California Highway Patrol cars have become legends over the years because they were built to be fast and effective law enforcement vehicles.
This 1959 D-500 (383 4-barrel V-8) Coronet CHP car is a great example of what a legend looks like.
Jerry Sutherland
David Devier is the proud owner of this classic fin car. He found it listed at an auction a few years ago and he had the highest bid on what looked like a solid car. David said, “The back story is that I bought it in 2021 through the auction in TX that had hundreds of Mopars all parked in the fields of his farm. He just collected them and let them go”.
It was a different story in real life as David explained, “It was a poor so-called restoration from the 1990’s. He had bought it from a police chief in WI who had bought it from a person in CA who had supposedly restored it. It was a very poor job with poor paint, slapped together, and several incorrect items used”.
David mapped out a plan to bring the Dodge back to his standards: “I went completely through it short of frame off I had all the sheet metal media blasted. I spent considerable time on the body trying to straighten it and prepare for paint. It had been sideswiped at least twice and poorly repaired”.
There are far more details to restoring an emergency vehicle to correct status as David outlined, “The body work was amateur as was the paint and interior work. The spotlights were just jammed in the fenders with no effort to make them work. The flashing lights did not work and the siren did not either. They had run a wire under the body to the rear lights to make them work”.
There were other things amiss in the first restoration attempt:“The wheels were not correct vintage, and they had 1956 15″ full hubcaps instead of the dog dish ones that were original. I had to have the wheels made to spec because I could not find any of the 15″ originals. I long a long time to find the correct dog dish hubcaps”.
The CHP cars had a much bigger list of police spec options as David explained: “The brakes are 3 x 12 inch which is why the wheels have a greater relieve depth. I discovered that the ones on it were later years, and the dog dish hub caps would not fit them. Also, it has a heavy-duty sway bar in the front and heavier springs in the rear. The steering wheel is from a ‘57 Plymouth on all of these because they wanted a full 360 horn ring”.
David explained more differences between stock and CHP specs: “The gas tank has considerable reinforcement, and the spare tire is mounted flat in the trunk floor instead of up on the hump above the axle. The rear end is sure-grip. The most interesting change from stock is that the rear-view mirror is mounted up on the upper windshield frame instead of on the dash like all non police models.
There are a few things left on David’s list: “I still have a number of items to work through as you always do include instruments, lights, and exhaust. Still working on the instruments and lighting. I do have the siren and flashing lights working. The headliner still has to be installed. The trunk has to be spackle painted and the liner installed. The large blackwall tires I found need to be replaced with some new ones though I am still looking for bias-ply ones that are blackwalls. I have a complete dual exhaust installed and detail int underside”.
There were a few other cosmetic things done: “I had all the chrome re-plated and the stainless straighten and polished. My wife redid the seats with new cloth while using the existing vinyl”.
This is just the start of David’s adventures with his CHP-spec ’59 Dodge: “ I took it to a big show in Dayton in mid-September and the reaction was tremendous. It has received over a thousand likes and many comments on a 1959 Dodge-only page.I have barely driven it because I only finished reassembling it two weeks ago and have not gotten through the list of issues. What little I drove it before tearing it apart showed that it has a lot of power and quick handling”.
David gave his last thoughts on the project.
I am still working out the bugs with electrical issues and more but with time it will be close to the 1959 Highway Patrol pursuit car like those on the Highway Patrol show reruns. CA bought 1,100 of these and I only know of one other.
David Devier
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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