(first posted 2/16/2012) The smartest move I ever made was moving to California in 1976. It was then still truly the Golden State; I just couldn’t believe how incredibly beautiful it was, and all the opportunities it afforded me: nude beaches, mountains, deserts, beautiful girls, career prospects. And near the top of the list: driving fast, otherwise known as speeding, essentially with impunity. All one had to do was recognize this shape in the rear view mirror at great distances. I don’t like to brag, but I don’t think anyone outdid me in that regard. It was a skill finely honed as a kid, and now it finally paid off. “Coronet dead behind, at 440 yards, closing quickly”.
It seems positively quaint now, but the CHP (California Highway Patrol, for you non-Americans) did not start using radar on California’s Highways until 1999! (Why do you think I moved away a few years before then? I knew it was coming). It’s not that radar was legally banned per se, but the Legislature never authorized the expenditures necessary to buy radar equipment. Talk about self-interest, of the best kind! That and a very effective trucking industry lobby.
Blame it on the feds: they started making money for speed enforcement more readily available around the end of the nineties time, and there was some growing concern about the very high average speeds on the freeways, especially those away from the densest urban areas. I remember being “on the conveyor belt” in the left lane at no less than ninety; meaning everyone was rolling at that clip. Pretty amazing.
Curiously enough, there are still legal restrictions (at least as per the article I linked above) that make radar difficult for the CHP to use in the vast network of secondary county roads and such. California has (had?) a “speed trap law” ban, and a speed trap is defined as just about anything that guarantees speeders will be caught. I’m not sure of more recent developments that might have changed that. Back to the seventies…
When I arrived in 1976, the ridiculous 55mph convoys were already a thing of distant memories. I can’t find a picture, but when the double nickle was imposed federally in 1974, the CHP would get on some of the long-distance freeways like the I15, straddle the two lanes, and drive at exactly 55 the whole way to the Nevada border. That’s why I didn’t come sooner.
By the the later seventies, gas was cheaper and plentiful again, but the double nickle was here to stay, for what seemed like decades yet. So one almost had to speed; it was a way of living, getting by and staying sane; the question was how fast to go, and how to avoid the cops.
The main speed enforcement by the CHP was just sneaking up on folks, and then they had to tail them long enough to get a reading on their calibrated speedometers. A favorite trick was to “play the ramps”; they’d swoop down the on-ramp with gusto, hoping to quickly catch a speeder in the left lane. So one just had to get good at spotting them before they spotted you.
I always kept a constant eye on the rear view mirror, looking for the distinctive shape of the Dodge Coronets that were used during this era. Our featured Plymouth Fury is essentially identical to the Coronet, except for some obscure details of the grille. Now there was another boon to living in California: nobody drove these cars except the cops. I mean almost literally nobody, except maybe some bureaucrat in a state motor pool car. Regular folks just didn’t. This was California, after all. American cars fell out of favor a long time ago, starting with dull bland sedans like these. Thankfully! It was so annoying to have to slow way down, and wait for an eternity to find out that it was just some ag agent or such.
The CHP had been a loyal devotee to the Dodge Brothers brand going back some time.
But there’s little doubt that the Coronets were the best Dodges they ever had, and the best cop cars until the very modern era.
I’m not exactly sure which year the CHP switched from the last of the big Polaras (above) to the mid-sized Coronet, but it may well have been when the new Coronet/Satellite (CC here) body style came out in 1971, or shortly after. A great move, since the Coronet was not only lighter, but much more aerodynamic, with a slipperier shape and a substantially smaller frontal area.
But the same nasty 440 big-block was still under their hoods. In 1971, that was still a high-compression unit rated at 370 horses or so. That number slid throughout the eight-year run of these cars, due to switching to net ratings, lower compression, and smog controls. By 1977, that was down to 195 hp. I may be wrong, but I believe that the cop cars were still getting some goodies to make their 440s a bit punchier right to the end. But even 195 was a lot more than most cars had at the time, and the 440 still packed a mean torque wallop. Especially in comparison to what followed them.
The Coronet and Fury had their last year in 1978, and the much-maligned R-body Dodge replacement was the St. Regis. And in CA emission tune, the 318 four barrel was rated at 155 hp. Nothing more was available. These cars were a disaster for the CHP; the word was soon out that the big boxy St. Regis could barely hit ninety or so. Now impunity meant just driving away from them. Took some guts, and a decently fast car, but let’s just say that some of us had both back then. My ’83 Turbo Coupe was good for 120+, and the 300E that followed did 140 rock solid. Bye – bye!
It wasn’t just me either; this became a state-wide embarrassment/opportunity, with plenty of press. Around this time, Californians were well-past fed up with the double nickle, and civil disobedience on the freeways was a fact of life. What’s a cop to do when there’s an endless conveyor belt of cars all doing 75 or 80? Frankly, they all thought it was a joke too.
Now I did get a few tickets during those years, but never once going really fast, which I did most of the time. I got nailed once or twice driving home from work on the Santa Monica Fwy, because I was distracted and doing 68. But it’s a bit hard to be distracted at 110.
I also got nailed by the “Bear In The Air” twice. The CHP had a little fleet of Cessnas that would putter along over some nice long straights, like I5, and radio ahead the speed and descriptions of the cars to a big passel of patrol cars down the road. Sometimes they just stood on the side of the highway, pointed at you, and waved you over. You! And You! Game up. Times change. I took to turning my driver’s side outside mirror skyward on those kind of roads, which actually worked. Nobody else flies a Cessna 172 182 right along a highway at 300 feet.
But it was all a sportsmanlike cat and mouse game, and one couldn’t be sore on those rare occasions. Got to let them win once in a while; almost felt sorry for them. But NOT when doing 115 or so. That might have been a bit of a problem. Keep those eyes peeled on the rear horizon; check every ramp as you whiz by; scan the sky; and full speed ahead!
Now I’ve hardly talked about this particular car, which is all-too obviously an ex-cop car. The most telling sign, after the lack of front door molding, are the slotted wheels and the drilled-out hub caps. Man, did I love it when those came along! Brilliant. Why not just a slotted steel wheel, with a little center cap? No; we’re going to punch holes in our dog dishes, so that nobody will ever be tempted to use them as actual dog dishes. Call them strainers.
I was curious as to what this Fury was packing under the hood. Could it be the vaunted 440? I kinda doubted it, given the single modest-sized exhaust. So I did what I just finally started doing after all these years: took a shot of the VIN plate, and deciphered it. Sure enough; it’s got a 318 two barrel, big wheels, tires and strainer hubcaps notwithstanding. Oh well. But then it is a Plymouth…
A little postscript: the St. Regis debacle had to be dealt with, and the CHP did the unthinkable: ditched Dodge and ordered a bunch of Mustang LX 5.0 notchback coupes to augment the fleet; the only thing that would do the trick. And a nasty little trick it was indeed. Not only were they fast, but the Mustang GT was a very popular car at the time, even in California. So they were stealthy too.
My regular Sunday morning drive up the 280 (America’s most beautiful urban freeway) from Los Gatos to San Francisco was normally taken at 110; four lanes, almost no traffic (that time of day on Sunday, back then, anyway). But I learned to slow down right about where that shockingly ugly statue of Junipero Serra is, pointing down accusingly at the speeders on 280. Up there on the connecting road to the rest area always sat one of those Mustangs, driven by a young female trooper, just waiting for a date with me. “My girlfriend” Stephanie used to call her. That’s because I always slowed down and waved to her.
As a child of the ’70’s these were always sinister looking cars to me. They are now about as plentiful, regardless of their past use, as hen’s teeth.
My great uncle made a trip to LA in the early 80’s. His rental car was a brand new Cavalier. He was on the freeway, getting passed by everyone, while doing 75. A CHP officer pulled him over and threatened to give him a ticket. He responded why, since everyone was going faster than he. The officer said it would be for impeding traffic.
Just to pick nits, those CHP “Bears in the Air” were Cessna 182’s, not 172’s.
Great story. Wish I was on an old school Cali freeway right now.
My pal Zach and I looked at a ’78 cop car in high school, so long ago that I had to photocopy a page from a Mopar mag to get the codes. Lo and behold, it was a real 440 B-body, but trashed, and the seller was too weird to bargain with effectively. Just as well, we probably would have done serious harm to ourselves and others.
As an outsider, I’ve only seen those on tv. For some time. it seemed that virtually every used Coronet/Fury was bought up by Hollywood and crashed accordingly in one way or another. I dare to say that it is the single most recognicable cop car shape on tv, from any era. From like 1977 to 1985 they were literally everywhere on film and tv. Hundreds upon hundreds if not thousands were blown up Hollywood-style. Later to be replaced by Chrysler M-bodies, GM B-bodies, and Ford P71:s. Sometimes I wonder how many that are left, can’t really be that many, can it?
And how many were lost filiming “The Blues Brothers”?
Not to mention The Dukes of Hazzard!
Dang, I was gonna say that too!
*Sigh* twice in 2 car related forums in one evening…
(TTAC being the other one).
None in the Blues Brothers, they wrecked several truck loads of the full-sized Dodge Monaco(Grand Monaco? Fury de Brougham? etc) with the hidden headlights.
Dukes of Hazzard however must be at least partially responsible for the near extinction of these Plodges.
Do those St Regis ones have frameless door windows, except for the rear quarter pane sticking up (who decided that was a good idea?), seen some of those in 1980’s tv shows like A Team reruns on recently
The first picture makes me want to say: “GO GIT ‘EM FLASH!”
My friends and I became quite good at identifying the headlights and taillights of Crown Victorias, Caprice Classics, and the occasional Mopar sedan during our teen years. Day or night, it didn’t matter. Since Chevy gave up on the original B-body Caprice and Ford has dropped the Crown Vic, I’ve suddenly gotten very good at identifying Chargers. As an unmarked car in black (which the NM Highway Patrol has several) it can be quite menacing, bristling with antennae and with steelies.
I have the Caprice/Crown Vic/Charger headlights in my head but the Chicago Police are throwing a wrench in the works by buying Tahoes for patrol cars! I’m sure it makes sense to someone at the department to buy a giant SUV for the cops to putt around in….
Actually they use them up this way (Puget Sound) in many municipalities but they are more game for speed than they look though.
…because there’s Federal money available.
My little rural county in NeYawk…bought a four-door Jeep Cherokee (SJ) in 1979, as a mobile drunk-apprehension lab. That was before the age of pocket breathalysers and dash-cams.
The nooze about it was, there was block-grant money to do it with. But it would have been funny, seeing that white elephant in a high-speed pursuit.
Today, of course, there’s not not the need for space for the bulky equipment; but there seems less need to justify the expense, also.
My sentiment exactly. Why in the HELL, do cops need such big, gas guzzling vehicles at our expense?
Unlikely as it seems, the Tahoe is a very economical cop car relative to the current alternatives. They’re competitively priced, much cheaper to fix, and real world mileage is pretty comparable. Urban police cars spend most of their time idling or just creeping around in traffic; they all get terrible mileage.
Yep.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/07/chevrolet-tahoe-police-car/5274941/
http://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2010/02/tahoe-police-model-found-to-have-lowest-lifecycle-cost.aspx
The Tahoe is a good and economical police vehicle with low lifecycle costs. High resale value helps considerably with that. And at 138 MPH it’s just as fast if not faster than the old Crown Vics. I know around here a department started going with Explorers for the same reasons.
Popular opinion seems to think that police can just buy whatever they want…but the reality is that in the vast majority of departments expenditures are closely monitored and they have to justify every dollar in their budget.
Very true that the Tahoe’s are cheap to run as police units. This is evidenced by the world’s cheapest police department using them as their fleet vehicles of choice…that being the New York State Troopers. A good friend of mine is a trooper, so I get the lowdown on a lot of that kind of info. Like how none of the cars have cages now to cut costs and they have to transport detainees in the front passenger seat according to protocol. I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. And for the record, the Tahoe’s are RWD, except for some larger stations that have a single 4×4 for use by a sergeant or lieutenant to use if they have to go to a crime scene. Why? Cost…some of the snowiest roads in the country in upstate NY be damned! And from what I have heard several Troopers say, a RWD Tahoe on a slippery winter road in pursuit at 110-120 mph is much scarier than the same scenario in even a Crown Vic. I believe it.
ENOS! YOU DIP STICK!
A great trip down memory lane. My step grandfather retired from the CHP in the mid 70s. I grew up with a steady diet of tales of how things were back in the day. They are just as much creatures of habit today, going down the hill on I80 there are 3-4 spots that they love to use that I always slow down for.
The 5.0 Pursuit ‘Stangs shot the accident rate through the roof, lots of torque + short wheelbase = easy spin-out. The 4th Gen Camaros that replaced them were the ultimate sleepers, especially in the all white “Polar Bear” Specially Marked Police Vehicle livery.
With Fords foolish decision to discontinue the Panther platform they have effectively given the Cruiser market back to Chrysler on a Silver Platter. They could have dropped in the Ecoboost six with a mild hybrid system and owned the market in perpetuity.
Where I live (Calgary, Canada), the police use Fords exclusively—Taurus, Transit vans, and Explorers. There was an experiment a few years ago with the Charger, but I haven’t seen any of them in years. The Crown Vic ruled for fifteen years or more, with the odd bloated whale Caprice scattered in here and there. The 80’s were the decade of the Caprice, as I don’t really recall anything BUT them in blue and white (google images just revealed a Plymouth, however), with the Torino and ChryCo cruisers before that. The panther platform WAS introduced in about 1978, so a forty year lifespan is about as long as you can expect a model to last. Sure, it did a great job, but things change. Hell, even the Model T lasted less than twenty years…
PA State Police still have no two-way radar.
Local cops still have no radar at all. Just VASCAR, with the two white lines painter across the road.
BTW I wouldn’t mind having the ’59 Dodge in all-black with better tires and a modern Hemi…that’d be fun.
A guy I know had a ’57 2-door sedan, otherwise very similar to the ’59 shown. He had installed a 392 Hemi and Torqueflite. It was his wife’s daily driver until just a year or so ago.
Sorry, Paul, but the “Golden State’s” golden days were about gone when I left in 1973. I don’t need to go into detail, but you were just scraping up and enjoying the leftovers…
Those CHP cars – true – I only got a ride in ONE non-cop 1969 or 1970 Coronet or Polara or whatever it was, and I wasn’t impressed. It was cheap, cheap, cheap compared to the average GM and later, especially compared to my avatar. Of course the car in question was light mist green with a matching interior, natch.
The CHP cars? Man, they could fly! I rarely speed because I have tremendous respect for the law and never do anything wrong, but an acquaintance who always owned Corvettes got into a race with a CHP one fine night in 1971 with his 1971 LT1! He finally ended his fun of up to 150 mph and pulled over, the CHP finally caught up with him and promptly arrested him.
The next time I needed my car window bottom bracket heli-arced at the base welding shop, he was driving a spanking-new, base model Ford Pinto!
So I hear. But at least there were some leftovers.
Oregon was also a great place to drive fast. I drove 70-80 on the Banfield and Minnesota Freeways in the late 60’s – the 70’s. Salem was a 30-35 min drive down I-5(best time 26 mins but I was just a passenger) and used to drive to Eugene in less than 1 1\4 hrs. Portland to Lincoln city was 1hr and 15-20mins, once from Seaside to Portland in 55 mins. People in California didn’t have all the fun, some of it happened here.
California, at least the southern part, must have been perfect around ’65 when all the freeways were new and smooth as glass, more opportunity to speed and a fraction of the population here today.
And sadly, the Santa Monica Fwy is now just “the 10”. They have just about completed the conversion to strictly a numeric nomenclature and have removed the old signage, Harbor, Pomona, Ventura, and other freeway references.
When I first went to Sacramento in late 1969, I was impressed with the K Street Mall – one of the first pedestrian “malls” – a city street closed to traffic. Then a bit later, especially after I bought my avatar, wow! Yes, most of the freeways were indeed new and in the northern part of town near Cal Expo – everything seemed to be new or almost new – it was all built since the war, only 25 years previous. Talk about being a kid in a candy store! No wonder I was broke all the time – all my spare cash went straight in the gas tank, as I couldn’t stop moving!
A golden time in my life: A beautiful car, a cushy job in the Air Force, single, a beautiful part of the country – what could I want more? Well – a girl, but for various reasons, that would have to wait a while…turned out, I’m glad I did!
Well; I moved to Calif in 1978 and, despite it’s myriad problems, it was still Nirvana compared to Wash DC where I was born and raised.
But like you and many others; I now live elsewhere here in Arizona.
Ha Ha I was about to say the same thing. I left in 74 when I graduated and had to choose a real job. Getting too crowded and smoggy. But I came from a small town and ended up in a small city. So each to his own and everything is relative.
In 1985 my buddy and I made the Ultimate Road Trip from Canuckistan down US 101, right to LA. We did it on our motorcycles, me a spanking new Honda 500 Interceptor, him a Suzuki GS850G. Anyway, being all of 20 years old at the time, the only speed I ever rode at was as Insanely Fast as Possible. It was a great ride, especially in northern California, where the twisty roads made the little Honda a blast to ride.
Anyway, coming down the coast around La Jolla, I was motoring along at a rather sedate 110 mph or so having a fine time. Then a Diplomat came roaring down on on ramp and headed us off. We stopped and the cop said, “How fast were you going?” (I wonder why cops always ask this?) Being all of 20, I replied, “At least 110!” with a big grin on my face. The cop was amused and said, “Since you are so honest, I’ll write you both up at 70.” We then had a very nice visit, took pictures, shook hands, etc.
What the cop told me that they have in fact tried to make four interceptions of us but the 318 Diplomat cars were so slow he had been the only one successful.
The ticket was $115 and I never paid it!
Cal is so strapped cash wise that if you show one hair of your ass there, they’ll pull it up – with interest!
In case anyone missed it…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-bi-directional-dual-440-powered-1973-dodge-coronet-police-pursuit/
There is a ex Florida Police 78 Fury for sale locally 318 auto heavy duty suspension etc in quite good order too it comes with door decals etc so some of these escaped, its a 78 and the guy has a 440 that can go with it if wanted Id love to buy but cant afford the gas unfortunately or the speeding tickets.
I have always wondered just what was the purpose of the holes drilled in the hubcaps on police Mopars. These were the same caps on civilian cars, but the holes were unique to police duty.
Couldn’t have been brake cooling and there could not have been any weight savings. To keep from cooking wheel bearings? This is my best guess. Everyone else just used stock dog dishes, but not Mopar.
I always wanted to like these, and am still trying. But I keep hearing the motion of the linkages for the door handles echoing in hollow doors and the squawk of the door hinge before the “halumphf” of the door shutting and I just want to run away and find a 68 Newport or something.
Maybe if I could get past the door slam and actually drive one of them, I would be converted. I am willing to give one a try. Anybody got one?
“But I keep hearing the motion of the linkages for the door handles echoing in hollow doors and the squawk of the door hinge before the “halumphf” of the door shutting and I just want to run away and find a 68 Newport or something.”
Fantastic verbal description of an audible experience. You’ve captured this event to perfection!
It’s the noise of the starter I can’t get past. Sounds worn out even when new.
But that was my favorite part!
Indeed! From what I read a few years back, when the gear reduction starters were introduced in 1962, they were rer, rer, rer, rer, rer, vroom! but in 1975 or so, they came out with a higher torque with additional windings and thus spun much faster but had essentially the same sound and it was these that I recall primarily with the electronic ignition systems then in common use on Chryslers, Dodges and Plymouths. My Dad had a 1975 Gran Fury and it had that later gear reduction starter and it was MUCH faster and a bit higher pitched than the older ones.
Love the sound of these still to this day.
@EVB: What?! “Neeh neeh neeh neeh VROOM blub blub blub…” Pure poetry! 🙂
I would say “Na-Rayre neer neer neer neer Vroom”. And you have to hold your nose to get the sound right. But, I guess this is like Potato/Potahto. The funny thing is that since the starters turned so slowly, it was so much more dramatic when the engine fired and started running.
When I had my 68 Newport, the starter gave up and I went to NAPA to get another one. I was actually disappointed when I turned the key and it spun so much faster, more like the late 70s units. But as it aged, it slowed down a fair amount and sounded more authentic.
@JP:
Geozinger and myself strongly recommend that you copyright that Chrysler starter sound immediately!
Years ago, my buddies and I used to mock that sound all the time!
*applause* 🙂
You guys got me searching the web for such sound – in vane.
Now I’m curious: somebody should publish a recording on YouTube in favour of us Euro-readers !
The song “Manic Mechanic” by ZZ Top features Chrysler’s Hamtramck Hummingbird at the beginning and the end.
I always think of a Chrysler gear reduction starter as sounding like “Ki-ki-ki-ki-VROOM!”
Love that Hammtramck whiner!!
I’m pretty sure that the holes (as well as the larger slots in the wheels) were for additional cooling. Heavy braking can really heat up the hubs! Back when I owned American cars, I was repacking front hubs every 20-25K miles (in my own experience, letting it go past 30K miles risked bearing damage).
I put a set of those exact same wheels (“cop wheels” a la Blues Brothers) on my 1971 Ford LTD that I had set up like a cop car (it would cruise at 120mph just fine, whereas 90mph was plain scary in stock form due to loosey-goosey front end). I even found a 140mph police speedometer in the junkyard (in a government fleet car, of all things) but never got around to installing it. I just sold those police wheels (along with a full set of those holey hub caps) a few years ago, long after the LTD was gone.
Regarding the cop car above, I test-drove that exact same car back in 1984 when I was looking for a winter beater while living in Indiana. The handling was amazing – the front end stayed absolutely flat during cornering (I had never, ever driven a full-sized American car that did that), and power was decent due to the big block. I ended up not buying it, however, as there were some weird noises coming from the rear end and I didn’t want to deal with that kind of repair while I was in college.
Too funny on those door hinges – brings back memories.
A car pool mom when In was in middle school had a ’71-’72 era Satillite wagon. This was 1977, so the car had a few years. The doors were decidely creaky, and I’m sure cleaning and lubrication would have helped. The ultimate was when the front passenger door decided to stay stuck open when we got out of the car in the morning drop off line. Nothing like an annoyed crowd to add to an embarrasing moment for my friend’s mom. I have no idea how she resolved that morning.
I’ll take one with a 440 and round headlights please!
1969 was the high point for CHP Mopars. The CHP spec 69 Polara Pursuit had a top end of close to 150 MPH and ran the quarter in 14.3 at 99 mph. It was all downhill from there.
When I first started driving all the locals had box Caprices and LTDs, Troopers were still using Dippys. Three different headlight patterns to memorize depending on the territory. You do get pretty good at it over time! It’s too hard for me now, the town I’m in has a multitude of “Tacts” that they regularily patrol in. Sneaky buggers!
Tacts?
Tactical units.
I have heard these numbers quoted before and I have a hard time believing them. I have seen nothing official that show this performance. Car Life tested a 1969 Monaco 440 with the 375 HP 440, It ran 15.5 sec 1/4 mile at 93 mph. Top speed was 127 mph. These numbers seem to be more inline, considering intermediate 440’s Mopars were typically 14 second cars.
“Keep those eyes peeled on the rear horizon; check every ramp as you whiz by; scan the sky; and full speed ahead!”
That about sums it up for driving fast (alertly) on Southern CA freeways. However, these days one should assume that there is a CHP officer with a radar gun wherever there is a “blind curve” on the freeway. My rule of thumb is “be the second fastest car on the road”.
For what it’s worth, “CHiPs” was my favorite TV show growing up…I’m sure they “trashed” many more of these Dodge/Plymouth cars than “The Dukes of Hazard”.
I have a set of those exact wheels and tires sitting in my storage unit right now. Many years ago I found two of them sitting at the curb next to where I was working at the time. I snagged two more at the junkyard ( along with the caps ) on a scrapped early 80’s Diplomat taxicab.
I ran them on my ’68 Cougar for a while ( same bolt pattern ) but soon returned to the stock rims. They’re now sitting in storage getting rusty.
For years CHP had a rule that their cars had to be 122″ min. This precluded the use of the “low priced three” brands, which is why they use Dodges as opposed to Plymouths, Olds as opposed to Chevy, or Mercuries (1970) as opposed to Fords.
This worked fine until such cars became extinct . Folklore has it that when Chrysler resurrected the large B body in 1965, the Dodge Polara was one inch short at 121″ WB.
At CHPs behest, they produced a 122″ version just for them. I presume this was accomplished by setting the axle back on the springs, with no sheetmetal mods, but I’m not sure. This was reminiscent of 1956, when Buick made them a run of special Centuries . Normally, the 2 door post was offered only as a 3 holler, (Special).
The 2 door post 4 holer was CHP only, and can be seen on the classic TV series Highway Patrol, starring Broderick Crawford.
Does the CHP used the smaller 1966-70 B-body Coronet/Belvedere(Satellite) once? I think the LAPD used them as they appeared in the first seasons of Adam-12 before they switched briefly to the Mercury Montego, 1971-72 Plymouth Satellite and AMC Matador in the later seasons.
Also, when the Gran Fury morphed into a “Dippy” when it became a M-body (sadly, Canada stick with the Caravelle nameplate) in 1982, didn’t the CHP also used a couple of M-body Gran Fury/Dodge Diplomat as well?
CHP didn’t start using the B body until a limited trial of Coronets in 1975. They proved popular with the officers, so they switched wholesale from the full size Monaco thereafter.
Your progression for the LAPD is correct (all Plymouth, no Dodges). Adam-12 skipped the Montego, which was a failed experiment in 1970. They just kept the 1969 Belvedere for an extra year, either because they didn’t care for the appearance of the Mercury or they were cheap. I’m sure it was some of both. Montegos occasionally appear in the background of the 1970+ episodes. Those were real LAPD units on loan. The AMC Matadors were introduced in 1972. They used the Satellites in 1971 and returned to the Plymouth B-body in ’74 or ’75 after buying a limited number of 1974 coffin nosed Matadors.
Considering that cop cars are beat to hell and then sold off to be a taxi or worse private security, it’s incredible this car has survived to this day.
BTW it wasn’t just Dukes of Hazard that wrecked these cars, it was all the US TV cop shows and movies right up through the late 80″s along with the A-Team that contributed to their demise.
Seeing this example reminds me of a guy I knew who had a ex-RCMP 1977 Fury with a 440 IIRC and that car was fast, fast enough to beat the Mustangs and Camaro’s of that time.
You knew it was ex RCMP because of the blue paint job, the white doors painted over, badly, assorted holes in the roof and dash, and the beefed up rear suspension exposed by the rusted rear fenders. That car was beat and we’re talking 1986 or so, so this one is a real survivor.
@T.W.
Cop cars are beat to heck but (in my area) they are maintained by obsessive managers. I (still) can’t believe that this B body still exists.
In The late 70s Early 80s Along the Taconic In NY State, Dodge St Regis, replaced the Plymouth Furys… or Dodge Monacos…
Boston Cops Drove Chevy Novas…Weird Choice I always Thought.
In NJ they Had used Chevy Full Size Biscayne Wagons in Blue for our town Police cars, Until …? ….. Now They Seem to prefer Tahoes or Suburbans
“….but the double nickle was here to stay, for decades yet…”
It may have seemed that long*, but in reality, the Feds finally allowed 65 mph in 1987, 13 years after 1974. Only one decade + 3.
Then by mid 90’s, states could set their own, 70, 75, 80.
* Yes, I certainly do not miss driving 58-62 mph and watching for ‘Smokey’ on wide open highways. Seemed like it took decades to cross Texas Panhandle!
I guess it just seemed that way.
Yes, I see the posting date… anyway, once upon a time I drove like that- like most everybody else- having to keep the eyes peeled for cops and even then collecting speeding tickets. Then I discovered The Zen Of Driving At Or Under the Limit. Now I couldn’t care less if a cop is hiding somewhere or following me- let ’em. My fuel economy is way up too. The drives lack stress, unless an idiot motorist provides some. As far as trip time, do the math. In most instances the difference between going the limit and speeding is a few minutes.
Frank ;
This is called GROWING UP .
Many have never experienced it .
-Nate
Wasn’t just CHP that was running those cars, of course. I came of age in a rural New York county, where the sheriff was of the habit of using Furies for road patrols. I believe the NY State Police was using older full-size MoPars in our district; but in our pastoral region, they pretty much stuck to the Thruway and let the county boys hassle us kids.
But, after blundering into a couple of speed traps (six points on my license!) I was always on the lookout for a Fury parked where it shouldn’t likely be. For a short time, the county varied with New York standard coloration of Sheriff’s cars…our county used earth-brown, whereas the rulebook specified white with red accents and lettering…and those earth-hue Smokey-cars were hard to spot.
In later years 1979/80, those round-headlight brown Furies were replaced with red-and-white stacked-square headlight Plymouths; easier to spot and not only for the color. By that time, the cops were about the only people in our county who could afford new cars.
Paul,
In 2002, I was closing out my apartment here in Seattle (at the south base of Queen Anne hill no less) and taking clothes, my PC and a few other things in my then 1988 Honda Accord (LX-I sedan at that) and go live with a new friend and his then partner in Culver City California and look for work.
This was back when not only had 9-11 come and gone, but the dot.com bubble had burst and it was a race between California, Oregon and Washington St as to who had the best unemployment #’s and it seemed like a good idea to move to LA and find work there, you know, huge city, lots of opportunities, well, think again.
I lived there 6 months and had to move on back home after sporadic temping being all I could find.
That said, the state then was cash strapped and rumor was they could not fly their Cesnas to monitor speeders so people were disregarding the speed limits and I did the same while driving to LA. In one of the hottest days of that summer (late June), I was flying along in that loaded up Accord doing at least 90, if not closer to 100mph for a stretch of the San Joaquin Valley and never got caught for it.
That was then, this is now so don’t know how it is now if one is to fly low low on I-5 these days, but if I could, I’d do at least 80 through much of the state on that freeway – and I did it then too, once I finished descending the Siskyiou mountains.
Yes, I’ve heard that the airplanes may have been a victim of budget cuts. But the CHP does use radar, on that same stretch. We drive to the Bay Area at least once or twice every year, and I keep the cruise control at ten over (80). I did get nailed once on 101, when I let her rip. And my son has gotten nailed on I5, near Yreka. You lucked out; it’s a gamble. There are some stretches that I usually feel it’s pretty safe to go faster.
A friend of a friend had an ex-cop Diplomat. He called it “the datekeeper”. Dates could get in but they couldn’t get out since there were no door handles in back.
There are always a few Tahoes parked around the Seattle Federal bldgs. They’re used by the Federal Protective Service cops for some reason. Basically all they do is sit at the curb. Not sure why they need SUVs to cover a few blocks of downtown Seattle.
The Suquamish Tribal police have Tahoes now. Bought with the firehose of revenue from the spiffy casino they use to relieve the bumpkins of their paychecks.
The WSP had some 5.0 Mustang notchbacks too. I got pulled over once by a female trooper in one. Not for speeding, I was on a surface street. I had a trailer brake light out and I guess she was bored and needed something to do.
Seattle PD actually used Dodge Darts back in the mid 1970s. There aren’t many wide open streets around Seattle without curves.
One officer still patrols Downtown Seattle in a 1970 Satellite. Here is the link: http://jalopnik.com/seattle-police-roll-in-this-restored-1970-plymouth-sate-481416207
There is a SWEET version of this on eBay right now. Plush civilian-style interior and all the cop goodies, including the 440 HP engine. Man, if I had the dough…
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Plymouth-Fury-?cmd=ViewItem&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D2%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6471094750149975138&_trksid=p5197.m7&item=300659047662
I think you guys have still got a pretty good deal, we have time-over-distance cameras that check your average speed over 70 miles – no getting around those, and car-mounted mobile radars that clock oncoming cars on 2-lane roads. The worst part is only 3mph over the limit could get a ticket, 15 over you do your licence for a month. Have to be very selective where you pick up the pace these days. One of my fond memories from my trip to the UK was cruising down the motorway at 90mph, a much better way of covering ground. At least I got to the Northern Territory before they brought in the speed limit there.
“It was so annoying to have to slow way down, and wait for an eternity to find out that it was just some ag agent or such.”
Well, Paul, I’m fairly sure the ag agent thoroughly enjoyed your slowing down and waiting for an eternity. How do I know? As an exchange student in Alabama in the mid 90s, I was one of the designated drivers for our group of students. Our rides: two brand-new bubble Caprices, one white and one burgundy, with State tags. Whenever we merged onto the Interstate, all traffic around us would magically slow to 65 and, best of all, clear the left lane. I got a good laugh out of it and sometimes used the empty left lane to floor the whale.
Chicagoland and IL State police departments stuck with full sized cars, mostly Chevy Impalas, which could still have 350 ci motors for cop use between 1978-96. Then Caprices. The Ford Crown Vic didn’t get many sales, around here, until the B body was dropped in 1996.
It is interesting you say that bout Chicago; I believe you, even though the general public is tricked into thinking all Chicag..erm, Metro PD police cars are St. Regises from Hill Street Blues. 🙂
Blue bars with red lettering 🙂
Here’s my 78 A38 Fury. It’s my daily driver. I also have an original screen-used 78 Monaco from HUNTER, a 75 Coronet CHP car, a 69 Charger, and a 2000 Dakota R/T
My Friends family survived on Public surplus cars with three teen drivers in the 70’s. They had some of the fastest cars on the block. Everyone tested their hod rods by beating the ” interceptors”. ..Some of the fastest I recall were a 71 Pontiac Grandville detectives model. 455 Super Duty 13 sec 1/4 150 cert speedo top end. 70 Plymouth Fury 3 440 interceptor 145-150 14 sec car. and couple other 71 440 interceptor dodges. All 130 plus highway cars. I remember seeing Jesus a few dozen times in that Poncho on I-94 coming out of Detroit…that thing was fast fast.
Since the RWD F-Bodied Plymouth Volare’ based Gran Fury which was really known as the Caravelle had not really replaced the larger RWD R-Bodied Plymouth Gran Fury after 1982 (so I won’t count that one), I have put a side by side photo comparison instead between the RWD Plymouth Satellite B-Bodied based (prior to 1975) 1978 Plymouth Fury 4 Door Sedan next to the RWD R-Bodied 1980 Plymouth Gran Fury 4 Door Sedan which in essence actually replaced the B-Bodied Fury two years later here in the US. The Plymouth US Division did not have a replacement Full Size car during the 1979 Model Year which made the Compact/Intermediate Size Volare’ temporarily the largest car Plymouth had offered. Canada however had both the R-Bodied Gran Fury and the M-Bodied Caravelle after the F-Bodied Volare’. The RWD B-Body and RWD R-Body were still based from the same archaic platform which dates back from the middle through the late 1960s
Speaking of Gran Fury…how about a restored example in Edmonton? One of two cars in the west.
This is the only image I have of this car on my iPad. It has the 360 V8 with 4bbl.
In the early ’80’s, TV shows like ‘Dukes of Hazzard’, ‘A-Team’, ‘Fall Guy’, ‘TJ Hooker’ & the like all conspired to decimate the population of these types of intermediate Dodges & Plymouths. The studios were buying them by the gross back then at auctions for pennies on the dollar. They were nothing more than cannon-fodder to the studios to be rolled, wrecked, blown-up, etc. for sheer entertainment.
The slotted wheels on the PPC versions were indeed for brake cooling; the holes drilled in the hubcaps were for allowing some cooling air for the bearing hubs. Dodge & Plymouth had a very comprehensive police package back then & offered it at huge savings, hence why so many municipalities used them. Car & Driver tested a Monaco PPC version in ’77, & one of the writers said of it, quite humorously, that ”this ain’t no wimp’s car. It’s a mean, onery, stiff-legged sum-bitch!” But he also advised not to choose it for your gymkhana racer, as the brake fade was horrendous.
Ford Seirra XR 4×4 British cop cars suffered the same due to lack of alloy wheels to save a £ or 2 on costs. . During a long high speed chase they tended to go over roundabouts in stead of going around them.
Buddy of mine is a retired Marion County, Ind., sheriff’s deputy. Long retired, as he told me that the best cop car of all time was the ’71 Mercury he had. Stupid fast, he said of it, as I recall.
Yes – this was the quintessential cop car of the late 70s to early 80s. The CHP was pretty much all Mopar until the 90s.
With the Crown Vic Panthers fading from the scene over the years, wonder what’s going to be the definitive cop car of the future?
Those Ford fans buy Explorers, a Taurus for those sticking with sedans.
Chevy guys keep buying Caprice if they want a sedan. A countryside deputy is more likely to drive an Impala, and Tahoe is for those tough jobs or commercial vehicle enforcement.
And Charger became the new Crown Victoria with less space ( or more of a modern Diplomat )
And some smart detectives are driving Buick Regal, Ford Expedition, Ford Edge these days.
Paul:
The CHP defected from Dodge a few times over the years. In 1967, it was Olds 88s. For ’68 and ’69, it was back to Dodge for the big Polara. In 1970, a one-year fling with the Mercury Monterey, and then right back to the Polara through 1974 and the Monaco from 1975-77. Then came the Coronet for seemingly ever…until the Crown Vic in the late 80s. They’re replacing those with the Police Interceptor SUV (based on the Explorer) now.
I have minimal experience driving California freeways, but I was actually impressed by how thick traffic can move quite fast and not seem to be loaded with accidents – maybe it was just my lucky couple of days there. As a midwesterner accustomed to a pretty lazy and easy highway driving experience, it was kind of intense having to actually pay attention to my driving in a much more proactive way. After a day or two, I got used to it and was able to pull my finger nails out of the back of the steering wheel.
Dave:
It is better than many places, but not as good as it once was. I moved back to California a year and a half ago, after 36 years away (27 of those in Arizona). In the 60s and 70s, everyone seemed to get with the program and jell after some exposure. Now, there are 38 million people instead of 22 million, the roads are much more crowded and people seem to have more diverse driving styles, which gums up the works.
A trip down memory lane. I grew up In SoCal and my dad taught me to speed properly – one eye always in a mirror.
I lived near Palm Springs and you could really make some time between Beaumont and Indio on I10. Almost always a tail wind on “The Pass”.
Those CHP drivers were sneaky though.
Some time in the late ’70s Mrs. Tom and I did a ride-along with a Phoenix PD officer. I asked her which cars the patrol officers preferred, and Plymouths seemed to be the overwhelming choice. These days they have been adding more and more Tahoes.
Also in the late ’70s I got nailed by CHP returning to Phoenix on I-10, he was doing the on-ramp maneuver described above. I was driving Mrs. Tom’s ’77 Rabbit…
Question was when was the last year the CHP used Polaras. It was 1973 the same year Dodge ended the car line. I clearly remember them as I got here in 1965 and started driving in 1969. I can say that the CHP only got me twice. One was a motorcycle cop, that was hard to spot in LA traffic, doing 60 in a 55 while driving a VW wagon. Second was a 1973 Polara coming down the Altamont Pass, in the dead of night, out of gas, during the gas crisis, into an area with no gas stations, in the VW coasting and I practically ran up the rear of him. Stupid, but I was focused on the gas situation. Clearly remember the date 12/18/73.
Summer of 1979 – road trip with my mom, aunt, and two cousins on our way from Fitzgerald Georgia to Donna Texas to visit my aunt and her family. My Aunt Evelyn’s car was our source of transportation and unfortunately, it was her recently acquired 1977 Plymouth Fury Salon. As a 17 year old, I clearly understood the hierarchy of Plymouth on the automotive prestige ladder and quite frankly, I really wanted something else besides this to travel in. Of course this was ridiculous as the Plymouth was totally reliable and got good gas mileage with its 318. The a/c blew cold, the fm stereo pulled in some far distant stations, and the car was reasonably quiet, comfortable, and smooth riding. Still, it was nothing but a fancied-up Satellite and to this day, I’ve never forgotten the time spent with it.
my first car was one of these in 2004 lol spent 700 on it was burgandy though gran fury
Great article Paul! Loved the stuff about living in Cali in the 1970’s. I’ve never been to the US west coast, but I hope to visit someday.
CHP had a rule about not using cars with less than a 122″ wheelbase for cruiser. In the early 1960’s they did some testing with “short” wheelbase (less than 122″) cars and found them “unsafe” for high speed patrol work. This rule stuck around until the mid 1970’s. By then even CHP could see the writing on the wall for the monster full-size cruisers. So for 1975 they did a test with some intermediate Dodge Coronets. They went over so well, than in 1976 they adopted them, which was a good choice since the 440 wasn’t available in the full-size cars last years in California in Police guise.
As for 1978, the top engine was the E86 440. This was the only 440 available in California and it was rated at an impressive (for the time) 240 hp and 330 ft-lbs. The 49 state version was rated at 255 hp and 360 ft-lbs. Chrysler had a huge assortment of police engines for different emissions standards available in the police packages. Michigan State Police tested a 1978 Fury 440 to have 0-100 mph 24.8 secs and a top speed of 133 MPH. Keep in mind most police test results are significantly slower than “buff mags” since they have very specific guidelines.
Chrysler really invested in the police car market during this era and they did put together the best all round package. This included special police engines that had made significantly more power than civilian versions. They also had numerous upgrades to withstand the high speed use. Ford did this as well with the 1972+ 429/460 Police Interceptor engine, but its power died in 1975 when the catalytic convertors were installed.
The article really nailed the late ’70s California driving experience. The only missing element was the markings on the pavement on the desert and Central Valley portions of the highways. You would see arrows pointed in your direction of travel painted across each lane, and they were there for speed calibrations from the airplane. A bit further along (1/2 mile?) would be another set, and the planes could calculate your speed by timing the travel between the two sets of arrows. When you saw the arrows, look for the plane. Working from the arrows, they could also fly higher up than the 300 feet or so, making the plane more “stealthy”.
The other thing the cops would do would be to leave on a simple overhead freeway exit and immediately come down the other side, back onto the freeway, to catch the drivers who had sped up, once the cop was gone. Or sit on the top of the elevated exit and observe traffic as it came into view.
I drive a Ford Five Hundred now, not a Panther, but if I drive it fast in the fast lane, with occasional “swoopy” lane changes while maintaining speed (as the cops do), many drivers will slow down and move over, “just in case”. Once I go by, they speed up again.
A long time back, a friend bought an old but very shiny black Rambler something-or-another to commute 100 miles each way from his job to visit his lady-friend every weekend. He named his car “Broderick” after that show.
Once we put white Mac-tac on the driver side door and nobody passed him in 100 miles, no matter how slowly he drove.
I worked for Ford in the early 80s when the pursuit Mustangs hit the road. There were posters around work with a picture of the CHP Mustang and the tagline “The car that chases Porches for a living.”
My grandfather started as a patrol officer with the Missouri Highway Patrol and retired as a Lieutenant after thirty-five years. When he entered the force, this was his patrol vehicle. He has many fond memories of this car.
Five years ago, a ’76 Fury caught his eye from a neighbor down the road, left in a clearing. They just finished clearing some trees that happened to hide the car. He scored it for $500 from someone who didn’t appreciate what they had (thought it was scrap metal) and restored it from the ground up. It came with a pristine slant six, so with minor work, it remained with the car. The Torqueflite was showing its age at almost 80k miles (probably for sitting for almost eight years), so it was rebuilt.
The body was straight and rust-free but was stripped, rustproofed and repainted white. The interior was completely redone–new carpet, new headliner, reupholstered vinyl seating. It looks and feels like it came right off the Chrysler-Plymouth lot back in the late-70s. I helped with disassembling the interior and reassembling it after the paint job, while he tweaked the Slant-Six and the other mechanical stuff under the hood.
I know for a fact that my grandfather is (and was always) a Mopar diehard through and through, but I have a feeling he was sentimental towards this car. Way before he scored it, he always talked about his on-duty adventures in the B-body Fury.
The world would be just perfect if he could get his hands on a St. Regis or its Fury sibling, but those seem to be very rare, despite being the successor to the B-body. I think they’re rarer than the B-body Monaco and Fury, which are rare as it is. I haven’t seen any in the wild since I was maybe ten or so?
The last St Regis ( or any R-Body ) I know still hanging around is in distant countryside. I once passed a 55mph R-Body Fifth Avenue on interstate in my ’93 Fifth Avenue at barely 60mph.
The 1977 440 is listed at 195 hp in this article, which is incorrect. For 1977 the only 440 available in the A38 Police package Fury/Monaco was the E86 440, rated at 245 hp and 350 ft-lbs, and 230 hp and 330 ft-lbs in California spec. There was a E85 195hp 440, however, this was only available in the fullsize cars and was not a HD police engine like the E86 440.
Also, when CHP switched to the R-body in 1979, these were with the E58 360 rated at 190 hp. These cars had the best performance of any police car in 1979, slightly beating out the Chevrolet 350 B-bodies. For 1980, in California the E58 360 was not CARB certified and therefore the top options became the E47 318 rated at 155 hp. Other jurisdictions still had the 360 available which offered similar performance to the 1979 models. In 1980, Canadian Police agencies actually got a special version of the 360 with slightly higher compression and no catalytic converter that made 5 more hp than the Federal US version. Although the E47 318 r-bodies were slow for 1980, their slowness was greatly exaggerated by cops who were used to 440 powered cars and the media. Officially with light bars and twin spot lamps these cars were tested to have top speeds of 105-107 mph on level ground, not the sub 100-MPH many claimed. However, the time to get there was very long.
For 1981 CHP switched to the lighter 318 powered Diplomats which were lighter and saw a 10hp boost to 165 hp. This helped with performance, but still nowhere near the former 360 powered cars, let alone the big block years. 1982, CHP started to use the Mustangs, which had better acceleration to 100 mph than even the old 440 Mopars. These Mustangs were then able to make up for the relative slowness of the 318 powered Diplomats. CHP stuck with the Dipolmat until 1988 with the only exceptions being the Chevrolet Impala in 1982 and the Ford LTD in 1984.
Great article .
When I arrived in Cali. in the Fall of 1970 , you could buy a VGC ex CHP Dodge for about $125 ~ nice tires and occasionally , working AC .
I was already in love with ‘ funny furrin’ cars by then so I never bought one but some of my mates did , a few had the 360 V-8 and really moved right along .
-Nate
Mopar played musical chairs with B and C nameplates in the 70’s.
Dodge B body sedans:
1970-76: Coronet
1977-78: Monaco
Dodge C body:
1970-73: Polara/Monaco
1974-76: Monaco
1977: Royal Monaco
Plymouth B:
1970: Belvedere/Satelitte
1971-74: Satelitte
1975-78: [small] Fury
Plymouth C:
1970-74: Fury/Gran Fury
1975-77: Gran Fury
Don’t forget the B coupes – the Dodge Coronet coupe became the Charger in 1976, and the Charger SE (Cordoba clone) turned into the Magnum in 1978
A local buy here, pay here lot had a nice looking one of these for sale a while back. It had a 360/5.9L in it and since it had a spotlight on both sides, I would imagine it was some sort of police or fire car. It was blue originally and had a reasonably decent repaint on it in a darker blue, with black interior. It looked good inside and out, and had no apparent rust on it at all, so I’m guessing it was a southern or western car. A friend of mine test drove it and said it drove fine and obviously had a cam in it, as it sounded like a ’70 340.. They wanted $2500 for it, and by the time he decided to buy it, it was gone, of course. I saw some older guy driving it a few weeks ago, and the only thing changed on it was it had some decent looking wheels on it, and the passenger side spotlight had been removed and a plate covered the hole left in the door. I would love to have once like it.
Late to the party here, but was fun reading about the methods we used back then to avoid tickets, Paul and the posters brought back the memories. One time on the harbor freeway going about 30 mph a motorcycle cop zig zagged between 6 cars (of which I was one) and pulled us all over for “following too closely” and proceeded to write 6 tickets to all of us. Another time I was on the 14 freeway near Palmdale about 6:00 am on a Sunday morning with almost no traffic, my 79 GMC Caballero I had recently bought had been driven for a long time with a burnt plug wire on 7 cylinders and had a plugged cat conv. I bought some fuel additive and removed the air cleaner and floored it for about 20 miles. It slowly regained power and eventually pegged the 85 mph speedo and started to regain it’s power. After it was running well for a few miles I slowed to 55 (this was around 1986) and was in the right lane between two trucks. A few minutes later a CHP going about 100 mph speeds past, then slams on his brakes, gets next to me, points to me and pulled me over. He said he was trying for 15 minutes to catch me and not making progress. He must have had a slow car, the GMC only had a 305 4 bbl. I had the additive and air cleaner on the floor of the car and explained what I was doing and picked a low traffic time to do this. He calmed down and wrote me up for around 70 mph. Another time in my $100.00 68 New Yorker I was with a couple of co workers on the 210 freeway also early morning when I decided to give it a quick blast from 55 to 100 mph then braked quickly back to 55. The only other car was a CHP watching from an overpass. Think he wrote me up for around 75. It was a much more even playing field back in those days.
I love those, they are my all time favourite American cars, together with the full size C body 1969-73 Plymouth/Dodges. I live in Great Britain so have only ever seen two or three.
Have a 1978 fury with 35000 miles —- was a grocery getter and has been in the garage since 1985. Any idea what it is worth?
I spotted this in a McDonald’s drive through a few years ago. I think it is the Dodge version but I’m not positive. I also have no idea what year it is.
75 or 76, the 77-78s had amber segments in the taillights
Lifetime Californian here, a few years younger than Paul and the stories are all so familiar. I remember the first times I drove out of state and realizing that you needed to look ahead, for radar traps, and not check the mirror. It’s been a few years since this post, and though I can’t cite any press on the topic, it seems like the CHP is swinging back to Mopars again, as I’m seeing far more Chargers lately than the Explorers which took over from the Crown Vics a few years ago. I have read that all the Chargers are V6, most are RWD. And after many years with Kawasaki and BMW, the motorcycles are mostly Harley now.
Sort of a CC effect: I just came across this video the other day. This guy was thrilled to get his ’78 Monaco cop car with a 440. Bland though they might have been, they were nice driving cars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blt__gezHw8
I can find (if the wiki is trusted) a 100hp drop for the 1972 from 335 to 225 hp when it’s the reality-based net rating. Is it accurate to say the 370 was net 270, or a percentage (about 250), or is there no direct formula?
There is no direct formula as every engine has different characteristics, but as a rule of thumb the 1972 net ratings were typically around 2/3 of the prior gross figure.
Oof. The face and body that sold a million colonnades. Obviously not a civilian car, but had I been car shopping in 1978, given the forthcoming x cars, the efficient, light, good handling fairmont and zephyr, the amazingly efficient omnirizon, and the downsized gm a and b bodies, this would have been a hard pick. The 78 aspen and volare were better but had a rotten reputation at this time and Chrysler was circling the toilet. The car itself is a blobby mishmash of halfhearted curves, slab sides without interesting details, and anonymous heavy details. The grille is as anonycar as it gets. The back bumper is heavy and not at all showing off the brand. Even a leftover colonnade would be better looking than this.
Several people mentioned the creaky, squeaky, rattly body and although everything in the 70s was creaky, squeaky, and rattly, chryslers seemed to be the worst.
Thanks for the explanation that these were all destroyed in movies and tv shows. In atlanta these had all disappeared by the mid 80s but the colonnades and some of the fords went on until the mid 90s.
It seems like such a ridiculous waste of money to pursue speeders. I can definitely understand, especially in atlanta, why traffic enforcement is needed. But the cops are never there when someone is trying to teach their accord to climb a crosswalk signal pole or turning left from the right lane or backing up on the freeway.
1971 has the same net rating as 72, both ratings were used in 1971 with the gross being 335. I don’t know if any 440 4bbl was rated at 370 unless that is part of police spec, it was 350 in 1970 with higher compression
Aha! I knew someone in the CC crowd would have this info.
Here’s a table of 1971 Dodge police engines, with gross and net.
Paul, here’s an early-1987 Cali news announcement (and photo) of the new Mustangs, very incognito–no light bar or paint schemes, etc: https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/25696/rec/9
Funny, I remember the mid 70s CHP cars being Dodge Monacos. Very identifiable with the low turn signals, inset towards the center relative to most cars. 440s which fortunately were never chasing me in my aircooled VW days.
Later in the 70s before the 5.0 Mustangs, which were 5 speed manuals by the way, I heard they almost thanked drivers of BMWs, Porsches and Z cars when they pulled over they were so outgunned performance wise.
I wouldn’t say that a 318-2v would’ve been a dog of a cop car.
My 2ndcar, that I bought for $300 in 1980 was a ‘71 Plymouth Fury I wagon. It may have been a Fury II, but I don’t recall exactly.
It wasn’t an ex-cop car, but was an ex-Florida DOT car. It had the verified 140 mph speedo, an original police duty spare tire, and was a pretty much bare bones car with poverty caps. It had. AC and an AM radio, but no spotlight.
The tag on the differential indicated it had a 2.74 gear, which made it a slug off the line, but once at highway speed the 318 had good passing acceleration and was the first car I got to 122 mph. It still had more in it, but the road was wet and the tires were at best only fair, so I backed off of it.
My friends called it the “narc wagon”.