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Detroit, 5:17 AM
Thu Dec 10
26 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/06/09
Essentially, turning the lid upside-down produced an inexpensive open-element air cleaner, with about a 3" gap between the base portion and the lid. The sound at WOT was magical. I even saw a used Caprice or Impala at a municipal auction once, and apparently the officers had learned this trick. There was a stern warning label on the dashboard that read: "DO NOT FLIP AIR CLEANER LID OVER!"
So, obviously, the guys who handled movie cars knew about this too. So in lots of '80s films where there was a Chevy cop car ("To Live in Die in LA" was the ultimate example), my friend and I would go nuts when we'd hear one on the big screen.
Usually, there was an split-second bog from the Quadrajet when it started sucking in all that air, then blammo!
Something like: "BWUH-WAUGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" as the car accelerated toward the camera. What made TLaDiLA so cool was that the stunt guy driving the car in the wrong-way freeway chase was on and off the gas all the time. "WAUGHH...WA...WA...WAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" beating the engine and the rest of the car within an inch of their lives.
Unfortunatly, fuel injection kind of ruined the party.
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You forgot the 2000-06 (generation eight) Impala 9C1.
The one in the tenth picture came in 2006 as the ninth generation.
10/05/09
10/05/09
Although, really, the model name is secondary on Chevy and Ford cop cars anyway, since they've changed so many times. No matter what you call them, though, for a twentysomething like myself the '77-'90 Chevy 9C1 and '79-'91 Ford LTD are pretty iconic cop cars - they're the first ones I remember and they were on the road forever.
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No, just me?
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I don't know if this has been posted earlier or not. This 1955 Chevrolet is definitely a part of police car history.
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There's also a lot more to a car chase than sheer speed, as the video illustrates.
10/05/09
This being Jalopnik, the E30 chase popped in to my head. If anything the cops drove like a dipshit and the kid hooned it like Hakimullah Mehsud. The shoulder shrug fake that got the cop to crash the SS was pretty good to watch though...
My apologies to all.
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Those Novas were just necessarily for "lighter patrol duty." The L.A. County Sherrif's Department used them almost exclusively for several years. They were often descirbed as a "4-door Camaro" by both the deputies and one of the car magazines that tested an example back in the day.
Angeles Crest, Mulholland Highway, Azusa Canyon. All perfect places to catch up with disco-era douchebags in things like Ferrari Dinos who figured it'd be easy to outrun a "plain old Nova."
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It's entirely forgiveable, however, because the Coens made a fantastic adaptation of that book.
10/05/09
[www.youtube.com]
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10/05/09
"Morning, sir. Any idea how fast you were going?"