Why is it.................?

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

Yeah we had the early ones driving around Perth in the early 2000's with trailers, the trailers were straight pipe draw bar and axle with thin frame with a fibreglass advertising pod on top, the trailers were more than likely only a few hundred kg tops, used to see the trailers get blown over in strong wind.

image

Picture from the net

Yep, remember them and seeing one go **** up on Riverside drive one gusty morning

[DFB FGXR6]

Why do some people think they have something special by owning an ex-police car? You know, bragging about a Falcon with "Option 20" or a Holden with code BT1 or 9C1.

Why would it be desirable to own a car that was absolutely thrashed from the moment it hit the road? Sure, some of the NSW Falcon's got Brembo's, but why would a $1500 set of calipers offset the abuse the car was subjected to.

It's equally dumfounding as to why you would highlight this when trying to sell the car. Like, I could highlight in a sale description how I drove my car on the track and made full use of its performance capability, but somehow that wouldn't offer the same mystique of owning an ex-police car. I don't get it.

[OneMadMan]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Why do some people think they have something special by owning an ex-police car? You know, bragging about a Falcon with "Option 20" or a Holden with code BT1 or 9C1.

C'mon maaaate, we all know that 'cop cars' are faster than ours. That's how we were bought up as youngens... remember that?



Cheers,

One Mad Man

[Woefulfogger]

Originally Posted by OneMadMan

C'mon maaaate, we all know that 'cop cars' are faster than ours.

But then we were also told nothing outruns a rental

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Why do some people think they have something special by owning an ex-police car? You know, bragging about a Falcon with "Option 20" or a Holden with code BT1 or 9C1. Why would it be desirable to own a car that was absolutely thrashed from the moment it hit the road? Sure, some of the NSW Falcon's got Brembo's, but why would a $1500 set of calipers offset the abuse the car was subjected to. It's equally dumfounding as to why you would highlight this when trying to sell the car. Like, I could highlight in a sale description how I drove my car on the track and made full use of its performance capability, but somehow that wouldn't offer the same mystique of owning an ex-police car. I don't get it.

[Citroënbender]

I’d love a P71 Crown Vic!

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Why do some people think they have something special by owning an ex-police car? You know, bragging about a Falcon with "Option 20" or a Holden with code BT1 or 9C1.

Dates back to a time when you could have literally an executive badged SS, sometimes complete with the HSV 185kw memcal, a reasonably potent bit of kit 30 years ago, and legitimately insure it as a V8 Executive without the "P plater in a sports car" fees that you would otherwise be slugged with.

Whilst this never really meant much with Falcons because well.... Ford didnt do as many favours to the cops, this actually continued right though to the VE Commodore's because I know there was at least one VE Omega that saw service with Queensland Police that was fitted with the SV6 spec LY7 instead of the expected LE0.

~2011-ish I was the manager of a Holden parts department and we had a police general duties patrol car come in that had sucked in a gutfull of water and was slated for a replacement engine, I was putting the list of parts together and noticed the engine code..... wtf? LY7 in a base model car? what? check the options, yep, LY7 Engine, check the car itself..... single exhaust outlet but everything on the engine was correct for a SV6 motor!

[OneMadMan]

Originally Posted by Woefulfogger

But then we were also told nothing outruns a rental

and not to swim after eating lunch.. but we all know what you said is 1000% true.
Being an ex hire car junkie, I can attest to that 1st hand. Have taken hundreds of hire cars for their ultimate torture test, MINE, and only ever had issues with 2.
The first was a VS common door. Dam thing would not go into the redline no matter how hard I tried.. so go to thinking... hmmm, I know how to fix that!

On a quiet country road late one Sunday night / morning I wound it out in 3rd gear, backed off and then select 2nd gear. Done, pulled 7500rpm. Tick that box. Take that Mr Holden engineer!
Next time I stopped though, it sounded like it had spun a bearing... bugger! That's gunna be hard to explain.. turns out the flex plate had come lose from the 'shock' of the shift. The holes on the flex plate had elongated. Dropped the bell housing inspection cover, tightened them up, problem solved.

Next issue I had was in a 5.4 litre Mustang Cobra 5 speed man well from Hertz I think it was.
Man, such a sweet engine, rubbish handling (at speed),best-est 2nd gear wot doughnuts I've ever done, was like a show ride, pinned in the seat from the G forces. Insane fun!!... and it could go off the clock in 4th gear. Pretty cool. Turns out the pressure plates in them aren't so cool...

Was cranking along in 4th (read: doing 5200 rpm...), did a gentle shift to 5th, and the crutch pedal went slack. Pretty sure I busted the diaphragm on the pressure plate. Clutch still worked, just super hard to select a gear when stopped... like, turn it off, select what gear that was needed, then fire it up, and off ya go.
When I returned it I says to them the clutch is a bit dodgy, and they said "yeah, we've had trouble wit that car before. We have replaced that clutch 3 times.. we are selling it soon"

So, yes, hire cars are in fact the worlds fastest cars.

Most fun hire car ever for me?

Would have to be the early Mazda MX-5 non LSD. Not fast, topped out at 170 with the head lights on, and 175 with them off (pop up headlights).
before the freeway tunnels were built here in Adelaide, the old road "eagle on the hill" was the only way to get to Melbourne. It was again, a Sunday (NB: cheapest day to hire a car as they have heaps of them) night early hours, raining, no one around, the BEST drifts I have ever done was in that! Enter a 45km hairpin that's 4 lanes wide, turn in, hold it flat, best-est drift eva until you lose it, then the drift became rev limiter doughnuts. Repeat! Bet the locals were annoyed.. but I was havin fun!

Sure miss those days..


cheers,

One Mad Man

[lra]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Why do some people think they have something special by owning an ex-police car? You know, bragging about a Falcon with "Option 20" or a Holden with code BT1 or 9C1.

I don't get it.

So many younger drivers have been sucked in by the elusive 'cop chip' that can sometimes be found under the driver's or passenger's front seat.

[OneMadMan]

Originally Posted by lra

So many younger drivers have been sucked in by the elusive 'cop chip' that can sometimes be found under the driver's or passenger's front seat.

and backing up those words by saying "mate, it's a cop special. It's fully worked"...




Cheers,

One laughing Mad Man

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by lra

So many younger drivers have been sucked in by the elusive 'cop chip' that can sometimes be found under the driver's or passenger's front seat.

Theres *some* truth to the cop chip thing, some VN-VT 5 litre V8's in police service came with the HSV 185kw memcal.

[Interceptor]

Oh ffs.....

WHY IS IT that some people will simply think they know better, ask someone who does actually knows what they're doing, and still do their own damn thing anyway?

Got asked to check a car that the customer thought "needs regassing" because of poor AC system performance, rocked up, chucked a thermometer in a vent, and whilst the airflow was almost non existent, with the doors open, the vent temp was 20 degrees below ambient temp for well over half an hour with the doors open, so clearly the system was running fine.
Pulled the glovebox to check the cabin filter.... didnt have one, so I advised the customer that either the evaporator or heater core was blocked, and to take it to an AC specialist because I'm not interested in ripping a dash out.
Today.... I get sent a pic of the AC evaporator thats more than 75% clogged with dog hair and red dirt, and they ask me who can do a regas.....
I lecture them about why I told them to take it to an AC specialist..... "We're bush mechanics with common sense mate, and we need it going"..... yeah well aircon is a licensed trade for multiple reasons, and ignoring the issues with releasing refrigerant to the atmosphere, an AC specialist wouldve taken steps that you're now going to have to spend more money to rectify.....

FMD the DIY brigade really does frustrate me.....