Another Pic From DC
posted by SCC at 12:05 AM
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49 Comments:
If that old Dodge still has the 440 in it, the owner probably spent as much money on gas driving to and from D.C. as he would've paid for a half dozen roundtrip airfare tickets.
God bless you, sir. And beautiful ride.
i remember seeing 1 Dodge as a pool car after I came on, 1985.
I recall being handcuffed in the back of those a time or two. Could someone look in the back for my wallet? It seems to have went missing.
1st squad car was a blue and white Dodge with a single blue bubble on the roof.No A/C and a milk crate in the back seat holding up the drivers seat.And it was probably in better shape then the crap motor maint gives you now.For R service you went to the Area 4 garage on Madison.Those were the days.
Old retired guy.
Note to Mayor Rham : Put that blue star back on the car doors to restore morale and a sense of Police authority. Both are lacking today.
Man I wish...
I only have 8 years on, and the best "classic" I got to drive a few times was a bubble Chevy. And that car was sweet! Best seats I ever sat in, and a digital dash (that still worked).
I remember when O. W. Wilson became the Superintendent and changed all the black and whites to blue and white. As pre-teens we had to learn to look for the new cars rounding the corner when we were on our bikes for the day. Didn't take long. A classic!
The second car looks like a 1980 box Chevy with a pre-1975 design????
The old blue and white paint job with the star on the side was in it's final year in 1974.
Yes, I recall these old cars, some had push button drive, all but the traffic cars were 6 cylinder. One of the guys had a can of the blue paint in his garage to touch up the minor dings and scrapes for sunday vehicle inspection. And, no air conditioning !! The radios were dash mounted and when they went bad you would call the R-man to replace the unit in the trunk. yes, good memories of good days gone bye!
hey that car looks like one in the movie Branagon(john wayne as CPD detective)
Those damn Dodges and Plymouths would hardly start in the winter if they were down for an eight hour shift. Six cylinder shit boxes from the late 60s and early 70s. The Fords had terrible transmissions and would actually fall into reverse from `Park` while the engine was running. Chevys were the best.
Wow! A double gumball.
Two Mars lights on a rack.
No air-conditioning.
Crank windows.
The only V8s we had were used by the Traffic Division for their enforcement cars. The rest of the fleet were all sixes, no A/C, no electronic ignition (plugs constantly fouling out), radios mounted in the trunk (when you were out of your car, you were out of communication).
Those cars pre-date the integrated light-siren control box in use these days...Can one of the old timers refresh my memory ...Were the blue lights switched by a metal floor mounted switch like the old high-beam headlights or was it a metal toggle switch mounted in or under the dash pointing at the floor ?
I remember the Impalas with 1 Mars Light on top at the old Kensington St. Station. Didn't drive one, just looked (as a kid) while walking up to "The Ave".
Yes, I even remember when they only had 1 mMars light, attached to the roof. Let me see, No air conditioning, no power steering, no power brakes, hand cranked windows, 6 cylinder engines, vinyl seats that stuck to your ass and many other inconveniences, but we still had a ot of fun in them. We actually used to go to an ice house and put a block of ice in the back seat to try to stay cool. In a heavy rain in the summer, we headed for the nearest viaduct to be able to open windows and get some cool air while staying dry. Those cars were old at 50 or 60 thousand miles.
Yep, They had power nothing, bench seats, no air, but we had fun!!
If you were smart, you put sandbags in the trunk of the dodge because you lost the rear end on a tight turn.
Runnin "n" gunnin, Air cleaner off, rear end sliding, hundred mile an hour chases down 63rd street on mids in 003 in the early 70's. It was our generations Great America.
Those are tge future "new" cars.
Yeah back in the day, I think that's when everyone used pomade. Can "Hair Gel man" confirm?
Chevys and Dodges.....
Good Friends.....
Great PARTNER.......
Great Times(mostly)......
Good Memories(mostly).....
Better Days........
Hey, I didn't know it then but we had a lot of fun.......
God Bless the CPD......
Stay Safe...........
OFF TOPIC:
Somehow this must have gotten buried from the powers that be — it is an another good news article by some of the CPD, and you know we cannot have that. Easier to sell the rags when you focus on the bad, not the good, even when the good happens day in and day out.
Great job Officers! Hope you do not have a fourth on your team to feel the lead.
http://www.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/5347223-417/despite-three-members-getting-shot-anti-violence-task-force-getting-it-done.html
Fast cars, but unstable in a turn, especially so on wet pavement.
Nice car GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU!!
I'm in my late 50's and I can remember those crazy sounding sirens; you really knew when the cavalry was coming!
i remember driving this vehicle everyday to the jack-in-the-box drive thru. sometimes two times a day. jim carroll
I am the owner/driver of one of the 1972 Dodge (8208). We arrived back in Chicago at about 1pm on Monday. A long trip- a little over 1400 miles, but well worth it. Our 3 vintage cars ran basically without any trouble, but mine only gets 13mpg. The 1969 Plymouth is also owned by an active CPD member, and the 1974 Chevy by a suburban officer who wanted to make the trip with us.
Finally getting to view the memorial yesterday up close for the first time, I was brought to tears. I had to walk away and collect myself. Even thought I am fortunate enough not to know anyone personally on the wall, it is an incredibly sad place. The overwhelming numbers of flowers, the photos and remembrances are too much to take in when you realize that they were all people- cops like you and me just doing their jobs when they were taken away from their families.
Being there and seeing it was but a small token of the never-ending gratitude and respect we owe to those who are memorialized on that hallowed ground.
Stay safe,
Sgt Greg Reynolds 1173
Traffic Section
Cars? They're not needed anymore. There's a "No Chase" policy in Chicago.
Our old Dodges did not have the 440 motor. Our cars had the 360 motor. However, either motor was very hard on gas.
I drove all 3. I think the Chevy is a '75. First of the V8's or maybe it was the first with ac. They went to 015 if I recall. I think the boys out there piled up a few. They were quick.
67-11B, Retired 14yrs..........
The cars are (l to r):
1969 Plymouth Fury
1974 Chevy Belair
1972 Dodge Polara
Can one of the old timers refresh my memory ...Were the blue lights switched by a metal floor mounted switch like the old high-beam headlights or was it a metal toggle switch mounted in or under the dash pointing at the floor ?
===============
Came on in 1973. The blue lights were switched on with a pull-switch just like the old dash mounted headlight switch. One day came to work to find three AMCs (Rebels, if memory serves me) parked in the lot at 009 all decked out in blue and white--there to see how well then stood up and possibly to crack the police market. Doors fell off in about 3 weeks. Hence no AMC squad cars.
Generally speaking, the Dodges were faster, but the Chevys handled better--shorter turning radius and better (maybe longer-lasting) shocks. Neither had AC. On hot summer nights, the first order of business was to find a fire hydrant the kids left running and to drive the car through that cool cool water a couple of times.
God, I miss the job sometimes; but then I sober up . . .
Is that Pat Tody's Squad?
Those cars pre-date the integrated light-siren control box in use these days...Can one of the old timers refresh my memory ...Were the blue lights switched by a metal floor mounted switch like the old high-beam headlights or was it a metal toggle switch mounted in or under the dash pointing at the floor ?
5/16/2011 09:30:00 AM
**********************************
I recall a "pull on/push off switch on the dash" a toggle switch under the dash for siren.
Late 50's to early 70's Plymouths & Dodges?
Big.
Stout.
Fast.
And sometimes ugly... So they say.
First car we learned to drive was a '61 Plymouth Fury Pursuit (courtesy of ISP) that the old man purchased at auction.
(Heh... You better believe it was sight faster than the '62 to '64 slant-six CPD Savoys he was piloting at the time.)
Talk about a mean, evil, neck-breaking, hard accelerating son of a bitch. That Fury was truly "A Man's Car."
Big block high performance Mopars had a distinct induction snarl. Lots of air and lots of fuel deciding to have a BIG party!
"Watch that right foot boy!"
Furies at that time were unibody and a few hundred pounds lighter than the full sized Dodges.
383 with a BIG 4 barrel carb and a lumpy idle? Scary fast. Yes, push-button trans!
A few had 413's... Those had to be terrifyingly fast. As in 140+ mph capable. The Petty clan were big fans but they said because of the shape of the trunk, these cars tended to dance a little at about 140mph.
*sigh*
Older relative threw a rod drag racing the damn thing...
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane.
Was a cadet in 1970 at that time we were using blue/white Impalas or Belairs without power steering, a single blue light, vinyl seats, no air conditioning, no seat belts and sirens that whined if they worked.
Right around 1974/75 the double bar lights came in. I remember an incident in 006 and they were able to identify a car involved because it was the last car in the district with a single bubble mars light. At that time they were using Dodges.
Thats rights around the time that electronic sirens were put on the light bars.
At that time still no air conditioning.
I got caught for curfew a few times and had a ride in the old dodge...ah memories.
Trying to stay cool without air conditioning, we had to be creative. In 018 we had the Illinois Bell Telephone building on Dearborn. We would drive to the rear of the building (alley) and pull next to the exhaust vents that blew stale but cool air out of the building. That stinky air felt good. The good old days.
I am the owner/driver of one of the 1972 Dodge (8208). We arrived back in Chicago at about 1pm on Monday. A long trip- a little over 1400 miles, but well worth it. Our 3 vintage cars ran basically without any trouble, but mine only gets 13mpg. The 1969 Plymouth is also owned by an active CPD member, and the 1974 Chevy by a suburban officer who wanted to make the trip with us.
DAMN SGT, Remind us to throw a benefit for you. You need it for 13 MPG at $5.00 a gallon!
Working midnights in the early 70's, we'd take the old Dodges out on the Eisenhower, flip on the "bubble gum machine" and floor it for about three or four miles. The Dodges ran better once you blew out the carbon build up on the plugs. Oh yeah, taking off the air cleaner made the old cars sound pretty healthy when you tromped on the gas, and the rattling around of the air cleaner in the trunk helped keep you awake on midnights.
Over twenty four years ago, as a kid with not much time on the job, I can rememeber sitting in the back seat of an unmarked '83 ford ltd., with some old timers. They were talking about the old dodge monacos. I can remember sayin' to them " That's funny- in about 25yrs, I'll be discussing this with my parners saying- " I rememeber when the squad cars used to have wheels (able to fly) to get around.
I/F
Maybe the return of vinyl seats would be a good thing for our current fleet. They resist cigarette holes, nosewipe, cocktail sauce, melted chocolate, coffee spills, the smell of poorly wiped dirty ass, and a hole from a gun butt better than what we have now. I feel soiled after a tour.
No Air!!! Yes they did: 440 air... 4 open windows at 40 MPH.
No hair gel back then, they used the grease from those mammoth cars!
Hot summers in the deuce! No air, just that funky "ghetto smell!" I did love listening to "Shaft" while I was sucking down a cold one and eating me a "listener!"
We used to do the same thing with the air cleaner on the "Box Style" Chevys, and the LTD's. Don't know if it made em go faster, but it sounded pretty cool. How about the siren/horn on the LTD's-Push the turn signal in, after clicking the toggle switch.
Lucky to be Alive.
How about the old chevys, you dropped the trans in low, floored it bringing up the rpms as high as possilbe, turn the ingnition off, wait three seconds and turn it back on. A huge backfire resulted often blowing off the muffler. Big fun when you did it next to a group of gangsters standing on cornor. The menes would dive for cover or shit in their pants on the spot thinking we were shooting at them, BIG FUN !
What did Supt. James Rochford say when he saw the first of the new current squad cars in 1975, "It still looks like a taxicab."
Remember when Chicago movies were made in Chicago, not Toronto, and all those squad cars were wrecked in "The Blues Brothers".
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