E870567 82 CHP identified

[Wolfe1013]

C'mon, somebody's got answers...see the red question marks below.

1. Would 93904 be the mileage upon retirement?
2. I know the square with dot means slicktop, what about the "M"
3. Schedule # of 3-245?
4. Another "M" and not sure if that's just a smudge or a mark of some kind.

Also, for those with the in service dates on the red Zymo? label on the dash. Is the date form 03-28-83 or was the zero dropped for 3-28-83 like on the card?

[ImEvil1]

1. Yes

The others: no idea.

[mac88chp]

Here's an in-service label very close to your date:



One interesting thing I see on your assignment card is that your car was one of the runouts that was sold at Downtown Ford (Senator Ford was used too-both were located in Sacto.) and not at the Motor Transport lot. For a period, many retired Mustangs were sold off this way. I think it was an experiment to see if paying a commission to the dealers, and possibly having them perform a higher than normal amount and quality of refurbishment, would be a more lucrative and/or efficient means of moving these units than sending them to low-bid body shops for cheap resprays and then selling them at the M/T lot. I have heard stories about how nice some of the Mustangs sold at the dealer lots looked but I guess in the end it may not have panned out for the parties involved because the practice has not endured beyond the Mustang era. If anyone else has any knowledge about this arrangement I'd sure like to hear about it.

Also, judging from the plate numbers listed it looks like your car probably replaced an '80 St. Regis sedan and was in turn replaced by an '84 Mustang.

[28HopUp]

Here is a link to help answer your questions on R.F. Color -

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=995


Since this is a CURRENT listing, the information may generate more questions than answers. In my case, the R.F. Color did not exactly match the location where my CHP served, but it was speculated that the car may have been dispatched from a nearby locatation back then.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by mac88chp

Here's an in-service label very close to your date:



Also, judging from the plate numbers listed it looks like your car probably replaced an '80 St. Regis sedan and was in turn replaced by an '84 Mustang.

I don't know if it is possible to identify the officer who drove it, but I can probably narrow it down to 4 or 5 names.

The quote above: St. Regis. Ugh, I haven't thought about them in a long time. That was a horrible time in CHP road duty, when the last of the 440's (Plymouth Satellite, Dodge Monaco) were rotated out. They were replaced by an assortment of pathetic junk: St. Regis (St. Reject as we called them), Dodge Diplomat, and I even remember a Dodge Aspen with a thoroughly gutless 318 in the San Jose area. That Aspen was so utterly pathetic. It was a pool car, and if you got stuck driving it you would almost want to thank drivers for actually pulling over when you stopped them. because if they didn't want to there wouldn't be much you could do about it. When the Mustangs came in, it was fun again. They eventually got the Diplomat 360 to run okay; did some tuning, added shift kits, and I remember even put special exhaust in to try to squeeze out what performance they could.

[GSPI]

Just a small tidbit, they didn't have a Diplomat with a 360 only an AHB 318 with 360 heads. They did have the St. Regis and Aspens with a 360 but the 318 was the final nail in the coffin when CHP tested the last of the St. Regis and then the Diplomats using the 318 for reasons of fuel savings and then caused the need for CHP and others to look at a pursuit vehicle like the Mustang.

[Wolfe1013]

Great information, everyone. Keep it coming.

That RF page lists only Orange 2 which is still Los Banos.

For the date label, it looks like mine would be 3 28 83 instead of 3-28-83 like I thought I had seen. Now to stop by somewhere and get a label maker. My Brother model is a little too new.

Hey Steve, apparently someone watched TJ Hooker and thought those St Regis cars would be good patrol cars. I remember them switching from the '78-ish Dodge Monacos (one of my all time favs) to what I later identified as the St. Regis with the fold down headlight lens cover - IIRC.

Btw, does anyone else with an '82 have their assignment card or is this the only one we know of?

[mac88chp]

Originally Posted by Wolfe1013

For the date label, it looks like mine would be 3 28 83 instead of 3-28-83 like I thought I had seen. Now to stop by somewhere and get a label maker. My Brother model is a little too new.

The dashes may be there but are worn and not visible in that none too clear shot. Here's a couple of more examples of the labels:





As you can see they varied a bit in format, may have had to do with the mood of the installer that day, who knows. Try to find an old "Dymo" label maker for them.

Originally Posted by Wolfe1013

Hey Steve, apparently someone watched TJ Hooker and thought those St Regis cars would be good patrol cars. I remember them switching from the '78-ish Dodge Monacos (one of my all time favs) to what I later identified as the St. Regis with the fold down headlight lens cover - IIRC.

You have it a little backwards. Hollywood crashed and smashed a ton of CHP runouts over the years after they were done with them. They retired a lot of those "Dogmobile" St. Regis models early and the TV and movie makers snapped a fair number of them up for their purposes.

[mac88chp]

Originally Posted by Steve

That was a horrible time in CHP road duty, when the last of the 440's (Plymouth Satellite, Dodge Monaco) were rotated out. They were replaced by an assortment of pathetic junk: St. Regis (St. Reject as we called them), Dodge Diplomat, and I even remember a Dodge Aspen with a thoroughly gutless 318 in the San Jose area. That Aspen was so utterly pathetic. It was a pool car, and if you got stuck driving it you would almost want to thank drivers for actually pulling over when you stopped them because if they didn't want to there wouldn't be much you could do about it.

Now there's a priceless quote!

Here's some nostalgia for you Steve, at least one of those test Aspens was eventually deployed to the academy:

[Wolfe1013]

Thanks again, Michael. So, Hollywood was CHP's way of disposing of cars they didn't like? heh heh heh

I know I have a Dymo label maker at my parents' house. But finding it...I'll just look for one in the school and office supply section at the store. If I remember when I leave work today, I can re-route and go by the Office Depot up the street.