Thread: MSP Additions

That is MHQ in Marlborough, MA

Originally Posted by FireEMSPolice

That is the oddest install shop I have ever seen. When I think install shop, I think of a garage. That looks like a showroom of sorts..lol.

Place is freakin' HUGE (137,000 sq. ft., 100,000 of which is MHQ's), probably 3-4 times space of their former site (which was a car dealership at one time) on Rte. 20 in Marlborough near the Northborough line (which was easily 10 times the size of the old install shop they had when it was all done under the auspices of Natick Ford). They are, without a doubt, the largest police-car upfitter in New England, and also have a truck sales/upfitting facility in Shrewsbury, MA and a satellite upfitting facility in West Hartford, CT.

The current facility combines administrative office space, vehicle sales area, upfitting/install, mechanical repair bays and bodyshop/paint booth, retail space for emergency equipment, retail space for uniforms and clothing, parts department for upfitting and vehicle repairs, etc. The building is shared with several other tenants including Metro Church and was originally built in 1960 and was home to the Honeywell Corp. and British Aerospace where light manufacturing was done. It was renovated in 1988 and the pics you see of the upfitting area and service bays were once manufacturing space, thus the "non-garage" look.

I remember the days of bringing our cruisers down for equipment swaps/upfitting to new units every year and knowing every single tech by name, and knowing who'd be working on your car and not have any worries. You handed them a list of how you wanted it done, left and a few days later picked up your cruiser upfitted exactly how you wanted it. Nowadays, they have so many agencies as customers, crank out so many cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. on a weekly basis (and go into overdrive at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1st) and have so many techs on the floor that you never know who's working on your car or if the same tech will be working on it one day and a different tech the next. At one point, before I went out injured, the boss actually assigned me on OT to stay there with our vehicles while the installs were being done to assure everything came out exactly as we wanted. Otherwise, often you ended up having to send the car back for corrections. The price you pay for growth and success, I guess. Since I've been out, I have no idea if they bother doing that anymore.

I would not reccomend the West Hartford site, FYI. We will be going elsewhere for our next install. Vertexes shining towards the sky, etc, etc, etc . . . . Shoddy work overall.

Originally Posted by One

I would not reccomend the West Hartford site, FYI. We will be going elsewhere for our next install. Vertexes shining towards the sky, etc, etc, etc . . . . Shoddy work overall.

I've seen their work in CT as well. All of the vehicles leaked, either from the lightbar cable or the headlight and / or taillight assemblies. There were also problems with shavings in the assemblies as well.

Originally Posted by Sarge619

Place is freakin' HUGE (137,000 sq. ft., 100,000 of which is MHQ's), probably 3-4 times space of their former site (which was a car dealership at one time) on Rte. 20 in Marlborough near the Northborough line (which was easily 10 times the size of the old install shop they had when it was all done under the auspices of Natick Ford). They are, without a doubt, the largest police-car upfitter in New England, and also have a truck sales/upfitting facility in Shrewsbury, MA and a satellite upfitting facility in West Hartford, CT.

The current facility combines administrative office space, vehicle sales area, upfitting/install, mechanical repair bays and bodyshop/paint booth, retail space for emergency equipment, retail space for uniforms and clothing, parts department for upfitting and vehicle repairs, etc. The building is shared with several other tenants including Metro Church and was originally built in 1960 and was home to the Honeywell Corp. and British Aerospace where light manufacturing was done. It was renovated in 1988 and the pics you see of the upfitting area and service bays were once manufacturing space, thus the "non-garage" look.

I remember the days of bringing our cruisers down for equipment swaps/upfitting to new units every year and knowing every single tech by name, and knowing who'd be working on your car and not have any worries. You handed them a list of how you wanted it done, left and a few days later picked up your cruiser upfitted exactly how you wanted it. Nowadays, they have so many agencies as customers, crank out so many cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. on a weekly basis (and go into overdrive at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1st) and have so many techs on the floor that you never know who's working on your car or if the same tech will be working on it one day and a different tech the next. At one point, before I went out injured, the boss actually assigned me on OT to stay there with our vehicles while the installs were being done to assure everything came out exactly as we wanted. Otherwise, often you ended up having to send the car back for corrections. The price you pay for growth and success, I guess. Since I've been out, I have no idea if they bother doing that anymore.

Damn Sarge... thats one hell of an explanation! LoL I agree though, that place is huge! I remember going to old one as a kid to look at all the vehicles outside. They had a pretty huge lot for everything.

Looks like the "new" Ford Interceptor (Taurus) has been released?

Originally Posted by HPD84

Looks like the "new" Ford Interceptor (Taurus) has been released?

They just started to roll off the assembly line

Originally Posted by One

I would not reccomend the West Hartford site, FYI. We will be going elsewhere for our next install. Vertexes shining towards the sky, etc, etc, etc . . . . Shoddy work overall.

How far are you from Providence RI?