??? 1977 Maverick Police Interceptor

This is a subject I knew quite a bit about back some years ago when I built my clone. The car wasn't a true police package like others were at that time. It failed to have the heavy duty equipment that set a real package car apart from the showroom models. Very few Mavericks were ever sold for police needs. The NYPD bought some for detective cars but they were so badly accepted that they were sold off. Baltimore PD had a couple for marked cars but they didn't last very long either. You have to realize that in the late '70s, Mopar police package cars ruled the roads with the high performance engines and heavy duty everything and they also ruled the market selling way more units than Ford and GM year after year. This Ford idea was most likely born of the 9C1 Nova police package which was the only compact car which was a true package car. The agencies who bought them loved them as they were crazy fast and handled well. Chevrolet sold a number of them. Another less than full size package car of the '70s was the Pontiac LeMans package car from the mid '70s which was somewhat popular and was well received. Agencies couldn't seem to get past not using full size land yachts for marked cruisers especially in the South where it wasn't uncommon for them to receive even more engine modifications in places and I was told of one Mopar pursuit model from the deep South called the "Dixie Special" which had a 440 Magnum and a two speed rear end. Even with the introduction of the Fury and Monaco package cars which were downsized a bit, the B Body models from 1976 to 1978, they were larger cars than compacts and were extremely popular at the time and restorers of police cars look for them today as they have become the Holy Grail in this market. The prior Satellite models were well received also. The AMC entry in 1972 was the Matador package car with a 401 which was a very potent engine. AMC sold a number of them especially to the LAPD but Mopars still held the lion's share of sales until the entire range of police package cars pretty much died in the early '80s with the Mopar St. Regis which was a very anemic package car until the market was resurrected in the mid '80s by Ford with it's LTD Interceptors. There were a number of package LTD IIs, referred to now as baby LTDs, sold with a package available but the smaller cars still weren't catching on. Ford took over the police car market then and never looked back still holding the edge on national sales over Chrysler. Chrysler is now nipping at Ford's heels with the drastically improved Charger pursuit model and now the Durango pursuit package is finding it's popularity increasing over the Explorer Police Interceptor. Both companies have also moved into the light truck package market with police models now available of both the Ram 1500 and F-150 which are finding favor for their utility and ruggedness.

 

I remember in the 90’s when there were a lot of Chevy Caprice and Ford Crown Vic police cars. The Caprice was an ugly whale and the Crown Vics had a problem with bursting into flames. When given the choice most departments chose the Crown Vics. The joke was that officers would rather die a fiery death than be caught dead in an ugly Caprice.

 

What I find humorous about your post Daniel is that many officers I know who drove Caprices wish they had them back now. Were they uglier than the box LTDs? Absolutely but many found them superior on comfort, power and handling.