This week's announcement that General Motors is bringing back the Chevy Caprice patrol car, an officer favorite it stopped producing in 1996, put the editors of POLICE Magazine in the mood to remember the Chevy patrol cars of years past. Chevy has a strong legacy in the patrol car market, and the reintroduction of the Caprice patrol car has excited officers who remember the hot pursuer of the 1990s. We'll start off with the 1954 Chevy Bel Air, a patrol car that was affordable and powerful.
Classic Chevy Patrol Cars
The two-door 1965 Chevy Impala Super (full-size hardtop) patrol vehicle was based on a retail model that sold 1 million cars in 1965, the first year of the fourth-gen Impala. Chevy offered three engines, including its famous big-block V8. Photo courtesy of General Motors.
The Norfolk (Va.) Police Department used this Chevy Caprice from 1991-92 for patrol duty. Officers have a soft spot for the vehicle, which was discontinued in 1996. Until other automakers jumped on board, it was the only patrol car to offer rear-wheel drive, which provides added stability during high-speed pursuits. Officers who drove them also cite the tight turning radius and steady handling as ideal for patrol. Photo via Conner395/Flickr.
This 1967 Chevy Biscayne, which was used by the Baltimore Police Department, was one of the most powerful patrol cars of the time. Both the Biscayne and Bel Air arrived with a "big-block" 396-cubic-inch V8 engine beginning in 1965. A year later, Chevy introduced a 427-cubic-inch V8 engine to the vehicle. Photo via Zizzy/Flickr.
Here's a precursor to the 1959 Chevy Biscayne that set a new standard for law enforcement vehicles with the specially tuned, policy only version with a 348-cubic-inch V8 capable of propelling the car to a then-impressive 135 mph. This is the hard-top, two-door 1954 Bel Air Sports Coupe. The vehicles were relatively cheap to purchase and powerful. Photo via Zanthia/Flickr.
The four-door 1959 Chevy Biscayne offered highway patrol agencies a powerful pursuit vehicle that could reach speeds of 135 mph. Motor Trend warned civilains, "don't play games" with a vehicle it compared to a Ferarro 250 GT in a 1958 article. Photo courtesy of General Motors.
The Los Angeles Police Department used the 1958 Chevy Delray patrol cars, which are lined up outside of Parker Center in this photo. In that year, the Delray was Chevrolet's price-leading, no-frills model, with the more expensive models being the Impala, Bel Air and Biscayne. The low-priced Delray had limited options, minimal interior and exterior trim and was popular with police fleet buyers. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Police Historical Society.
The Northfield Police Department used the 1976 Impala patrol car, which was introduced that year using the 9C1 code still in use today. The 1976 Impalas used a previous year Caprice nose, with a new "egg crate" grille insert. The Impala had round headlamps while the Caprice used the new quad rectangular ones. The Impala was more of an entry level vehicle for fleet usage, especially with law enforcement agencies. The Impala was discontinued in 1985, and brought back in the early 1990s.