Vehicles

[Top Kick Ken]

Howdy everyone,

New to BOLD, I am a retired USAF Lawdawg (26 years).   

The first patrol vehicle I had was a Chrysler Reliant "K"-Car.  What a piece of junk that was.  The Reliant "K" cars were around for quite some time.  The last one I saw was in 1991 in England...I was so glad they went away!  I used CUCV's and Ford and Chevy Pick-up trucks too.  We also had Jeep CJ-7's, Bronco's and Blazers.   We had a couple of International Harvester 6-Pak trucks too at various bases.  We tried to keep those out on the flightline area with the planes as much as possible.

While in England we had all of the things listed above and also had some British Ford Sierras too (Man, they could fly!) and a few Leyland-Daimlers too. Once I got back to the States, we got Crown Vics, Malibu's, and Impala's.   We had Expeditions for Supervisor's vehicles.

Tactical Vehicles included M-151, M-706, M-113, Peacekeeper Armored Car, HMMVW, and some exotic armoured cars (Lexus, Toyota Land Cruiser's) while in the desert.

My favorites?  I guess the Full size Bronco and Blazer for back-country dirt road stuff. 

For normal patrol, either the Crown Vic or Impala. 

For Tactical Situations:  The M-706 or the M-113.       

[aryfrosty]

My best favorite was a 1972 Ford Galaxie 500 LTD.Long stroke 429 took a mile to open up but once there it'd run 155 as long as the driver would.
The worst we ever had a was a 1975 Ford "Fleet package". (Taxicab). It lasted 6 months before it was totaled on the parkway. Ford lost their ballocks for years after that and got back in the game, IMHO, in the 90s. Insurance v/ speed.
The car I retired on was a 1991 Chevy Caprice. It ran like the older interceptors and the only bad part was that it was ugly. It was mine from day one until I retired and was the fastest cruiser I had issued to me.
Honorable mention went to the matched pair of 1973 Plymouth Furys wih 440s. Just never knew when they'd start shedding parts.

[Don Nix]

 I guess my favorite was the LTD II s that we got in 78. They had 351 and the Sheriff carried them down and had the entire fleet  outfitted with a good exhaust system and lock outs on the tail lights. They would get between 188 and 127mph on the interstate right NOW.
 They had plenty of room with the cage and were solid .
 The weosrt were the Dodges. they were fast but the brkes would get hot quick and fail, I blew threw and intersection running hot and blue when I couldnt get the da8n thing stopped in time. Luckily croos traffic heard me coming.
 It was comforting to hera those big blocks  growling when you were rasslin' a couple of boneheads and just get a chance to holler for help on the radio.
 My old Morgan gelding "Pete" was my absolute favorite patrol mount. We made many a mile together.
 The absolute worst vehicle I was ever assigned was a 80 model Buick,V6 that I inherited when I took over CID. I kept it about 6 months then I pulled rank and took a confiscated Chevy Pickup that was set up to run. I kept it till I retired.

[shilohbrown]

When I first started we had Olds F-85's. POS... then we had the 318 Plymouths that were pretty gutless. And then we got the ride..Merc Marquis... way too big for the streets of Newport Beach but when you got out on the Coast Hwy they would lay it down ..pretty cushy ride.

Shiloh

[Wiley Desperado]

When I started with the Texas Highway Patrol my first car ( well let me get it right, my senior partner and I) was a 1969 Plymouth Fury III with a 383 very fast once you got it rolling.  However, the 1994 Chev Caprice that was issued to me would blow a hole in the wind.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Here's an article about the "Ten Greatest American Police Patrol Cars."  What do you think?

http://jalopnik.com/397257/ten-greatest-american-police-patrol-cars

CC Griff

[aryfrosty]

Those are pretty sharp cars. Our Plymouths had 440s and they did run well after you got them up to speed. My current POV is a 2006 Crown Vic. Bone white. My wife laughed at me when I bought it but I told her it was my "comfort blanket".

[Fairshake]

The local Honda dealer gave the Sheriff one of the little box like cars that they built in the early 80's. The Sheriff put the car in one of our highest crime area's and the two biggest deputy's there got the car. They both were close to the 300 lb mark. It was the funniest thing that you will ever see. If they got a 15 they had to call for transportation as no one else could fit. My first unit was the 1977 Fury with the 440 and it would haul butt. My best riding unit was the Pontiac Catalina that I used in Narcotics.