|
September
2003
| Okay, it appears the
work slowdown is over and The Committee has finally buckled and
gotten back to work. I did have to give in, though and
allow them to upgrade to the baked potato barrel at Joes Trough
and Brew every month.
Finally, here is the September
issue of copcar of the Month for 2003. Only about 4 months
late. So I decided to let these loafers take the easy way
out.
In that regard, we are posting
photographs of an unusual private restoration. This car is
owned by a Livingston Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff's Deputy,
Perry Rushing. We'll let him tell the story of his LCSO
unit. |
copcar dot com
presents: A red police
car?
| This is a 42,000 mile
original-paint 1971 Ford police car. When I began my career in
law enforcement in the late 1970's, these cars were my office on
wheels. |
| A good friend of mine
found this car in a small Louisiana town a few years ago. It has
been privately owned since new. Dr. S.D. Jones
purchased this car new and used it to perform his duties as
coroner in a rural Louisiana parish during the 1970's. He
performed extremely detailed maintenance on the car for more
than two decades. During the mid 1990's he sold the car to a
person who left it outside for about 5 or 6 years. |
| In the fall of 2002
Dwayne Larriviere, a fellow enthusiast of old Ford police cars, purchased
the car for me. It did not run. The paint on the
hood had begun to rust. Remarkably, however, the rest of
the paint "buffed out" as evidenced by the photos. The
interior, with the exception of the carpet, is all original. |
| I removed the engine
and had it rebuilt. The 429 Police Interceptor is actually a 429
Cobra Jet that was used in a limited number of Ford Mustangs and
Torino Cobras. Not to be "outdone" Mercury also used
this engine in a very small number of Cougars and Cyclones.
It has 4 bolt main bearing caps and the original Quadrajet carb.
The aluminum rocker arm covers and chrome air cleaner lid were
installed by the factory and are correct for this engine.
This 370 horse power engine was only used for one year in the
Ford full size sedan police cars. A low compression version was
used in the 1972 Galaxie. (I drove 2 of these in late 1970's) |
|
I have a MartiAutoWorks
report documenting that is 1 of only 8 1971 Ford Galaxie 500 station
wagons ever produced with the 429 Police Interceptor
engine.
|
   
  
 
Click on the thumbnails
for full-size photos
| The radar monted on
the window is certified for court use and works great. It has a
wind up siren under the hood. The Twin Sonic light bar has been
modified with a windshield wiper motor so that the
lights rotate at about twice the factory speed. The decals
on the door are magnetic. All of the lights and and factory
equipment such as a/c, p/s, and windshield wipers
operate like they did over three decades ago when it was
purchased in December of 1970. |
Thanks,
Perry. Great looking and unusual car! |
