April 22: Book 'em, Dano!

Police car business is big business for the car manufacturers in North America, accounting for tens of thousands of sales annually. So, based on those numbers, do you think the car companies take this business seriously? You bet they do. Yet, I don't recall seeing any ads for police vehicles these days. Maybe let the general public know how good your cars are, if they can stand up to police abuse? It's not like they are shy about them, since Ford actually labels their police cars with this designation on the left side of the trunk. By the way, when the car is past its prime and is sold at auction, these nameplates are taken off, so no pretenders can drive around acting like Johnny Law (well, they can, but there won't be this label).

Back to the old days again, when the companies actually ran ads in magazines, telling everyone about these special cars. Ads like this one from the early '50's........

......or moving up a few years........

Yes, sir, pull up to the doughnut shop in one of these and everyone takes notice. Might even get you a complimentary coffee (or is that a thing of the past?).

Ford has always been been big in this business and has grown more so over the years. I believe last year they held about 60% of the North American market, which means huge numbers. This market is important enough that, Chevrolet imports and sells their Caprice, only to police departments and government agencies. But no ads.

Not like the '70's.......

......which actually seemed to be the last decade, when one would run across these ads in everyday magazines or newspapers. The '50's and '60's seem to be the time when these ads were most common and Dodge and Plymouth were the stars of police departments across the country (those thumping big engines helped) ........

 

 And of course, back to the current king of police vehicles.........

Kind of a shame, since those ads were interesting, at least for me, who likes police vehicles and tracks the changes and differences between these cars and what us normal folk drive. It's not a matter of slapping on some graphics and a light bar. And speaking of light bars, did you notice that only one of these ads shows a car with them? Another way things have changed over the years. I think only the Michigan State Police use a single light on top these days. It's their tradition.

But those ads. Another change that time has wrought. Good or bad, I'm not sure, but interesting? Absolutely!

Milestone day, as this is my 500th post! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Until next time......