Mopar squads of the 1980s and 1990s

The 1980s

The major squad cars of the 1980s were the St. Regis/Gran Fury and the Dodge Diplomat / Plymouth Gran Fury. We have separate pages devoted to each of them.

Jim Benjaminson: By 1982 Plymouth had the Reliant patrolling the streets of America in full police car trim. Reviving a term used in the past, it was called the Reliant Scout Car. Powered initially by a standard 2.2 liter 135 cid engine with 84 hp, or an optional 2.6 liter 156 cid 92 hp Mitsubishi Silent Shaft four, the Scout Car joined the midsized Gran Fury Pursuit and the Voyager as Plymouth's offerings to law enforcement.

The Reliant could hardly chase down a 1970 Road Runner, but it was more than equal to most of the straight-six cars of the era, as well as most of the four-cylinder imports. Regardless, few criminals could outrace Motorola.

Ed Hennessy wrote: Chrysler did make an AHB (police package) Aries and Reliant in the mid-1980s; the NYPD used hundreds of them. These were 2.5 TBI cars. Their highway patrol division got Gran Furies with the 318 4 barrel police motor. New Haven, CT also used them. I believe both cities bought a majority of six cylinder cars for patrol, and V8s for pursuit duties, regardless of brand.

Dale Burkhardt wrote: There never was a factory police package for the Dodge Dynasty, but several agencies did use them. I remember that the suburban Chicago, Illinois, village of Crestwood had one in the 1980s. (Mark Swingle wrote: "The only 3.8L Dynasty police mules I ever heard of were naturally aspirated. Even without the turbo, they provided enough power as a 3.8 Dynasty to be competitive. The reason the program was shelved was the Dynasty was at the end of its product cycle and the Intrepid was due out in a year or so.")

1990 - 1995

Dodge Shadows with the 2.2 turbocharged engine appear to have been used in Mexico.

We have little information from this period; would you send us something?

Mitch Hartley wrote in 2002: The Cheltenham, Pennsylvania police department have three Dodge Shadows that are used as unmarked/ comand personnel cars. These cars are equipped with a red tear drop light, radio, and siren. They love the Shadows as they are great in snow, have great repair records and they would be happy to put more into thier fleet.

I have used a 1993 Dodge Shadow in my process service business, the car has over 140,000 miles on it and short of a timing belt, and a pick up coil I have never broken down. This same car was used as a Security patrol vehicle 24/7 at a local shopping center and is still used as a daily driver. I only wish Dodge was still making these cars.

1995

When the Grand Cherokee was first introduced, Chrysler tried to reposition the Cherokee by creating a right-hand drive model for export, a postal vehicle, and a police unit. Tyler Adams reports that Texas State Troopers started using the Jeep Cherokee as a police cruiser and special purpose vehicle in the early 1990s.

After the Caprice was cancelled, the slower, long-braking Crown Victoria became the only traditional police car. Due to safety concerns with the Fords, Connecticut began to use Mazda 626s. Canada began to use Intrepids as early as 1995 for squad cars. General Motors, meanwhile, is trying to push the Yukon as a police car, apparently for those agencies which do not have to pay for gasoline.

Representative Dick Chrysler tried to obtain the Caprice tools and dies, to produce the patrol cars in a Canadian former Hyundai factory. This effort seems to have slipped into nonexistence.

1997

Mark T. Crowther reports that many Canadian agencies are switching to the Intrepid, because of their superior handling, room, and price (compared to the C.V.). However, most seem to be 3.3s. He also reported that the Mounties were testing Intrepids as a C.V. replacement. Ohio is testing 1997 Dodge Intrepids for use as patrol cars, most of which will be unmarked.

1999 Michigan State Police Tests

The big winner in the 1999 tests was the Chevrolet Impala. Its scores were nearly always about the same as the Crown Victoria; the Impala's top speed was 5 mph lower (though it took less time to get there) and its fuel economy was about five miles per gallon higher. That's a significant difference considering how much squad cars are on the road.

The best performer, the Camaro, was also the lowest ranked vehicle, due mainly to its cramped size (inside). The Jeep Cherokee and Volvo T5 surprisingly were about even in score - the Volvo performed well, the Jeep was spacious.

The first decade of the 21st century had no fewer than three authentic Dodge police packages — for the Intrepid, Magnum, and Charger.

Current police cars | History, through 1979

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