Normally the cover goes on whenever I leave my local town...Unfortunately in this case the cover was not on...only because I have my cover at the local trim shop for duplication....and my trim and paint supply shop are the same, the coincidence was that was one of the reasons I took the car that day so we could do a test fit on his copy of the one I have. I took that as the reason for the call...however the person that called flat out lied and claimed the lights were on....there is suspicion that is was a nearby business owner that does not get along with my trim guy just trying to cause trouble for his customers.

I also purposely took that picture without the cover on to show that the car does have a blue lightbar indicating a restoration to in service appearance...I left the magnetic GSP signage off because the car will never be seen with it other than on a show field or cruise in.

While law does not require me to place out of service badging or a cover on the bar but I do that anyway just to go above and beyond....also the reason why I chose the vanity plate I did.

Regardless of whether it was the guy down the corner just causing trouble or an average citizen, I am fairly certain the uncovered bar did not help....but with the obvious signage on the windows that call could have come in even with the cover on.

Another thing I am now going to do as another precautionary measure is modify the tree that holds the light controls and siren as a quick release with a plug connector....that can then be left at the shop and out of the car until needed for an event.

In the end, I blame nobody.....it's my car and I chose this collectible so I just take it as part of ownership and do what I can to maintain a good relationship with all local PD's. The car rarely gets driven but this goes to show that it doesn't matter...just that one time out and it takes one call. Nothing bad or even negative happened in this case but if I had NOT gone down and talked with the Police Chief I can guarantee that the next time I was in that city I would have most certainly been pulled over!

sounds like this car is more trouble than its worth. Maybe you should sell it...... to me.:D


just kidding Paul.

Nice try :D

Now THAT's Funny. :)

Paul,

I thought you had the cover on, based on your comment in your first post in this thread and your previous posts about having one. Thanks for the clarification, though.

One thing you (and anyone else with restored/marked/semi-marked cars) might want to consider is the use of the "out of service" or "not in service" verbage. Both of those can be ambiguous...implying that the car is a "real" police car. I'd recommend "Show car" or something a little clearer to the general public. Although, in your case, it probably wouldn't have mattered, given the issue you described.

Yes, normally I always use the cover....but my concern has been deterioration from the sun and foul weather use staining the "out of service" embroidery I had done on it which is why I wanted to get another made. I have no idea who originally made the one I have and it is very nice so I wanted to try to duplicate it...that way I didn't have to worry so much about wearing it out. I also had some trouble with the back of the snaps rubbing the lenses so I wanted to address that and have some padding put in to protect the lenses from rubbing at speed.

I had discussed the verbage issue long ago with a large number of LEO's around and all agreed "out of service" would be best because it was a genuine police car and "Show car" would give the impression to the general public that it was OK to just make a police car look-a-like. Likewise the impression to other LEO's would possible be that you built your own police car....at least with the out of service they understand that you restored an old police vehicle and that is why you have it. It is also common for police cars when serviced and driven by civilians to have the out of service verbage so there was already a precident set there for a civilian operating this type of vehicle which is another reason they recommended it. So that is why I chose the out of service verbage. Of course it might be an option to use both and read "Show Car-Out of Service"....that might be an even clearer message...??

In California, the preferred verbage for privately owned vehicles seems to be "Not In Service" with "Out Of Service" reserved for agency owned vehicles only...a subtle but important wording distinction.

Also, uncovered forward facing red lights and ANY exterior blue lighting are a huge no-no here...guaranteed to get immediate negative attention from LE. It's been very common for cars with blue undercarriage or wheel well lighting and even bicyclists using those red flashing LED lights forward to get a traffic stop.

DJP, I stand corrected.:)

That's a good idea....and I like the Not in service wording better. I can change the decals on the car easy enough but I've already embroidered the cover....I guess both versions wouldn't hurt....or maybe if this next cover doesn't kill me I'll just make a couple more with the different wording.

Any blue neon lights are highly illegal here as well....the law indicates that lit up blue lighting is not allowed under any circumstance but they can be on the car as long as not on.

now thats taking it to a whole different level and being a total ass about it. Any cop doing this would have to be a total prick. I have one of those on my bicycle and its for safety so no one runs me over from behind. I have been driving on dark roads and myself seen cyclists with the flashing LEDs. With it flashing it is much more visable then if it was just burning steady red, and much safer...

My point exactly....actual police vehicles, meaning those currently used by law enforcement officials. The 'out of service" covers are manufactured for that reason.

To me, once the car leaves service, and is in civilian hands, it's better to be completely clear with whatever wording you use. I threw out the "show car" as an example. It doesn't give anyone the impression that they can make-up a police car, no more than you driving around your car with the lightbar exposed would, but people are going to do whatever they want to anyhow.