Police car tributes are a touchy subject because rank-and-file police officers prefer to see cars that came from the real world of law enforcement.
There are exceptions—this 1973 Dodge Coronet Calgary City Police tribute is one of them.
Jerry Sutherland
The story began when the Calgary Police Veterans Association began a search for a period correct police car to be a rolling history lesson. Dale Flemming is a member of CPVA, and he explained how difficult it is to find a survivor police car from the 70s.
He said most of them were used up and scrapped and the ones that weren’t went on to a tough life as a taxicab or beaten to death by the next owner. The search went on for a four-door sedan that fit the timeline.
Calgary police drove intermediate-sized cars like Plymouth and Dodge B-bodies and Ford Torinos back in the 70s so that’s where they aimed their search. They found a 1973 Dodge Coronet in central Alberta and bought it from its elderly owners.
This car was from Manitoba, Canada originally and it had been converted to kilometers even though the ’73 Coronet was built before metric speed measurements became law in 1977. There was very little rust on this Coronet, so it was a great platform for a project back in 2021.
The project took two years because details like period-correct equipment were important, so the light bar and siren are pure 70s vintage. The sound of an old school siren is like a jet taking off—Dale explained that the newer electronic sirens were dialed back a bit so they can’t recreate the pure force of a vintage siren.
They retained the factory 318 because (as Dale explained)—Calgary police cars were built for urban patrol duty, not pursuit duty. The small block simply made more sense for Calgary police in that era.
This car was built to explain history, but it also had another purpose. It was a rolling memorial to Brian Sawyer—he was the Chief from 1973 to 1984. Dale said Sawyer had a major impact on the police operations in Calgary.
Brian Sawyer was a Superintendent with the RCMP in Victoria, BC before joining the Calgary police. He was an outsider, so he could look at operations like an outsider and the first thing he did was make every car the same color. He brought in the billboard-lettered Police letters and the blue and white color seen on this tribute Dodge.
Prior to that, Calgary police cars came in every color and Chief Sawyer believed a consistent look was important for a modern, professional police force. He wanted Calgary citizens to see a blue and white car as a symbol of their police service.
Chief Sawyer introduced many other modern innovations to make Calgary police the most cutting-edge police service in North America. In fact, he changed them from police force to police service because that’s how he saw their role.
Sawyer also brought in things like Block Watch, Crime Stoppers and community zones where police looked after specific areas of the city rather than the whole city because he believed you fight crime by knowing your neighbors. Satellite stations were set up all over Calgary under his watch.
The other thing Chief Sawyer did was give his frontline officers full access to him. Dale said he never forgot a name and he had large regular meetings at the Jubilee Auditorium to give them question-and-answer time. He took every question, and he only had one rule—be prepared.
Chief Sawyer was a groundbreaking leader—that’s why this ’73 Coronet is a fitting tribute to his memory.
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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