Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Love that stodgy old police car

 


25 comments:

  1. When’s the last time you saw a Buick police car?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. Maybe.

      https://www.p9xx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/low_james_dean_actor_porsche_550_spyder_porsche_ag.jpg

      Delete
    2. Great find, rickn8or!

      Delete
    3. no the windshield is too high and the real james dean car got the left direction indicator lense broken

      Delete
    4. I don't think the windshield is too high - the camera angle is different. The shape of the head and hairstyle looks similar to Dean. I wonder if that's Bill Hicks sitting next to him. Hicks taught him a lot about race driving and was in the station wagon behind Dean when he crashed - the Ford wagon and trailer shown in @rickn8or's photograph, which were normally used to tow the car. Hicks was the Bad Guy stunt driver in Bullitt, driving the Black Charger.

      Delete
  3. Broderick Crawford?

    ReplyDelete
  4. 'Highway Patrol'

    https://www.motortrend.com/features/1955-buick-highway-patrol-car/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did you watch the video on the SR71 engine the other day? Used Buick engines to start it up and exhausted the entire countries supply.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That old nailhead Buick probably had a top-speed advantage over the Porsche, but would have been left behind in the twisties.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Porsche 550 top speed is listed at 137mph. Makes sense as it was a Le Mans 1.5 litre class racer. That Police Buick could only do 137mph off a cliff with a tail wind.

      Delete
    2. 1955 Buick Century 68 - CHP Special

      "During dynamometer tests, the car developed 148 horsepower at the rear wheels and reached a wheel speed of 108 mph against the 4-horsepower drag of the machine. At this point, the test was terminated abruptly when the rubber tread spun off the tires of one of the rear wheels that was being tested."

      https://www.motortrend.com/features/1955-buick-highway-patrol-car/

      Delete
  7. "Do you know why I pulled you over?"
    "Because I let you."

    ReplyDelete
  8. The country looks like up around Sonoma county CA..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Near Cholame, California, San Luis Obispo County, CA on State route 41. James Dean was cited for speeding an hour before the crash that killed him. He was headed to a race in Salinas with his friend and mechanic Rolf Wütherich.

      Dean's Wikipedia page is really great on the details of his death.

      Delete
  9. Isn't that Dan Matthews putting the pinch on?

    ReplyDelete
  10. That may have been taken during early scca racing when drivers drove to the race in the car they used

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, the color photo at the gas station was the last one taken of Dean and the Porsche before Mr. Turnipseed turned in front of him and Rolf Wütherich, his passenger.

      Delete
    2. no the color photo wasn t the last the last one taken by sandy roth was a black and white one and at the time jimmy was driving smoking and passing by an old flat bed parking truck

      Delete
  11. Do you know how fast you were going?

    No, the speedometer was pegged.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My guess, staged to look like Dean. Unlikely that someone happened to have a camera just at that moment at that angle in 1955. Wasn’t like everyone walking around with iphones today. The wheels on the spyder look off to me as well. Alloy?

    ReplyDelete
  13. what is the pistol the cop has holstered (it's freaking huge)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that what you're seeing is the end of the officer's billy club, mounted on his left side.

      Delete
  14. Aesop,
    did you notice that the Ford wagon had a CA black plate with 7 digits? I didn't think that happened until the blue plates.

    ReplyDelete