FBI/Law Enforcement Grand Nationals and GNXs

[xcessiv6]

The FBI cars had a switch to turn rear lights off and had VR rated tires the speedo not sure. Local agency's like Lousville had a couple for plain radar cars.

 

[turbofish38]

The FBI cars had a switch to turn rear lights off and had VR rated tires the speedo not sure.

That brake light cut out switch is another bogus rumor that needs to go away..for good. Think about it. A cop gets all excited and forgets to flip the switch. He's driving home and some jerk rear ends him and sues the city and becomes an instant millionaire. Common sense would tell you nobody in their right mind would install a piece of crap like that on a car, especially a police car.

OK time to play Truth Or STFU. All of the newer GM cars have DRL(Daytime Running Lights). Even the Impala 9C1, Tahoe and Camaro B4C. How many undercover cars in your jurisdiction have this feature defeated? You can't go crawling through alleys with your park lamps on now, can you? The correct answer should be none of them.

 

[xcessiv6]

Eric why do you think you know everything and I wonder how many GSCA Nats you have attended ? I have seen x FBI cars with the switch. So if the factory installed it or aftermarket it was on there. I have been in Buicks over 30 years and been to GS Nats 18 times I have seen alot of Turbo cars in the years. I am tired of you jump'n on me everytime I post. Please Stop it.

 

[gsgns4me]

OK time to play Truth Or STFU. All of the newer GM cars have DRL(Daytime Running Lights). Even the Impala 9C1, Tahoe and Camaro B4C. How many undercover cars in your jurisdiction have this feature defeated? You can't go crawling through alleys with your park lamps on now, can you? The correct answer should be none of them.

If I remember correctly ( it's been quite a while), when DRL first came out, GM issued a service bulletin to dealerships explaining what to do for law enforcement and military vehicles who requested no DRL for surveillance vehicles.

 

[ijames]

Eric, my 86 ttype was sold at gsa auction to a guy who sold it to me two months later. I saw some of the gsa papers and he told me that it was an fbi car in Los Angeles. It has a flasher relay on the drivers inner fenderwell wired into the headlights but the flasher was missing. I never put one in just to see the headlights wigwag. There were also three toggle switches on the dash to the left of the steering column. One was wired into the backup light switch at the bottom of the column so you could keep them from coming on when you shifted into reverse. Once in PA an inspector failed my car because the backup lights didn't work - I had told him several times not to touch the switches but he just had to try them out, and of course left the switch off. The brake and tail lights were untouched. One switch had the wires cut so I don't know what it went to, I think the third switch went to an alarm. Oh, I also have the roof shotgun rack. The chip was a standard 86 cmw broadcast code with the 124 mph limit. Everything else on the car was stock.

 

[SS_Sean]

I have a couple contacts in the bureau and will see if I can drum up some information. No promises. This will take a while. Now you guys have me really curious as to whether there is any truth to the urban legend. :tongue:

 

[gasguzzler259]

I remember this well. It was reported in the media that the FBI had purchased 100+ Grand Nationals with a higher top speed to chase Corvettes. South Florida was mentioned by name.

Several local Connecticut dept's used GN's for patrol.

Popular Science and Popular Mechanics would be a good place to check, if possible. Back then they were a leading source of things automotive.

 

[boostjunkie]

While we were at the the 2005 BPG Nats a guy started asking me questions about Adam's Grand National. He told me that he worked for the Pittsburgh Police Department and they had 4 undercover Turbo Regals. He said that they got from their local FBI office because they ordered to many or just didn't need them. If my memory serves me right they were dark blue, maroon, silver, and white. One was repainted a different color than the factory color. One was also totaled. But the T/Rs were deemed to fast for the officers to use. Instead the heads of the Police, Fire department, EMT, and Safety department were assigned the Regals. He also said that the Safety Coordinator was caught racing his. When the higher ups got done playing with them he was assigned the dark blue Regal. He was very knowledgeable about the car. He said that it was set up for VASCAR. As they got older they were retired from normal service and used for running errands and undercover work. I asked him about the undercover work. He said that they were used for surveillance use. Since they were less conspicuous than the Caprices. They blended in with traffic and in parking lots. He did say at least the dark blue Regal made it out alive and into private hands. He told me he was at a local car show looking for Corvettes and he found his old blue Regal. The current owner had restored it back to the police car status. He went as far as getting another VASCAR computer and put it back in. If memory serves me right he said it was not the correct unit but very similar. I think he said the license plate was VASCAR1 on it.

Yes this car is still in the Pittsburgh aera, i built the motor in this car 8 years ago this is VASCAR #3 .

 

[57loboy]

- standard charging system with no upgrade available.

- A car that only runs on Premium gas. Do local/state municipalities have more than one gas pump for their fleet.

I remember back in 1986/87 seeing the Connecticut State Police using GN's on I-95. I'd like to know how much their cars differed from production cars.

Re: the CT cars:
Those CT pursuit/revenue generating (ticket) cars were normal Turbo Regals (no GNs were used) for the state Police. The used to run moving speed patrols with the Regals, Crown Vics and Mustang 5.0 LX notchbacks on most highways in CT (95, Merritt, 84, 8/25, 2, 9 etc). The CVs and LX units would run the radar (and had the certified speedos) and the Regals would chase you down and hand you the ticket. When the Regal went out of production, they used Mazda 626 GT Turbo's for a real short while... The Regals got good prices at the surplus auctions for several years afterwards. The Mazda's - not so much.

As for fuel - CTSP officers have a p-card (credit card) for fuel purchases. Today, they use the "standard" pumps at the barracks since nothing needs premium fuel. Back then, they filled up at the local stations with their CT-issued cards for fuel in the Turbo Regals. All their cars are issued to the officer for the duration of their duty cycle for 24x7 use so all the CTSP cars are generally one-driver vehicles.

as for charging system - The turbo package got you a higher output alternator already when compared to a "normal" regal so if the turbo cars didn't have a "Limited" level of power accessories, the radios from that time would easily be run off the stock 120a alternator. Remember, these cars were pursuit cars and didn't have overhead light bars - everything was hidden behind the grille and nothing else was visible.

 

[troGNman]

Loboy, thanks for the info on the CT GN's. I recall seeing them on sections of I-95 along with the MX-6 GT's during my travels to Cape Cod.

I will post a pic later of a poster that was issued by the CT State Troopers "advertising" their pursuit vehicles from '86-'88 showing an LX Mustang posing next to a GN and some H-D bikes.

 

[1of1547]

Yes this car is still in the Pittsburgh aera, i built the motor in this car 8 years ago this is VASCAR #3 .

I was close!!! That is an old PA tag. I haven't seen a blue one in years.

 

[turbofish38]

If I remember correctly ( it's been quite a while), when DRL first came out, GM issued a service bulletin to dealerships explaining what to do for law enforcement and military vehicles who requested no DRL for surveillance vehicles.

All that crap is tied into the BCM(BodyControlModule) on the current LEO vehicles I mentioned. It don't work to good if you try to defeat them by using the old tricks of engaging the park brake or even clipping the wires at the sockets. You know one would think if it was a big deal than GM would delete that feature on the cop cars. Same goes for the cut out switches.Why aren't those an option? But than like I pointed out. That's a liabilty and not an asset.

I'm still calling BS on the brake light cut outs. No need for them. The statement "High Speed Pursuit" pretty much sums up why they aren't or weren't needed. I'm sure the cops on this board would agree with me that if you need those gimmicks for undercover work than you ain't no good at being under cover now, are you?

And yes I'm the expert. I've been to quite a few GSCA nationals. I've been a member since 88. I don't see how that makes anybody an expert though. Post up the VINs. Post up the cars. Post of the F'n proof to support your BS! It never ceases to amaze me how everybody is the expert until it's time to put up or shut up. Notice not once, not once did I ever claim to see one of these cars in the flesh. Logic and common sense my friends is what makes me the expert. I think at this point the only proof you would need to be a self proclaimed expert on the FBI cars would be to have an actuall car with a paper trail leading back to the Uncle Sam, wouldn't it? It's going to take more than a couple of switches on the dash. Isn't that the whole purpose of this thread? Just go back to the first post and read how silly the story of GN/132 sounds.

 

[57loboy]

Eric is "the" expert for GM parts for sure, I won't challenge his knowledge (or resources!) to validate that sort of thing. He even helped me come up with a scan of an ancient Buick hawk decal a couple years back...

As for DRLs on older GMs (like my '97 Suburban) there's a fuse for it that if pulled, kills the exterior DRLs but doesn't extinguish the light on the dash. Yet on my '02 and '05 Chevy trucks (2500HD pickup and Z71 Suburban) many people I know, including me, tried to get the dealers to tweak the BCM to turn them off (for example, the local gabage hauler that made his rounds at 4am) and the dealers couldn't or wouldn't do it, regardless. There is a way to kill them with a resistor wired into the sensor on the dash, but that too has nothing to do with the authenticity of the car at the start o the thread and isn't something I wanted to do with all the interconnectedness of the harnesses in the new cars. (It's been a slow afternoon - sorry!)

 

[Little6pack]

Re: the CT cars:
Those CT pursuit/revenue generating (ticket) cars were normal Turbo Regals (no GNs were used) for the state Police. The used to run moving speed patrols with the Regals, Crown Vics and Mustang 5.0 LX notchbacks on most highways in CT (95, Merritt, 84, 8/25, 2, 9 etc). The CVs and LX units would run the radar (and had the certified speedos) and the Regals would chase you down and hand you the ticket. When the Regal went out of production, they used Mazda 626 GT Turbo's for a real short while... The Regals got good prices at the surplus auctions for several years afterwards. The Mazda's - not so much.

As for fuel - CTSP officers have a p-card (credit card) for fuel purchases. Today, they use the "standard" pumps at the barracks since nothing needs premium fuel. Back then, they filled up at the local stations with their CT-issued cards for fuel in the Turbo Regals. All their cars are issued to the officer for the duration of their duty cycle for 24x7 use so all the CTSP cars are generally one-driver vehicles.

as for charging system - The turbo package got you a higher output alternator already when compared to a "normal" regal so if the turbo cars didn't have a "Limited" level of power accessories, the radios from that time would easily be run off the stock 120a alternator. Remember, these cars were pursuit cars and didn't have overhead light bars - everything was hidden behind the grille and nothing else was visible.

Can you verify what year the CT regals went out of service? My title search starts in 1994 with it being owned by conn from 87 to 94

 

[67turboCamaro]

The FBI cars had a switch to turn rear lights off and had VR rated tires the speedo not sure. Local agency's like Lousville had a couple for plain radar cars.

I bought one of those GN's when they sold them off. It had a 145 speedometer and it did have "certified" on it.

 

[57loboy]

Can you verify what year the CT regals went out of service? My title search starts in 1994 with it being owned by conn from 87 to 94

Sorry, I can't. I do know that the cars are/were generally run on a 3 year program and then are sold at auction but the Regals were held on to for longer for whatever reason. I recall when they first hit the auctions, they had between 70-90k miles and some sold for very little money as no one expected to see them there. Auctions after that they were sought after and got more $$. I think the state chose to keep them for their "utility" purposes as well which could explain why yours was titled to CT for 6-7 years. Wouldn't surprise me if it sat in storage somewhere in Wethersfield or Middletown too.

 

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

I've owned several CT State police GN's & T's over the years & was a CTSP fleet certified mechanic for many years. The GN's & T's all had certified speedo's (digital & regular), full size spare tire mounted in the stock location, 225/60/15 Goodyear Eagle VR Gatorback tires (same tires used on the pursuit mustangs) & a chip with the speed limiter raised. Otherwise the cars were identical to civilian cars. Most cars were 1 driver cars but some did end up in the fleet pool near the end of there service life (around 100k miles) & many were used in undercover work through the mid 90's. I got my last 1 (Rosewood T) from the state around 1997. Rumor has it that a few cars did recieve minor mods at the troopers expense (chips, K&N's, raised Fuel presure via crushed regulator etc...). They were durable & reliable while in service with performance that has yet to be matched.

 

[troGNman]

I dug the poster out of my closet. The tube was dated 1996.

I bumped into a fellow Buick enthusiast at the Buick Weekend at Raceway Park in '96 and we start talking about cars we had. It turns out the gentleman I was talking to was a retired CT State Trooper and he mentioned he had a poster or 2 left over from some campaign that the state ran back in 87-88.

He is the bike cop pictured next to the GN. Heckuva nice guy. He asked for my address and sent me the poster not too long after the event was over. I've only seen one other like it at a real early Kirban event that was held at the Willow Grove AFB.

 

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

I dug the poster out of my closet. The tube was dated 1996.

I bumped into a fellow Buick enthusiast at the Buick Weekend at Raceway Park in '96 and we start talking about cars we had. It turns out the gentleman I was talking to was a retired CT State Trooper and he mentioned he had a poster or 2 left over from some campaign that the state ran back in 87-88.

He is the bike cop pictured next to the GN. Heckuva nice guy. He asked for my address and sent me the poster not too long after the event was over. I've only seen one other like it at a real early Kirban event that was held at the Willow Grove AFB.

I have the same poster also. Not many of those made it to the public.

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

I have the same poster also. Not many of those made it to the public.

Thats pretty sweet guys! Wanna sell one LOL:biggrin: