragmatic admission that we’re never going to own all the cars we really like at 1:1 scale.
I’m pretty sure the 440 Fury was not the fastest cop car until the LT1 Carpice. Unless you’re talking strictly about full-sizers. Don’t forget about the Mustang LX 5.0. The later fuel Injected ones could easily top 140mph. (Ask me how I know. haha)
I also remember reading in some book as a child that there was a 429-powered Mercury police package that was one of the faster ones available? Sounds odd now, but I clearly remember the photo.
I have that Monaco in a different paint scheme, and I agree with you–the ones on there don’t suit it at all. I was pleased when they made this car, though, as it hadn’t previously been represented in miniature (except for the 80’s Hot Wheels police/sherriff car, which was ostensibly a fury/monaco, though a very bad representation of one). I need to find the ’67 Fury version!
I remember reading somewhere that the unmarked tan Montego used in the original Gone in 60 Seconds was 429 powered and could easily outrun the Mustang
Good, so I’m not crazy.
Exercising the brain cells a bit more, I now remember that the info I saw was the caption on a photo in one of those wall calendars that you used to get from gas stations and the like. So I couldn’t find it again if I tried, I’m sure. But it’s nice to have some corroboration.
Around these parts, the Virginia State Police have stayed in the Ford family and are transitioning over to the Taurus PI versions. Same with Richmond city cruisers, though they’re adding in some Explorers to the mix.
North Carolina highway patrol was already running a mix of Chargers and Crown Vics, so when the CV was no longer available they went mostly over to the Charger. They’d long had some SUVs in the mix too (Cherokees, then Durangos, then Tahoes) and are continuing with the Tahoes in that role. Raleigh PD was the only one I saw that actually started buying the Caprice PPV, though I only ever saw a couple in service before I moved.
LAPD used 429 powered Montego’s in 1970. They were not well liked (brakes were a major shortcoming), so they switched back to Plymouth Satellites in 1971. You can see Montegos in the background of several later Adam-12 episodes.
The police spec 429 1969 Monterey (as used by Missouri State HP) was a two barrel, single exhaust putting out 320hp. The 428 1970 Monterey (as used by CHP) was a four barrel putting out 360hp (both gross). Problems with the 1970 CHP Mercury included separated motor mounts, broken ball joints, cracked wheels and cracked transmission housings. Apparently the 351C package was slightly down on torque, but considered the ‘hottest’.
– Encyclopedia of American Police Cars, Edwin J Sanow.
Many of the police departments around where I live are replacing their Crown Vics with Explorers. My city said their choice was influenced by patrol officers’ preference for the higher driving position.
I love WPC products , not quite enough to own any but I well remember the days when WPC’s were the Police Cars of choice and for very good reason ~ they were the ‘ Timex ‘ of Police Cruisers .
When production of the Crown Vic. stopped , L.A.P.D. began trying out the various alternatives , the Boys in Blue all hate the Taurus as it’s cramped and unsafe plus a stock Yaris easily pulls away from two Cops fully kitted out….
The Dodge Charger has terrible vision out and we first panned it but now I see more and more of them coming in so I guess that’s the new L.A.P.D. standard .
They tried the SUV’s but they’re useless in Urban environments with narrow streets plus the boys keep rolling and crashing them .
-Nate
In the very early 1970s, Hot Wheels offered a 1968 Plymouth Fury police car. It was painted in a generic black-and-white color scheme.
Matchbox, meanwhile, favored Fords – it offered a 1961 Ford Fairlane police car until about 1966, when it switched over to the 1965 Ford Galaxie police car. (In both cases, the car was painted red and sold as a fire chief car, too.)
Matchbox switched over to the full-size 1968 Mercury for a police car right before the switch to Superfast wheels in late 1969 and early 1970. A few Mercurys were built as “regular wheel” models, and then it was switched to Superfast wheels, too.
Matchbox also did a 78ish Fury police car in both scales.
Quite familiar with those; I have about 6 of them in 1/64 (one Made in England, one each of the blue “G12” and red “Sheriff” color schemes, three more of the standard black-and-white “012”). One of my favorite Matchbox castings.
I’d love to pick up one of the Superkings 1/43 versions but they always seem to be pricey when one pops up on ebay…