Steve,

Don't bother with CarFax. I ran your VIN, but there were no records after 2001. :(



Date.......Mileage. Source.................Comments:
06/09/1982..........NICB...................Vehicle manufactured and shipped to original dealer

09/11/1997..........CA Motor Vehicle Dept..Title issued or updated

12/26/2000......88..CA Inspection Station..Failed emissions inspection
....................Twain Harte, CA

12/26/2000..........Service Facility.......Vehicle serviced
....................Twain Harte, CA

02/01/2001...1,053..Service Facilitye......Vehicle serviced
....................Twain Harte, CA

02/05/2001...1,072..Service Facility.......Vehicle serviced
....................Twain Harte, CA

02/05/2001..........CA Inspection Station..Passed emissions inspection

Thanks Bill. I have the name of the facility in Sonora it was last serviced at, and I am going to contact them later.

FWIW, attached are the assignment card scans.

It may very well still be up in that area and currently registered too. As long as there has been no change of ownership, it won't show up in the smog database as biennial registration certificates are not required in Tuolumne County. I'd start my search in Twain Harte and work out from there. Good places to start contacting are local car clubs, auto parts stores and garages. Try to make contact with anyone who might remember seeing, hearing about, having serviced or knows someone who owns or had owned an ex-CHP/police/cop Mustang.

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...3&d=1311626679

Wow, they paid a whole $225 to repaint your car. Perfect illustration of what you got with that service - not much! :yes:

The installation of a vinyl top is interesting, wonder how many of those they did?

I think the number shown in the row for a vinyl top is actually the total $$$ spent on the vehicle reconditioning/repaint.

Correct. Mine is the same. The paint and repairs add up to the vinyl top price.

Update: The Search Has Ended
 

Well, the search for 870255 has come to an end. Didn't take long; the vehicle still exists---or at least part of it does.

I called the shop that last smogged the veh in 2001, and they were able to put me in touch with the owner. I called and talked with him, and he still has the car. Or what's left of it.

A number of years ago, he was driving on a mountain road at night when a fox ran out into the road into his path. He swerved to avoid it and struck a concrete utility fixture, severely damaging the body and suspension. Being unibody construction, there wasn't much he could do with the body. He pulled out all the running gear and put it into another 1982 Mustang body. He says it was a lot of work, but he liked the car so much he did it. Along the way, the car has been through three transmissions and two differentials. Yeah, they had fun with it (sounds like they ran it a lot harder than I did). He bought the car from his Nephew for $300 in 2000. Can you imagine that?

Anyway, I am going to visit him, see the car, and show him the pics. But at this point, I'm not feeling like trying to buy it or do anything with it. I think a completely new body takes it out of the restoration realm. Really, only the engine is the same at this point. I juts don't see how it can be worth it.

What do you guys think?

I'm glad you were able to find out about the car, but sad that the news wasn't better. If anyone deserved to find and restore it, it was definitely you.

Appropriate that it was another story from you as well.

I'd try to buy it, just for the engine. I'd clean it up, mount it on an engine stand, and keep it in my garage on display.

I am really sorry about that. I suppose the chances were slim that any of it still existed but I do hope you get to salvage something from it, if not the whole car. Best of luck.

I tend to agree, but you'll need to see the car for yourself to determine if you think the damage is repairable or not. Bring your camera with you to take pictures. It is a very special car to you, so you will need to determine how much you're willing to take on. If it is too far gone, ask the seller for a momento.

I think the original car is gone....and the drivetrain from it was swapped into the car Steve found.

Steve, I'm really sorry to hear how the story turned out. But what a quick search it was. About the fastest I've heard of.

You've found a new family here and we welcome your input as much as you can provide. Maybe he saved something that you can have as a momento to add to your photos, or maybe you can buy what's left.

Keep us posted on your reunion. This is the opposite of what I've always heard and done - the driver is searching out the car. I'm searching out the driver. Found one - my Colorado State Patrol Camaro - now I need to find the other one for my '82 CHP.

I missed my '95 Mustang GT so much that I ran a carfax on it a few years ago. It sat for a while at the dealership, then finally sold and went to Mississippi. It was reported stolen, then recovered with moderate damage. It sat idle for at least a year or more, then finally was registered and titled again. I was heartbroken. I took such good care of that car and had the inside looking so new that the dealership didn't have to do anything to ready it for sale when I traded her in. I don't know that I would want to see her today. Part of me really wants her back and if I had the space and the funds, I would track her down. It would be a tearful reunion and restoration.

So, best of luck to you.

Greg

Too bad it's gone but at least now you know. If you do find another '82 and restore it you can always plate it with your old number for display purposes. Not exactly like having the original back but it's an avenue you can take nonetheless.

Gotcha - I read his posting wrong. Steve, maybe you could use the original motor in the restoration of another 82 CHP?

Thanks
 

Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions. I feel kinda depressed tonight, like there was a death in the family today.

I didn't ask the owner if the wrecked body was still around. But even then, if I could straighten it out, I'd need new running gear. With a complete different drive train, it's not quite the same.

I suppose now I could look for the '84 Mustang I was assigned. I don't have a plate number for it, but if it is the one listed on 870255's assignment card as the replacement, I could perhaps find it. But I only had that one for a few months before I transferred to the San Jose area, and left behind the SSP Mustangs on duty forever. So it would be a fallback plan, but still not quite the same as the '82.

Hang in there Steve! It would be nice if you could find the original body. Many times, these cars were dismantled because it was cheaper to swap the parts over to another car than it would be to repair the damage. However, cars like this sometimes can be saved these days, especially if the car has "value" (which this one certainly does for you).

Here is my understanding of the various symbols/codes on your Assignment Card:

• CHP Office Assignment - Here is a listing of CHP offices. Looking at the front of your card, your car was originally assigned to 401 Central Division Fresno (perhaps 450 Madera office). It was transferred to 461 Los Banos on on 1-27-83.
• R.F. Color - Orange would the color code used in the area where the car served. Here is a link for all of the color codes (keep in mind there may have been changes since the 1980's). ORG2 correllates with Madera and Los Banos.
• EQUIPMENT - The square with the dot in the middle allegedly means the car was a slicktop.
• SCHED. # - no idea what this means
• PR DATE - no idea what this means

Hope that helps a bit.

This morning I called the owner again and asked him if the body was still around. He got rid of it about a year ago. I am just too late again on this one. If I had found this site a year ago, I might have been able to get it!

So if I go visit the owner, I will probably ask where the body went to. Maybe it still somehow exists. I would probably put the extra work into fixing it, because of sentimental value if it existed.

Anything is fixable with the right amount of funds. If you did find the body, IMO I would buy it for the sentimental value and try to fix it. Hope you find your cars shell.

I agree with Sam (Mustang Kid). Even if you had to buy it with a salvage title, it wouldn't matter. The car has value to YOU. That would be one heck of a save on your part if the car was located and picked up by you. As much of a story-teller as you are Steve, resurrecting that car would be an incredible story. (I'm trying to keep your enthusiasm up)

This next Saturday (7/30) I am going to the Sonora, CA area to visit the owner of 870255's engine. I am going to find out if somehow, someway, the body still exists. If it does the possibility exists to salvage it. Then perhaps make the owner an offer on the '82 with the engine and get that back. I'd probably end up putting far more money into it than the finished restoration would be worth. But it would be a unique story. maybe get it on a reality TV show. Call it "SSP Mustang Archaeology".

If that doesn't work I'll hold a funeral ceremony for 870255 (lots of tears for sure) then start looking for the '84 I drove in Los Banos.

Steve, a really touching story of a man in search of his lost stallion....

I think we got the story line, might even have a video guy that could produce this too!

I admire your determination to get this done. I look forward to a positive end for this story, then again, it seems that you will continue to seek out the cars that you've driven. As a police car historian, this is a great story and should be a real nice restoration when you are done no matter what.

Good luck on your search and hopefully your journey getting there is pleasant!

If the body is gone but you can get the engine (and you dont want to create another car around the engine), you can do a full resto on the engine, then paint an engine stand black/white along with smaller than normal "highway patrol" decals on and the cars # brushed on it, and take that to shows (it would be very interesting, at least I think it would be:yes: ) as it is what is left of an actual 82 CHP. That would be a nice way (along with stories :) ) to preserve what is left of the car:thumbsup: . Thats my idea for the motor.

870255 Officially Dead
 

It is time to declare 870255 officially deceased. It was an organ donor, with it's engine residing in a nondescript 82 Mustang, but the rest is gone forever.
There's really nothing more I can do about it. I have exhausted all possibilities.

Sorry Steve. At least its engine and stories are going strong. Thank you again for sharing.

That is sad news on the '82.... any leads on the '84?

Steve, it's like losing a family member.. i do feel for you. How about '84?

Thanks for those in service stories, it truly inspires me!

Thanks everyone, again for the encouragement and moral support. My next stop will again be motor transport, in an attempt to see if the replacement vehicle listed on 870255's assignment card just might be that 84 I was assigned in Los Banos. If so, and I can get its VIN, I'll look for it. I have some other information requests to work on and next time I go by the Los Banos area office I certainly will stop in and get some info there for Wolfe.

What makes me saddest of all is the thought that 870255 met such an inglorious end. Ended up in the hands of owners who never appreciated or cared what it was or about its history. It was just another pony car to them that they rode hard and put away wet. Could have done that with any generic fast car. They were careless with something of value that could have been a museum exhibit. I was even thinking, after full restoration and showing the vehicle for years, of donating it to a museum, like the CHP Museum at the Academy, when I got too old to do anything more with it. Now that will never happen.

Best wishes on your search for another one. Sounds like you had some real nice plans for the one with the unenviable end...unfortunately many SSPs and old police cars have met a similar unglamorous ending, I'm afraid. Like you said from people who just didn't know, or appreciate, or care, what they had. :headscratch: :banginghead:

Yes, it's sad but true that way too many of these old ponies were driven to death by folks that just viewed them as cheap speed once they completed their primary purpose in life. The alarming attrition rate observed for these cars was one of the factors that gave impetus to the formation of the original SSP interest group in the late nineties. One of the goals formulated was to ensure the history and documentation of the breed was saved with the second to provide encouragement and to facilitate the preservation of as many actual examples as possible for posterity.

That work is being carried on right here and elsewhere and to that end, I hope you'll join in and find a special unit out there that you can call your own and ultimately contribute your part to this cause. I spent 2 years finding the right car, 5 years hunting down parts and restoring it and the last 5 years showing and sharing it and have never had more fun or learned more things in my life.

Now that I have two '82s to work on, I have been getting much more active in the SSP hobby and thought it might be time for another Mustang story or two. So as I think of them I'll post in this thread again from time to time.

Excellent and keep the updates on both coming!

870255 Update
 

0255 lives! Well, vicariously, that is...through 0327. I had some repro plates made for 0255, so when 0327 is finished it can "pose" as 0255 from time to time. Since 0255 is known to have been destroyed, this is the best I can do. It is a happier ending to the story than before.

awesome!

Mac, your suggestion was a great one and is what I am doing!

those plates are fabulous...... I am going to see if he can do Florida and Michigan...

Who did you use for the plates?

They were made in Germany. The seller is on eBay. Here is a link to their ad. This ad is for California plates, but if you go to their eBay store they have others:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272520682761...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

They look great! Aluminum, size is correct, mounting holes correct.

If you order from them:

1. Be sure to order qty 2. I assumed they meant a set; they mean $40 for one.
2. When you complete the Buy it Now part, in the message to seller, that's where you put in the plate number you want.

About 12 days later you'll have them.

For some reason that link/post is now down. As recent as yesterday it was up. The seller has an ebay store, though.

This is their ebay store:

http://www.ebay.com/usr/license_plat...p2047675.l2559