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‘Rust Issues’ on Police Cars Prompts City to Switch Back to Ford


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I was doing body work on cars in my backyard from '75-'79 for friends and neighbors. It was common for cars that were only a couple of years old to be rusting through in Pittsburgh. Fords were among the worst for the bottoms of doors and quarter panels. They were far worse than older Fords from the early to mid '60s. Dodge Aspens, Darts, Plymouth Volares and Dusters were known for rusting at the tops of the fenders and trunk lids. Toyotas and Datsuns were pretty bad too. Of course Vegas just rusted everywhere.

My father had a 1973 AMC Gremlin that rusted through the TOP of the front fender within six years. This was quite common with Hornets and Gremlins.

 

The big GM cars from 1971-76 were also notorious for rust around the vinyl roof moldings. It was common to see even Cadillacs with open rust spots around the vinyl roof trim.

 

The big Fords and intermediates seemed to become more rust resistant around 1976 (although the Lincolns and Thunderbirds were always good), and the Fox-bodied cars were MUCH better than the Maverick/Comet.

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Well here in Florida we use... HA... but really, our issue here is when you have days or weeks of no rain then you have a small passing shower that picks up all the oil/grease on the road and rains just a tad to bring it out and smear it well...You would think it's snow the way some people act while driving. I appreciate my MKX having AWD and next vehicle to replace the LS I will require AWD as well because I do have a heavy foot when accelerating.

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Aug. Automobile has an "Opinion" piece by some guy who basically says the Charger IS the replacement for the CV based on....."its appearance". Cops NEED a mean looking vehicle to get respect-or words to that effect. He cites departments are converting to this vehicle in droves!

 

Apparently this guy does not support law enforcement via his property taxes!

 

I was in a waiting room-only reason I would read that rag. i remember when the Editor (Jean ???) lamented the sacking of Jac the Knife. That for sure sealed my opinion.

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What?

 

 

I guess I always thought cops got respect by virtue of 1) their responsibility as representatives of the state for those who are law-abiding, or 2) their ability to apply the force of the state for those who are not.

 

BTW: The most recent Jean Jennings piece on the website is an advertorial for Rolls Royce.

Edited by RichardJensen
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What?

 

 

I guess I always thought cops got respect by virtue of 1) their responsibility as representatives of the state for those who are law-abiding, or 2) their ability to apply the force of the state for those who are not.

 

BTW: The most recent Jean Jennings piece on the website is an advertorial for Rolls Royce.

What can I say. Another example of the profound understanding of all things related to the auto industry on the part of the "Automobile" staff.

 

Jennings- thank you- could not remember her last name.

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Aug. Automobile has an "Opinion" piece by some guy who basically says the Charger IS the replacement for the CV based on....."its appearance". Cops NEED a mean looking vehicle to get respect-or words to that effect. He cites departments are converting to this vehicle in droves!

 

Apparently this guy does not support law enforcement via his property taxes!

 

I was in a waiting room-only reason I would read that rag. i remember when the Editor (Jean ???) lamented the sacking of Jac the Knife. That for sure sealed my opinion.

 

Any vehicle driven by a police officer is mean looking to me. If he/she is driving a Caprice/Charger/Explorer/Taurus........or a Yaris, they have the to f-up your day if you are a complete moron.

 

But needing a vehicle because it looks mean and that's how you get respect? HAHA, ok. The Crown Vic had it by default, not because it actually looked mean. The Taurus and Charger do look mean though.

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Agreed. And the Caprice PPV looks... Like it wants to give you a hug?

 

ChevyCapricePPV02.jpg

Good observation. as a matter of fact I'm in a parts store the other day and one of the "locals' comes in driving their new "Holden". They like it. They had gone from CV's to Chargers and now their two newest are an Explorer and this Caprice. Like them both..."anything but a Charger " was the attitude based on their horrendous maintenance issues-and we are talking about 2009-10.

 

But I could not help but think- unless they have the very basic wheel package, this Caprice does NOT look like it could take a hit. Just this past week at least two crashes in Boston involving i unmarked CV's . One was T-boned at an intersection by an SUV. Can't image what a Caprice would look like in such a collision. Then again can't imagine what any of the new choices would look like.

 

Ah- but the Panther and BOF is dead, time to move on.

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