martinfan5 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Or how about one of the worst ever PPV , 1980 Dodge St Regis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Or how about one of the worst ever PPV , 1980 Dodge St Regis All of the R-Bodies (Chrysler Newport, pre-'82 Gran Fury, St. Regis) were awful heaps of fail. I believe those cars had something approaching, but not quite reaching 100HP out of those strangled 318s inside a 3,500lb car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 All of the R-Bodies (Chrysler Newport, pre-'82 Gran Fury, St. Regis) were awful heaps of fail. I believe those cars had something approaching, but not quite reaching 100HP out of those strangled 318s inside a 3,500lb car. LoL...I would think they were closer to 4000lbs...I remember a lot of those got used and trashed in '80s cop shows like TJ Hooker..someone has a light green Newport around here that I see once in while, in decent shape. Those cars seem pretty scarce in any form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 heh yea I member those.. in my area they was exclusive used as "black and whites" witch were the every day squad cars.. there is a diecast ver ( not very detailed being sold on evil bay.) http://www.ebay.com/itm/400365727216?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 I have been thinking of getting a couple of these to paint up as squad cars.. hope this helps a few looking for this car. Speaking of this diecast Diplomat, did Motormax do a Gran Fury version also? Don't think I've seen one...though I don't think there is much difference beyond the grille... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Rob, I recall seeing one, but I cant find at PCM, go look around on the site, I didnt see it under 1/24th, or 1/18th , but doesnt mean anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 You want obscure police cars? How about 1980-1981 Plymouth Volare 4dr sedans! Or, 1976 Buick Century 4dr sedans! How about the mid 70s Chevy Novas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent G Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 The Novas rocked. We drove those from day 1 and didn't want to give them up. St Louis was one of the first departments to use a downsized street patrol copcar. We tested a bunch of midsize cars, one being the '80 Volare. It had NO suspension what so ever, and the seat was one sheet of plain, unpatterned, vinyl. Same with the Diplomat. With a 360 in the Volare you could spin the car out pulling onto the street. Really, you could. The Dodge Diplomat was used as a district lockup car, as well as detective ride. We called them "wonder cars" as in wonder what this car will do next. Transverse torsion bars and city streets didn't mix despite Fleet Services best efforts. Electronics were marginal at best. I thought the one I drove on occasion was haunted. The flippin' electric door locks would just begin to lock and unlock by themselves as you drove. The St Regis was also used as a lockup. I only drove one a few times and it impressed me as a great big wallowing whale of a car that couldn't get out of it's own way. It had NO ground clearance and we scraped them unmercifully over streetcar tracks and whatnot. The worst in my opinion was the Ford Fairmont. Hands down the slowest, most ungainly, bad handling POS this side of the current Impala. Holy Cow Batman this pooch wouldn't make a U turn on a four lane thoroughfare. That says a lot when you realize after the Fairmont we drove 4 years worth of Chevrolet Celebritys. Now there's an obscure copcar for you. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 Jerry "Moonbeam Condor" Brown did more to ruin police cars that any single 'person' . The CHP used to be able to special order cam specs ... ... then good ol' Brown descended upon Sacramento in 1975 , and bequeethed that all police cars must meet the same emissions standards as their civilian counterparts : farwell to higher-lift , longer-overlap cams for the CHP ! It came to a boil in 1980 when the then-new R-Body St. Regis / Gran Fury was limited to the severely-emasculated 120 hp (!!) 318 four barrel . Out of state , the E58 360 was available ; it was vastly-superior to the "Jerry Brown Special" . My uncle is a retired LASD Detective (1960-1984) . He was piloting vehicles built during the golden age ; 365 hp 426 Wedge Dodge 880's ; 330 hp 383 Coronets ; and other "4 door muscle cars" . The 318 "powered" St Regis made the Los Angeles Times' front page "New CHP cars can't catch speeders ; cars won't do 100 mph !" . But , I divulge ... The 1980-1988 M-Body Diplomt / Gran Fury biggest downfalls were : - Poor build quality - Heavy weight (especially when loaded with all the field equipment !) - 4 catalytic converters (not kidding !) - Computer overheating (many were relocated to the passenger compartment-side of the firewall from their air cleaner location) - Fuel starvation on sharp turns The 9C1 Nova was a sweet package ! They were quick and handelled well . I wanted one when they went to auction in the late 80's ---well past their "expiration" ; they were that popular !--- but I couldn't afford one . A neighbour had one , a 1984 LASD model . Its engine was replaced with a 383 stroker ; a 200-4R with a hard shift kit was installed ; and 3.42 gear . Front wheel drive is a horrible arrangement in a police car , esp a pursuit model ! Even a patroller version is a bad idea if there are loads of potholes , rail road crossings and curbs to jump ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Anyone familiar with an early 80s Cadillac police package? All I know is in the early 80s Oakland, CA got a batch of Cadillac police cars. They turned out to be a nightmare for the department, the media attacked them as a waste of money (luxury police cars) and they had terrible performance making them poor pursuit cars. They didn't last long and caused the department to completely redo their procurement methods. I can't find a single piece of information about them except for my memory of the newspaper articles trashing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Oh, I'm ALL in for a 77 Nova ... AND an 80-81 Malibu 9C1! Two awesome bowties. I had a Nova patrol car ... rang rings around the mainstream mainstay big Mopars. Any time, any where. It was a rocket sled that cornered. Truly a Z-28 on steroids with four doors! Loved it. Other than being a little snug, it was one of the very best squads I ever hustled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 Anyone familiar with an early 80s Cadillac police package? All I know is in the early 80s Oakland, CA got a batch of Cadillac police cars. They turned out to be a nightmare for the department, the media attacked them as a waste of money (luxury police cars) and they had terrible performance making them poor pursuit cars. They didn't last long and caused the department to completely redo their procurement methods. I can't find a single piece of information about them except for my memory of the newspaper articles trashing them. I wonder if those were Cavaliers Cimmerons ! Ha ha ha ha ! Early 80's ... the end of Brown's dark reign over the state . Oops ! He's back again ! My dad still curses him on a daily basis , as do I . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent G Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 In 1980 the city of St Charles Missouri went one better and used Citations! Rumor was they had to shorten the barrels of their shotguns so they would fit in the vertical rack. We had a few years of Malibus, but the scout cars were ordered with 6 cylinders. Traffic got the 350's. We kept Novas in the Academy EVOC fleet well into the 80's. It was then realized these babies out performed anything on patrol, and none of the lessons learned applied to FWD cars. They still laid rubber all over the lot. Believe it or not the Celebrity was not bad as an urban patroller. Snug is an apt term, but better than some. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 When my uncle saw my 1972 Coronet for the first time ---I've had it for eight years now--- he said , "Seventy-two , huh ? I'll never forget this year [of these cars] as it was the first year that the [LASD] finally got air conditioning !" Whittier ( Ca.) , LAPD , LASD , etc. , always had mid-sized cars from as far back as I can remember . LAPD tested and had a small group of 1976 Valiant A38's ; but , they were hampered by a single exhaust / cat con , which whittled the 360's output to 195 hp . Most were either 318's or 225's ; some had the 360 . By the way ; the 1978 Fury from Colors (1988) was parked under US 101 Hollywood Freeway at Bushard (across from the main LAPD vehicle storage / repair facility in Downtown ) . Last time I saw it was in 2001 . It was still in that yellow colour ; 360 four barrel. I was stunned when I saw it , caked-over in dust , just sitting under the freeway overpass ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I wonder if those were Cavaliers Cimmerons ! Ha ha ha ha ! Early 80's ... the end of Brown's dark reign over the state . Oops ! He's back again ! My dad still curses him on a daily basis , as do I . No not Cavalier, these were big like the Ford LTD, so Sedan de Ville or maybe the 1st gen Seville (not the one with the funky truck). Very short period because I was in Jr High so somewhere between 79 and 83. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 (edited) Anyone familiar with an early 80s Cadillac police package? All I know is in the early 80s Oakland, CA got a batch of Cadillac police cars. I remember that the Deerborn Police had a few Lincoln Town Cars donated by Ford. Also, Montvale, NJ, home to Mercedes Benz of USA had a couple Mercedes SUVs, all with a donation slogan across the back panel. Volare- A while back Randy of Perry's Resin said he had the 4 door sedan ready to cast since they were big cop cars in Canada. I guess he never got around to casting them. Edited April 18, 2013 by Tom Geiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Revell had a small display with some test shots and boxes of their upcoming releases at the Milwaukee NNL last Saturday. They had the box for the '57 Ford Police Car and it looked pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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