Purpose-built Police Cars
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That's cool. I have often wondered why no one ever built a car designed for police work. We have always had to use normal off-the-lot cars with gear hung on them. 0 -
I want one. It even has the correct paint job. [:p] 0 -
I admit, the car looks cool, something straight out of the pages of Robo Cop...futuristic.
However, I see no need for LEOs to be driving such cars.
Cruisers today are built to be heavy duty for reliability and fast.
We don't need military type vehicles or Robo Cop Cruisers.
Cops, with the exception of SWAT. do not need specialty built vehicles. Especially the way cops drive. In So. FL, go to the motorpool of large cities and you'll see all the wrecked cruisers.
Mind you, by FOP Union contracts, cops get a new "take home" car every two years or 80K miles and they still trash'em.
As a taxpayer, I resent my tax money going to fund cops' Mario Andretti fantasies.
Another reason that I don't agree w/these vehicles is the image they conjure up...one of a police state (which we are fast becoming). A cop driving one of these cruisers will also give the impression that they are not approachable....look at the tags on the car "gotcha" and "see ya!" Very sophmoric, to say the least.
That is not an image or attitude I want to see or expect from cops.
Whatever happened to "Officer Friendly?"0 -
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
I admit, the car looks cool, something straight out of the pages of Robo Cop...futuristic.
However, I see no need for LEOs to be driving such cars.
Cruisers today are built to be heavy duty for reliability and fast.
We don't need military type vehicles or Robo Cop Cruisers.
Cops, with the exception of SWAT. do not need specialty built vehicles. Especially the way cops drive. In So. FL, go to the motorpool of large cities and you'll see all the wrecked cruisers.
Mind you, by FOP Union contracts, cops get a new "take home" car every two years or 80K miles and they still trash'em.
As a taxpayer, I resent my tax money going to fund cops' Mario Andretti fantasies.
Another reason that I don't agree w/these vehicles is the image they conjure up...one of a police state (which we are fast becoming). A cop driving one of these cruisers will also give the impression that they are not approachable....look at the tags on the car "gotcha" and "see ya!" Very sophmoric, to say the least.
That is not an image or attitude I want to see or expect from cops.
Whatever happened to "Officer Friendly?"
Folks like you would have us driving around in second hand Yugos. Missouri highway patrol do not "trash" their cars and I seriously doubt that they do in Fla. either.0 -
looks good , but must handle like a european car, subaru wrx sti, or amg !!
or its still gonna beat the rear, 2 mile away !!.........[:D]0 -
quote:Originally posted by calamitywood
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
Cruisers today are built to be heavy duty for reliability and fast.
Mind you, by FOP Union contracts, cops get a new "take home" car every two years or 80K miles and they still trash'em.
Folks like you would have us driving around in second hand Yugos. Missouri highway patrol do not "trash" their cars and I seriously doubt that they do in Fla. either.
Re-read my post...cops here get brand new cars, that they are allowed to take home, every two years...unless they wreck'em first, which is usually the case. Today's cruisers are high performance vehicles...we don't need Star Wars type cruisers.
I'll be taking pics of the wreck cruisers in the city I live in, which has a population of 80K and you'll see for yourself...wrecked cruisers and Harley bikes.[:(]0 -
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
Mind you, by FOP Union contracts, cops get a new "take home" car every two years or 80K miles and they still trash'em.
Must be nice for your locals to get a new cruiser that often AND get to take it home. That is certainly not the norm nation wide.
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
Whatever happened to "Officer Friendly?"
Did he really ever exist outside of Mayberry?
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
Cruisers today are built to be heavy duty for reliability and fast.
Not true, the police cars today are family sedans that the factory adds an extra wiring harness, a spot light, and removes the top speed regulator. Ford Crown Vics top out at about 130, and Chevy Impalas around 120, but it takes them both a life time to get there.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
Today's cruisers are high performance vehicles...
Since when is a 4dr family sedan with a v6 or small v8 a high performance vehicle?0 -
Hoseable rear passenger compartment?
That's worth the price, right there.0 -
1) I believe the car shown is not a real, drivable car
2) I believe it is a concept only
3) There is not a snowball's chance in hell that the car will be priced anywhere NEAR current police equipped cars, without a government subsidy
4) Will the car meet current standards??
5) Where are videos of the car actually operating??
6) Who supplies the chassis and power train??
I believe this is a stock sales scam.
Doug0 -
Mr. Dofan,
I read your post correctly the first time. I simply didn't agree with what you said. I realize patrol cars do get wrecked (try to consider the type of work they are required to do) It's not like they just drive to Mcdonald's get out of the car and flip hamburgers for eight hours and go home. Also as has been previously posted these cruisers are not nearly as specialized as you may think. I had to purchase my cruiser so the tax payers weren't out a dime. It was a 98 ford crown vic purchased in 2001. It had a 4.7 liter engine (s-10 pickups cam be bought with a 4.3 liter engine) a spot light and the extra wiring for the additional equipment that I had to put in the car. This is called the interceptor package. Otherwise it was just a plain family sedan with less optional equipment. Also for your information the Missouri highway patrol officers' supervisors inspect the cars making sure they are kept clean and in good repair. They are certainly not "trashed". Secondly this particular patrol car pictured is hardly "star wars" technology. It does have equipment specific to what a police officer would need in the performance of his duties. I do not doubt that you have seen some wrecked patrol cars however I think this has caused you to make assumptions without enough facts. Lastly patrol officers and most police officers are required to live in the area that they patrol and it makes sense economically that they would take these vehicles home. Some counties can be as much a 700 hundred square miles and by taking their vehicle home they can go on or off duty as soon as they get in their car. Police work is not a nine to five job sir and it would be ridiculous to make an officer work until however long it takes to finish a job just to drive back to a office somewhere when in reality his office is his patrol car.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
That's cool. I have often wondered why no one ever built a car designed for police work. We have always had to use normal off-the-lot cars with gear hung on them.
And at the low bid price.
Back in the 70's, at a small dept. I worked for, the city manager wanted VW's with Porche engines. Decided it wouldn't work in a small town, with so much stop and go, and idling time.[;)]0 -
14.5 seconds @ 98.0 mph ---- Isn't that a little slow for a police vehicle[?]
My street car does 13's.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
cops here get brand new cars, that they are allowed to take home, every two years...unless they wreck'em first, which is usually the case.The majority are wrecked within 2 years?
Could you supply us with figures to back up your statement?0 -
quote:Cops, with the exception of SWAT. do not need specialty built vehicles.
I disagree. The typical patrol car is just a sedan with crap hung on it. With airbags, now we have to be careful not to put anything where the airbag can hit it and make it a missile.
I have looked at the dashes of more than a few cars, and thought that if it were laid out differently, with police gear in mind, a lot of the stuff that gets bolted on could be integrated into the dash, where it would be much safer in a crash.
I don't care for a car that will go 140 mph, but I would like one that had the radio, in-car camera, siren box, switch panel, and radar integrated into the car instead of hung onto parts of the interior.0 -
The Ford Crown Vitoria was designed to become a police cruser. You don't see many real citezens driving around in them. The primary contracts for building the Vicky is for police departments around the nation. I really think that most police departments would be better served with a good wagon than with a sedan, think something along the lines of a Dodge Magnum. That would give the officer more room for all the junk they need to carry. 0 -
I had one. My pop and i built it out of a '66 Beetle. I was driving the "66,36 HP, 4 speed,6 Volt wiring system. I bought it when i was 16.
My 5th. grade teacher(Mr. Pallanti) got killed, in his Porscha 911. A neighbor towed it to his junk-yard, and i bought it, put the engine/5-speed transaxel in my Bug.
I could carry first and second, with the front wheels off the road, and be doing 65MPH ,when i had to hit 3rd.I loved that car and wish i still had it..[:(][:(][:(]0 -
[8D][8D][8D] 0 -
i didn't see one thing that isn't available now to retrofit existing police cars. my local pd has new hemi chargers with everything that thing has
crown vic police interceptors where special made years ago, a good friend owned one0 -
I once owned a '63 ex-CHP Dodge Polara 413 Police Pursuit. It had engine and suspension modifications, as well as Goodyear Blue Streak tires.
It WAY outperformed most civilian cars.
And...it was HUGE.
Doug0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
That's cool. I have often wondered why no one ever built a car designed for police work. We have always had to use normal off-the-lot cars with gear hung on them.
Nunn - WHAT? Chevrolet/Dodge/Plymouth/Ford ALL built special purpose vehicles for LEO's.
I have a 1967 Chevrolet Biscayne..that IS purpose built as an interceptor vehicle. 427 big block/385 horsepower, turbo 400 (that is heavier duty than a standard, heavy duty TH400), 2.56 positraction 12 bolt differential, front disc brakes (rare option in 1967...let alone on the cheapest model of Caprice/Impala/Belair/Biscayne line of cars), 160 mph certified speedometer, radio delete, 15x7.5" rally wheels (an extremely RARE size), etc, etc...
There is still some factory purpose built...but not since the bubble type Caprice cars has there been a close purpose built LEO car.0 -
I'm not talking about engines, tires, brakes and so forth. All that is stuff that anyone can order on any car. What I would like to see is a car with a lot of the gear integrated into the car, rather than bolted on.
Those "special" police vehicles still ended up with junk bolted, screwed, and hung on them so as to increase the risk of injury to the driver in a crash.0 -
yes, nunn and the cars these guys are talking about were built years ago and they are correct too. However, they are no longer built like that. The price keeps going up but they include less and less on the cars. The 98 crown vic I bought for work was purchased from the Missouri Highway patrol and is a police interceptor. It was a great car and I liked using it but there was nothing high performance about it. 0 -
What would bondai say[}:)]..................... 0 -
My dad had a Chevy Impala a few years ago when he was a city cop that car didnt last that long before the trans gave out.. The he got a vic and on his day off aother cop left the door open and it got totaled
Michael0 -
Next thing you know cops will want special privileges like beating the hell outta everyone who crosses their path. Don 0 -
quote:Originally posted by dcon12
Next thing you know cops will want special privileges like beating the hell outta everyone who crosses their path. Don
I thought they had that already..........0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
I'm not talking about engines, tires, brakes and so forth. All that is stuff that anyone can order on any car. What I would like to see is a car with a lot of the gear integrated into the car, rather than bolted on.
Those "special" police vehicles still ended up with junk bolted, screwed, and hung on them so as to increase the risk of injury to the driver in a crash.
Ah...the complete package. Vehicle designed around the items that an LEO would NEED and USE in their daily/weekly/monthly duties.
The above items I mentioned...in 1967...a police car was the ONLY way to get that combination...you could not order from any dealer. For GM, cop cars were COPO vehicles (central office production orders).0 -
nunn--To answer your first question, it would be to expensive. I doubt you'll see many of these cars driving around. Nobody is going to ramp up a custom manufacturing process for such a small niche compared to the global market for assembly-line-produced cars unless the police departments are willing to pay out the azz to justify the initial investment in infrastructure, overhead, et al. Getting away from standardization intruduces all kinds of issues. 0 -
quote:...cops here get brand new cars, that they are allowed to take home, every two years...unless they wreck'em first, which is usually the case. Today's cruisers are high performance vehicles...we don't need Star Wars type cruisers. Then they are VERY fortunate. Our cops are lucky if they get a new car every 150-175 K miles. They complain that even the cars with the "police package" are hardly better than the of the street models. The biggest complaint is the drivers compartment. Seats are generally too small for an officer loaded with gear and all the "add ons" make it even more cramped. Intergrating equipment into the vehicle would also make the equipment it less succeptible to damage. I think it takes our mechanics 2-3 days to retrofit all the bolt on equipment into a new car. 0
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