Can i do my Johan 68 Fury as a unmarked unit?

[English Jules]

Cant find any info on google, just curious as im doing the 70s Ford by AMT as unmarked as found images of those

thanks

[Ace-Garageguy]

Seems like if you shoot it a single color and go with period-correct dog-dish Mopar hubcaps and blackwall Goodyear Polyglas tires, you got it. Oh yeah...bench seat.

Dog dish hubcaps...

Edited August 28, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Danno]

Of course.

[Harry P.]

Furys (Furies?) were commonly used by the police all over the country. Here in Chicago they were everywhere in the '70s. So of course there would have been plenty of unmarked cars.

[English Jules]

thanks guys. i did a what looked like a old fashioned green, nail varnish and the liquid removal with the airbrush, first ever time. took a little while to get the mix right, thin enough but looks good. very thin coats.

[English Jules]

Would anyone have images or help on using the front and rear coloured lights inside, and would the spot lamp be used for the driver to operate?

[Danno]

Would anyone have images or help on using the front and rear coloured lights inside, and would the spot lamp be used for the driver to operate?

In the late 60's, unmarked cars generally had no colored lights mounted inside. They usually had a pair of round, red lights (or blue in Southern states and a few renegade Northern areas) hidden behind the grille. If you don't open the grille, you can't represent them. A lot of agencies used a Federal Fireball - a small beacon - on the dash or magnetically attachable to the roof with a long, coiled cord (think Starsky & Hutch).

But, depending on what kind of unmarked car you plan to represent, some had nothing. Detectives didn't usually go rushing to most scenes with lights flashing and sirens screaming, TV and Movie lore notwithstanding. So, it wasn't so important, and most unmarked cars didn't light up like Times Square.

Another common piece of equipment was a hand-held spotlight with a steady-burning red sealed beam. It was kept in the interior (usually hard-wired) and would be held up to signal a vehicle being stopped.

In the 60's and late 60's, few agencies used unmarked cars for patrol applications or traffic stops. They were primarily employed as transportation for detectives or ranking staff. As such, emergency response was seldom a part of the unmarked car's resume, so there was little concern about emergency lights or sirens. In fact, often the detective cars were de-commissioned patrol cars. The external/rooftop emergency lights were removed, the markings were removed, the car usually received a cheap repaint job, and the Federal Fireball (or similar product) was plugged into the cigarette lighter.

For this reason, if an unmarked car was equipped with a spotlight, it would be consistent with the patrol vehicles. In other words, if marked units had a driver's side spotlight only, then the unmarked units would have a driver's side spotlight only. If the patrol vehicles had dual spotlights, then the unmarked cars would have dual spotlights. In most agencies, unmarked cars with dual spotlights would have a red bulb on the passenger side. California, however, usually had a red bulb in the driver's side for signaling traffic.

One thing you didn't bring up: antennas. Again, most commonly, whatever the patrol cars used was what the unmarked cars used.

All of this relates to the 60's and late 60's. To some extent the early 70's, as well. However, by the mid-70's new products were coming on the scene. More and more agencies began experimenting with non-traditional equipment. More agencies began using unmarked cars in more imaginative and non-traditional ways. But that's off-topic for your '68 Fury.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Danno

[English Jules]

thats really useful thanks, radio aerials was something i was trying to find looking at pics. Im doing a couple of 70s cars as well as the Ford, doing a 78 Fury and Monaco.

[JTalmage]

Where's the thread w/ that beautiful blue one someone did as unmarked?

[SteveG]

I had a close encounter with a slick top traffic unit 68 Fury in the early 70's. My friend rolled a stop sign and we got pulled over by it. As best I can recall it was Maroon with a Black interior. It had red high beams and pair of small red lamps on the package shelf. Only markings were "POLICE" in White on the fenders and "City of Cleveland Heights" in small White lettering near the tops of the front doors. I don't remember if it had spot lights but if it did it would have probably been a single one with a clear lamp.

That was a very typical suburban traffic around Northeast Ohio at that time, Although I remember the same suburb using a 4-door full size civilian looking 69 or 70 Pontiac, Silver with a Black vinyl roof and same lighting and lettering as the Fury except the all the markings were Black. The next suburb over had a 70 Pontiac Catalina Enforcer, Dark Green with a matching interior. Similar lighting and markings layout as the 68 Fury. I remember that one the best as I bought it for a daily driver after it was traded-in around 1974.

Edited August 30, 2014 by SteveG

[English Jules]

I had a close encounter with a slick top traffic unit 68 Fury in the early 70's. My friend rolled a stop sign and we got pulled over by it. As best I can recall it was Maroon with a Black interior. It had red high beams and pair of small red lamps on the package shelf. Only markings were "POLICE" in White on the fenders and "City of Cleveland Heights" in small White lettering near the tops of the front doors. I don't remember if it had spot lights but if it did it would have probably been a single one with a clear lamp.

That was a very typical suburban traffic around Northeast Ohio at that time, Although I remember the same suburb using a 4-door full size civilian looking 69 or 70 Pontiac, Silver with a Black vinyl roof and same lighting and lettering as the Fury except the all the markings were Black. The next suburb over had a 70 Pontiac Catalina Enforcer, Dark Green with a matching interior. Similar lighting and markings layout as the 68 Fury. I remember that one the best as I bought it for a daily driver after it was traded-in around 1974.

cool ta. i was looking at colours they came in on the web. i was thinking a boring green or brown, using nail varnish.

my AMT Galaxie/Custom i do like in this colour, although no idea what colour it is lol. I just couldnt image unmarked cars being bright orange, red or yellows. :-)

I want to try and get the model as acc as possible, so no one would later say, no thats totally wrong...never used or would be seen like that. Im guessing with the US so big, the car would be used all over, and each county would have different rules etc as you say.

Anyway soon i will make some notes, some ideas of the interior, radio equipment etc, and light position and colours i think would be correct, then run it past you guys before i cut and chop :-)

cheers guys

[English Jules]

oh, orig Gone in 60 seconds, Vansihing Point are my fave movies. I even watched Sugarland express a few times to look at the cars..........then was told they were all fiction, supplied by the car company and were not real cop cars etc so full of faults

[SteveG]

I don't know about the other two movies but in the original "Gone in Sixty Seconds" all of the police cars damaged in the film were bought at city auctions by the director H.B. Halicki himself. The cars may have been repainted so I can't say if all the colors used were correct.

However I imagine just about ever factory color has been used on an unmarked Police Car at one time or another. I can't say I've personally seen a Yellow one but the Green 70 Catalina Traffic unit I mentioned before was replace by a Burnt Orange 74 Ford Galaxie very similar to the one shown in the photo below.

As I recall that one was very effective at blending in, I saw in use on great many number of traffic stops.

[English Jules]

now i like that!

Yeah i read a lot about him, the budget and the cars etc. pretty interesting. Would that burnt orange work before 74? i know lots of US cars were given new colours esp for the car and year, im sure.