What kinds of cars have been used as police cars in the United States?

Question

It's easy to recognize a cop car - the logos, blue lights, etc...and besides, nearly every one I've seen is either a Ford Crown Victoria or, lately, a Chevrolet Impala.

I've also seen some Dodge Chargers, Camaros, Mustangs, and Caprice's used as cop cars.

What about in the 1990s and below? Was there a standard police car that was used? Was it just the Caprice and Crown vic? Were others used?

What about the 1970s? Or before?

And were the cars then a special police package as they are now - souped up engine, suspension, electrical system, etc - or were they just normal cars with a police logo on the side and a light on the top?

(I'm just talking about CARS, by the way, not asking about SUV and truck police vehicles)

Answer 1

In the 80's and 90's the Main cars were the Chevy Caprice, Ford Crown Vic and the Dodge Diplomat/Plymouth Fury III. Ford and Chevrolet continued into the 90's but the Chrysler Corp. eliminated the Fury and Diplomat in favor of front wheel drive vehicles. the 80's also saw Departments buying the Mustang and Camaro "Interceptors" or Pursuit vehicles.

During the 70's Chevy and Ford were in the game But Chrysler products were the most common. Another alternative was the AMC Ambassador up till the mid 70's. In the mid to late 70's Ford and Chevy began to offer smaller squads after the energy crisis. the more notable were the Chevy Nova and the Ford Granada/Fairmont. Chrysler eliminated the 440 engine in favor of the 318 in the Fury/Coronet.

Back in the 60's squads were for the most part a simple, stripped down 4-door sedan. But with the Musclecars being made in the late 60's, AMC, GM Ford and Chrysler began to offer better suspensions, bigger engines and heavy duty components. This was considered the beginning of the "Squad Package" by automakers.

But some Depts. did get specialty vehicles. I can't remember which State Agency had them but they did buy AMC Javelins, which was a two door musclecar as a regular patrol vehicle.

Answer 2

Your Q shows much knowledge on the subject--nice!
In the late 80's, Amberley Village, Ohio cops drove Buick LeSabres.
Ford Fairlanes were popular all over the place in the 50's and 60's.
You are also right that "police packages" on cop cars were common. I remember a Dodge "Interceptor" package, built around a 440 c.i.d. engine [w/ 6-pak carb, I think]. Actually, Ford discontinued the Crown Vic a few years ago, but resumed production in response to howls of protest from coppers everywhere!
My college GF was from Centerville. It is preppy! haha gg!

Answer 3

Mostly Caprices and Crown Vics in the 80s and the old Impala in the 70s

Answer 4

I work for a company that installs all the toys into police cars. I have delivered cars to 30 cities in Northern CA. and let assure you that 95% of them are Crown Vics. There have been a few Chevys and one Dodge but they are usually undercover cars. The problem with the Dodge and Chevy is that they don't have the interior room of the Crown Vic.

Answer 5

Some states use Buick Grand Nationals. In the 80's it was the fastest production car ever made at that time. Production car. There were faster cars made then but did not produce enough of them to be considered production cars. They had about 500 horse power. For the 80's that was considered phenomenal. There is only around 800 left on the road. Alot of people took the engines out and put them in other cars.

Answer 6

In the late 1980's, several states tried using Mustang LX's for their fast take off power. Didn't work out, though. In some cities, dumb thieves thought the 911 on the sides of the car meant they were Porsches.

Guaranteed you've never seen Cooper mini's used as cop cars.

Answer 7

In the 1960's Dodges were common. Impalas and Fords were around to a lessor extent
A Comet with a 440 Magnum was hard to beat.

Answer 8

IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHOM GETS THE CONTRACT AS THE LOWEST BIDDER WITH THE MOST PACKAGE OR BANG FOR THE BUCK.

1950'S--FORDS DOMINATED--352 IN 59 4 DR
1960'S--CHEVY, DODGE AND FORD'S
1970'S-CHRYSLER, DODGE, CORVETTES
1980'S- THE ONE WITH THE BEST WARRANTY AND REPAIR, REPLACEMENT OF VEHICLES.
1990'S--ALL EVEN HONDA'S--( PARKING METER VEHICLES ) EZGO ETC.
2000--HYBRID'S FOR DETECTIVES, ELECTRIC VEHICLES AROUND TOWN ETC.

MOST DEPARTMENTS HAD AN OPTION AND BOUGHT A FLEET OF FORDS ONE YEAR CHEVY THE NEXT ETC. KEPT THEM COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER.

WE HAD A NASCAR USED TO CATCH A HIGHWAY SPEEDER WHO CAME THROUGH TOWN AT 2AM EVERY OTHER DAY WITH PIPES OPEN AND ROARING DOWN THE FREEWAY. NEVER COULD CATCH HIM TILL WE USED A NASCAR TO STOP HIM.525 HP

I ALWAYS LIKE THE DRUG CARS WE GOT WITH CELL PHONES. MERCEDES, PORCHES, CORVETTES, LAMBORGHINI'S ETC. LOVE THOSE RICH BOYS TOYS AND HOUSES THEY LOST SO WE COULD TAKE OVER AND BUST MORE OF THEM. KEPT CARS FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND THEN PUT ON AUCTION BLOCK.

Answer 9

In the 70's they were regular cars in Ga. Most were Crown VIctorias also

Answer 10

there use to be 1978 cameros with 454 hp engines, and Z28's with full blown 540 hp engines!!! Now they have 2007-08 corvettes on the highway, unmarked until they put their lights on . That is only to try to catch people who think they can try to RACE a Corvette!! Then all of a sudden,,, WHAMMO, YOU BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!! They are very slick, they also have Land Rovers and Jimmys (jeeps) that will get ya if ya go OFF ROAD!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck out there if ya got a WEAK CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BE Carefull!!!!!!!!!!! Drive SAFELY TOO!!!!!!!!!