Police Interceptor models - what are the mods ? (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

a buddy of mine at work wants one of the old police caprices, guess they have an LS1 or LT1 in them, can't remember which.
Make a nice sleeper car and could be had from the state for a couple grand.
I'd believe it about KS>CO
same buddy got a ticket from a cop in a camaro in NE for something north of 100 MPH on an empty stretch.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Disabling ABS seems odd, but I'm no performance driver. I would think having ABS keeps you in better control during tight street driving, especially sharp corners at higher speeds.

 

[DaveMcS]

Keith nailed this one...The Impala and Caprice do have Iron heads while the Vette LT1 sports the aluminum heads. The iron are more tolerant to the heat soaking one would find as a cruiser sits and idels for long periods of time. the AL version could not withstand the long periods of heat or the stop and go/pursuit that the iron heads could. The Vete also ran 300+ HP vs the Impala 260 HP due to the minor differences with the engine/intake and exhaust setups

The Impala/Caprice I think only has a 2 bolt main while the Vette sports the more secure 4 bolt main.

Oh yeah. the Police Cruiser were available in the L99 (4.3L) and LT1 (5.7L) engines...

 

[DaveMcS]

ABS only controls wheel spin while braking-like in snow or on wet pavement.

The HD suspension serves to keep the car flat (less body roll) during tight corners. Highway offramps @ 60+mph are no problem with the stock HD suspension.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

OK - so now what about taxis ? Since they use a ton of Crown Vics and Caprice's, any mods to them ? Since my 96 T-Bird suspension is giving out after only 90k, I have a hard time believing stock Ford transmissions are really up to the abuse cab drivers put them through....

I think I'll try a Checker cab - got to be one around somewhere... Weren't many documented to go over a million miles ?

Comment on the last checker retired in 1999 from NYC:

Even though "Janie," had 994,050 miles on it, Sotheby’s auctioned it off for $134,500 on December, 18, 1999.

http://www.newsday.com/other/special...tory.htmlstory

 

[DaveMcS]

I would avoid the taxi's at all costs. They are typically in FAR WORSE condition than a crusier. Taxi Co's run their cars into the ground..frequently with hundreds of thousands of miles. The PD's not only keep up with routine maintainance but regularly rotate cruiser out of service at set intervals (100.000 miles or so) depending on the availablity of Federal grant money to replace them. My cruiser came out of service with 150000 miles. But many of the other 9C1's at the dealer were local NY cruisers with around 100000 miles or less.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Good point Dave, I definitely was not recommending a taxi purchase. I can't stand sitting in most, much less actually owning one... I was just curious.

If there are no modifications, you'd think the cab fleets would purchase the models giving best bang-for-the buck, so hence would be a good model to purchase privately (i.e - new).

 

[DaveMcS]

Fleet purchases (like Cruisers and Taxi's) are usually VERY difficult for Joe Sixpack to make. Police packages are restricted to PD's and organizations of that ilk, and taxi's are usually handled through the Fleet Sales part of the dealership which typically deals in large purchases only. Your only chance would be to get someone to order an extra vehicle to piggyback onto a new fleet purchase-and that would require a good relationship with someone on the inside.

If I may be so bold, check out Craig Jasmin at
KeyMotors thats where I purchased my 9C1 and also the Impala SS Club of America's forum here for all sorts of info on the GM 9C1 Caprices.