The Troopers I have spoken with who drove the 1983 Mustangs have all relayed similar stories of their "celebrity" status when they were behind the wheel. Here is a picture of Trooper Jim Mauney and FHP1531 on the cover of a regional BMW publication.

Trooper Mauney and I spoke at length about his experiences with 1531. He kept the car in pristine condition and even made a few performance modifications, including suspension work. Unfortunately, based on what he told me to look for, my car shows no evidence of having been his.

Another well known picture. The original 40 lined up at the Training Academy in Tallahassee. According to first hand accounts, not all of the Mustangs made it out of the training in one piece! Apparently one left the road and got put through a fence. And then there were 39.

From the same day/week of training is a photo of the FHP confiscated Trans Am with Trooper Mark Freeman.

Good picture, looks like a Smokey.. and the Bandit lol almost !

Trooper Mauney was kind enough to share this photo of 1531's interior. Note the passenger seat is removed. At one point his Mustang had a prisoner cage and one of the earliest self mounted dash cams! He was asked to remove both.

Holy cow, where'd he put the microwave? :-)

Fantastic Pic !!!

Notice the shotgun anyone? Also the handy dash mounted Speedgun? And the Roxster light.

Don’t forget the Vascar and Micor.

Training day, in color!