Police auction vehicles

i would agree with all of your first statement...they're used heavily,but at least well serviced and repaired when necessary.

as for the standard crown vic police special used by 99% these days...they DO have a special equipment package,heavy duty suspension,lightweight aluminum driveshaft etc,a quick google search should turn up most all the details pretty easily..they also have a bare bones interior and these days the chip for the fuel injection mapping that gives em a bit more juice has likely been pulled and replaced with a stock one prior to sale...tho you may get lucky there :)

There is NO "Police chip" That is in fact an internet/urban myth....The Crown Vic/Grand Marquis interceptors have a completely differnt computer tune, larger MAF sensor, and differnt air intake. The only "Cop Chip" you may find is under the seat, if one fell out of a bag of potato chips :)
 
I own a 85 Ford Taurus Police car. When I bought it it had 99K miles on it.
The Positives;
It was well maintained.
Speedometer goes to 140 (and so does the car)
Seat backs are re enforced (so you can't get stabbed)
Heavy Transmission and oil cooler
Slightly taller final gear

The negative;
cops sit in it, the drivers seat is worn out and the rubber on the steering wheel is worn.
Holes for their gear are every where, antennas holes, light bar holes, screw holes in the dash, metal name plates, ash tray missing, wires every where, rear windows inop, rear door handles inop. Plus you usually get a spot light or 2 (mine only has the drivers side).

It was a good buy, I won't have it much longer as it now has 239K on it and being the 3.8L it has an oil leak that the only way I can fix it is to replace the timing cover and the oil pump. That started last fall and I decided to buy a Toyota Corolla and retire the Taurus.
 
I've seen good cars and bad ones. Some departments have a plicy of when to write them off. I'd suspect a good State trooper car would be maybe better than a town police car whcih drives less distance and is probably idled more. As for good drivers or bad drivers; I suspect more are good than the average driver as they usually get driver training at several levels.

In 196, a mechanic I knew bought a fleet of police 1956-57 Chevys. He got 2 dozen for next to nothing. All were drivable but each needed some work. From memory most had suspension bushing needs. Under the hoods were small blocks with all kinds of carbs from single 4-barrel to tri-power using dual throat to dual 40 barrel. All were big throated dual exhaust. There was a mix of automatics and manuals. Most had front seat collapse and the rubber mats were worn through.

He parted most after determining the condition of the drive train and other components; making a few good ones from the parts and selling them off. I wonder what the lot would be worth today considering they were 56-57s.
 
These are two I would like to find
First one is a 1962 Chrysler Newport Enforcer, 325HP four barrel 383
these were back in the day that California got theirs custom specified from Chrysler because they were such a large account .

All the usual suspect goodies HD suspension cooling brake and special cams and heads on the motor and low restriction dual exaust were present
There were some differences just for California, even from the normal police package. CHiP specified that the cam had to be hotter. Instead of the usual 0.390 inch lift and 252 degree duration, the CHiP had a 0.430 lift cam that held the valves open for 268 degrees. That is a big difference. As well, the CHiP had the normal Holley 1971A four barrel carb replaced with a Carter AFB 2968S four barrel An interesting note is the that the "Enforcer" was the first use of the Dodge built 383 ci V-8, replacing the Chrysler built 383 V-8 that was a two year only engine in '59 and '60 it would top out at 130 + mph
The other one is the 69 Polara 440 pursuit specially built for the CHiP as well.
1969 was the year of the ultimate squad; for a quarter century afterwards, nothing could match its performance capability - the 1969 Polara Pursuit. This was the apex of the high-power era, the last year before lower compression engines and tightening emisions requirements. The 1969 Polara Pursuit, with its 375 bhp 440, sleek new "fuselage" bodystyle, and standard 3.23 axle, could do 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.3 seconds (at over 99 mph), and run out to a top speed of (or, by some accounts, above) 147 mph!
read more: http://www.allpar.com/squads/history.html
 

Attachments

  • 62 chp.jpg
    62 chp.jpg
    127.3 KB · Views: 15
Last edited:
I've been to the police impound auctions here in California, but there are plenty of professional dealers also bidding, so there's little chance to get one at a good price. And it's a gamble because you can't test-drive them, and you can only start them and rev the engine, and look. There's no info on them except a yes/no checklist for battery, spare tire, or drugs having been removed from car (I guess a poison warning). My wife's nephew bought a Honda Civic that had been impounded from a street racer, and he got it cheap, but he later found out it had been blacklisted permanently by the DMV and could never again be registered as street-legal even if all put back to stock condition. He wound up parting it out, and made a little money, but not much considering the hassle.

Charles
 
My wife's nephew bought a Honda Civic that had been impounded from a street racer, and he got it cheap, but he later found out it had been blacklisted permanently by the DMV and could never again be registered as street-legal even if all put back to stock condition. He wound up parting it out, and made a little money, but not much considering the hassle.

Charles

If the vehicle was ineligible to be registered for legal street use, it should've been disclosed by the auction house prior to bidding. If not, it should have been grounds to rescind the sale.

Glad it worked out for your nephew.
 
If the vehicle was ineligible to be registered for legal street use, it should've been disclosed by the auction house prior to bidding. If not, it should have been grounds to rescind the sale.

Glad it worked out for your nephew.

They're all sold "as-is" and with lien sale papers only, and there's an overall disclosure that they "may or may not be eligible for titling and licensing for highway use". I think it's a rare case that one can't be registered even after jumping through hoops, but you don't know until you actually go to the DMV and submit the lien sale papers for titling. I bet there's insider info at those auctions, and that's why no dealer outbid the nephew.

Charles
 
When I was in high school in the early 1970s my friends and I used to skip school and go to the NYPD police auction. The NYPD would, and probably still do, impound thousands of cars every month for parking violations. In many cases the parking tickets owed would exceed the value of the car and if unclaimed they would go to auction. A friend of mine actually had his car impounded and bought it back at the auction.

They would auction off 500 to 600 cars a month. At the time the bidding started at one dollar. The cars were sold as is where is with no keys. They were stored in lots all over the city, on piers on the west side of Manhattan, in Brooklyn and the biggest yard was out in Queens in a former worlds fair parking lot. It was great fun just looking at the cars. (infinitely more interesting than high school) The inspection was on one day and the actual auction was in Long Island City Queens the next day.

It was an endless supply of under $50 cars. We bought bunches of them. One friend preferred Opel Kadetts. It wasn't uncommon for them to sell for $25. Me, I liked American compacts. Once was out bid on an Austin Healey 3000, just couldn't match a $400 bid. Over the years I bought a '54 Chevy for $45, next it was a '64 Chevy II for $40, a BMW R27 motorcycle for $200, a mid 60s VW van, a mid 60s Chevy van, a '69 Honda CB450 and my pride and joy, the '65 Dodge Dart Station wagon for $100. It had 90 some odd thousand miles on it, I drove it for 7 years and and added another 100,000 miles and sold it in 1980 for $300.

In the process I learned a lot about cars and 40 years later, I still work in the auto industry. Thanks for the opportunity to relive this chapter of my life.

- Pete
 
Think I've told this story a time or 2 before, but still...Boy I went to school with in Chattanooga got an ex-fire chief's car for his 16th b'day...a 1969 Galaxie 500, RED body, RED vinyl top, RED interior, dog dish hubcaps...this was in '73. Abercrombie-the fella-took me for a ride thru downtown Chattown in it...Hay-Zoos ! Damthing would hike up its skirts & LEAVE THE EARTH, if that's what you wantedd... What's dis Thaing got innit, Abby ? He grinned & popped the hood-a 427 SOHC motor... He kept complaining to his daddy that the car ate too much gas, the dad drove it from Signal Mtn where they lived, into town...He sold it B4 he went home that nite, Abby ended up w/a Corolla, white 4-door sedan, that most assuredly WOULD NOT leave the earth... Wonder whatever happened to that car...It obviously had been Somebody's Baby, I kinda doubt Abby's dad was sposed to get it, even tho he was some sort of high mucketty-muck w/the Signal Mtn aldermen/city council...
 
Back
Top Bottom