Movies & Television: Police, Fire & EMS Vehicles

348

Member
Feb 16, 2013
1,017
Idaho
When I saw the video of this 1973 Cadillac Lifeliner, it appeared to have enough emergency lights to be the stunt double for Ecto 1 in Ghostbusters.  


Five Federal Signal 184 beacons on the same vehicle might be a record.
 
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7d9_z28

New Member
Mar 15, 2012
3,048
West Michigan
The only problem I have with that ambo is that I do not own it.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
You can see in the lights that the alternator is fighting to keep kicking. Yikes.
 

JazzDad

Member
Aug 5, 2011
5,165
USA
Meh.  The beacons are out of sync.

(If you're wondering: you extend the motor shafts down through the roof and attach a sprocket and chain between them all.  That's how.  Easy Peasy.)
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
You can see in the lights that the alternator is fighting to keep kicking. Yikes.
That Caddie should have ample power to pull all those lights and more since he's running an electronic siren. My '72 Superior Caddie came with a Leece-Neville 150 amp. alternator and two batteries.  In its original form it had triple 184s on top; front and rear tunnel lights, a Q plus twin CP25 speakers over the cab powered originally by a Federal Director and later by a Unity SiTron, plus headlight flashers.

I bought the car in 1980 minus all of the emergency equipment except for the tunnel lights.  I put a pair of red 17s on the front corners and a blue Dietz 211 center rear.  Over the cab went a Q and twin TS100 speakers, and as I note above, a Unity SiTron siren in place of the original Director.  I had no problem at all powering all of that.  I could light it up and stand on the Q going through an intersection, and none of the lights would dim: even at night with the headlights on to boot.
 

7d9_z28

New Member
Mar 15, 2012
3,048
West Michigan
Dodge Ambulance from the best movie you've never seen, The Wraith

wraithambo.jpg

68 Dodge Charger police car from another great movie you've never seen, Mystery Men

mysterymen.jpg
 
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Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
Skip forgot to mention that it idled at 4K RPM, and got 1/2 MPG. :D
Wow!  My '72 Caddie actually got decent gas mileage.  The headlight flashers on it, btw, flashed simultaneously, not alternately, and during the day, all four headlights flashed. At night if you hit the dimmer switch, only the highbeams flashed.   I got a lot of comments from people from the other private service about how it looked all lit up. It was from them that I bought the car; and as I said earlier, had been stripped of emergency equipment.  They thought I'd never get it fixed up so nice.  Surprise!

...and who can forget??
I hate the movies where they tear up good emergency vehicles on purpose!  Ouch, Ouch, Ouch!
 
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TheGatekeeper

Member
Jun 19, 2010
1,734
France
No fun at all. :mad:

As an 19 year old teen living in France and salivating in front of badly dubbed American movies and their depictions of V8 powered poliiiiice cars, that flick broke my heart. :(
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
No fun at all. :mad:

As an 19 year old teen living in France and salivating in front of badly dubbed American movies and their depictions of V8 powered poliiiiice cars, that flick broke my heart. :(
It sucks seeing those scenes now, but back then those cars and lightbars were in abundance. You could get them easily without spending long hours searching around. If you take a look at the Blues Brothers 2000 movie (pales in comparison to the classic) the scene where all those early-to-mid 90s CVPIs, a few Caprices, and a crazy load of JetSonics and MX700s are launched and smashed, it's really no different.

Yeah it's a bummer that about 30+ cruisers were scrapped, but when they've got a Hollywood budget, they can do what they want to make a ridiculous wreck scene. Like in 1980, those cars and lightbars were all over the place. I'm sure there'll be a movie in the future where we'll see a ton of early 2000-2011 CVPIs getting all junked out in one massive crash scene too. Only a matter of time.

Still, they are still fun to watch :crazy:  .
 
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JazzDad

Member
Aug 5, 2011
5,165
USA
In the movies, I liked when a lightbar would come detached from the roof and the (usually electronic) siren sound would wind down like a huge capacitor inside was draining.
 

StEaLtH2

Member
Mar 3, 2011
2,159
New England
I personally enjoy the warble down when them Duke boys would cause a car wash in the ditch..
 
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Storm82

Member
Dec 16, 2014
231
Ludlow Falls, Ohio
I don't know about the Blues Brothers, but I know in Smokey and the Bandit 2, the fleet of late 70's Pontiac Grand Am's that they destroyed were sent to a hot climate, with out a/c, and as a result were sold to the production company.


In modern production, they will typically buy seized vehicles from the government.
 

Mndlm

Member
Jun 14, 2010
128
Minnesota
I don't know about the Blues Brothers, but I know in Smokey and the Bandit 2, the fleet of late 70's Pontiac Grand Am's that they destroyed were sent to a hot climate, with out a/c, and as a result were sold to the production company.


In modern production, they will typically buy seized vehicles from the government.
PSST!!! They were LeMans. Not much on my Poncho's but don't think the Grand-Am was even around back then, Just the Parisienne,Catalina, LeMans, Grand Prix  and Ventura/GTO and Astre.
 

7d9_z28

New Member
Mar 15, 2012
3,048
West Michigan
The Grand Am came out in '73, until '75. Then it came back for 78-80 (and I am not going to lie, Id love a 78-80 Grand Am 2 door, I always thought they were cool cars) BUT being that the Grand Am and Lemans were both G-body cars, they really didnt have a ton of differences.

The Grand Am was re-reintroduced in '85 and ran until '05.
 

Mndlm

Member
Jun 14, 2010
128
Minnesota
The Grand Am came out in '73, until '75. Then it came back for 78-80 (and I am not going to lie, Id love a 78-80 Grand Am 2 door, I always thought they were cool cars) BUT being that the Grand Am and Lemans were both G-body cars, they really didnt have a ton of differences.

The Grand Am was re-reintroduced in '85 and ran until '05.
Told ya I did not know my Ponchos. Just went off the top of my head. Now I recall them back in the 70's with that pointed tip grill. Thanks for the info.
 

7d9_z28

New Member
Mar 15, 2012
3,048
West Michigan
Any time I have the opportunity to pretend that my obsession with cars is cool and helpful! :D

Got my first Hot Wheels BEFORE I was born. Never looked back.
 

7d9_z28

New Member
Mar 15, 2012
3,048
West Michigan
Actually you are correct, those were the Pontiac LeMans, as listed on Imcdb.org. 
I see what you are trying to do here but he knew he was correct.

Don't make me go all G-body on you again :cool:
 

Phillyrube

Member
May 21, 2010
1,272
Flatistan
Dodge Ambulance from the best movie you've never seen, The Wraith

attachicon.gif
wraithambo.jpg
The Wraith had some pretty good quotes from Randy Quaid as the Sheriff:

Skank, do me a favour will ya? Get rid of that zombie-piss you're drinkin' before it turns you into a mushroom!

Skank:

Do you smell a cop?

Gutterboy:

I smell french fries, but that don't make sense!

Gutterboy: Skank!

Skank: Yeah?

Gutterboy: Who is that guy?

Skank: I don't know, but whoever he was, he's weird and pissed off!

Sheriff Loomis: Well, you listen good, Skank. I know it's gonna be hard with your melon on chemical overload, but there's a killer out there and I'm gonna track the hairball down. So, when you two crater-heads get finished mining for nose gold and you get a relapse of memory, you let me know, huh? I'm just a phone call away
 
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7d9_z28

New Member
Mar 15, 2012
3,048
West Michigan
SHOTGUN?!? I DONT KNOW NUTTIN BOUT NO SHOTGUN!
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
In the movies, I liked when a lightbar would come detached from the roof and the (usually electronic) siren sound would wind down like a huge capacitor inside was draining.
I wince every time I see a police car or other emergency vehicle wrecked in a chase scene: especially when the roof lights or lightbars are damaged or destroyed.

When I was still just a kid and Jerry Lewis' movie: The Disorderly Orderly came out, I almost went into full arrest in the scene where knocked the big Super Chief off the top of the Caddie ambulance.
 

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,293
Canada
At the beginning of the video clip is a brief shot of the alarm system in Station 10. There is an Edwards Adaptahorn fire alarm buzzer hanging on the wall.  That is what makes the dull buzzing sound that comes after the electronic tones heard over the loudspeaker.

The siren on the platter of squad 10 is a Federal C5G.  The siren sounds heard on the early episodes of Emergency! are recordings of B&M mechancal siren and a Federal PA20 electronic siren.  A PA20, not a PA20A.

Early shots of Squad 51's interior show a PA20 mounted below a Motorola radio control head.   The first engine 51 (the 1965 Crown Firecoach) also had a PA20 but the wrong siren sound was dubbed in.

Near the end of the video the Federal Q siren on the 1973 Ward LaFrance pumper sounds just like the siren sound that was dubbed in for it on the TV show.
 
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Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
At the beginning of the video clip is a brief shot of the alarm system in Station 10. There is an Edwards Adaptahorn fire alarm buzzer hanging on the wall.  That is what makes the dull buzzing sound that comes after the electronic tones heard over the loudspeaker.

The siren on the platter of engine 10 is a Federal C5G.  The siren sounds heard on the early episodes of Emergency! are recordings of B&M mechancal siren and a Federal PA20 electronic siren.  A PA20, not a PA20A.

Early shots of Squad 51's interior show a PA20 mounted below a Motorola radio control head.   The first engine 51 (the 1965 Crown Firecoach) also had a PA20 but the wrong siren sound was dubbed in.

Near the end of the video the Federal Q siren on the 1973 Ward LaFrance pumper sounds just like the siren sound that was dubbed in for it on the TV show.
With all the sounds that they dubbed in on that show, what I hated the most was when they interposed a set of hi-lo horns: not an electronic siren hi-lo, on top of Squad 51's siren.  You're right about the B&M sound being used. Kevin's told me about that a number of times.  The two nicest sounds I've heard on the show that were real were the Super Chief on the low top Caddie ambulance in a scene where it's leaving a golf course with a heart attack victim, and a scene with the San Francisco Batt. Chief running with an underhood doubletone.
 
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