Wailer said:
The only thing I liked about that show was the Beacon Ray model 17 in the intro. When I found out that the show was about plain clothes cops and unmarked cars I refused to watch it.
On the other hand, McCloud was a good show to watch back in the early 1970s. The earlier episodes were full of NYPD cars with Beacon Rays and Pulsator sirens. There were even some cars that had two beam 17s with clear domes and amber and red bulbs. I don't know if NYPD actually had that type of light.
The 1960s "N.Y.P.D." show did have marked cars, but they appeared only in occasional episodes. They were Plymouth Belvederes (1968's I believe). As I recall, the patrol cars were very accurate, except for one thing - NYPD actually used the larger Plymouth Furys, never Belvederes. Well, at least they were Plymouths. I too would have liked to see more marked units. Nonetheless, it was usually a fast-paced show, filmed on location in NYC with an authentic feel, and I liked it for those reasons.
I was less keen on McCloud. In any event, yes, there were often marked cars on McCloud, but the cars I recall seeing there seemed to me to be cruder representations of NYPD cars. Maybe that was just in the later episodes, but that's what stands out in my mind. I recall seeing a siren on McCloud that looked like something pieced togther to resemble a Pulsator, with a big chunky base. I'm pretty sure the siren was higher than the Beacon Ray, but I forget if that was because the siren was too tall or the light was too short (or both?).
The only 2-lamp Model 17 Beacon Rays NYPD used were the solid red-dome ones, 1956-1962. The only clear-domed Beacon Rays NYPD used were the 4-lamped ones. Unlike the "N.Y.P.D." show, McCloud was filmed mostly in California, not NYC; maybe that has something to do with it. (I think they used downtown L.A. to simulate Manhattan; I believe I once caught a brief shot of a city street where their replica NYPD car passes an actual LAPD black-&-white car going the other way.) The two-lamp Beacon Rays you saw in McCloud were probably just Hollywood prop people making do with what they had on hand (Model 17's); I don't imagine there were many Model 175-H's (or Pulsators for that matter) floating around out there.
By the way, I sold someone my 175-H many years ago (thinking I could get another later), and I've been kicking myself pretty much ever since!
Looks Super Mister! As usual you've been hitting them outa the park! Where are the Siren pic's for in front of it?
