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Availability of vintage police cars and where to buy them
Hello, and welcome to yet another installment of Police Car Collecting.
Before we get started, I would like to make a brief comment. From the start, I emphasized that this column is for you, the collector and enthusiast. Your feedback and input into this column is very important. I restate this now because I haven’t been getting the input from you, the readers of this column, that I had hoped for. It’s very important to be able to provide information that you wish to read here. If you are not registered to be able to post in the forums, it is easy and free so please do so.
For those of you that have given your input, thanks.
Okay, onto more important car stuff.
One topic that has been glossed over is the availability of retired police cars from earlier years. This is a topic that I have been questioned about. From time to time, I hear of individuals looking for a certain car such as a B body (which has always been a popular model) or others. What has made some of these cars so difficult to find? If one still wants to try to locate a certain model of car, what is the best way to go about it? Are there any cars that you just shouldn’t bother to try to locate?
The first question is pretty easy to answer. Age is a certain factor in availability of any vintage car. Obviously, looking for a mid-1970s vehicle is going to prove some challenge regardless of what you are looking for and the older you go, even more so. The condition of any car desired makes the quest more of a challenge, especially if you are looking for a car needing less restoration. The fact that these were police cars and service vehicles by design make it even more difficult as only a percentage of them have survived to current day compared to their civilian counterparts. Many of these cars saw their demise early in life due to the abuse that patrol vehicles get and the relative lack of maintenance that many larger cities have been famous for.
These vehicles were, and are, workhorses and get treated that way. Once the surviving ones were retired from active duty, off to auction they went. Many saw a second life as a taxi and this is a common use for retired police cars still. This “retirement” usually saw the ultimate end of the life of the vehicle down a short road and often its fate lie in the hands of the crusher. Once these cars went from patrolling neighborhoods and highways to moving people from offices to the airport, they were pretty worn out. The cars that have survived largely were sold to private individuals at municipal auction. These cars saw a more leisurely “retirement” from government service.
The general car buying public has always been less than enthusiastic about buying used patrol cars. The high average mileage, the nature of use, and too frequently the lack of proper maintenance have made these the lepers of used cars. Most states have made it mandatory upon re-titling of patrol cars and taxis to make it known on the reissued title that the vehicle was either a former police car or taxi. The relative value to consumers in these cars has changed a bit in more recent years. Still, most used car buyers will stay away from retired police cars with a vengeance.
Another factor in the lack of surviving copcars is Hollywood, a fairly significant factor. How many films and shows do we remember seeing older police cars being destroyed? How many now desirable Monacos were totaled in The Blues Brothers? How many B body Dodges were destroyed in the Dukes of Hazzard over 7 years of TV episodes? Most of you know the movie remake of Gone in 60 Seconds with Nicholas Cage. Do you know of the original film made in 1974 by the late H.B. Halicki? Halicki was a stunt man who dreamed of making the ultimate car chase film. They destroyed 93 cars in this first film, most of them police cars. There was a sequel, Gone in 60 Seconds II, where many more cars were destroyed, many of them again being police cars. A third movie, Deadline Auto Theft, was made by Halicki and even more cars were destroyed wholesale. Easily, several hundred cars were destroyed by Halicki in the three films he made before his untimely death. If you haven’t seen these movies, they have been re-released on DVD and I have to admit, they are a trip to watch. Destroying copcars has always been a favorite of second unit directors to do (the second unit is the stunt segment of the film crew) and they do it well. This is a significant reason for many of the most recognizable copcars of the past being so scarce.
Another event creating the loss of more police vehicles is the “Dukefest” held in the South each year, right up to the present. The Dukes of Hazzard has managed to be a Hollywood phenomenon that has stayed popular long after the show’s cancellation, maybe even more so. The Dukefest is a celebration of The Dukes of Hazzard where fans, young and old, gather and have fun. The stars of the original show usually make appearances at this festival. A yearly feature is stunt driving where representations of the General Lee and Roscoe’s sheriff cars are jumped and mangled in various ways. Every year, organizers search for cars to use in this part of the festival. We have lost a significant number of restorable police cars every year to this event, not to mention the loss of more vintage Chargers. Fortunately, the classic car community in general has started to express their unhappiness with this yearly carnage, no pun intended. Unfortunately, it hasn’t stopped the wanton destruction of more cars. Let’s hope that we can put more pressure on the organizers to stop this practice before there are no more cars left for us to restore.
Ok, you have decided to start your search. Where do you go from here? Many use eBay to start. There are several pitfalls to using eBay that I must caution you about. One is that it is an auction. Many get caught up in a buying frenzy during auctions and all too often end up paying too much for any given item. I’ve seen it happen. Another is that you are buying a vehicle sight unseen, unless you get really fortunate and find a car for auction near where you live, or near someone else you know that can check it out for you. There have been all too many horror stories about buyers taking delivery on their car and finding it much different than what was described. Your recourse at this point may be limited and end up costing you even more, to say nothing of the aggravation quotient. This doesn’t count the scammers where there isn’t even a car for sale, just a listing for one that doesn’t exist.
Online direct sales sites are good resources. Craigslist has proven to be a fairly good source of vehicles of all types, along with everything else imaginable listed for sale. Again, sight unseen sales take a bit of caution on the part of the buyer and the buyer always bears the greatest risk. AutoTrader.com is a good vehicle sales site to use also. Basically, any place you can think of looking can be a source of potential vehicles to find, even your local newspaper classifieds.
Contacting car clubs can sometimes be a way to find cars for sale. Some have web sites with classified columns. Often, the make specific club sites are better sources for copcar candidates. There are a couple web sites that require acceptance for membership (free, though) before you can post or even view the site content. One of those is copcar.com which is a good resource for vehicles and accessories, as well as technical advice and assistance. The forums require membership and this is where the classifieds are located, though there are a lot of publicly accessible parts of the site that are great viewing. One caution if you may think to join. The motto on this forum site is “Keep your seatbelt fastened” and they mean it. Controversy is no stranger to this forum. Our website (evooa.org) has a classified section that is free for anyone to view. You may find things that you might be seeking here.
What about wrecking yards? Do not rule these out, especially in the south and west. Yes, there have been a larger number of cars scrapped due to the higher prices for scrap metal in recent days. This does not mean that a gem cannot be found amongst the trash. Phone calls and e-mails can help in finding if yards across the country have what you may be looking for. I’ve been junking in North Carolina in the recent past and wished I had a fleet of trucks to bring up all the treasurers I found there, and that was just in one three county area. This is another place where internet searches can help you locate yards to contact including using Yellowpages.com.
Periodicals like Hemming’s and Old Cars Weekly can also be good resources to use. Granted, these cars will undoubtedly need more than less restoration, but sometimes this is the best option we have. If you are at this point in your search, ruling out cloning a civilian version of the car you are seeking might not be such a good idea. If you recall a previous column where I mentioned the restoration efforts of Eric Kurz of California, the car he found was in a wrecking yard in New York. Not only was it very restorable, but it was a real state police car. By the way, I had the chance to see his car during our recent trip to the Bay Area. It will be a great looking cruiser when it’s completed. There were two at the yard he found this one at and the other might still be there.
We talked about locating and buying a car for your project. What about if you have one to sell regardless of whether it’s a project or finished cruiser? The same outlets for locating a car can be the same ones to start offering it for sale, obviously minus the yards. Craigslist, AutoTrader and the rest of the sites can be great avenues to advertise your car for sale at low or no cost.
One word of caution. Be wary of scammers offering to buy your car through online sites. This has been a growing problem over the last several years. They often take one of several avenues. One is where they really don’t want to dicker over the price and want to pay immediately usually with a cashier’s check. This should send up a red flag. Another more common one is where the “buyer” wants to have the car shipped likely overseas. He offers to pay much more than the asking price and wants you to give the difference between your price and the check to his “agent” when the car is picked up. This scam is mentioned in the FBI and Secret Service fraud alerts and has been going on for several years. Another is where you are asked the bottom line price of your “item” with no mention of the car itself. Completely disregard these e-mails. A more insidious one is where you get a phone call through an operator to relay a TTY call to you. TTY machines are so deaf individuals can communicate via the phone. They use a keyboard to communicate to another station elsewhere. Operators can relay messages from a deaf person to anyone with a telephone. This scam was told to me by a Bell System supervisor.
How can you protect yourself during long distance transactions? One is to insist on a telephone conversation with the intended buyer. Most scammers will go away at this point. Another one, and one that I and many law enforcement types would endorse, is to arbitrarily refuse to take any paper for payment under any circumstances. With resources available like Western Union and Money Gram, there is no reason to have to accept checks of any type today. I recently sold a car (not a copcar, don’t worry) to an out of state buyer. The buyer used Money Gram through a neighborhood Wal Mart. All I needed to do was to give the confirmation number of the transaction supplied by the buyer at any nearby Wal Mart after she went to her Wal Mart and paid for it. I was paid in cash after I supplied the proper ID along with the confirmation number and location of the payer. Easy for both parties. Of course, there is a service charge that the buyer will have to bear, but it’s not a large one.
There are other resources like Paypal and BidPay that can be used. The disadvantage of BidPay is that it is designed for auction use. Paypal can be used for any type of transaction so long as both parties have an e-mail address. One big problem with both is that the users have to both be registered users of the particular site. Another is that they charge fees for the service which can equate to a noticeable amount of change depending on the amount of the transaction. The recipient of funds generally pays for Paypal fees. These payment sites do have some safeguards for buyers to help protect your purchases from unscrupulous sellers.
Now, there’s the ultimate question. Are there any particular cars that I should just plain avoid trying to obtain? I would have to say, no. It’s all a question of whether you are looking for a turnkey (needs no or little work) car or not and how much money you have to spend. If you look at the market realistically, you should be able to determine if the car you are seeking is within your grasp. We have already determined that these cars are not the best fodder for investment grade purchases overall. It’s basically up to what you can afford and want to spend.
With spring upon us, finally, we can now start to enjoy our cars again and to attend some of the shows in our areas. You should make an effort to attend some of the local car events with your copcar. We have found that bringing our cars to a local car cruise often makes out copcar a show stealer. The kids especially love them. Hopefully, you have made note of the events I have posted in our earlier columns and will try to attend at least one of them. You will find yourself in very good company.
Until next time, drive safely and keep saving those copcars!!
Police car shows coming up
It seems there aren’t many shows coming up until next summer. I’ll refresh the list when we get closer to the next show season.
Interactive
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Other columns
Introduction | The basics of police car collecting | Who are collectors? Why do we collect?
Emergency lighting | Sirens | Where to find retired police cars | Emergency vehicle shows | Investing in police cars
Restorations: Rules and regs for restorers | Chevy Malibu | 1949 Ford
Shows: Chicagoland Emergency Vehicles Show | Aquidneck Island National Police Car Parade
Also see the EVOOA home page
