street legal?

[mrjody]

These old ssp mustangs sure look good when they are still decked outwith all the stickers and lights, BUT, are they street legal like this? I wouldnt think so but thought I would ask...

[GSPI]

No Sir!

These cars are highly illegal when marked up and functional. However, if you use your head, cover the markings and the lights and drive responsibly you should be fine going to and from car shows. Many do trailer their vehicles for shows. Notice that I said car shows, these marked show cars are not to be driven as daily drivers or you will be asking for trouble.

Even if you have older vehicles (I have a 1978 LTD police car) they also have to be covered when driving to and from shows. Check your local laws too, there are a few laws in the books that the car simply has to make it seem that you have a police car to be pulled over and cited for an infraction. Florida and California also have specific two tone coloring as being an infraction in their vehicle codes. Check the laws in your state for additional information.

Just be careful. If you plan on driving daily, get just that, a daily driver and everything should be fine.

[mrjody]

Thats what I thought GSPI, thanks for the info, but now I know!

[EXNODRAMANOTCH]

It depends on the state. In Minnesota, if you have MN collector plates on your vehicle, you may have whatever equipment on the car that it had when it was new. The only exception is you may not have a siren on the vehicle unless it is part of a security system. You may not operate the emergency lights while the vehicle is on public roads either. I have a magnetic door shield on my SSP that I remove when driving and a master switch in the trunk that turns the power off to all the lights and radios. Before I had this SSP I had a hard-marked Georgia State Patrol SSP and I had no problems with driving to and from shows (in 3 years of ownership I was never pulled over, though I was followed and had plate run a few times). Follow the local laws, use common sense, and you should have no problems with your SSP.

[28HopUp]

Allow me to pass along my personal experience -

With my CHP, I elected to NOT restore it back to its original B&W paint scheme and permanent markings. I repainted it all-black and put the lettering/logos on magnets. I keep the lights covered at all times while driving. This all allows me to drive the car freely, although I still maintain situational awareness of my surroundings to avoid bad situations in my old police car.

I may at some time decide to go back to its in-service colors/markings (thus making it a show car), but for now it's nice as is.