Is the 1969 Dodge CHP Polara the fastest American police car of the 20th Century? For more, follow @ Challengeher on Instagram, and Like and Subscribe to encourage us to keep doing this. Thanks for watching!
The 1969 Dodge Polara had a sleek new streamlined body style called the “Fuselage Design”, which would continue until its end of production in 1973. The new streamlined body style, 3.23 gears, and the 375 horsepower 440 Magnum made this one fast cruiser. 0-60 MPH = 6.3 Seconds 0-100 MPH = 18.1 Seconds 1/4-Mile = 14.3 Seconds Top Speed Recorded = 149.6 MPH (Chrysler test track in Chelsea, Michigan) The California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) were prized enough customers that Chrysler made specific parts for each department. The California Highway Patrol even had its own cam grind. This car was so fast that it’s 149.6 MPH top speed record wouldn’t be broken until the 2006 5.7L Dodge Charger recorded a 150 MPH top speed during the Michigan State Police vehicle evaluations.
Must admit, I'm jealous! Prolly the finest example remaining of one, there. Love the dogs, too. Had 3 ex-FHP 440 HP "U" codes in my youth (72 Polara, 74 Fury I, 78 Monaco), and an E-58, 360 HP 1979 Newport. Wish I still had every one of them. Beautiful car you have.
Thanks for sharing ,Tom. Wow that car is in great shape. We don't have much around here in the rust belt of Ohio. Nice to see relics like these saved. Very cool all the "geeky" material you have as support to your claims. Thanks again.
I own a '71 Plymouth Fury III NJSP car. It is a factory U code E86 440. Original engine is long gone and was replaced with a '72 Imperial 440. I had another engine built for it (440) and it dyno'd untuned 410hp and 490ftlbs through the HP C body manifolds. The top end is lighter being aluminum(heads, intake, waterpump housing), and I've added a sure grip to the 3.23s it already had. Also beefed up a 727 and added a low gear set (2.77, 1.57, 1:1) for more grunt out of the hole. I'd be tickled to death if it ran low 14s and broke 100 mph!! That is a beautiful '69 Dodge you have there, i can NOT wait to get my car in all black again! It's currently in all gray primer.
Man,I love this era of Mopar cop cars, and this style video with thorough documentation. Great work! Can't wait to see some videos on your Caprice 9C1.
THAT.... is one COOL Car ! Thx for sharing ! I would concur with all findings claimed regarding the '69 CHP Polara pursuit, based upon my own experience with my '69 Charger R/T survivor's UN-rebuilt original 440 Magnum/Auto/3.23 cogs.. Aside from some obvious weight differences between the B & C Body platforms.... I am even to this day quite surprised how much Torque the original untouched 440 Magnum will/can produce,(480 Ft/Lbs ?) and I do not believe the C Body's weight would affect much from a Torque perspective, given, even today with 4 grown guys 180+ Lbs the Charger still easily fly's right past 100-110 mph like nothing..... albeit, I get scared up there.... and I as well would suggest the 11"x3" Front and 10" x2 1/2" Rear Drum Brake System leaves much to desire under hard/repeated applications. Very Unique C-Body.... and again THANKS for sharing !
Glad you liked it. We've also owned a few original 440 Magnum equipped cars including our '69 Charger R/T which we still have. The top speed is a lot more than people think as you are aware. Thanks for watching - T
My father was a cop from the early '60s to the early '00s and the '69 Polara was always his favorite police car. His last police car was a gold 80-something Dodge Diplomat and he refused to give it up until the day he finally retired. Didn't give up his revolver either.
These didn’t have a Sure Grip differential!!?? Legitimately didn’t know that about this beast of a cop car. Love the 440 Mopar cruisers, it’s why I love watching old CHiP’s reruns.
Very cool vid, thanks for making it, guys. I trust your expert Mopar knowledge-Tom, way more than Steve Mags or Tony Defeo, besides the fact I like listening to and watching you (Tom and Elana) guys better on RU-vid. Keep up the great work on reporting about cars (especially Mopars), and sharing your Projects with us.
Ha!! "With a plug wire hanging off of it" Classic! lol. Awesome vid!!! I've been looking for a 2 door for quite some time now. Needle in a haystack these things.
Very neat video, and I like the publications too. Some suggestions. The real advantage of the 440 was the head design, good bore to stroke ratio, proper valve train design that allows a lot of lift with not too much duration. The exhaust manifolds make little difference, the stock log manifolds are also fairly descent, but the down pipe side of 2.5 inches will help over 5000 rpm (which you need with the 3.23). The difference in aerodynamics with the 68 are marginal, but in the human eye the 69 may appear more aerodynamic. If there is a difference, it is likely marginal. The p/s pump does not really have much power loss because when you go straight the steering is neutral. They chose manual steering probably to save cost. This was a bad choice because manual steering is slow and hard to correct oversteer. When you compare your 69 with the later police cars you have to remember an important factor. The original tests had bias ply tires with much higher rolling resistance at high speed. With radials, you have much better high speed acceleration. Question for you. Is the grill plastic? Another fact you maybe interested in. I have two Imperials with 2.94, both have very good high speed performance, but the 5000 lbs make them a bit slower in low speed acceleration. I will exceed 135 in a 2 mile acceleration. On the faster one, it also takes me about 0.8 miles to reach 120, likethat chevy, but that is because I have only 3 gears and a much heavier car, high speed acceleration is much stronger than the chevy. Cheers.
Not that it changes your ranking but I ran a 95 Caprice down the 1/4 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1995 and have saved the time-slip. It ran approx 15.03...that being from memory. If it is a point of interest to you I'll dig it out and post it for you. Also the top speed was 150.
We believe you 100% on the drag strip numbers. If you look up old Impala SS tests (basically the same car as the police package) they ran low to mid 15's. Many of the police cars however did not come with positraction. Positraction being standard with the Impala SS and you can imagine they would be difficult to launch with the burnout capabilities of the Caprice. Its likely the Michigan State Police test car wasn't fitted with the limited slip differential and cops who probably didn't have any drag racing experience simply burned the tires up thinking that was fastest. Thanks for watching! - T
The 1970 Plymouth Fury police package ordered by the North Carolina State Police was rated at 370 HP, I think. It's got the smaller air filter. This cop car came with one-legged rear end, the gears do not feel tall at all, non-power steering, power disc brakes, AC, some special wires, like a big amperage wire going up to the center of the roof, for a light, a clock, black steering wheel with the horn ring going a full 360 degrees, and all the HP stuff, big radiator, brakes, HD is even stamped into the base of the 4V carb. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RMXB3SPsW5U.html
Damn, love the Fuselage C-body Mopar Police Pursuit vehicles, I like to see a 1:18 scale '69-'73 Dodge Polara CHP car made by either Greenlight or Autoworld!!! Mopar Nate Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I've always been a fan of the 69 polara cop cars. I never was able to get an actual police car but I had a 69 polara 4 door hardtop with a 383 when I was about 20. Fast forward 40 years and I bought another 69 polara 4 door sedan (post car). Again with a 383. I do have several 440's in my shop for future use. Can you imagine the top end in these cars if they had overdrive transmissions like they do now? I spoke to a Highway patrolman about top end in the modern charger cop cars and he told me 155 mph. So the polaras were so close even with a 3 speed torqueflite!
I'm not sure from watching this video what your history is with this car, but on a scale of 1 to 10, this car is a 9.5, and the condition looks incredible. Years ago, I owned a 1967 Dodge Monaco 500, with a 440 Magnum, 3.23, auto, and it was very fast, and powerful.
I had that same engine in a '66 Charger. I also had a 4 speed stick shift, and that thing was so loud my passenger and myself couldn't have a conversation without screaming.
Interesting swap. That said I remember 440s everywhere. I was a kid about 7 or 8 and found one for my brother to put in his 69 R/T just because I was walking around the block. The 70s
Thanks, great COP CAR overviews……interestingly, we ( Car nuts in Noble/ Kosciusko Counties, N INDIANA)all noted the Mopars , starting in 1963*(?) And , later on: the **Hemi Plymouth’s/ Dodge Pursuits, Etc (?)….Anyways, always great stuff….. even my High School of 1961-65, Cardays, we all wanted the “ Police Interceptor “, Stuff! (:esp 57 Ford ::E, F CODES, etc. )
Excellent video on an EXCELLENT car!! Very cool info in the historical documents. I agree the 9C1 cars aren't as fast. They are realistically more ergonomic, but that's about all. The Dodge clearly has it beat in speed, power, & even durability. Don't get me wrong, I'm a GM guy, but facts are stubborn things(John Adams)! The GMs definitely have their place in police car hierarchy, yet it isn't #1 or #2, imho. My personal ranking is: 1 69 Dodge Polara 2 71 Ford 429 PI 3 89-90 Chevy 9C1 Caprice Thanks for posting this vid!!
Thanks for watching! FYI, we've got a '90 Chevy 9C1 Caprice coming up for sale soon. We'll try to shoot a video of it driving of course before we sell it. It's complete with a truck load of parts to restore it (lots nos). The last of the square bodies. - T
There is more. I worked where that was built. The police engines came on a separate rack and were kept in a special area. The code would show up ONLY for police cars and the operator had to go to that rack with the overhead lift to put it in the right sequence. When I worked near the roll test area, I could tell the difference in the sound when a police 440 was on the rollers. It was much louder and ran up to sixty a lot quicker than the passenger car 440. That manual shows the 375HP figure but I suspect the real value should be higher by at last an additional 20HP. I never scrutinized the manifolds, maybe only the police engines had those where the standard 440 did not. I always suspected that engine had a hotter camshaft. but the larger air filter is definitely more conducive to greater HP. I'm not certain which years they were required, but under the hood some had a gasoline transfer device. There was a valve in the fuel line before the carb with a long hose that allowed an officer to give a bit of gasoline to anyone who had cut it too short. The hose coiled up and was held in place with some brackets.
Is it possible this 69 CHP was the only police dept. to order the 440 Magnum and most of the other police cars got the lower 350 horse power 440? You brought up another good point about the drop in compression for many Chrysler corp engines in 1970 and the advertising remained with the higher 1969 figures. Horse power took a slight drop in 70 as they were preparing for no lead/ low octane fuel.
According to a retired CHP patrolman Leno interviewed on his show, the 440 Polaras were virtually EVERY veteran California highway cop's favorite-ever cruiser. The Fox Mustangs with the stick were a close second. I've always wondered why the Dodge was the cop car and not the Plymouth (Fury? I don't know MoPar big cars), since the Plymouth was a cheaper car. Seems like Plymouth didn't try to get the contracts for whatever reason. I agree completely, Chrysler did almost everything better at that time (big-blocks, small-blocks, transmissions manual and automatic alike, Dana rearends, suspension/steering, brakes, essentially everything but styling (debatable-I love 'em!) and creature comforts), not just exhaust manifolds. Imagine if they'd had the kind of money Ford and GM did, they'd have been unstoppable. My cousin has a '69 440 cop Polara as well as a '68 Satellite with a hot circle track 360 and a 4-speed. Both are fast, fun cars, and about equally quick. I do have to say, a late 9C1 Caprice with a rearend gear change and a computer tune is almost certainly as fast as or faster than a 440 Polara but I'm sure the 440 car tuned right with the same gear change would be at least as quick and probably quicker. Those old 440s ran great.
Dodge ultimate police car was the 69 440, where as Fords was the 71 429 PI.. The 429 Police Interceptor heads were gynormous.. im 6'1 and can stick my fist in the Ports of the 429 PI! A professional driver drove a 69 Polara 440 Pursuit at a prepped track and ran a best 15.09 in 1/4 mile and ran a 134 Mph top speed with the 3:23 gear! Some of the Polaras came with a lower gear 2:75 but then it affected the 1/4 mile time but pushed it to 140 mph! The Chrysler test track car was a special doctored car and had 2:49 gear which was never used on a Polara. There is a video on youtube "California Highway Patrol Academy 1971" where at the end of the video they mention that stats as i wrote them above on the 69 Polara 440 Pursuit!!
Yes, that 1971 ford 429, in my opinion, was ford at its best.. ONE YEAR OMLY ENGINE.. 11:1 compression,, and the big valve, big port heads.. ALTHOUGH, many think they are the SCJ HEADS.. They are NOT.. Valves on police are bigger then regularbone, but that and ports not quite as big as SCJ ONES.. Too huge of ports hurts low end power, which a 4 door custom 500 needs.. Still, there MUCH BIGGER then regular 429..next year, the compression dropped,, heads changed, i believe to D20E-AB heads, ehich continued on the 73 andb74 C code 460 pi engines.. That leaves the 71 429 as fords ONE YRAR WONDER👌
@@craigm3777 A Super cobra Jet was same DOOE-R heads as the Cobra jet and Police Interceptor, the Diff between SCJ and a CJ was Carb was slightly bigger from 750 to 780 cfm and forged alum pistons instead of cast! for an extra 30 horse at most and that was a Super Cobra jet!! 50 years Exp in these motors and own them!
I read somewhere that a lot of the CHP Officers said that the 1969 Dodge Polara was the Fastest Patrol Car they ever drove at the time!!!!! Faster than the Ford Galaxie, and the Chevrolet Biscayne!
i bet you could get to 160 or above with headers, custom exhaust, normal open air filter, no accessories, the 271 gears or higher and a bit taller tires
Know this isn't scientific but best I could do in my 1972 Dodge Polara ex-Washington State Patrol car was 15.2 in the quarter mile. Built the engine to 1971 440 HP specs. Obviously not apples to apples comparison.
Thanks for watching! Low 15's is moving for that old heap of yours (which i've seen and its really nice!) Drag racing is a funny thing because i've found you need about 10 trips to the track to really dial in the combination without changing parts. From experience with stock original 440 magnum engines (of which i've owned several un-rebuilt ones) the best they can achieve is mid to high 13's in a B-body with 3.23's. And these are totally stock ones, steel shim head gaskets, points and manifolds but air cleaners off and timing bumped up to 38 total advance on regular tires. Elana and I used to go to the track every week before they shut down our track about 15 years ago. A few years ago we did race our 2 door '69 Polara at Tucson dragway (fairly high elevation 2400 ft) and it turned 14.20's @ 98 with a trunk full of luggage. That 440 was a six pack bottom end (cam and everything) but the heads were ported and a performer rpm intake. At a sea level track it would have run 13.80's. We will be taking the CHP Polara to a track when possible and we'll get some actual numbers. - T
Apparently we share the same mental illness.I would like to offer that the 94 caprice may have done a better time speed as it had OBD 1 and were faster than the 95 96s I’ve got a 96 and it felt (seat of the pants )in the 15s.Unfortunately my 75 gran fury (440)feels like the smogger it is.Off the line stomp on the gas (on a hot day with a measly 2 71 gear produces barely a squeak from the rear tire.Unlike your 78 Body I saw a couple of years ago with the same rear gears
The 94/96 9c1 caprice was faster.the 4.3 V8 cars were 149 and the 5.7 was over 150.i have 3 .my 94 I have a pic of its digital speedo at over 170. they were factory limited to 148.i raised the fuel cut off and rpm limit to 6000 rpm the only changes from factory settings and mechanical parts
You are talking about a 4,300# + red brick here, this car was never fast. 375 gross horsepower which did not include any of accessories ( ps/pb/ac ) not the net horsepower that engines are rated at today which include all of those items. Thousands of 440's were installed in all of the B &C body cars, so certainly not a scarce engine
