Light terminology from Car and Driver

[Wailer]

Back in the late 1970s my oldest brother and his friends liked to read car magazines. Some of the titles included Car and Driver, Road Test, Motor Trend, and Road & Track.


My brother had an issue of Car and Driver that had an article how to spot US state police highway patrol cars. I think it was called the Tijauna taxi spotter's guide or something like that. Anyway, that was where I first came across the term 'light bar'. The lighting definitions in the article were as follows:


Single flush mounted beacon (e.g. CJ184)


Rack with single beacon (cross bar with one beacon only or one beacon and two blinkers)


Rack with multiple beacons (cross bar with two beacons - e.g. Twin Beacon Ray)


Rack with light bar (e.g. Twin Sonic with mounting brackets attached to roof or gutter)


So after reading that I got to defining a 'light bar' as being an oblong rectangular enclosure with two or more lights. If it was a cross bar holding up one or more beacons, I simply referred to it as a 'rack'.

 

[CrownVic97]

Huh, that's interesting. Too bad you can't find the actual article to share. It'd be a curious read.

 

[Sarge619]

Huh, that's interesting. Too bad you can't find the actual article to share. It'd be a curious read.

I've actually got that article... it's the "Civilian Bear Spotters Guide" and I believe it was in the October or maybe December '77 issue (gotta look at it). It included a four page spread called "The Art of the States" which showed a driver side color profile of every states cruisers, and a listing of what they currently drove, what they had for secondary units, unmarked units , roof equipment and speed measuring devices (i.e. RADAR or VASCAR). Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner to scan the article into my computer. For those interested though, there's a website out there that has original issues available. I'll add the url when I can find it.


They also had an amusing article in one of the issues in '78 (I believe) where they test-drove a fully-marked Chevy Impala 9C1 from some town in Ohio. The car was assigned to a Sergeant named Stucker. The article was entitled "Move Over Sgt. Stucker, We Want to Test Drive Your Cruiser". With the cage and multitude of radio equipment inside the car, they described the interior as being "a combination of Radio Shack and jail".


C/D used to do fun articles like that. I also remember their review of the '79 Chevy Malibu 9C1.

 

[kitn1mcc]

i would like to see what they have ct

 

[50theman]

I've actually got that article... it's the "Official Bear Spotters Guide" and I believe it was in the October or maybe December '77 issue (gotta look at it). It included a four page spread called "The Art of the States" which showed a driver side color profile of every states cruisers, and a listing of what they currently drove, what they had for secondary units, unmarked units , roof equipment and speed measuring devices (i.e. RADAR or VASCAR). Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner to scan the article into my computer. For those interested though, there's a website out there that has original issues available. I'll add the url when I can find it.

They also had an amusing article in one of the issues in '78 (I believe) where they test-drove a fully-marked Chevy Impala 9C1 from some town in Ohio. The car was assigned to a Sergeant named Stucker. The article was entitled "Move Over Sgt. Stucker, We Want to Test Drive Your Cruiser". With the cage and multitude of radio equipment inside the car, they described the interior as being "a combination of Radio Shack and jail".


C/D used to do fun articles like that. I also remember their review of the '79 Chevy Malibu 9C1.

Here you go Sarg, copcar dot com - The home of the American Police Car - Photo Archives


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opo:

 

[CrownVic97]

That's a great link, 50theman! A very good read!

 

[Wailer]

They also had an amusing article in one of the issues in '78 (I believe) where they test-drove a fully-marked Chevy Impala 9C1 from some town in Ohio. The car was assigned to a Sergeant named Stucker. The article was entitled "Move Over Sgt. Stucker, We Want to Test Drive Your Cruiser".

I remember that article too. There is an interior shot of the car in that article, and I remember seeing an old Dietz electronic siren under the dash.

 

[Sarge619]

I remember that article too. There is an interior shot of the car in that article, and I remember seeing an old Dietz electronic siren under the dash.

That's the one!!

 

[Sarge619]

i would like to see what they have ct

Taken directly from "A Civilian Bear-Spotters Guide", December 1977 issue of Car and Driver:


"CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE


Primary cruiser: 1977 Ford LTD (460 V-8)


Secondary cruisers: 1976 Ford Custom 500, 1975 Ford Custom 500


Roof Hardware: rack with multiple beacons


Avionics: in-flight radar, trooper-owned CB with state-operated base stations


Plain wrappers: 1977 Ford LTDs with public plates, but only occasionaly used for patrol"


As anyone here my age plainly knows, EVERY 1977 CTSP cruiser was a "plain wrapper", the only markings were the white "STATE POLICE" lettering on red-backed plates (1970's) or gold "STATE POLICE" lettering on blue backed-plates (1980's up until the purchase of the Edge bars) affixed to either side of the "Commander" strobe on the removable Whelen 3800 Series crossbar and metal STATE POLICE emblems that could be affixed to the grill and trunk. ALL of their regular cruisers at that time (and today) have regular passenger car plates. My guess is that Car and Driver considered it a "marked unit" when the lightbar was mounted, and an "unmarked" after the trooper dismounted the bar and drove the car on personal business (as they are allowed), thus, it's "seldom used on patrol" in that mode.


Following photos found online, credit to the original (unknown) photographers:


1) 1977 CTSP


2) 1977 CTSP


3) 1978 CTSP (restored. NOTE: "STATE POLICE" plates are incorrect. Gold on blue didn't appear until the 1980's units. To be accurate for a '78, they should white on red)











They did, at one time have marked units in the 30's, 40's but I've only found pics of unmarked units in the 50's (not to mention specialty units -past and present like ambulances - yup, CTSP ran ambulances - Crime Scene and Bomb Squad. etc. and the handful of marked cruisers they have today - the white Crown Vics with blue/gold stripes). I found these '66 (or are they '65's? The two were fairly close in appearance... I know they're NOT '67s) Fords, one fully marked unit (which is NOT a genuine CTSP unit... someone's fantasy car or maybe for a movie??) the other unmarked. I found a '68 unmarked Ford too. NOTE: CTSP was using RED lights during this time frame. Looks like they didn't change to blue until perhaps 1970. I also found a '71 Ford Custom and it's sporting the CTSP signature Whelen 3800 setup in blue (again, found online, credit to original photgraphers):


4) 1966 Ford marked unit (bogus car, CTSP never had marked units like this


5) 1966 Ford unmarked (restored)


6) 1968 Ford unmarked (restored)


7) 1970 Ford (note: blue lights on removable Whelen 3800 Series system now primary warning light system)


8) 1971 Ford (restored, not originally a CTSP unit)





)











Don't know what they drove in '72, but in '73/'74 they were driving baby blue Plymouth Furys. I found a conflict with the Car and Driver info for 1975. They list them as only having '75 Ford Custom 500s. I know for a fact they had '75 Plymouth Gran Furys also and have a pic of one in a published source (they were the same color as the '73/'74 Plymouths). They split the bid between Ford and Plymouth that year, both light blue in color.


Not sure what they'll buy now that the RWD Police Interceptor is going the way of the dinosaur, but I do know their neighbor to the north (Mass.) is buying the Next-Generation Ford Police Interceptor (based on the Taurus platform).

 

[JazzDad]

Regarding picture number 4: You may not have seen him, but you sure HEARD him.

 

[Sarge619]

Regarding picture number 4: You may not have seen him, but you sure HEARD him.

ROFLAMO!!! All I can think of is the Bluesmobile driving around rural Illinois with that giant Civil Defense siren speaker roped to the roof trying to attract attention for their show at the Palace Hotel....


"You! On the motorcycle!!!"


" You two girls!!!"


"And tonight is... LADIES night..."

 

[Wailer]

My guess is that those are PA speakers on that 1966 Ford.

 

[AshSkip]

I think it was hotrod magazine that had an article in the late 80's or early 90's called "Super Trooper".


There was this black man that looked like he was 7 ft tall who drove a corvette marked patrol car. I think he was from indiana but it may have been florida. Anyone ever see that article?

 

[flahotrod]

I don't recall that article, but I do recall seeing other stories about that trooper. He was with FHP. One picture I saw of him showed him writing a ticket next to his patrol car. I think it was a full-size Ford Crown Vic. Anyway, instead of him resting the tickebook on the hood or on the roof, he had it resting on top of his CJ184 light in the middle of the roof. He was that tall.

 

[Sarge619]

I don't recall that article, but I do recall seeing other stories about that trooper. He was with FHP. One picture I saw of him showed him writing a ticket next to his patrol car. I think it was a full-size Ford Crown Vic. Anyway, instead of him resting the tickebook on the hood or on the roof, he had it resting on top of his CJ184 light in the middle of the roof. He was that tall.

Found this article:


Trooper Shifts Gears To Patrol With Flash Confiscated Corvette Adds Zip To Fleet - Sun Sentinel


I've seen pics of that 'Vette but can't locate them.... did find this "interesting" CJ184-equipped FHP cruiser though (perhaps competition for Burt Reynolds in his "Bandit 1" Trans Am??);





And another FHP oddball;

 

[AshSkip]

Reminds me of the unity rv26 that I sit ontop of my mustang gt the other day lol

 

[AshSkip]

I was told that Georgia had a test run with GTO's back in the 60's. Anyone have any pics of anything like that?

 

[Sarge619]

I was told that Georgia had a test run with GTO's back in the 60's. Anyone have any pics of anything like that?

Don't know 'bout that, but Alabama DID run AMC Javelins in the early 70's

 

[Skippy]

 

[Sarge619]

Nice find Skippy... couldn't locate it in my archives or any of my online sources. Probably have it in one of my books on state police and highway patrol vehicles.... never thought to look there :duh:


And speaking of GTO's.... back in 1966, the late former chief of my department (there were only two employees back then) drove a "Cameo Ivory" white GTO 2-door hardtop with the WS-Code high-performance 389 V-8 equipped with a Motorola Motrac and a FS BeaconRay Model 175 "Hill Light" (he was also a pilot and loved the concept of an upward-pointing sealed beam) on the roof with a clear dome and blue/white PAR36's (that light got swapped from car to car in our department right up until 1980 and is STILL on one of the FD brush trucks to this day!) and a mechanical siren under the hood (don't know what make/model).


Back then, the officers had to supply their own cruisers so he decided to buy something he'd be able to WIN pursuits with. I've seen pics of the car, but sadly, don't have any. I've heard many a story of epic chases involving that car and how much he adored it and his record of catching miscreants who "dared" to run from the infamous "BPD GTO"... it was favorite his cruiser in all his 39 years on the force. He was well known in Worcester County for that car.

 

[Sarge619]

I think it was hotrod magazine that had an article in the late 80's or early 90's called "Super Trooper".


There was this black man that looked like he was 7 ft tall who drove a corvette marked patrol car. I think he was from indiana but it may have been florida. Anyone ever see that article?





I don't recall that article, but I do recall seeing other stories about that trooper. He was with FHP. One picture I saw of him showed him writing a ticket next to his patrol car. I think it was a full-size Ford Crown Vic. Anyway, instead of him resting the tickebook on the hood or on the roof, he had it resting on top of his CJ184 light in the middle of the roof. He was that tall.


I think this is definately your man. Trooper Pembrook Burrows, FHP. The following photo was found on Flickr along with the enclosed "biography":


Trooper Pembrook Burrows


"This is an Associated Press photo of Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Pembrook Burrows. The photo is dated June 12, 1972. It was made at the Pensacola News Journal building in Pensacola. The photographer is not identified. I don't know if this was originally an AP photo or a PNJ photo that was picked up by the AP.


Trooper Burrows was orignially from West Palm Beach. Before he was a Trooper, Burrows played basketball at Jacksonville University. He was on the 1970-71 Jacksonville team which made it all the way to the NCAA championship game before losing to UCLA. After college Burrows joined the Florida Highway Patrol. He graduated from the FHP Academy in May 1972 and was assigned to Pensacola. At the time he was the FHP's third black Trooper.


In 1984 Trooper Burrows accepted a promotion and transfered from Pensacola back to West Palm Beach. In 2003 he retired from the Highway Patrol after 31 years of Service. By this time he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant and was serving in the Public Relations Department.


It has been almost 30 years since Burrows left Pensacola and the people there still remember the 7 foot tall State Trooper. I am from Pensacola, and while I never met Trooper Burrows, I have heard many stories about him. The best was the time he stopped a semi truck. When Burrows stepped up to speak to the driver the driver said, "Get off my running board!" Burrows calmly replied, "I'm not standing on your running board."

 

[dmathieu]

Thanks Sarge! This is good stuff!

 

[Sarge619]

Thanks Sarge! This is good stuff!

My pleasure Dan! I've got alot of time on my hands to research things (plus I find it fun to "track down leads")!

 

[ny04350]

Sarge,


That "Marked" Connecticut 66 Ford is not accurate. Its a restored car that is not anywhere near anything CT SP ran. They did not have marked units like that at all. This type of restoration is also known as a "clown" car.


The other 66 Ford is very accurate. Prior to the removable Whelen bars, they ran pretty much unmarked with the State Police shields attached to the front and rear bumpers with Fireballs or Vitalites on the dash, or in this case, Starsky & Hutch style.

 

[Sarge619]

Sarge,

That "Marked" Connecticut 66 Ford is not accurate. Its a restored car that is not anywhere near anything CT SP ran. They did not have marked units like that at all. This type of restoration is also known as a "clown" car.


The other 66 Ford is very accurate. Prior to the removable Whelen bars, they ran pretty much unmarked with the State Police shields attached to the front and rear bumpers with Fireballs or Vitalites on the dash, or in this case, Starsky & Hutch style.

Thanks Tom.... already aware, but totally forgot to change the message. ELB's resident expert on all things regarding CTSP brought me up to speed on this several weeks back, as well as the fact that the gold on blue "STATE POLICE" signs on the Whelen 3800 series crossbars did not debut until the '80's. Gonna update that entry now. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[dmathieu]

My pleasure Dan! I've got alot of time on my hands to research things (plus I find it fun to "track down leads")!

A true COP.

 

[nerdly_dood]

Forgive the hasty scanning. At least you can't see through the pages to the radar detector ads on the opposite side.


Interesthing how they didn't bother with the light yellow on Florida and Tennessee... I guess they assumed it was white?

 

[tsquale]

Thanks for posting that Nerdly! That's a neat article :thumbsup:

 

[Skip Goulet]

Here you go Sarg, copcar dot com - The home of the American Police Car - Photo Archives

5-0


opo:

That's very neat. The article came out in '77, so lightbars were still a relatively new "gizmo" for emergency vehicles. When Federal introduced the VisiBar in the mid-60s, I was totally blown away! The Midland PD had been using Federal 17 beacons since 1956 and suddenly went to the VisiBars c.1966-67, but retained the underhood motordriven sirens.


I had gone to Lubbock by the time they came out with the Twinsonic in the early'70s. At night we thought that they really had a "stealth" look. Little would we know what sort of stealth the current line of LED bars would afford! Lubbock went from using roof mounted 173 beacons and CP25 speakers powered by Interceptors to the Twinsonics. What I meant about their stealth look was that they weren't as easily seen at night as the old system, since light was reflected well off the CP25 speakers. One night I was in the car with my friend Rick Kennerly, who was one of the original members of our vol. ambulance service. I had noticed a car following close behind us and told Rick that I thought it was a cop. He said, "Oh, no, that's just a fancy luggage rack." Suddenly that "luggage rack" came on and Rick was pulled over because his license plate light was out. Luggage rack, huh? From that point on, our group referred to the Twinsonic as a KLR: Kennerly Luggage Rack. Poor Rick....he never lived that one down.

 

[boboloo]

My guess is that those are PA speakers on that 1966 Ford.

One would think that if he went to all the trouble of making a scale 1:2 police car he would spend a little more time scaling speakers too. Instead of slapping a couple of 100 watts on top of it. :crazy:

 

[boboloo]

Michigan State Police car hasn't changed other than its silhouette. Any other states that haven't changed?

 

[nerdly_dood]

Michigan State Police car hasn't changed other than its silhouette. Any other states that haven't changed?

California and Massachusetts are about the same, and Virginia is about the same but with blue lights instead of red. Oklahoma has only very recently (i.e. the change is not done yet I think) switched from the graphics in the old version to an all-black version... just for starters.

 

[Skip Goulet]

Found this article:

Trooper Shifts Gears To Patrol With Flash Confiscated Corvette Adds Zip To Fleet - Sun Sentinel


I've seen pics of that 'Vette but can't locate them.... did find this "interesting" CJ184-equipped FHP cruiser though (perhaps competition for Burt Reynolds in his "Bandit 1" Trans Am??);


View attachment 20611


And another FHP oddball;


View attachment 20613

Texas DPS ran some sleek and fast Camaros back in the early '90s. One night when I worked as a "Cabby" in Odessa I had just stopped at the cab stand for a quick soda. Suddenly we heard all sorts of sirens running east on 8th St., so I stepped out to see what was going on. I saw multiple city units along with sheriff's units and a couple of DPS units all running Code 3. We would find out that a city cop had been jumped by several black males at a What-a-Burger. The cop barely managed to put out a 10-33 call on his handheld before being subdued by the mob. Cops came out of the "woodwork". About that time I had to leave on a call which took south of Hancock St to 8th St. Suddenly I heard the loud whining of a motor and here came one of those DPS Camaros. He was picking them u p and laying them down! He was running so fast down 8th St. that he was outrunning the sound of his siren, and all you could hear was that big engine whining! Those cars were a "far cry" to the little Mustangs they had been using previously.

 

[Skip Goulet]

Michigan State Police car hasn't changed other than its silhouette. Any other states that haven't changed?

For many years, Texas DPS ran all-white cars with Texas outline graphics and lettered Texas Dept. of Public Safety....Highway Patrol.


Sometime in the mid-to-late '60s they switched to the current black and whites and kept the Texas outline. However, for a number of years the graphics on the fender now state,'State Trooper'.

 

[Sarge619]

They got the graphics wrong on the Alaska State Troopers..... THIS is the new graphics scheme they adopted for the Interceptors (sadly, no more grizzly bears on the side of the car). Photo courtesy of Police Car Website:

 

[tnems7]

Tennessee and Florida Highway Patrol use Black and Tan (Not yellow as Nerly Dude indicated). But the color schemes are reversed (what is Black on a THP car is Tan on FHP). Several years ago, Ford delivered about forty cars to TN in the wrong paint scheme and FL probably got a good discount to take them of the vendor.


As to use of the "muscle cars" in the 1960's, I never saw a GTO used, however, Plymouth had a Police version of the Road Runner, and Lenoir City Police Department used Oldsmobile 442' as police cars.


The common unmarked Tennessee Trooper Car in the 1960's and early 1970's was a light brown Plymouth or Dodge, and in the early 1990's some cream-colored Dodge Dynasty's were used by administrative officers who still had to pull "visibility" time on limited patrol. They did make traffic stops.


Around 1970, unmarked patrol cars used Federal Beacon Ray Jr. With the blue dome, many officers invested in a Federal Fire Ball because the beam was brighter. Strobes (Whelen Sr. Strobes and rear directional strobes) were added in the 1980's.

 

[NoVAFed]

I forgot all about that article. I may still have it around somewhere. It was interesting to see the variety of car and lights from that long ago. Nice Car & Driver has redone it, despite the errors.

 

[Skip Goulet]

Tennessee and Florida Highway Patrol use Black and Tan (Not yellow as Nerly Dude indicated). But the color schemes are reversed (what is Black on a THP car is Tan on FHP). Several years ago, Ford delivered about forty cars to TN in the wrong paint scheme and FL probably got a good discount to take them of the vendor.

As to use of the "muscle cars" in the 1960's, I never saw a GTO used, however, Plymouth had a Police version of the Road Runner, and Lenoir City Police Department used Oldsmobile 442' as police cars.


The common unmarked Tennessee Trooper Car in the 1960's and early 1970's was a light brown Plymouth or Dodge, and in the early 1990's some cream-colored Dodge Dynasty's were used by administrative officers who still had to pull "visibility" time on limited patrol. They did make traffic stops.


Around 1970, unmarked patrol cars used Federal Beacon Ray Jr. With the blue dome, many officers invested in a Federal Fire Ball because the beam was brighter. Strobes (Whelen Sr. Strobes and rear directional strobes) were added in the 1980's.

Back in the mid-to-late '70s the small town of Snyder, TX used a single red Jr. beacon on their police cars. These were the magnetic models, not roof-mounted. In Dec. '78 a school bus got hit by an oil-field truck about 30 mi. east of Snyder. The crash killed 7 and injured 24, with ambulances all over the area responding. My service was called from Lubbock later in the day to pick up one of the kids who had to come back to Lubbock. Once we had the kid loaded the Snyder P.D. escorted us out of town. The juniors were adequate lights,but I was afraid one of them might fly off at anytime! :hopeless:


You also mention the MOPAR police cars, and it brought a funny story to mind. In Lubbock ONLY Lubbock EMS was allowed to run "hot" inside the city. The only way we could run lights and sirens was when we came in from one of our standbys at one of the racetracks or rodeo arenas outside the city. For many years, if a routine transport went sour, even then the private ambulances couldn't upgrade, but that changed over time. One night I had just walked in the house and the phone rang. One of my younger guys was on the line saying that his mom was having a heart attack. He had just moved out on his own and his younger brother had called him. I told him that I would be on my way. Just to be safe I called the parents' house and the younger brother answered and said that the mom had had a heart attack, so away I went....knowing that I couldn't run "hot". This was in Decemeber with a lot of Christmas shopping going on; and at one intersection I got stuck at a red light and waited what seemed forever. Lubbock's signals are all trafic-controlled. So I made the decision to break the intersection and continue the rest of the way code 3. Would you believe it....I soon passed a city PD unit who turned around and began to pursue me. He was in one of those mid-80s (this was about 1984) misized Plymouth Gran Furies. I was in a Pontiac Consort ambulance. I ran off and left him behind. He followed me all the way to my friends' house. When I had turned on to their street I had killed the siren and lights and then rolled into the driveway. The cop followed me in the house and made an absolute ass of himself, not only giving me static for having "illegaly" run code, but my patient and the middle son for having called me and not EMS. When he was informed that EMS was not wanted, he told them that they would ride with who they were told to, or they wouldn't go anywhere. By this time I had checked the lady out and determined that she wasn't having an MI; but her BP was sky-high, so she had to go in....period. However, the cop made me come out to this car first and gave me a bad time and got out his ticket book. But then decided to ask his sgt., who told him to leave me alone and let me complete my run. The sgt also told him that he could make a field incident report to turn into the major.


I then was able to transport the mom on to the hospital, where she was kept for almost a week with them trying to get her BP down. Years later she ended up going thru a kidney transplant related to the earlier high b.p., but it later rejected and she's been gone since 2012. Well, the next morning after I had transported, the major himself walked into the store where I worked part-time. He was a regular customer and we were on a first-name basis. But when he walked in my first thought was, "They're coming to take me away, ha, ha!" But when we talked he let me know that he had seen the report and had determined that I had just exercised common sense in upgrading when I did. He further let me know that the whole matter was dismissed. That was good, but not the end of it. Nearly 9 months later I got a call from the municipal court saying that they had a bunch of unpaid tickets on me. I informed them that I hadn't had a ticket in over 10 years. Turned out that the cop wrote up 9 citations...after having been told not to...and had processed them. I told the court that the major had dismissed it all and he verified it, and so away I went. A few days later the cop was caught with illegal weapons in his cruiser, and was busted from corporal to patrolman. I've always wondered where those weapons came from!