what do you think compells a person to make their car look like a cop-car?

vash · vash's Garage

I saw TWO on the way to work this morning.

one sedan, one Ford Explorer. steel wheels, lowered, black with white roof, antennas all over the top, that ridiculous spot lite on the B-pillar (A-pillar?). and the push bar up front. admittedly I did slow down to scrutinize and judge the drivers

they both looked like normal people. no cop hats, raybans, nothing. I see the cop accessory catalogs. hell, I think you can buy damn near everything online to make a van look like an ambulance if you wanted.

but why? I see lots of them, when I slow down to avoid a ticket, only to realize it is a cop-clone car. I recall a motorcycle once. coming up fast behind me, and when it passed me doing 64.7mph, I realized it was a regular person with a dressed up Harley and white police issued looking open faced helmet. gah...

MikeSid · 05-18-2021, 07:46 AM

I think it's a weird power trip of sorts.

But I'd bet most people move to the right when one of those cars is behind them on the freeway. So there might be some benefit to it that I don't fully realize. Traffic might be a breeze. Who knows?

flatbutt · 05-18-2021, 07:48 AM

Small pee pee?

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

One of my friends did that for his mom's car. Mostly to keep other cars away from her. He had the tinted windows, antennas on the trunk and roof, and some dummy lights behind the grill.

She loved it, and most everyone were not aggressive toward her car.

mjohnson · mjohnson's Garage

On a similar note - out here in the wilderness we often have city cops driving "their" cars long distances from their locale. They barrel along at 15+ over in the left lane and everyone bails out of their way because, scary cop car. Since trooper-joe is on his way to the mall, I'll tuck in and make some good time...

(and BTW darn-to-heck black FJs with the white roofs - that's NM state trooper camouflage and I'm not happy about it)

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

I always thought they were just old Crown Vics taken out of service and sold at auction. Kind of a "Blues Bros" thing.

masraum · 05-18-2021, 08:28 AM

I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. I've seen cars that I was pretty sure were either 1 Ex-cop cars bought by folks at auction or 2 cop cars being driven by not street duty type cops (not sure if they are detectives, bosses, whatever, but look cop-like, but without the uniform.

Maybe someone got a good deal on a cop-like fleet vehicle. Do those come with stuff.

I do know that I've spoken to folks that had ex-cop cars that said that they were able to drive fast and most of the time, people got out of their way. Occasionally it bites them in the ass and the person in front of them slows down and then doesn't move.

I knew a guy once that bought an ex-cop car that still had the lights in the grill and siren where the only thing that had been done was to cut the wires going to them.

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjohnson

On a similar note - out here in the wilderness we often have city cops driving "their" cars long distances from their locale. They barrel along at 15+ over in the left lane and everyone bails out of their way because, scary cop car. Since trooper-joe is on his way to the mall, I'll tuck in and make some good time...

(and BTW darn-to-heck black FJs with the white roofs - that's NM state trooper camouflage and I'm not happy about it)

In Hawaii on the Big Island the cops use their own cars. You can get pulled over by a cop in a 4Runner.

pitargue · pitargue's Garage

Maybe ?

LEAKYSEALS951 · 08:42 AM

I know several people who bought old police cruisers (crown-vics) at auctions and used them as daily drivers.

One had a license plate (something like ) not-d-fuz , as he found the that everyone driving slow around him annoying.

I wouldn't want one though. A transmission guy I worked with said he used to fix cop cars all the time with failed transmissions where they force reverse/drive too many times. Seems like a car driven hard and put away wet.

It would need a really nice set of snow tires for me to consider.

masraum · 05-18-2021, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigster59

In Hawaii on the Big Island the cops use their own cars. You can get pulled over by a cop in a 4Runner.

My parents were there in the mid-60s before I was born. My dad had told me that was how things were done there back then as well. That would certainly make speeding more exciting.

cantdrv55 · 05-18-2021, 08:45 AM

We had a neighbor who bought a used Crown Vic for personal use and converted it to look like a cop car, lights and all. We all thought he was still a cop so when he started acting like the neighborhood nazi, his next door neighbor called the department on him. Turned out he wasn’t a cop in our little town. He used to be a cop in Antioch, about 25 miles away, but was fired. He no longer lives here.

ckelly78z · 05-18-2021, 08:45 AM

Is it possible that these are government agency employees who have the use of a company fleet vehicle, but not necessarily are out on patrol themselves ?

vash · vash's Garage

my brother told me a story. some hot chick cut him off, and then blamed him for whatever. she was flipping him off and coming into his lane faking a sideswipe.

he called dispatch and they rolled out the welcome wagon. he kept following her as she was flinging garbage out her window in an attempt to hit his car. old cups full of liquid etc. after awhile a police cruiser came between her and his big truck (he drove a big diesel for Excursion as his work truck) , and pulled her over. he said it is not in their policy to pull over people, even in their unmarked vehicles. they required an official uniformed police officer to make the stop. he took over from there, and gave her a pile of tickets. right in front of her job - THE OLIVE GARDEN. the manager came (her boyfriend) out and said, she was crazy. she went off on him for not defending her.

hahhahah..

pwd72s · 05-18-2021, 08:54 AM

Probably most are old cop fleet vehicles. Remember Car and Driver making a crown vic to look like a cop car. Back in the day, car guys hunted down old cop cars in wrecked 'em yards for things like wider wheels, heavier suspension pieces...

Steve Carlton · 05-18-2021, 09:26 AM

There's a lot of cars that look like cop cars in CA and I think a lot of the drivers get off on the intimidation factor. It's some motorcylists I see that are clearly made to look like police bikes, including the type of helmet the rider wears that is more striking to me. Who knows what their motivation is, but it's not healthy.

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

There's a lot of cars that look like cop cars in CA and I think a lot of the drivers get off on the intimidation factor. It's some motorcylists I see that are clearly made to look like police bikes, including the type of helmet the rider wears that is more striking to me. Who knows what their motivation is, but it's not healthy.

Here in LA retired motor cops provide set security and traffic control when filming on location. They wear the uniform, helmet and provide the Electra Glide in black and white with no siren and less flashing lights. Boy, those guys can tell some stories....

Ayles · 05-18-2021, 09:30 AM

We have this one nearby:

Steve Carlton · 05-18-2021, 09:32 AM

I suppose they know what they can get away with, being former LEOs. Seems like a clever idea and has a purpose, vs these posers I see on the road now and then.

JackDidley · JackDidley's Garage

My buddy has 2 Caprice cop cars he bought at auction. Dirt cheap and they have 390 HP LS motors. One runs but has a bad cam due to a DOD lifter failing. He will fix it and flip. The other runs great. Its getting a turbo and going drag racing. Thos cars bring about $8000 each on the open market. He has less than $7000 in the pair.