C'mon now...how sneaky can you get?!?!?

[Steve W.]

Nice, I'd call that a bait car for racing.

I recall on 128 the MA state police used, of all things, a red ford
panel van. Funniest thing to see a mustang pulled over with a red van
behind it with a cop writing a ticket. The only give-away were the
blues in the grill. They also had a blacked out Ford Probe GT.

Also, in Billings/southern Montana they had late 90s Z28 camaros. The
speed limit at that time during the day was "reasonable and prudent"
Apparently they needed the Z28s to enforce prudent.

NY bought a bunch of Camaros and Mustangs as "pursuit" vehicles. I think
that there is only one left in the fleet now. Most of them were wrecked
by the guys who thought that they knew how to drive them at over 100 mph!!

 

[FatterDumber& Happier Moe]

Don't ya just love that? The schools cry out for money, they have to lay
off cops, and these morons pay themselves +$500,000 salaries (to be sure,
I don't know if Bell has had to lay anyone off, but Calif in general is in
real monetary trouble, and one city has lkaid off it's police force and is
'outsourcing' to the Sheriff's dept and the neighboring town's police dept...)

If these guys are Republicans, I'm becoming a Democrat...

A mini Wall Street Bankster type scam. Maybe the Wall Streeters will
pick up on this and flock to small cities, this town has a population of
36K and average per-income is $24800. Where their is fleece to be had
their will be fleecers. Where did the money come from? They sold bonds
an increased property taxes. Easy credit, easy money,
"Bell has sold six debt issues since 2003, according to last year’s
annual report. The city’s $148 million in total debt amounts to 10
percent of the total assessed property value and $3,800 per resident,
according to David Hitchcock, the director of state and municipal
finance at the credit-rating firm Standard & Poor’s. The per-resident
figure is “moderately high,†according to Hitchcock."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...lary-in-city-of-38-000-triggers-protests.html
and let's rub salt into the wound,
"California city manager's pension could top $30 million"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66K6BX20100721
Most city, state, fed jobs require the employee or elected person take
a general purpose do no wrong, work for the best interest of the cause
type "oath" sign it and have it on file. Someone that has the
authority ought to be looking into that and use it to prosecute these
shysters.

 

[Ed Treijs]

Plus one city is using the standard Crown Vic, but with a taxi-light on the
roof! It doesn't say "TAXI" though, it just has a big phone-number. You
need to get up close before you see that, in /very/ small letters above the
phone-number, it says "POLICE". And the phone-number is that of the local
cops.

My friend who drove taxi in Toronto years ago always speculated that a
taxi-appearing cop car would be the hot ticket for giving out tickets.
(Ever mix with a pack of taxis racing south on Yonge St. back to
downtown at 2 AM to pick up more clubland fares? 90 km/h south of St.
Clair--whee!)

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Around these parts about 10 years ago the local police used a white
Trans Am. Finally had to retire it because many women complained
about it not looking like a cop car.

They wanted a ride without being incarcerated?

 

[nobody >]

NY bought a bunch of Camaros and Mustangs as "pursuit" vehicles. I think
that there is only one left in the fleet now. Most of them were wrecked
by the guys who thought that they knew how to drive them at over 100 mph!!

Seattle PD had similar experiences with the SVO Mustangs about 20 years
ago. I was repairing (and sometimes installing) 2-way gear and such and
got to drive one of them around the block to the back shop lot and found
it would hit 80+ in a block....

There was one wrecked one we had to pull the radios out of that kinda
resembled the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile. Seattle's not as hilly as
Frisco, but we do have a few goodies downtown. Think Steve McQueen and
the "Bullit" movie; the accident investigators figure he hit the
intersection of 4th Ave and Marion St at better than 100 mph uphill and
flew over 250 feet horizontally and about 50 feet vertically (at the top
of the arc) before coming down nose-first.

Speaking of Montana's "prudent", I grew up there. Back in the late 60's
and early 70's "prudent" was up to the individual officer's judgment. I
had a very heavy foot (still do)and learned that if they came after you
with the lights blazing (even if there was no chance in hell the could
catch you), slow down and pull over. They'd do a quick eval to see if
you were impaired (but not a full fledged DUI-type test) and if your car
looked to be in condition to handle the speed they clocked you at.
If 'in their judgment' you and your car checked out OK, you might get
the 5 minute lecture. If you started talking "car talk", that usually
resulted in popping the hood open and BSing for a few minutes longer
and do the "spit on the pipes" bonding ritual. No tickets that way.

Unless you pulled over or slowed way down, it would be a long chase.
Unless you just couldn't see the gumball machine behind you because of
the terrain, they'd be just a tad bit pissed at you when they finally
got you pulled over if it took 10 miles to catch up to you...
(and that was only if they had one of their "extreme" pursuit packages)
I got one ticket written up for 148 mph on the radar as a souvenir, with
VOIDED BY OFFICER across it, I wish I could find it.

 

[anniejrs]

I suppose it's like that little town called "Bell?" You've got there
where the chief honcho gets $788,000 per annum.   (Twice the Presidents
$400,000). Apparently they can set their own pay in closed session and
no one knows what they are paid apart from their pension company.   Was
on our programme called "Newsnight" national news last night.

I'll bet that goes on a lot more than we know.

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

I got one ticket written up for 148 mph on the radar as a souvenir, with
VOIDED BY OFFICER across it, I wish I could find it.

YEEEHAAA! What was the car?

 

[johninky]

YEEEHAAA! What was the car?

I'd be interested to know also. Back in the early 1970s i had a 66
425HP Corvette I once, and only once, took up to 140mph. Front end
got real light around 135 and I have always believe the car would have
gone airborne a little above 140 mph. Wasn't many cars back then that
could break even 130 back then but once worked with a man in the steel
mills in Ohio that got a ticket in VA for doinfg138 mph in his then
new 68 Buick Gran Sport Rivera. The GS option came with 2 four
barrels.

 

[Clive]

In message

I'd be interested to know also. Back in the early 1970s i had a 66
425HP Corvette I once, and only once, took up to 140mph. Front end
got real light around 135 and I have always believe the car would have
gone airborne a little above 140 mph. Wasn't many cars back then that
could break even 130 back then but once worked with a man in the steel
mills in Ohio that got a ticket in VA for doinfg138 mph in his then
new 68 Buick Gran Sport Rivera. The GS option came with 2 four
barrels.

Over here, you loose your licence for three to six months and a heavy
fine if you are doing 1.5 times the limit.

 

[John]

YEEEHAAA! What was the car?

A Beechcraft

 

[AJL]

Over here, you loose your licence for three to six months and a heavy
fine if you are doing 1.5 times the limit.

On Usenet stories are inflated 1.5 times so not to worry...

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

I'd be interested to know also. Back in the early 1970s i had a 66
425HP Corvette I once, and only once, took up to 140mph. Front end
got real light around 135 and I have always believe the car would have
gone airborne a little above 140 mph. Wasn't many cars back then that
could break even 130 back then but once worked with a man in the steel
mills in Ohio that got a ticket in VA for doinfg138 mph in his then
new 68 Buick Gran Sport Rivera. The GS option came with 2 four
barrels.

I almost got up to that...with a Corolla!!!

Back in 1986 I bought a Corolla GTS Twin Cam 1.6L with 10,000 miles on it.
My wife's sisters all lived in Oshawa Ont (home of GM Canada) and we would
go visit them in the summer.

Just outside Kingston I got left in the dust by a Volvo Bertone and a
Prelude. I figured this was as good a time as any, so I pegged it. I got
up to about 130 and, as you say, the front end got flighty. I had a
little bit more to go, but decided not to push it, esp with wifey in the
car, so I crawled back to 125 and stayed there until the other two got out
of sight, and then went back to the absolute sluggish speed of 75...

 

[John]

I almost got up to that...with a Corolla!!!

Back in 1986 I bought a Corolla GTS Twin Cam 1.6L with 10,000 miles on it.
My wife's sisters all lived in Oshawa Ont (home of GM Canada) and we would
go visit them in the summer.

Just outside Kingston I got left in the dust by a Volvo Bertone and a
Prelude. I figured this was as good a time as any, so I pegged it. I got
up to about 130 and, as you say, the front end got flighty. I had a
little bit more to go, but decided not to push it, esp with wifey in the
car, so I crawled back to 125 and stayed there until the other two got out
of sight, and then went back to the absolute sluggish speed of 75...

Yeah, I've done that ride. My dad used to live in Oshawa (and surprise,
worked at GM) but after he moved to MA we'd always go back on shutdown
every summer to see all his friends. My first long-distance drive was
from MA to Oshawa in a 71 XR7 in record (for us) time. Almost run off
the road outside Montreal (was it the Bruins T-shirt?) but man did I get
crap for bringing a Mercury into a GM town.

 

[Wade]

Over the years I have seen the Ct State police use just about anything for
an unmarked car, the usual Crown Vics, an occasional Chevy Impala of one
vintage or another. In the 80's they used Mustang 5.0s and Mazda MX6s for
undercover work.

Imagine my surprise when on a work trip to Hartford today I see a car
pulled over just outside of Enfield, with another car behind it. I didn't
notice the first car because of the second car. Then I saw the blue
uniform writing a ticket...

In one of these...

http://cdn.motors.co.uk/d/used-photos/22950/400x/0/0/V619JTO.jpg

Speaking of sneaky, here's a clip from Holland, I don't know what the
"survellance" car looked like but the Porsche driver obviously knew
someone was trailing him.
Enjoy!
Wade

 

[nobody >]

YEEEHAAA! What was the car?

I think I did that about twice. 120-130 was more comfortable with this
combo.

'65 Chevelle Malibu 4-door wagon.

The car was a spotless 'old couple car' with a 194CI six with bad
lifters when I bought it. Absolutely gorgeous body; saddle bronze and
just enough chrome to set off the smooth but straight lines.

283 punched out to 4" bore (usually called a 301 done that way but call
it a 5L 302), almost Z28 specs:

340 HP bowtie 327 hi-rise dual-plane aluminum intake with a 450 CFM
Carter "widebase/bigneck" AFB/AVS carb I worked over.

Long-tube headers (I went thru a couple of brands).

375HP 327 fuely 327 Vette cam, solid lifters.

And a bunch of Camaro underparts for high-speed handling, VelvetTouch
semi-metallic brakes, Pirelli 225R-14 tires on 7" stock wheels with the
old BlackJack covers. and the obligatory blue "cateye' inserts in the
tailights. I paid $600 for it in 1969...

And (don't laugh) a "3 on the tree" with overdrive. OD on a manual trans
with "stomp-it" kick-down is always good for the driving I do.
The 30% ratio makes a better "passing gear" than most auto trans of the
day. I did go to a Hurst on the floor ; but I don't remember if I had it
at that time. 2nd gear/and OD was great for gravel country roads, 2-over
would let you do about 70 easily.

That was a fairly slick body for those days.

But I'll have to admit that was under about perfect conditions; cool
day, about a 20 MPH tailwind; and a 8 mile straightaway.
(and the damned fan belt stayed on!)

IIRC, I was taccing about 6500 in 3-over at the time. 7 grand was what I
felt was "redline".

Reality is that a 2-way flying mile mile on this car would probably be
down in the mid-high 130 mph range.


I know it's not what you'd expect, but I built it for hi-speed, but the
375HP/327 cam was a mistake later corrected with a Crane hydraulic cam.

That combo cut me back to back to about 135 top-end; but it was a much
more manageable beast then.

One of about 12 cars I wish I'd kept or could have bought back them...
including a '50 Merc lead-slead mild custom. Oh well <[:{{