PontiacJim
Member
Well, I did not see any thread that specifically noted those items that were added or different on a standard 440 police car versus what I have always known as an "Interceptor." Now I have seen the threads stating Ford coined the phrase "Interceptor," but coming from Connecticut, those baby blue state police 440 pursuit cars were called "Interceptors" by everyone I knew who were into cars.
A friend bought an Interceptor at a state auction for $500 around 1981 or '82 -I was 23 years old. He brought it to the house and it rumbled like any other muscle car of the day, and I had my GTO's and a few other cars, so I know a hot sounding car. The car was a 1973 440 Interceptor. It had the trans cooler, power steering cooler, and it had a low gear lock out so you could not manually pull it down into low gear. It had the special "Police" identified tires on the side wall of the blackwall tires, police steel rims with the small hubcaps w/cooling holes. It had the 140MPH Certified speedo, front & rear sway bars. He said he got it up to 120 (back in the days when speed limits were 55MPH) and handled as good as it did doing 30 MPH - you could not tell you were doing 120. He said he did not want to go any faster, but pushing down on the gas the car had no problem accelerating and going for more. He sold the car after a couple months. Reason: it only got 10 MPG and as young guys with low paying jobs at that time, he could not afford to drive it. I wished he had told me he was going to sell it as I might have bought it from him myself.
Fast forward to 2016. A security guard I know was at one time a police officer for a short term ( he was a car mechanic by trade) in a small town. He said the cars were all Plymouth Furies. He said there was one car that stood out among all the others. It ran the best, never broke down or needed repairs like the others, and was the fastest. He said one of the young cops claimed the car for his own and he used to race all over with the car burning rubber every chance he got. After burning off a set of rear tires in 500 miles, the Captain banned him from driving the car. He said the car had a real rumble to it. I told him it was probably an "Interceptor."
Now, from what I have read, the 440 Interceptor engine was the same as the 440 Six-Pack engine except with the 4-Bbl carb. I also read that the Interceptor's had a double panel roof in the event of a roll-over.
That said, what makes an "Interceptor" an "Interceptor" as opposed to a 440 Police cruiser?
A friend bought an Interceptor at a state auction for $500 around 1981 or '82 -I was 23 years old. He brought it to the house and it rumbled like any other muscle car of the day, and I had my GTO's and a few other cars, so I know a hot sounding car. The car was a 1973 440 Interceptor. It had the trans cooler, power steering cooler, and it had a low gear lock out so you could not manually pull it down into low gear. It had the special "Police" identified tires on the side wall of the blackwall tires, police steel rims with the small hubcaps w/cooling holes. It had the 140MPH Certified speedo, front & rear sway bars. He said he got it up to 120 (back in the days when speed limits were 55MPH) and handled as good as it did doing 30 MPH - you could not tell you were doing 120. He said he did not want to go any faster, but pushing down on the gas the car had no problem accelerating and going for more. He sold the car after a couple months. Reason: it only got 10 MPG and as young guys with low paying jobs at that time, he could not afford to drive it. I wished he had told me he was going to sell it as I might have bought it from him myself.
Fast forward to 2016. A security guard I know was at one time a police officer for a short term ( he was a car mechanic by trade) in a small town. He said the cars were all Plymouth Furies. He said there was one car that stood out among all the others. It ran the best, never broke down or needed repairs like the others, and was the fastest. He said one of the young cops claimed the car for his own and he used to race all over with the car burning rubber every chance he got. After burning off a set of rear tires in 500 miles, the Captain banned him from driving the car. He said the car had a real rumble to it. I told him it was probably an "Interceptor."
Now, from what I have read, the 440 Interceptor engine was the same as the 440 Six-Pack engine except with the 4-Bbl carb. I also read that the Interceptor's had a double panel roof in the event of a roll-over.
That said, what makes an "Interceptor" an "Interceptor" as opposed to a 440 Police cruiser?