The Patrol Cars In Pictures

[Jake01]

That blue Hatchapee County car was driven by Sheriff Floyd, I bet they didn't have any more Monacos at that time since they went through alot. I noticed that it had gold decals, the black ones had silver decals, guess you forgot to do silver Hatchapee County Sheriff decals for the Fan Art.

[RogerDuke]

I believe you're right Hoss. Those do look like Honda ATCs. I'm not sure if they're the 250 version or not. Three wheelers were banned in the US because they were determined to be too dangerous. They were replaced with four wheelers, AKA all terrain vehicles (ATVs) Maybe they were banned because the government watched Rosco riding one and determined that not everybody could survive a horrendous crash that "could have kilt ten ordinary men." BTW, I remember when the original 3 wheelers first came out from Honda. The tires were so big and fat the whole thing could float and cross a creek.

According to my notebook, the three wheelers were on "Twin Trouble" and not "Days of Shine and Roses" as you mentioned....unless they were on two episodes.

I can't imagine those sirens between the horses ears really worked. I suspect the sound was dubbed in. I don't know anything about horses but I don't think they would have behaved well with that blaring.

[HossC]

According to my notebook, the three wheelers were on "Twin Trouble" and not "Days of Shine and Roses" as you mentioned....unless they were on two episodes.

My mistake Roger, the three-wheelers were in 'Twin Trouble'. I was pretty tired last night when I decided to add the episode name in brackets to make things clearer. It was the same episode as the picture above, so I cut and pasted the name from the text with that picture, forgetting there were two episodes mentioned - and I picked the wrong one .

I noticed that it had gold decals, the black ones had silver decals, guess you forgot to do silver Hatchapee County Sheriff decals for the Fan Art.

I remember thinking that at the time I posted the original Hatchapee pictures. I've just watched 'Days of Shine and Roses' again and looked carefully at Sheriff 'Spike' Loomis's cars. The decals certainly appear silver in some shots, but they are made from the mirror finish material, so it's hard to tell. I have personal experience of working with this material and it's quite possible for the silver to look gold, and vice versa, depending on the lighting. The scenes with the Hatchapee cars were filmed in bright sunlight, and I judged that the decals were actually gold despite appearing lighter (I've seen the Hazzard decals appear silver in some shots). Gold would also match better with the 'shine jugs on the fender. I think the only silver decals up to this point are those of the Finchburg Sheriff and the Capitol City Police.

To sum up, I can see your point, and you may be right, but my opinion is that they were gold. It wasn't an oversight, and I don't plan to change the Fan Art versions.

[Jake01]

I have seen so many shots of the decals on that episode and they was silver, even when there wasn't much lighting around it, but my guess is that they went to gold for the later seasons unlike in the earlier seasons.

[HossC]

It must be about time for another post in this thread. I'll start with the 1977/78 State Police Dodge Monaco from 'Heiress Daisy Duke'. This is the only angle we see, and the badge is never visible. We've seen a black and white State Police car before, and there's at least one more still to come.

I think that's season 6 finished, so if we skip on to season 7 we get to 'Happy Birthday, General Lee'. Most of the episode is set back in time when the Dukes first acquire the General. During the flashback sequence they use this 1976/76 Plymouth Fury in Hazzard colors. I think this is the first time since the first season that Hazzard has used one of the single headlight models. Just to emphasize the time difference, the older-style lights and speaker are used on the roof.

Also from 'Happy Birthday, General Lee' is this 1975/76 Capitol City Plymouth Fury. The car itself looks like one of Sheriff Little's cars, right down to the A-pillar spotlights, while the badge is very similar to ones found on the State Police cars.

The definition of "patrol car" has been stretched slightly over the course of this thread, and this vehicle did feature in a chase. I now present the studio security golf buggy from 'The Dukes in Hollywood'. From what I can find online this is a Taylor Dunn Tee Bird, although I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact model. You can see the rear of it in the second picture of this post in the Hazzard Square thread.

[Jake01]

That State Police car was the third most used vehicle in the show, but I got to say on thing, I like that Dual Gumball Lightbar on any classic, sucks they quit in the late 80s. More importantly Hoss, I like that Capitol City Patrol car the way it looks, turns out that it had a flag plate on it too, who to know it.

[HossC]

I've just seen the date on my last post in this thread, and didn't realize how long ago it was. With that in mind, I'd better crack on.

There are very few different patrol cars in season 7 - it seems that most of the criminals usually end up in the hands of the Hazzard Police (or on one occasion, Sheriff Little). Then, like proverbial London buses, three come along at once. They all appear in 'Cool Hands, Luke & Bo'. The first is a dark blue and white Osage County Fury driven by Sheriff 'Droopy' Cathcarte (you can see my Fan Art version here). The A-pillar spotlights suggest that it may have been one of Sheriff Little's cars that got repainted.

This rather dirty 1971 Impala belongs to the Osage County Prison. It's seen a number of times around the prison and the work crew. It also crashes through a mattress truck near the end of the episode (in a model sequence), and rams the Osage patrol car, complete with Cassius Claibourne, across the Hazzard County line.

The episode finishes with a brief, and final appearance of a black and white State Police car. This is actually the best shot I could get - the grille and tail lights are never visible, but the black & whites are usually 1977/78 Dodge Monacos. If you look at the rear fender you can see the reflection of one of the spotlights.

For the last picture I'm returning to season 2. Jake told me I'd missed a car from 'Return Of The Ridge Raiders'. Back then I was really only covering police cars, so I didn't include this 1971 AMC Matador belonging to Allied Security. The guards are meant to be protecting a truck, but they get into an argument with Sheriff Buster Moon, who runs them off the road. The car also takes part in a chase a little later in the episode.

I think that completes seasons 1-7 (unless y'all know differently). I'll try to post the patrol cars from the TV movies before the end of the year!

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for posting these Hoss.

I am confused about one thing though. That sign doesn't make any sense. Why in the world would anyone ever want to leave Hazzard County?

[Jake01]

Line 1: Folks passing Osage best keep on passing. Causeits patroled by Sheriff R.P. Cathcart. Now most folks calls him Droopy. Cause he resembles a blood hound.

Line 2: Now that there is Colonel Cassius B. Claybourne himself. The most feared county boss of all the south. He runs Osage because he owns it. Now he's looking to take Hazzard away from Ol Boss.

Regarding to the patrol cars, I'm thinking that Osage was a 76 instead of a 75, there was a difference between Osage and Chickasaw, the turn siginal lense in the front bumper. Osage was mainly the only one having that in most shots, other shots of it it didn't have those regarding to like Sheriff Little's cars. The black and white police car I'm guess is a 75-76 Fury, I found no Monaco with spotlights in the show.

[HossC]

I am confused about one thing though. That sign doesn't make any sense. Why in the world would anyone ever want to leave Hazzard County?

Roger, I think I've found an answer in one of Waylon's lines from 'Coy Meets Girl':

"Now, why anybody would leave Hazzard for Loomis is beyond me. But some folks is peculiar."

[KelseyHood]

I couldn't help but to notice the horses! As... well... I love horses! I love everything about them! Course, it shouldn't surprise anyone none about me riding horses or tryin' anything new around them! But I couldn't resist....ain't it funny how the red, white and blue means freedom, but when they flash in yer rear view, it could mean the loss of that freedom?

[HossC]

A month or so later than planned I've finally got around to the first of the TV movies. It may appear that several types of patrol car were used in the 'Reunion' movie, but they recycled quite a bit of footage from the series. For the new shots Cletus and Rosco drive 1977/78 Dodge Monacos, similar to those that appeared in the series. I say similar because I spotted a few differences, including the A-pillar spolights which were previously reserved for other counties. Cletus's car gets a new license plate, "20CE265", which appears on the front and back (in the series a Confederate flag was fitted to the front). The final exterior change I noticed is the star on the door. The series cars just had "COUNTY SHERIFF" around the logo with "HAZZARD COUNTY" on a strip underneath. As you can see from the inset, the words "HAZZARD COUNTY SHERIFF" are now all on the star. The center image of the scales has been replaced with a logo that looks remarkably like the center of the Roseville badge. Even more strangely, the new badge is very similar to one that appeared a couple of times in 'The Fall Guy' - see here for a side-by-side comparison.

Here's a picture of Rosco and Flash inside one of the 'Reunion' patrol cars. The silver handle for the A-pillar spotlights is just visible to the right of the steering wheel. The patterned fabric interiors that appeared in the series have been replaced with a plain beige/tan one (with a little dark brown piping on the seats). Was this a civilian spec, or just an alternative finish? - answers on a postcard please .

[HossC]

It's probably about time I added the cars from the second TV movie. I didn't spot any Hazzard patrol cars in 'Hazzard in Hollywood' as most of the action takes place in ... wait for it ... Hollywood. We're now under Enos's jurisdiction, and the man himself drives an unmarked Chevrolet Caprice. The skirted rear wheel wells mean that it must be a 1991/92 model.

We never get a good look at the black and whites at the liquor store hold-up. In reality, they're only likely to be Chevy Caprices or Ford Crown Vics, and the door handles/locks on the visible one are wrong for a Crown Vic. Combined with the open rear wheel well, this would seem to narrow it down to a 1993 or later Caprice. The lightbars look like the familiar AeroDynic ones we're used to.

During the chase toward the end, the General drives through several movie sets. One of the movies being filmed involves these two patrol cars. The front end of the one on right is clearly a Chevy Caprice, but we don't get to see any more of it. My guess would be that they reused one of the liquor store hold-up cars, which would make it a '93 or later model.

Here's a better view of the patrol car on the left. The lights identify it as a 1993 or later Ford Crown Vic.

I think that concludes the list of patrol cars that appeared in the TV series and TV movies, unless anyone remembers one I've missed.

[Roth Potter]

Hoss, i think you forgot one owned by the Hazzard County Police. It might be a towtruck but it does say Hazzard County Police.

[HossC]

Thanks Roth. When I covered the first season I was only including the patrol cars, but as time went on I added some other vehicles. The tow truck you posted is a 1967 Ford F-350. It was the impound truck in 'The Big Heist', and was also used as Cooter's tow truck during seasons 1 and 2.

[Roth Potter]

Thanks Roth. When I covered the first season I was only including the patrol cars, but as time went on I added some other vehicles. The tow truck you posted is a 1967 Ford F-350. It was the impound truck in 'The Big Heist', and was also used as Cooter's tow truck during seasons 1 and 2.

i already thought it was Cooter's Towtruck as it has the same paintjob. I was just wathcing 'The Big Heist' and just saw it hopping by, so i'd thought i'd include it.

[Jake01]

Is that badge on the tow truck able to to be reproduce for a fan art?

[Sheriff Rosco]

Possibly..I came 

 

Is that badge on the tow truck able to to be reproduce for a fan art?

Possibly..I came up with this..Maybe someone can do it better? 

 

[Shooter2759]

I may be a newbie to this forum but I can add some details on the patrol cars from this series and from The Blues Brothers plus Smokey & The Bandit.

 

Most of the lightbars used are Federal Signal’s early model AeroDynic, their attempt at making a still tall but more aerodynamic lightbar. These lightbars had a center speaker piece before the emergency lighting companies decided to switch to all-light equipment.

 

The ‘squarer’ lightbars are Federal Signal’s TwinSonic, nicknamed the ‘Flying Brick’ due to their shape, and was known to cut somewhere between 5 to 10 mph of the top speed of a vehicle that had it as the lightbar.

 

The Hatchapee County Sheriff’s Department cruiser which showed the back of it’s lightbar also ID’s the TwinSonic as being one that was used in California or Utah (their TwinSonics by 1977 were red and blue, with a rear-facing amber flasher for the red side.) while the one with 2 beacons is either Federal Signal’s Twin Beacon Ray or the Twin VisiBar

 

TwinSonics were also used in The Blues Brothers, by the Illinois State Police (some cars had Twin Beacon Ray lightbars while the other cars including the Chicago PD Mopars had Mars’ SkyBolt.)

 

Smokey & The Bandit saw only 3 types of lightbars in the whole movie: a Twin VisiBar without a center speaker used on Buford T. Justice’s car; CJ184 4-lens beacons used by the Georgia State Patrol plus Alabama State Patrol and TwinSonics used for the Arkansas State Police, Deeson County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Highway Patrol and Atlanta City Police.

[HossC]

Thanks for the extra info about lightbars, Shooter. I knew about the AeroDynic ones - I even included a logo in my Fan Art version of Rosco's Patrol car. Here's a close-up:



It's just difficult to see at the size I posted it:

[Shooter2759]

3 hours ago, HossC said:

Thanks for the extra info about lightbars, Shooter. I knew about the AeroDynic ones - I even included a logo in my Fan Art version of Rosco's Patrol car. Here's a close-up:



It's just difficult to see at the size I posted it:

The black Hatchapee County Sheriff’s cars had the California or Utah issue TwinSonic. (red and blue with a single rear-facing amber flasher in the left side.)

 

Those 6-slot wheels meanwhile would be Dodge’s fleet package steel wheels for the Monaco’s replacement: the Diplomat. Early '77 Monacos used by the California Highway Patrol used Dodge’s earlier 4-slot steel wheels that were first introduced on the '74 Monaco, and they didn’t switch to those wheels until they got their 1978 cars.

[RogerDuke]

You know your stuff Shooter. We're excited that you're one of us now. We hope to hear a lot more from you. How did you get your screen name? 

[Shooter2759]

6 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

You know your stuff Shooter. We're excited that you're one of us now. We hope to hear a lot more from you. How did you get your screen name? 

My screen name was something I came up with myself when I first set up a deviantart account, that would be Shooter2170 (also what I use on twitter), but since that number code was too mainstream, I decided on using the number from my previous house: 2759, instead.

 

A decent amount of my classic US police car knowledge comes from various movies, plus the December 1977 edition of Car & Driver (there’s a Bear Spotters’ Guide in this issue)...

 

My screen name however, references to my basic knowledge and interest in guns. More info to come in the Introductions sub-topic...

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for response. Shooter is the son of Waylon Jennings so  it got me wondering.

[Shooter2759]

After watching the episode "10 Million Dollar Sheriff" and seeing the comments on the lightbar. I decided to do some web searching to see what I could find.

 

As a member of the MS Paint Vehicles community on DeviantArt, I did find a parts sheet of Code 3 Inc.’s emergency lighting equipment done by another dA artist (link is here: https://www.deviantart.com/prpfd2011/art/Code-3-Lights-419269470 ; which includes that particular lightbar from that episode which has the hexagonal sides...)

 

And a spot of Google searching has yielded it’s result. Turns out that ‘hexagonal’ lightbar used in the episode (on Rosco’s Mopar and that Rolls Royce) is the Force 4 XL lightbar, made by Code 3 Inc. (one of the 3 ELS companies I know of best [Federal Signal and Whelen being the other 2.]) whose classic items inventory also includes a copy of the TwinSonic (as seen on the fake Roseville PD patrol car).

 

That’s all. More discussions to be done in other comments...