ORIGINAL: DamnSkippy
I know this isn't really news or anything, but I still love seeing the Charger police cars. They just looks so friggin' tough.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/speeders_beware_8575
Without a doubt though, in my mind, Virginia State Troopers is the hottest of the bunch (not pictured in the article) they just look the part; plus the fact that VA State Troopers are genuinely cool cats.
Now makes me wonder if any PD's will get the cajones to get a Challenger Police car? I think it was Florida or North Carolina that used to don the 5 litre Mustang. Albeeno, would probably lend insight on these.
http://www.allpar.com/squads/police-cars/charger.html
I know the colors are bit off, but I swear it reminds of the Grey Ghost. Chrysler should really consider offering two tone factory paint option.
I'm seeing more and more of them. They seem to be catching on much better than the Intrepid did. The expression on the front reminds me of Clint Eastwood, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" I think the chances of their being a police package for the Challenger is about as likely as a police package for the convertible PT Crusier. The reason why they had fox body Mustang police packages was that during the 80s, the LTDs, Caprices, and Diplomats were very slow at their stock level as they were heavy and had zero power. The Mustang was able to take off as it weighed less and could give them the performance they were needing. Many of the people who used the Mustangs were complaining that the Mustang had practically no room for their equipment, let alone any rear passengers they would happen to pick up. Ford stopped making a full blown police package for the Mustang for a reason.
The LT1 powered Caprices of the 90s started to regain the market as they offered the room the police were accustomed to, the performance that was rivaling a Mustang, and the safety they sought. The Caprice was discounted after Ford already got the Mustang out of the police market and many of the police were satisfied enough with the Crown Vic. GM tried making Camaro police packages during that time to take over the remains of the market, but there simply wasn't enough sales to the fleets to justify keeping it in production.
The whole thing is it begs the question, why would you bother to buy a Challenger for a police car over a Charger. They will weigh about the same, they will use the same powertrains (with the exception of the Challenger getting a manual, which police prefer automatics on the column for their computers and equipment), a similar suspension, etc. You will end up with a more inconvenient path to put stubborn criminals, less storage room, with no real advantages. If the issue is the police need more power than the 5.7L, it would make more sense to just offer the 6.1L in the Charger. Something to think about, the Magnum police package was not a very hot seller, and that was technically a more practical choice for the police as it had the performance of the Charger with the room for a K-9 unit cage all in one package, and/or more storage space. If the police passed up on that, why would they go with less convenience and space?