The Chevrolet Caprice PPV is a gem hiding in plain sight, but it doesn’t seem to have taken off (yet) with the enthusiast crowd. While there’s sometimes a reluctance to take on what amounts to a former patrol car, we can all agree that the retired police vehicles with a performance pedigree have all gone onto become collector’s items, like the Fox body Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro. The Caprice PPV is a rebadged Holden sedan that is also related to the high-performance Chevrolet SS, and this former police car listed here on Facebook Marketplace lived a life as a taxi cab before valvetrain noise sidelined it.
Most modern police fleets have adopted the Ford Explorer as the patrol vehicle of choice. Like so many things in life, it’s clear we’re never going back to an era where the rules were a bit looser and everyone was comfortable coloring outside the lines. What I mean by this is even the local police department liked the idea of a V8-powered sedan over a turbocharged six-cylinder or some other variation created in the interest of fuel economy. Now, I have heard many officers like the Explorer pursuit vehicles, but it still seems like one more way the modern SUV has forever changed the automotive landscape. The Caprice PPV was slightly detuned from the SS sedan, but still packed over 300 horsepower.
Bare-bones and spartan inside, there’s no denying that if you buy an ex-police vehicle, you’re going to live with minimal features. This is one of the main drawbacks to buying a Dodge Charger or Caprice PPV like this one: unless it was used sparingly by a detective already with one foot out the door towards retirement, these cars were ridden hard and with no convenience or luxury features to distract you from how badly they were beaten daily, all you have to stare are scratched surfaces and deflated seats. The PPV, of course, has power features and a modern cockpit, but it’s a stripper equipment-wise. I’m assuming that table is where a laptop-style computer was previously mounted.
The seller has listed this PPV with a video demonstrating what he describes as valvetrain noise. When you go looking for information on whether this is a known fault of the L77 V8, the forums indicate “DoD lifter” failure is a common issue on these engines. However, most owners see it as an opportunity to source an upgraded camshaft and make the necessary lifter repairs at the same time, often without having to drop the oil pan (sometimes seen as necessary to loosen and remove the oil pump.) These engines are still quite durable even with this apparent Achilles heel, so we say make the repairs, upgrade the cam if the budget allows, and build the pursuit car tribute of your dreams.
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