A REAL Highway Patrol Car

MO SHP car SEMO District Fair 09-09-2014THIS is the way a state highway patrol car should look: two-tone paint scheme with a big logo on the side. Fins. Bubble gum machine on the top.

Who cares about aerodynamics when you have a big engine under the hood.

Big mechanical siren bolted to the fender. One that took several seconds to wind up to full volume, then took just as long to die out when it was turned off. That siren didn’t yelp, bleat, burp or play bird songs: it had the voice of authority.

Don’t forget the big 96-inch low-band two-way radio whip antenna that would go thumpa, thumpa thumpa when the vehicle stopped suddenly. Bad guys soon learned that nobody outruns Motorola.

When you look at this car, you think of Broderick Crawford growling, “Two-Fifty-One to Headquarters,” not some chirpy pretty boys like Jon and Ponce on their CHIPs motorcycles worrying if the wind is going to muss their hair.

Yep, this is a car I’d rather see at the SEMO District Fair than in my rearview mirror.

Older stories and photos of Missouri Highway Patrolmen

5 Replies to “A REAL Highway Patrol Car”

  1. Yes, when MEN were men! I think Trooper Strayhorn used to have one of these babies! These were usually 383 CI police interceptor motors…BIG and bad for there day. Van Riehl only wished he looked this good when he was servicing Missouri and protecting us from the bad guys!

  2. Very Cool! Oops, I mean BAAAD! Hopefully a real car guy or gal will identify the make / model of the vehicle. In Massachusetts the new state patrol cars are tricked-out Ford Explorers. They are worthy successors to this one.

  3. THE Quintessential Missouri State Trooper, Norman Copeland, DID drive one of those babies, a 1959 Dodge Coronet. He was our neighbor, and would not take any guff from anyone. He was a straight-shooter and a strictly by-the-book sort.

  4. It took me about a year, but just finished watching all four seasons of Highway Patrol. Even though the series was black and white it was a great period piece for the late 50’s. FYI – Broderick Crawford’s number was 2150 in the series..

  5. This vehicle is in the Highway Patrol Museum located the Missouri Highway Patrol Academy in Jefferson City, Mo.
    If anyone is in the area, stop and go through it.
    A very informative place.

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