Crown Vic CVPI+cool cop cars

thank you for that post. I mean that in all sincerity.

Being the silly white boy I am, I thought Ubuntu was an operating system. Now I feel more enlightened.

Getting back on course, somewhat...

Just back from getting graphics today. The graphics are subdued until the light hits them just right.



-Joe

Interesting computer and software they have there, I wonder if there is more info on that?

I think that would have been a Dodge Monaco.

Don't know if that is a City thing or a regional thing you've got going on there. I can honestly say that I have never written a citation or made an arrest based on someone's ethinicity, nor do I condone such action. Experiences such as yours give all in my profession a black-eye, deserved or not. The area where I work is mostly white and hispanic, maybe 1 percent black. As far as trouble makers are concerned, it seems to fall accordingly, white most, then hispanic, and least of all black. Skin color has nothing to do with the stats here, just sheer numbers. I feel sorry for you to live where you do.

-Joe

That looks really good. We have a local PD that has one all decked out. Word has it the new police chief is ex military.

Our Chief isn't, but the Captain was Army, the Lt, was Navy, and three Corporals are all former Marines. The guy we had from the Air Force resigned.

-Joe

You near a base? The local PD that has the humvee is very small, so it's kind of a joke around the area. I also heard they got it dirt cheap.

If you look at CVPI's go for a post 2003 model. Iirc, the intake and head design is better on the newer engines. Plus they sound better and the wheels look to sit farther out of the wheel wells, giving it a tougher look. If it's a pre 2003, at least make sure the intake manifold has been replaced with one that has an aluminum coolant crossover.

I own an auto repair shop with my dad and we got the Federal Housing Authority police cars as an account. They were passed down police cars, but I usually enjoyed working on the 2003 more than the 98 and 99's they had. Then they got handed down FBI K-9 Durangos. those were all murdered out (everything black, even the windshield).
When I would test drive the cars after repair, it was amazing how courteous people were! Come to a 4 way stop, you were the first to go. No issues with anyone weaving in lanes, everyone wearing seatbelts (caught a couple reaching over their shoulder like I couldn't see), even the garbage truck drivers gave me a wave as I passed by!

Try FREE.

...well...they will let you borrow it for nothing, but say on some of the stuff that they may...MAY...want it back after X# of years.

Good information. I'm looking at 03'+ models. I've seen some 05'-07' models with low mileage (100k) and am aiming for something in that range. I want a black and white to be specific, black ends, white middle.

03 was also the first year for the newer front suspension, the coil over shocks are not necessarily an improvement in my mind (harder to replace shocks), but the change to rack and pinion steering is a definite plus.

I will say everyone here who is either a civillian who owns one that is trying to sell it, or a car lot who bought an ass load from the auction wants WAY WAY WAY too much for them. STUPID amounts. I need to take my buddy who can buy auction cars to one of these auctions and buy myself a nice Detective car.

Something else to keep in mind...the wheels. The older wheels with less holes around the perimeter were recalled by Ford due to cracking, however, this was done based on VIN, as the wheels have no serial numbers to track. The later wheels, with more vent holes around the perimeter of the wheel face, were not part of the recall, if I remember correctly. Departments with large fleets often interchanged wheels from car to car, so there was no means of knowing for sure which wheels were affected by the recall and which weren't. This only applied to the Pursuit rims with the small center caps. The traditional wheels with full wheel covers, like on most detective's cars, were not affected.

My '05 had a set of the bad wheels, even though by VIN, they had already been replaced. I found out when I had a chronic flat tire with no puncture. Once the tire was dismounted, there was a large, visible crack near the bead lip.

-Joe

I've had one of my standard full cover steel wheels develop cracks where the center is welded to the rim. Rock auto has replacements.

I'm white and I've only gotten a warning once in my 43-year life. It was when I was riding with JimVonBaden. Must have been his good looks and/or charm. I have received a ticket every other time I've been pulled over.

I saw a decommissioned one of these today:


I wondered to myself what kind of unreliable POS that was?

I didn't say it worked all the time. I did state that I got pulled over many times and never just got a warning. I did actually get the tickets most times, contested them, and won, but not every time. Just a fantastic waste of my time to get a ticket for non registration when the registration fee has been paid and the only thing lacking is a valid smog certificate. And I had the failed smog certificate in the car together with the documentation showing that a vehicle that is in the process of being registered is legal to drive on the roads.

Often I got the ticket for something else completely bogus like "you were going 5 over the limit." Quite often I was; i don't speed more than 5 mph on cuty streets, certainly not in school zones, and i try to keep it to within 10 of the limit on freeways.

I'm sorry if I misled you into thinking that I got a ticket simply because I am black. I did not intend to do that. My intention was simply to relate my experience of NOT getting a simple warning where my white, asian and latino friends recieved warnings. Nor did I mean to imply that they themselves did not get tickets, simply that at least they sometimes got warnings where I never had that experience.

In fact, I remember getting stopped for an expired tag. It had actually been stolen and I had only become aware of it a few days before. She (CHP) walks up to my car and asks me if if I knew why she had pulled me over. Of course I knew, and I had the rego, ins and license ready. I said "yes ma'am, I think for my registration, but as you can see here is my valid registration, i have my license and insurance here for you as well. I think someone stole the tag." Or words to that effect.

Her words to me? "What's with the attitude?" Here I was, thinking I was being helpful by having all my documents ready. Yes, I got the ticket. $10 fix it ticket after paying for a replacement sticker at DMV. I've learned to feign ignorance at the stops, just take the ticket, and plead my case in front of the judge. Let's just say I have a good conversion ratio with the judges.

Ubuntu is not unique to South/ Southern Africa. It's actually prevalent throughout Africa and is also practised by a lot of the so called "backwards civilisations" especially in societies that rely on the the earth/ subsistence/ agrarian cultures. Amazonian Indians and the like....

__________


Back to the police cars. I am surprised that the thrifty, torque rich properties of the diesel motors have not been embraced yet; especially by the state/ highway agencies.

Please don't think I am trying to make excuses for the officers you have experienced. They did what they did, right or wrong. I wasn't there, so it would not be fair for me to judge either side. That being said, what you described above sounds like a very straight forward and polite approach. Sadly, your helpfulness may have been perceived as coming off as a smart-ass, even though you honestly had no intent to do so. Still a $10 fix-it ticket ranks right up there with a written warning. Around here, an expired tag violation runs $149 or more, and if the tag goes out over 90 days, State law requires the vehicle be impounded. More often than not, I write warnings for the tags, as I would rather the driver spend the money to get the tag up to date than pay for a ticket, but that's just me I guess. Fix-it tickets here require a court appearance, but usually no cost if the repair has been made. Buy statute, they are required to be dismissed with satisfactory repairs. And obviously, I did misunderstand the intent of your original statement.

The Ubuntu culture is probably perceived as being a wise-ass by some who obviously don't understand and a lot of LEOs tend to be all business. This may be where the culture clashes.


As far as diesels go, the diesel engine was one of the biggest selling points for the Carbon Motors offering into police package vehicles. American culture just has never responded warmly to diesel power. The first non-commercial products from GM were very underpowered and short lived. The 5.7L was originally a gas motor converted to diesel and was known to have timing gear failures around 50k miles. The later 6.2L didn't offer much improvement in power and maintenance from qualified professionals was lacking. When compared to the big V8s of the day, nobody in their right mind would consider a diesel. Modern diesels are much different and would make good platforms, but the buying public still remembers the late 70s and early 80s anytime "diesel" is mentioned. Again, cultural backlash.

And, someone mentioned the Dodge Monaco as the Blues Mobile. I was mistaken with the Polara.



440 mill that will pass anything but a gas station.

-Joe

The Dodge could also have been a St. Regis