Police cars were—and still are–a big part of many movies and TV shows because law and order ties into many comedies, dramas, science fiction and thrillers.
Police have to get to the scene of the crime, consequently their cars become co-stars in thousands of movies—MyStar took on a big job and picked some classic police car stars from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Jerry Sutherland
The first one is the shoebox (1949-51) Ford. This one was from ‘Asphalt Jungle’.
You’ll see these classics starring as police cars in several early late 40s-early 50s movies—often as NYPD police cars. In the real world, shoebox Fords were war ponies and many departments used them, so they made sense as part of a Hollywood plot.
‘Highway Patrol’ was a very popular TV show that ran from 1955-59 and Broderick Crawford was the star of the show as Chief Dan Mathews.
You could make a solid case that his first car (a real 1955 Buick Century California Highway Patrol car) was a feature car, but the later 1959 Dodge Coronets were more genuine as TV props after CHP quit supplying cars. Not only that, the ‘59 Dodge was an intimidating car—perfect for scooping up lowlifes.
The next car (a 1960 Ford) came from a very popular TV show called ‘The Andy Griffith Show’. Andy Griffith played Sheriff Andy Taylor in a town called Mayberry.
Andy’s police cars were all Fords supplied by a local dealer—you can ID which season it is because the cars changed every year. It’s not like they were worn out or trashed because Andy didn’t get into too many high-speed chases. What few chases he had were extremely low-speed and they usually took place within one block on Mayberry’s main street.
There was another Ford in the re-boot of the legendary TV show ‘Dragnet’ that ran from 1951 to 1959 and then again from 1967-1970.
It was a 1967 Ford Fairlane–Jack Webb (as Sgt. Joe Friday) and Harry Morgan (as Officer Bill Gannon). They drove a 1967 Ford Fairlane to the scene of every crime, and it was the perfect choice because—despite the 500 trim package, this car looked plain enough to be a detective car.
‘Adam 12’ debuted in 1968 and ran until 1975. The two stars were Martin Milner of Route 66 fame and lesser-known Kent McCord.
These two TV LAPD police officers worked 24-7 to solve major and minor crimes from jaywalking to first-degree murder and they drove a 1968 Plymouth Belvedere in their first season. This was a cool car because it looked like a stripped-down ’68 Road Runner with two extra doors. Many ‘Adam 12’ tribute cars feature this original ride for Officers Malloy and Reed.
‘Hawaii Five-O’ was another late 60s cop drama with a very significant co-star car. The show debuted the same month as Adam 12 (September 1968) and ran until 1980. Jack Lord (as Detective Captain Steve McGarett) in the fictional police force known as Hawaii Five-O didn’t ride in plain-Jane police cars like Adam 12 and Dragnet.
He favored large luxury yachts so he drove a 1968 Mercury Park Lane Brougham in many episodes—there’s little doubt McGarrett could easily execute a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver in a 4100-pound car to end a high-speed chase.
You can’t examine famous TV and movie police cars without looking at ‘Vanishing Point’. This movie set off a chain of copycat 70s era massive police car chase movies—but you’re only original once. The hero car was a 1970 Challenger driven by a guy known only as Kowalski played by Barry Sullivan.
There was a fleet of old Mopar police cars chasing Kowalski. They ranged from 1968 to 1970 but one of the stars—a 1970 Plymouth Belvedere had a brief, but spectacular moment. It hung in with the Challenger through a small town but ended up on its lid after the driver pushed the old Belvey too hard into a turn.
The original ‘CHiPS’ TV show featured two guys (Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox) on CHP motorcycles, but the show also featured police cars as part of the show. The show favored the big C-body Dodge Monacos and Polaras, but later on CHIPS started using B-body ’78 Dodge Monacos when the big boys were phased out.
The ‘CHIPS’ ’78 Monaco was a tough-looking car—especially with the push bar, but Ponch and Baker (Estrada and Wilcox) hated being trapped in a car so the ‘78 Monacos were bit players in most episodes.
The 1987 Caprice NC1 in the Chris Farley/David Spade 1996 movie ‘Black Sheep’ was another great choice because Caprices were big players in 1980s police fleets.
This ’87 Caprice is far from stock as Chris Farley’s character Mike explains to a police officer: “Well, I got a 426 hemi in her”. That swap might not make Chevy guys happy, but that old Caprice could hit Warp 5 with a hemi under the hood.
Final thoughts. You won’t see police cars in the credits of movies or TV shows but they’re definitely not just props—they’re co-stars.
Jerry Sutherland
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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