BF Exclusive: 1973 Polara State Trooper Clone

1973 Dodge Polara

UPDATE 7/13/16 – Bruce has lowered the price to $6,500!

FROM 6/29/16 – What do you do with a four-door Dodge? Build a cop car of course! That’s what one of our readers (Bruce F) did with their 1973 Polara. They gave it the State Trooper look and I love it! The gold graphics go great with the green paint and I’m sure it turns a lot more heads than it would have in stock duds. The black steelies and dog dish caps give it a purposeful look and the blue light is obviously just for looks. This would be a great parade day car or daily driver – as long as the local constable doesn’t mind.

360 V8

Chasing power is provided by a 360 V8! The car has been sitting for a while so Bruce has been busy getting it cleaned up. It does run and drive well though. It’s outfitted with power steering, power brakes, and yes, air conditioning! It has even been converted to R134, but – as is often the case – it needs a “recharge”. Plan on looking for leaks too while you are at it!

Speedometer

If this were mine, I’d be trolling eBay right now for a 140mph Certified speedometer to replace that civilian unit. The cassette player would have to go with a period radio taking its place. Bruce didn’t send us any other photos of the dash, but there’s gotta be a CB radio down there, right?

State Trooper Graphics

This looks like the perfect use for a full size that has not gained the kind of appreciation enjoyed by smaller Mopars. You will want to check your local laws before running around with that light on top. We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for impersonating an officer! While you’re at the Police station, you might want to ask about the legality of citizen arrests though. The officers will probably be so busy admiring your cruiser that they’ll probably give you their blessing. This one is located in Sevierville, Tennessee and Bruce would like to get $7,500 or best offer. You can contact him here via email if interested.

Thanks for listing this with us Bruce! If any of you have a unique classic that you’d like to see here, please consider selling it here on Barn Finds!

 

Comments

  1. Avatar Mark P

    A buddy of mine had a real one back in the late 70’s. Washington State chase car. Had a 440, a what looked to be factory protection cage inside (not a roll cage). It had a 50 gallon gas tank and under the hood a little hose reel and valves to be able to give stranded out of gas motorists some gas to get moving. The car was very fast, looked like the Blues Mobile except it was all white.

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    • Avatar Dave Wright

      Those were great cars…….the troopers hated it when they had to switch to Fords.

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  2. Avatar John T

    I especially like that it is car 54 (where are you)?

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  3. Avatar Mike

    Cool looking car, it would be great for parades and such or sit up on the top of my drive way and watch the kids that like to drag race down the country road I live on, just to watch them slam on the brakes to slow down.

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  4. Avatar Dave Wright

    This was my grandmother’s last car…………same color and everything. Dad finally took her keys when she kept coming into the shop with a new dent that she knew nothing about. He figured she was playing bumper cars on the street and had an unfair advantage.

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  5. Avatar David Montanbeau

    Love these old cop cars

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  6. Avatar RandyS

    Love it! In addition to some period radio equipment it needs a push bar in the front.

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  7. Avatar Rich

    Great demolition derby cars

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    • Avatar David Montanbeau

      They fold to easy. We use the 56 -57 Lincolns. Imperials fear us.

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  8. Avatar Ed P

    All that is needed now is a black suit, black tie, black hat, white shirt, and sunglasses!

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    • Avatar RichS

      Ed, the cigarette lighter also needs attention.

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      • Avatar Bruce

        I don’t get it. It works.Bruce.

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  9. Avatar Robert_B

    I had a 1969 Dodge Polara with a 440 magnum engine as my second car when I was 17. Thing was a MONSTER. It was an ex California Highway Patrol [CHP] car.

    Got stopped once by a CHP officer and he recognized the car, walked over and looked at the vin tag, then he looks at me and says “do you know what you got here”.

    He stared at me, trying his best not to smile, cops are trained to never smile, they fail the police academy if they smile, so he looks at me for a moment with me smirking back at him, then he says, get the mufflers fixed and handed me a ticket. I had just cut the muffs right off the car ha, stupid kid tricks….

    My polara was bought running poorly for 225.00. Took it home, my dad helped me do a tune up. Pulled her outa the driveway and popped my foot to the floor on the gas pedal. Those skinny lil 7 inch wide tire lit up and she left 50 ft black tire marks before I let off the gas in a huge cloud of smoke, with my dad running after me yelling give me those damn keys right now!

    I finally talked him into “not” taking the keys, I said I did not know it was gonna do that, I expected it to chirp the tires a bit and that was all.

    Had that car for about 9 months and suffice to say, I was lucky to live through owning that car, this was 1975 when street racing was the rage and muscle cars were common as leaves on trees.

    Photo is not may car but is exactly what I had, except my car was repainted beige but would peel off revealing the chp paint job underneath if I got carried away at the high pressure car wash.

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    • Avatar Jesse Staff

      Wow, that had to be a fun car!

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  10. Avatar angliagt

    These are cool,but (at least in CA) you can’t drive them
    on the street (except parades/car shows),& you can’t have/use the
    Blue/Red lights.
    I had a ’60 Chevy Apache 1 ton panel truck (5100 miles!),
    that even though I was a volunteer firefighter,was told that I couldn’t
    use the Red light that came with it while on calls.
    I also saw a late ’70’s Chevy (ex-CHP) on craigslist,with
    all of the id/gear on it,for a reasonable price,but passed on it for that
    reason.

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    • Avatar Dave Wright

      I have owned and driven many ex-emergency vehicles in California…….all we did was either change the color of the plastic to amber or make covers for them. Not a big deal.

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    • Avatar Skip

      That’s a shame that they won’t even let vollies run with lights and sirens out there. I may have mentioned it already, but in Texas, vollies have to run both red lights and sirens for emergency runs. Once-upon-a-time we got by with red lights only, but too many people were having wrecks!

      I’d love to see that Apache panel! Ellis Funeral Home here in Midland bought a then-new 1961 Apache panel for first-out ambulance, which moved their ’59 Ford wagon to second-out. The panel had a red Federal 17 on top flanked by a pair of red 6″ Unity lights and a big B&M siren under hood. The ’59 had a red junior beacon and a B&M under hood. I got to drive that one on my first-ever emergency run at the ripe old age of 15! Ellis traded off their sleek-looking ’58 Chrysler New Yorker wagon to get the Chevy panel. Ellis exited the ambulance business in 1966, selling the panel to A-1 Ambulance here. A-1 moved its operation to Sweetwater in ’68 and took the panel and their two other units: a ’65 Plymouth wagon and a ’67 Pontiac wagon. The Pontiac ended up with a small private ambulance co. in the small town of Lamesa, TX in 1970; but I never knew where the panel or the Plymouth wagon went. Lot of history there!

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  11. Avatar Skip

    My late-best-friend,Jimmy L. had a ’68(9)? Plymouth Fury III that was white over a very dark blue that could’ve easily been an unmarked unit of some sort. We were both part of a volunteer EMS group at the time, and a co. called Fyr-Fyter who built the Penetrator brand of electronic sirens came out with a nifty idea. For $20-some-odd you could buy an eight-track tape with three siren sounds: wail, yelp and hi/lo, with a fourth track that you could record on. Jimmy had an eight-track tape deck in the Plymouth and added an external speaker behind the grille. One Friday night we were out and had just turned the corner at a particular intersection when we were hit by a barrage of water balloons. Jimmy hit the brakes and began and swift turn-around as I plugged in the siren tape and hit the button, with the “siren” already in the yelp position. You never saw a bunch of kids scramble in such a hurry! We laughed about that for a very long time. It was in that time period (1971 or thereabouts) that Lubbock County began to develop a number of volunteer fire depts. in the county (some areas had never had fire protection for their particular areas). Texas requires volunteer firefighters and/or EMTs to use both lights and sirens for emergency runs (lights only haven’t been allowed for some time) and these siren tapes became popular quite suddenly!

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  12. Avatar Bruce

    Thanks for all the nice comments guys. I am asking $7,500 or make me a decent offer. Bruce. email me at: tnyahoo@aol.com

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  13. Avatar That Guy

    I took my driving test in the real thing – my dad’s 1973 Polara ex-CHP car. I believe it had a 440, and though it was down on power from his 1966 ex-cop car, it was still pretty fast. I passed the test, and later that day hung the tail out making a left turn at a stop sign with my dad in the passenger seat. It wasn’t on purpose, but Dad wasn’t amused…

    I’m not sure why he only kept it a short time, replacing it with a 1975 Monaco, again a retired CHP car. That thing was a disaster. But the ’73 was really a pretty darn good car. I’d almost forgotten about it until seeing this; I need to ask him why he didn’t keep it long.

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  14. Avatar Bruce

    I have only have had this police trooper clone car a short time. But, she runs good and I love the way it hugs the road. Thanks Bruce.

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  15. Avatar Charles H.

    I had a ’72 model that was an actual N.C. Highway Patrol cruiser, and it had an awesome 440 “T-N-T” 140 MPH speedometer and would move down the road!

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  16. Avatar Bruce

    Charles sounds KOOL. This goes too. I hope the new owner will like as much as I do. Thanks Bruce.

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  17. Avatar Charles H.

    Bruce, I also had a 1974 Plymouth Fury II, and a ’75 Plymouth Gran Fury N.C. Highway Patrol cruisers you would love, as well, they all were equipped with the 440 High Performance, and would run like hell!….wish I had them back! My dad had a good friend who was the garage manager for the Troop F Headquarters of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, and was able to obtain several fast Mopars from them. They were always really nice cars, that were maintained well, and in great condition, and unlike a lot of states, the N.C. Highway Patrol ordered their cars well optioned, with full carpeting, deluxe upholstery, power windows a/c, the whole works….been thinking of bidding on some 2010 Dodge Chargers they are taking bids on right now, they only keep them for 5-6 years, or 60,000 mi., whichever comes first, so they are certainly a long ways from being worn out!

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  18. Avatar Charles H.

    Bruce here is a ’78 Plymouth Fury N.C. Highway Patrol cruiser that I would love to get hold of…..these were the fastest production cars made in the U.S.A. in 1978!….and they were really fast for 1978 standards!

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  19. Avatar Bruce

    Charles NICE.. I would love to keep this car but I sold my 1971 Oldsmobile cutlass station wagon {I was a station wagon guy even before they became KOOL again. LOL.} 12 years ago. Last June I found it about an hour and a half from where I live. It had been just sitting in a garage for the last 10 years! . I had to have her back. So I bought her back and dragged her home ,really everything was frozen up or dry rotted from sitting all those years. I had her back on the road in about 3 months and loving her. I am in the process of still restoring her so that’s why I need to sell the dodge I repainted the roof white again due to all the bird poop on it. Now I am going to repaint her back to her original color {a lighter blue} I have shot the door jams aready and that’s the color she will be. Nice talking to you and take care buddy. Heres a picture of her. Bruce.

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    • Avatar Skip

      Sharp wagon, Bruce. My ambulance service ran a ’65 Olds VistaCruiser ambulance back in the ’70s that had been built as an ambulance. The backseat had been removed and a platform was added for the gurney to roll in on; but the original jumpseat was left in place. That was one fast-running wagon! The last Olds wagon ambulance I saw was in the mid to late ’70s in the small town of Comanche, TX. Comanche Funeral Home had a ’70 VistaCruiser as first out ambulance and a ’64 VistaCruiser as backup.

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  20. Avatar Bruce

    Charles, heres the color she is going to be {the color on the door jams. Bruce.

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  21. Avatar TC

    Love this! If you want a good car story, ask a police officer who has time in (like me) about the various police packages he has driven over the years. To me, Mopar police packages were the best looking. Love the steelies/dog dish combos. I put time in driving late 80’s Diplomats/Fury’s. I did love the 9C1 Chevy Caprice though. Currently in a police pkg Explorer. (sigh). I would love to restore a Polara.

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  22. Avatar Bruce

    T C, It is a BLAST to drive.. Really hugs the road good for such a big car. Bruce.

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  23. Avatar Bruce

    Thanks Skip.Bruce.

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  24. Avatar Charles H.

    Thanks for sharing the great wagon photos and story, I also had an Old’s Vista Cruiser Wagon, except mine was a ’72, unfortunately I totaled it, after wrapping it around a tree! But that’s a great looking wagon Bruce, would love to see it after it’s finished!

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  25. Avatar Bruce

    Thanks Charles.Me and the misses took it down to Sonics for a mike shake last night. She drew quite a crowd. Have a good 4 th. Bruce,

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  26. Avatar Bruce

    The Dodge Polara is still up for sale shoot me an offer. It get thumbs up where ever we go with it. Thanks Bruce. tnyahoo@aol.com

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  27. Avatar Bruce

    I have lowered the price on the state trooper car to $6,500 OR BEST OFFER. If interested you can contact me at tnyahoo@aol.com THANKS Bruce.

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    • HoA Howard A Member

      Wish you the best of luck, Bruce, I hate selling stuff. Have you ever got in trouble with the blue gum ball machine? In Wisconsin, ( and other states?) it’s illegal to have a blue light on a non-official vehicle.

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  28. Avatar Bruce

    Howard. When I take the old girl in to town. I take the Blue light off. Its held on my a big magnet. I put in on for just car shows. I was coming home from food shopping the other day and a sheriff was sitting on the side of the road and when he saw me pass him he pulled out like a shot after me .Pulling up behind me he must of seen the antique tag on the rear and then pulled along side of me and read the lettering. Where the star is in the door is say arculture not police. I waved at him and he nodded and turned around. I don’t know if you can see it on the door. The big whip anatana makes it look good too. Thanks Bruce.

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  29. Avatar Chris A.

    I worked for a Buffalo Dodge dealership that had the maintenance contract for NYS Thruway State Trooper cars as the dealership was open 24/7 for repairs. Mostly 383s with some 440s later on. They had some problems as the troopers in winter would have them idling and they would load up. The police interceptor package on these cars turned them into real rockets. All rigged out and in fresh tune they would top out over 120.

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  30. Avatar Bruce

    Chris. I dont think I am going to have to worry about going that fast in to town. LOL.She gets up and goes for me. Bruce.

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  31. Avatar Bruce

    The dodge is still up for sale. Some one shoot me an offer and drive her home. Clear t.n. title.Thanks Bruce. tnyahoo@aol.com

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