This 1972 Chevrolet Biscayne reminds me of a company car that my dad had but the difference is that his was a barebones car, this Biscayne has the B07 Police Package. It can be found here on craigslist in Phoenix, Arizona. The owner is asking $7,950 or best offer. Thanks to Ikey H. for sending in this tip!
With the Illinois plate in front, I’m not quite sure if this car is originally from there or not. Maybe it’s an homage to a Blues Brother’s “cop car” even though it doesn’t have any police markings that I can see, inside or out. Or, even any screw holes on the dash or anywhere that looks like police equipment may have been installed at one time. Maybe it wasn’t used for that, but it wouldn’t have been sold to the public in 1972, at least in the US.
From what I can decipher from all of the information and the massive amounts of misinformation on the internet, the Biscayne wasn’t offered to the general public in the US in 1972, but they were available in Canada until 1975. The last year that it was available for purchase for US customers would have been 1971, but it could have been 1972, maybe… A Chevrolet scholar out there will know for sure. Could this be a late-year 1971 model maybe? The seller even mentions that the Biscayne wasn’t available to the general public in 1972. It appears to have had some paintwork on the passenger side, but they think the paint is original so who knows.
The interior in this B07 Police Package Biscayne is all business. Not that a regular Biscayne would be any fancier, seeing how the Biscayne was the most basic of the full-sized Chevrolet models, made mainly for fleet service. This car has the proper 140 mph speedometer which clicked off in 2-mph increments. That’s it for interior photos but the seller says that the interior is in almost mint condition and it sure looks like it is.
The seller is the 3rd owner of this special Biscayne. The engine is Chevrolet’s 402 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 240 hp and 345 ft-lb of torque. It has a heavy-duty cooling system and other features and I think it would be a super fun car to own. Have any of you heard of a 1972 Biscayne in the US? How about one with a police package?
Another possibility is it was special ordered by a customer who wanted a heavy duty version. Or ordered by a municipality. The police package seems legit.
I never knew there was a big block 402. Apparently, they still called it a 400 with those callouts on the fender. With the speedometer, it has to be a police car, but I don’t think it was a cruiser. More like a detective maybe. Not many cruisers had bumper guards. Rear door handles missing would be the biggest clue. These 4 doors are making a small comeback, only because there’s nothing else like it today. Bring along an extra gas card for that motor, but one thing for sure, you’ll have power to pass those Kias and then some. I bet this car could bury the speedo, almost anyway.
396, 400, 402, they’re all the same big block, with various stages of bore size. Or not. Sometimes the name given/used was not reflective of the actual displacement. Then when the small block 400 came out, it got a little more confusing for the public.
Because the 400 small block was the Turbofire 400, while the 402 big block was the Turbo-Jet 400.
All “396’s” were actually 402’s starting in 1970. Chevrolet didn’t want to confuse the public or ruin years of marketing by changing their literature to reflect in .030 increase in bore size.
Steve R
It doesn’t HAVE to be a police car, someone could have ordered this car for themselves, there was no restriction on ordering a police package car, all you needed to do was know what box to check and a dealer that would order it.
Correct I have a 1972 Caprice 4 door hardtop with 400 SB ordered with a TH400 Trans, 283 rear gear 12 bolt posi and a 140mph dash cluster.
According to the information available from the 72 full size Chevrolet Vehicle Information Kit available on the GM Heritage site, it appears the Biscayne was available at the beginning of production, but discontinued and January 1, 1972.
B07 was available on the Biscayne, Bel Air & Impala 4 door sedans, the 2 door Impala Sport Coupe and the Brookwood, Townsman & Kingswood station wagons. Besides the 140 speedometer, B07 also included heavy duty suspension, body mounts, rear axle, cooling, automatic, battery, etc. When the 402 or 454 were ordered, a rear sway bar, hd brakes and drive shaft, larger tires and firmer power steering were also added. In addition to B07, Police Body Equipment BY2 added a heavy duty front seat and rubber floor mat, roof wiring and a reinforced roof (to support a light).
Howard A, the 402 was introduced in 1970 and called a 400 when installed in full size Chevy’s and Monte Carlo’s, but a 396 in Chevelle’s and Camaro’s. The big block 402 was dropped in 1973, but the 400 small block continued on for a few years.
1972 Biscaynes were most definitely sold to the public, albeit in small numbers. Although they no longer appeared in literature at the time, some Chevy dealers liked to have them on hand as a “price leader” for advertising. Having said that, 72 Biscayne production was extremely low with few surviving today.
You are correct. My grandfather’s Biscayne was gifted to me in the 80s and I drove it through the 90’s.
I believe the blues mobile was a dodge. The Illinois plate is certainly a head scratcher. Maybe a flip or a move?
You are correct, sir. I was just thinking of the Illinois “cop car” connection.
My comments usually get deleted when I try to correct incorrect statements, but here goes.
Anyone could have bought this car in the US, all you needed to know was what boxes to check and a dealer that would order it, this myth that “police packages” were some sort of restricted special off the books thing only for the police is wrong.
What a great car! Definitely one of the really cool 4 door cars to own.
Back then, many ham radio enthusiasts who wanted to operate mobile would order what most people thought of as a police car just to get the heavy-duty electrical system and ignition spark noise suppression equipment.
Ham gear of the time used tubes and high voltages and the current requirements at 12 volts easily overwhelmed standard alternators and batteries. Leece-Neville alternators were highly sought after.
A ham who knew what to special order could have ordered a car like this one.
Exactly, I knew a ham who bought a new 72 black Biscayne with the police option in fall of 71
just to get the heavy duty electrical. I don’t recall the car being particularity fast but it had a sinister look to it with huge whip antennas attached to the back bumper
It’s my understanding dealerships would not sell stripped down vehicles intended for the professional market unless ordered for some municipality or fleet use. After all, a dealer’s mission is to make you spend MORE and add EXTRAS when you go shopping for a new car! To be able to order something like this as a civilian I guess you would need be really close friends with the dealer for him to even care to sit down and special order a LESSER version!
This example is indeed a case and the full story would be interesting. As seller says it was never used for police duty – I’m only speculating here but could it be this Biscayne was part of a fleet to some local sheriff’s office and that the order was partly or fully cancelled? Then the car would end up being sold off the dealer’s lot along his regular inventory.
However, how this Biscayne managed to stay away from the crusher as a non-AC, stripped down, gas-guzzling 4door post for DECADES is yet another mystery. Very cool find indeed! 👍
The car was originally ordered by a small township or Sheriff’s Dept., somewhere in the Lansing or possibly Kalamazoo area’s of Michigan. It was short lived from what I can tell with the agency and could have been a possible leased vehicle. I’m the 4th civilian owner of the car.
GM using the same hubcaps from 1968 to 72.
Need to flip those whitewalls to the inside! Might be a fun car to own but, without a/c, not to drive here in the hot south, 357 days out of the year…
Vintage Air would fix that!
Biscaynes were most definitely available for 72. Though they didn’t show a photo of one in the brochure, the dealer sales book shows a rear view of one in gold, shows an interior shot and shows a line drawing of front side and rear views. There’s also a description of standard equipment and swatches of interior fabrics. My mother Had a friend from work who bought one new in dark green. I rode in it many times. It seemed even more austere than the dark green 69 Biscayne my Dad had as a company car. And the big block 400 which was actually a 402 was also available in Chevelle models from 70-72.
Interesting to see a non-Chrysler or FoMoCo police package car as that’s all I remember seeing here in California. I doubt this Biscayne could threaten the 140 speedometer, not without some real tuning anyways. Not that it wouldn’t be fun to try.
Like the no frills interior and mechanicals but for me the styling falls short of the sixties full size Chevys.
Even rarer would be a Pontiac, Oldsmobile or Buick police car, all of them still did catalog a “police package” until the mid to late 70’s, I think Pontiac was the last non-Chevrolet GM division to offer a police package in 1977.
140mph would be optimistic, I’d say it could probably get close to 130 with that 3.08, the best from this era was the 140mph that the 440 equipped Dodges achieved in 1969 testing, no cruiser ever got past 140mph again until the LT1 Caprice from 1994.
Pontiac’s swan song year for a cop car was 1978, Olds’ was 1976. However, Buick soldiered on thru 1981. I ordered my personal 1980 Buick LeSabre equipped w/Buick’s “Lawman” police package, option ‘BT1’. It was a dog…but the finest handling car I’ve ever driven. I suspect in part to the fact that it left Flint, MI. shod w/Goodyear Blue Streak Flexten radials. Those P225/R7015 pursuit tires gave me 60K+ miles of superb wear!
GM didn’t pursue (npi) the police market very actively in the decades they were at a 50% plus market share and genuinely feared getting trustbusted. It wasn’t worth the company to pick up those extra few marginal sales, but they weren’t going to turn them away and there were certainly towns where the mayor or police chief was the Chevy dealer’s brother…
Yes, finally someone with sense.. No way only 240 net horsepower in a unarrowdynamic 4200lb car with tame cam could touch that 140 speedo.. With 3.08 gears, prolly a real 125 mph..
All I can say this would make a great sleeper! Maybe Gator should have used a Biscuit!
There was a 1972 Biscayne available to the public. The old couple who lived across the street from us had one from new. It was dark gray with a black vinyl interior. I remember the emblems and the black trimmed tail lights versus the chrome trim on the Impala. Obviously not a police package vehicle, at least I don’t think so.
Talk about a sleeper!! This boat would be cool to pull up at a light and smoke someone’s doors off!! Really wouldn’t be expected by this car!!
These weren’t very fast, it probably ran the 1/4 mile in the 16+ second range. They were heavy, had highway gearing, low stall speed torque converter and less horsepower power than a lighter Chevelle SS.
Steve R
you would be surprised Steve
the 1969 Dodges that were tested and reached 140 mph were equipped with the 2:47-1 gear ratio! if you had a 3-1 gear ratio your 440 would be at 7500 rpm! = exploded
A test was done on a ’69 Dodge Polara pursuit car, with the 440 that I’ve heard was a bit more than the 375 horse Magnum. What gets me are the acceleration tests And the top speed: 0-60 in 6 seconds, low 14’s in the high ninties along with a top speed of 140 on the flat. Two spots in the back window instead of a cherry, the light bar that came later cut twenty miles an hour off the top end.
California was a big market for Chrysler when it came to fleet car sales like squads and got “special treatment. Another interesting fast police car was the AMC Matador with the 401 in the early seventies. I can’t help but question the testing on the ’69 Dodge as it’s stronger than the 440 powered muscle cars of the same year.
With a 3:1 gear ratio, depending on tire size, an engine would be turning less than 6,000 RPM’s at 140MPH, which admittedly most engines of that era wouldn’t do. Especially in top gear.
This Old Chevy is not a B07 yes it has some police options, I spoke with second owner of car when it was for sale earlier this year yes Illinois area. Current owner has changed exhaust and put the dog dish hub caps on. Cool car just the same
Interesting, so its not a policeunit?
No I wish it was a B07, I researched the heck out of it back in June/19 when it was for sale in Illinois. I wanted the car badly! But had made that mistake on a 1973 Biscayne with a 454 a few years back. It was an X RCMP unit even registered to them from new. Similar options as this car. So bought it right away and did not do my home work till after purchase, man was I disappointed.. I paid cop car $$$ at the time, lost a few bucks there. But wiser for next time..
You said the second owner stated the car was for sale in Illinois area. The guy I bought the car from in Arizona said he just placed the Illinois plate on the car because his Dad lived there at some point. I spoke with the 3rd owner and said the car was from the Kalamazoo Michigan area, interesting. This car is a full police package and was originally purchased by an agency in the State of Michigan. Still working on identifying that agency based on all the previous equipment it used.
This IS a certified B07 police vehicle, as a certified speedo WAS part of the package.
Don’t the speedos say ‘calibrated’ on them on cop cars, or is that just the Chrysler products?
I have bought and sold hundreds of police cars in the last 35 years . The first being a 67 Olds Delmont 88 , they have included Mustangs and Camaros , full and mid sized Chevy’s , Ford’s , Mopar’s and an AMC Matador . All had “Certified Calibration” on the speedo.
I had a 72 Biscayne that was used by a nearby town as their police cruiser. It was still painted black and white. It had a 400 small block in it.
Very Harry Dean Stanton from Repo Man!
Wasn’t that a 71’?
I love these old boats! I usually prefer something more luxurious but I have a thing for big old strippers too (I gotta rethink my wording sometimes lol).
When I was in grade school, the janitor, Erv, had the twin of this car. I must have been a weird little boy, because I was drawn to his car back then too.
The 71-76 B Bodies are great cars to begin with: excellent handling, steering and brakes. Now add the B07 package and I’ll bet this car makes you think its 4 feet shorter and 1500 lbs lighter. The low compression 402 is just OK, but still better than a low compression 400 and comes with complementary big-block bragging rights. Appears to be solid and unmolested, I hope the next owner chooses to maintain it’s current appearance. The world doesn’t need another totally incorrect blue brothers clone…Cool car, and if I had the garage space I’d consider it, even at 8k..
It is a rare car. With only 19,001 made in 72 and most were probably the 350’s, unknown as to how many B07 civilian/police models were made. I have a 79 9C1 Impala police version that I actually drove on and off for about 5 years when with the Sheriff’s Dept. and the 120 speedo did not say certified. I’m not sure when the Chevy’s actually stated certified on their speedos. Maybe mid to late 80’s Caprice. This car would look nice re-painted in the trim code 57, Golden Brown poly, including the steel wheels and make it an unmarked unit.
The speedo needn’t necessarily state ‘certified’. 2-mph increments testify to its certified authenticity, as “civvie” speedo’s were not so-designated.
Nice rare car you don’t see everyday. Close friend of mine has an original 71 Biscayne police package that served a County in Nevada and is being restored as I write and they appear close. Unknown how many B07 civilian/police unit Biscaynes were built in 72. I would think most were 6-cyl and the 350 motors. Personally I would repaint the original color, Golden Brown poly, trim code 57, as well as the steel wheels and turn into an unmarked car, not hard to due with opening up a bunch of holes. I only remember chevy having said “CERTIFIED” on the speedos somewhere in the mid to late 80’s. My 79 9C1 Impala only says 120 MPH, along with the factory gauges
I bought the car, had it shipped and already doing the work on it. If all goes according to plan, should be done with it by March. It is a cool and very different 4-dr sedan compared to what I have previously owned.
Congrats!
I emailed owner 3 times , no reply when ad came out.
So, is it a real police unit?
Steve- What we have here is basically a civilian biscayne ordered with the police package set-up. This was a common thing in the day and grew up with these cars. my Grandmother had a 72 2-Dr h/t with the 350 2V V-8. The VIN
number with the letter “U”, designates the 402 big block with 4V carb and dual-exhaust, meaning it is the RPO, LS-3, B07 police package period. Has the 140 speedo, full rubber/vinyl flooring, HD suspension, Turbo 400 trans and extra roof wiring under the dash to support any roof installed emergency equipment. The car never saw police or any emergency duty and there are absolutely no holes anywhere.
After further review, it has been determined that this biscayne was used by a law enforcement agency. Based on Several areas of interest from both the exterior and interior. It is believed to have served an agency either City or County Sheriff using the original color of golden brown paint somewhere in the State of Michigan. Several phone calls have been made and hoping for the mystery agency to appear.
Talked with the second owner who provided the following info. The car was never in service and was ordered by a private citizen with the B07 package to tow his boat, but was hardly driven. Sat in a barn for 15-20 years and this is why the low miles of 21k. He cleaned it up, changed out fluids, belts etc and added the stainless steel exhaust. The crusty area on the roof was due to a leaking coffee can placed up there over the years. So again, we have a 4-dr biscayne ordered with the police package from a civilian.
After speaking with the second owner again, he said the vehicle was originally from the Kalamazoo, Michigan area. My friend checked and there are no holes supporting any evidence of towing a boat or trailer, roof wiring is present under the dash, along with several holes for radio equipment. 3 holes were present on the radiator support for a siren speaker, 3 holes plugged on the roof to support a rotator gumball and a plugged hole for a whip antenna on top of drivers rear quarter panel.
The car previously had striation marks on the factory steel wheels indicating full wheel covers, not standard on the biscayne. It is very clear that this car served an agency for a short time, possibly a test mule type of vehicle and then was sent back to the dealership. The dealership enhanced the looks by adding full wheel covers and possibly body side molding to resell. So, it did resell to the first civilian buyer who told the second civilian buyer that they ordered the car with the B07 package to pull a boat, but decided not to and the car sat in a barn for 15-20+ years. The coffee can that apparently leaked was all BS to cover up the warning light holes. There were 3 full size wheel covers in the trunk but were removed and placed with the proper dog dish.
Never a civilian ordered car from go but ordered for a police agency originally and still working on that.
Spoke with a retired Sgt. from Michigan State Police who said they never used 72 Chevy’s when he was on the dept. Other smaller agencies used the same set-up of emergency equipment as did MSP, so this is being looked into.
I found (4) small holes in the middle of the hood suggesting it had the STOP, PULL OVER SIGN, a fender mounted spotlight was previously installed and showed a black plugged was placed in the speedo housing where the shaft came thru. There was a prisoner cage at one point showing markings on the inside pillar plastic, again, the drivers side rear mounted whip antenna hole, the 3-hole rotator light on the roof etc; etc. With all this mentioned, there is no doubt some agency ordered this car from somewhere in the State of Michigan.
I had a 1971 Biscayne with the 400 and the air cleaner said 300 HP. It had the teardrop spotlights and the siren in the car when I got it at the Police Auction when I was in High School. It had every option, Pozzi, dual exhaust, antennas, A/C, this car was so fast, I did the 140 MPH plus many times on it. We jetted the carb and it ran like a clock. What a fun High School car. I had 3 tape decks in it, a Craig Quadraponic 8-Track, a SuperTuner 8-Track with the cool green dial, and a cassette deck. I had the Jensen 6×9 speakers and Kar Kricket wedge speakers I put 2 in the front dash corners and the larger 2 in the rear deck. The Kar Krickets were for the Quadraphonic 8-Track Deck. When I played a Quad Tape like Emerson Lake and Palmer or Dark Sider of the Moon, the sound would spin in a circle like a Leslie spinning speaker system. It was the coolest music system in all of my friends cars. For the younger people who don’t know what a Quad 8-Track is, it’s a 8-Track tape with only 2 channels because it used 2 channels per side. The regular 8-Tracks have the 4 channels. So in this car it had 12 speakers, eight Jensen 6×9 and the 4 Kar Kricket wedge speakers, You would just push the wedge speaker on the dash and it stayed put because of the shape. They sounded good too. The Quadraphonic 8-Track Tape Decks and tapes were almost double the price of a regular tape deck. The car was an old Registry of Motor Vehicles Detective car and was 800.00 at 1 year old with 12, 000 miles on it. I scored, my dad had the connections. It had so much power you could floor it and the 2 rear wheels would spin and I could put the car anywhere I wanted it. When I first got it the car had all the radios and all in it. I ground the massive siren and hooked up a switch for it. With the dual A-Pillar Spotlights this car was fun top go to the beach and scare all my friends. The Speedo was the 140 MPH type, had a tach, clock all the options. All my girlfriends loved this car it was always cruising with 2 couples. It sucked the fuel, I used the Leaded Sunoco High test and the car was a rocketship. It was such a sleeper, I won so many races to Chevelle’s, Nova’s and Camaros. I always changed the fluids and it was loyal. Many memories. No need to powerbrake, you just floored it and the wheels smoked. The Pozzi saved me so many times controlling the car at 90 MPH spins on the HWY. It had all the green hoses and HD Belts etc. When you adjust the carb and put bigger jets in this carb you get some serious HP. I always had new tires so I removed the spare tire to lose the weight in the rear. Leaded gas, those were the days. In this car you may need to put an additive to the fuel, for the valve guide seals. Maybe not. it drank the fuel at high speeds. When the 4 BBL kicked-in it sounded so cool, always put octane booster ion the car to race. Had the 400 tranny. I remember the rear license plate flip-down to fill the fuel. 4 wheel disc brakes really helped to stop this beast., I could have made a movie about the music systems in that car. I never got pulled over in that car. We always had coolers full of beer in the car and I lived in such a cool town. You could never do what we did back then today. The car was big enough to get busy in the front or rear with your girl. It had one of those key’ed alarm switch key systems in the quarter panel nfor the alarm. My car had every option. It had the larger front bumper Rubber padded Push Bar systems, I would always pit my friends. We would buy old cars for 200.00 and take to the beach to do crazy races and demo-derby stuff. This car for sale is cool but no factory A/C makes it a hard sell. Too bad it did not have all the options.
Sounded like you had alot of fun in the day.
Hello Glenn. I don’t know if you still own the car, but I have a thing for 71-72 Biscaynes. This car popped up on Ebay Motors will full wheel covers back in 2005 or 06. I believe at the time, the owner was asking $5k for it. He had very few photos of it and I just assumed it was a civilian Biscayne with a big block. No mention was made of a police package in the description and I certainly couldn’t tell from the photos he had posted. Anyway, I thought you might be interested to know that.
yes, 300 HP on air cleaner indicated 402 big block, a 396 bored .030..First year GM low compression,followed by ford ,chysler next year..The 71s had hardned valve seats..I had 71 455 pontiac..8.2.1 compression..Most were in that area.think yours 8.5.1..So you didnt HAVE to put like 98 octane like earlier years with 10.0.1 or higher..Bet yours was lotta fun..Love to have restored cop biscayne..RARE!
I sold the car in the fall of 2021 to a collector. He in turn sold the car in the fall of 2022. Aside from the dog-dish hubcaps, I’m sure someone could have ordered the full size hubcaps back in the day like on the Biscayne and Bel air. They most likely came standard on the Impala’s. If that owner back in 05/06 had the B07 option, I’m sure he would have noted so.