Hi Ray were these the 2 cars they used to challenge/catch the street racers that used to race out of Harvey's at Jane and 7 ? I kind of remember there was a couple of hot cop challenge cars back in 1968 trying to catch the drag racers.

-- Edited by ARCADIAN on Thursday 30th of March 2023 09:49:37 AM

I recall a Dodge police cruiser in the mid '70's. I believe it had the 440, and it was cam'ed to where it would barely idle. The whole car would shake. It actually had a locking hand throttle on the dash so you could increase RPM's to whatever you wanted and lock it there - as used in many big diesels. The officer explained that if they just set the idle high enough so it would not shake itself apart, it'd be trying to launch itself down the road when stopped at a traffic light (I was thinking maybe they needed a different torque converter?).
The officer driving it had previously been the high speed driving instructor for the RCMP in Regina. I doubt many could outrun that.

Mind you, I don't know any car that can outrun a radio.

I won't say where, but decades ago I did see 210 km/h in my '03 Passat, which is where the speed limiter is set. It was stable & quiet. Built for the Autobahn no doubt. Unthinkable on the street today in Ontario, but technically do-able in the appropriate setting.

Aerodynamic numbers have gotten so much better over the years. Those old O.P.P. barges would push a lot of wind, and that took power. I'd love to hear that Plymouth on a full-throttle run. They had a great deep resonant staccato from behind.

100% honest, I never did. But my nephew bought his brand new in 2009. Before it left the dealership, they installed a fresh air intake, a complete Magnflow exhaust system from front to back and tuned it. He sent me a picture of his digital speedometer one day, 164 mph. Not bad for a 361 horse Pontiac family sedan. Apparently stock they will do about 154 mph.

I've been in a 70 Fury1 ex OPP police 4 door 440. It's different than what you might think. They haul.

 

4SPEED427 wrote:

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seventy2plus2 wrote:

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My 454 Parisienne & 454 Laurentian with their 2.56 rear gears would have likely outrun these cop cars.

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 I may be crazy but I'm betting a 454 B body would have a higher top speed with 2.73 or maybe even 3.07 gears.

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I've never found the top end on my cars as they go past 120 on the speedo.   

My old 454 Parisienne was 2.56, same with the 454 Laurentian.

The 454 from my old Parisienne is in my 2+2 rag, it's got 2.73s.   My LS6 4 speed car is running 3.07's, it gets up to the top end faster as it's got a lot more horsepower.

My brothers 71 Biscayne was a former RCMP highway car. I thought that my 72 Nova would outrun the cops until driving that thing. With the 454 and highway gearing it would push you back in your seat all the way past the end of the 140 mph speedo.

Here's a rendering I created from the brochure. It is the spitting image of the car my good friend's dad ordered new. It was a 1973 Chevy Biscayne B07 Police Interceptor 454 with 140 mph speedo, fat stabilizer bars, super J55 HD brakes, even HD frame. He also ordered Positraction, super cooling & electrics. 454 Interceptors I think came with 3.07 gearing for long legs, but Linus specified 3.42:1. He bought it to tow a trailer.I remember the O.P.P. ran a few black & white versions of the car below.

 

Rustproofed when new, then oil sprayed twice a year. He stuck a row of functional gauges across the dash. Despite all that, under a different owner the 454 was yanked and the car was just left to die when I saw it in '98.

I should have bought it in '85 when I had the chance.

66 Grande guy wrote:

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I know I've posted this before but I remember a conversation I had with a former RCMP officer. He started in 1966 and at that time they used a lot of  Pontiacs with the 396 TH400 combo. He said they they would radar them to see if they were due for a tuneup and if they wouldn't clock 130 mph in they went. (not sure of the rear gear number though))  They moved to the low horse 427 by 1969 and he said they were just not quite as fast.  He also said the fastest one they clocked was a 1966 that got up to 140 mph. Not bad for those barges! 

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 Yup, and on tires probably rated at 85 mph.

My 98 beetle diesel would clock 220kph, but that was it. Drove an ex rcmp 66 biscayne 396, had it to 140mph and it was still going. 1996 mystique v6 5 speed would do over 220kph. Tuned 2003 Passat I had to 240kph, top speed was in 4th gear. The aerodynamics in modern cars, the lack of wind noise at highway speed, its easy to believe lots of the new stuff would easily outrun much of the old stuff.

You guys are making me blow the dust off some old memories! As a retired member of the RCMP who was stationed in Saskatchewan in the 70's, where highways were made for speed, I had a lot of fun. Not all police cars came with big blocks but all came with the other police package options being suspension, exhaust, brakes and tires. The tires has Police embossed on the sidewall, which wasn't so good if you were working plain clothes and driving an unmarked car:) 66 Beau commented on how the 440's idled and the manual throttle lock. That was used when we were at accident scenes or running stationary radar for any period of time to keep the car from over heating. We used to pull it out until the idle smoothed out and then locked it. If you didn't unlock it before putting it in drive you stood a good change something was going to break and you'd be left sitting, otherwise it did launch. These cars were loaded down with so much additional equipment that I don't recall weight being an issue as much as Mopar's front end floated when you up over 100 mph but they got you there in 4/10 of a mile from a stop. I remember a 75 Monaco I had. If I manually shifted it I got 60 mph in 1st, 100 mph in 2nd and well past the 140 mph in D. A 78 Ford with a 460, I later drove, came close to that car in performance but handled better. It also had the manual throttle lock.

Sadly, especially being a GM die hard, I never drove a good 454 but I did hear a few good stories from guys who drove them in the east. It may have depended on what plant the cars were made. The ones I drove in 74 and 75 had a top end of 115 mph. A detachment Dodge with a 360 2 barrel would do 125 mph and use less gas per shift. It took a long time to get there but it would get you there, unlike the 454.

Some in this thread mentioned Pontiac Laurentians having 454's. The 1973 Laurentian I drove had a 455, Buick engine that was built as a police interceptor. That thing was crazy! It had so much torque we couldn't keep exhaust manifolds in it, so it always had a slight leak. If you were in the middle of your 8 hr shift and turned around to go after someone and made the mistake of kicking it down and it dropped back into low gear the manifold would be taken out.

1972 Ford had a 429 interceptor that was also insane. You could kick it down at 110 mph and the front passenger couldn't touch the dash,; top end unknown.

As for the cars in the photos, the engine size is anyone's guess. Some police cars back then were ordered with 2 doors so prisoners couldn't escape. They presented many challenges, including difficulty of getting them in there in the first place; the in ability to install the silent patrolman (with the roll bar setup). In later years the inside door lever rod was disconnected at the factory so the rear doors could only opened from the outside.