The Police Package
and 
Police Car History
The Police Package

1950 Ford Police Package

2001 Ford Police Package
A Police Package vehicle, referred to as a "police car" by most people, is a vehicle designed and built to be a police car. Not every vehicle driven by a police officer is a real police car. Only cars with a Police Package are real police cars. The Police Package adds special heavy duty components for the engine, wheels, transmission, suspension, brakes, electrical system, cooling system, interior, and others parts of the car. The first police package became available in 1950, made by Ford. Chevy made their first Police Package in 1955, Dodge in 1956, and Plymouth in 1957. Before then police departments used regular retail cars, buying the best vehicle within their budget. (See the Police Car History below for more details). With the 1950 model, Ford made available a series of commonly ordered, heavy duty, factory options and components into one ordering package, called the "Police Package". Many of these options and components had been previously available as "police items' that were ordered individually. The new Police Package on these 1950 Fords made the cars more durable and more reliable than a regular 1950 Ford. It did not increase the engine performance. In fact, many Police Package cars had small 6 cylinder engine. These cars were often in big cites as urban patrol cars, or by small towns. In these conditions high speed was not as important as fuel economy and vehicle cost. The bad guy's car might accelerate better and have a higher top speed, but the Police Package car would have its own advantages. Its Police Package heavy duty equipment means the police car would out handle and out last the bad guy's car. 
 Police Car History
Bicycles were the first vehicles that police used for transportation, (if you don't count horseback or the horse drawn wagons). Motorcycles began to see usage in the early 1900's. In fact by 1909, many cities and state police agencies had motorcycles long before they had cars for patrol work. Automobiles were still very expensive in the early 1900's. The first motor driven vehicles with 4 wheels were trucks with enclosed bed used for transporting police officers and criminals, also known as paddy wagons. These were much like the earlier horse drawn versions. The Ford model T was introduced in 1909, and shortly thereafter began to become popular with police agencies, as well as the general public. The 1913 to 1927 Ford Model T's were power by a 20 hp, 177ci, flathead four cylinder engine. By the 1920's police departments all over the US were on patrol in automobiles. Most of these cars were 4 cylinder cars. Chevrolet introduced its over-head valve 6 cylinder engine in 1929, and Ford introduced its famous flathead V-8 in 1932, winning many police officer fans. Most police departments bought the best car they could afford. This usually meant a car from the lower priced three automakers: Chevrolet, Ford, and Plymouth.
By the 1950's, automakers made the police packages available on several of their models. In the 1960's even a greater variety of models were available. In the mid 1970's, smaller cars were being used as police cars. The first compact to have wide spread use, was the 1975-1978 Chevrolet Nova Police Package. Up till then, most car cars were full sized or mid sized cars. The late 70's was also the end of the big block engined police cars. As the cars and their engines got smaller, the performance went way down. By 1979 the big engines were gone, and police departments that wanted a car that could keep up with the bad guys,  the full sized police cars of the time would not due. Large cars like the Dodge St Regis, Chevrolet Impala, and Ford LTD didn't have the power that the cars they replaced. Smaller police cars like the Chevy Malibu, Dodge Aspen, Plymouth Volare, and Ford Fairmont became the choice for some departments looking for something with a bit of performance. In the 80's front drive cars were beginning to show up, and Chevy and Chrysler made police special service packages for some models. Chrysler had the K-car police models from 1982-1987, and Chevy had the Celebrity police special service package from 1984-1986. These were made for light duty police work only. The first "real" police package front drive car was the 1990 Ford Taurus Police Package.  While it had very good performance, many departments had problems with these Fords. It did get police officers ready to accept the front drive police cars that would come after it, the 1995-1999 Chevrolet Lumina and 2000 and after Chevrolet Impala. The Lumina first was available with a police special service package in 1992. For 1993 Chevy made a both a police special service package and a full Police Package for the Lumina. The Lumina didn't gain much usage with police departments until it was redesigned in 1995. After 1996, Ford was the only automaker that made full sized, rear drive, V-8 police car. The 2000 and after Chevy Impala is seeing much wider use than any front drive police car has ever had. Ford has had a few complaints from police departments about the gas tank on Police Package Crown Victoria in the late 90's, causing some police departments to choose the font drive, V-6 Impala over the rear drive V-8 Ford. The 1980's and 1990's saw the number different police package cars available shrink drastically. While back in the 1970's, police departments would have dozens of police package cars to choose from, by the mid to late 80's the choice was down to the Dodge Diplomat (and identical Plymouth Gran Fury) , Chevrolet Caprice, and Ford LTD Crown Victoria. 1989 was the last year for the Dodge and Plymouth police cars, leaving just Ford and Chevy. The Ford Taurus Police Package did come out in 1990 and Chevy Lumina Police Package in 1993, but most departments were not ready for a front drive, V-6 police car yet. Chevrolet stopped making the rear drive Caprice in 1996, leaving only Ford with a rear drive cop car. Chevy did come out with a new rear drive, V-8 Police Package in 1997, with the Tahoe Police Package. But that was a truck, and not what most police departments were looking for. The Chevy Tahoe Police Package was made from 1997-1999, a was a true police car with all the heavy duty and performance components. It was only available in 2wd, and was an inch lower, had a different grill, and was much faster than a regular Tahoe. While many Police Package Tahoes did see use, most departments went with Ford Crown Victorias for patrol cars. For 2000 Chevrolet replaced the Lumina with the all new Impala. DaimlerChrysler indroduced a police package for its front drive Dodge Interpid for 2002. Several departments have been using non-police package Intrepids for years, and are satisfied with them. Police officers now seem ready for front drive police cars, now that the performance of cars like the police Impala and Intrepid closely match that of the full sized, rear drive Ford. In 2004 Dodge stopped making the Intrepid, leaving just the Ford Crowns Victoria, Chevrolet Impala, and Chevrolet Tahoe as the only choices for police departments. For 2006 Dodge returned to the police car market, with exactly what police departments were asking for, rear-drive cars. The Dodge Magnum station wagon and Dodge Charger sedan were made available with police packages. Both cars are rear drive, with either a high performance HEMI V-8 or a good performing, good fuel economy V-6. The Charger and Magnum are the most advanced police cars ever, with the lastest high performance HEMI V-8 from Chrysler, stability control, ABS, and modern but agressive styling. Ford continues to make the Crown Victoria, and has stated that they will do so at least for the next few years. In 2005 Chevrolet brought back the 2 wheel drive police package for the Tahoe, calling it the Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle or Tahoe PPV for short. Chevrolet had made a special service package of the 4 wheel drive Tahoe since 2001. See FAQ section for more police car info.
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