Highway Patrol tv show

Joseph James

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I am too young to have seen the show in its day and I thought other younger people might be interested. I watch it for the 1950s ladies and the cars. I have seen Dodges, Chryslers and DeSotos in different episodes.

 
We've been watching all of the episodes. Dan Matthews is the man!! Lots of famous people along the way, Clint Eastwood, Stuart Whitman etc. Really enjoy the cars too.
 
To watch it out my way, on Comcast cable, it's on at 5:00 in the morning, so you either have to be an insomniac, or and early bird, riser in the morning, to tune it in.
 
Broderick Crawford was said to be such an alcoholic they had to do filming during the morning. His on set drinking caused him to be injured a couple times and even had his license suspended for DUI and drivi g scenes had to be done on private roads. CHP called him "Old 502", the radio code for drunk driving.
The thing I remember about the cars were their spaghetti sprung suspensions. Those cars still rocked after stopping.
 
Some Little trivia concerning the main character:
"While representing the California Highway Patrol as "Chief Mathews", Crawford was known with considerable embarrassment by the CHP as "Old 502" due to his habit of driving under the influence of alcohol ("Code 502" was the CHP police radio code for drunken driving)".

Edit: Someone else was a Minute earlier it seems. ;)
 
I remember they even had a '55 Buick cruiser in one of the episodes.

Dave
 
I remember they even had a '55 Buick cruiser in one of the episodes.

Dave
There is one episode called Hot Rod where guys use some kind of hopped up roadster as a getaway car for robberies. They track them down by purchase of a supercharger although I didn’t see one on the engine shots of the car.
 
There is one episode called Hot Rod where guys use some kind of hopped up roadster as a getaway car for robberies. They track them down by purchase of a supercharger although I didn’t see one on the engine shots of the car.
I remember that episode, but there was a big hole in the plot as the black roadster ('32 Ford I think) did not have a unit like that installed. There is a clear view of the engine with no supercharger. www.imcdb.org/m47739.html has photos of a lot of the cars seen in the series, but not the roadster.

Dave
 
I remember that episode, but there was a big hole in the plot as the black roadster ('32 Ford I think) did not have a unit like that installed. There is a clear view of the engine with no supercharger. www.imcdb.org/m47739.html has photos of a lot of the cars seen in the series, but not the roadster.

Dave

Nice link. I saw some Imperials on it that I haven’t seen in the show yet.

Around 8:20 you can see the dual carb (single barrel?) set up but I didn’t see a supercharger.
 

This car was also used in the movie Hot Rod Girl btw. Seen at around 10:00.
 
Nice link. I saw some Imperials on it that I haven’t seen in the show yet.

Around 8:20 you can see the dual carb (single barrel?) set up but I didn’t see a supercharger.

Looks to be an Offenhauser manifold, probably with 2 Stromberg 97 2BBLS, (some also used 3 bolt Holleys) a very popular choice with late '50's hot rodders. Engine would often be a 331 caddie or 303/324 Olds.

Dave
 
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CHP had a wheelbase length spec, which resulted in the Oldsmobiles, Mercurys, DeSotos, and Buicks. Mathews drove the '55 Buick for many episodes. Enough so that some Buick enthusiasts have cloned one for shows and such. "Hallowed ground" for them. Who knew that Buick built real police cars?

There's also some good articles at www.Allpar.com on "Mopar Squads" and the CHP police car tests, by "Curtis Redgap". Chronicles how much better the Dodges were than the other brands normally seen in police work, plus the rivalry between Dodge and Plymouth for the police car bids. Covers from the middle '50s until about the middle '70s.

Sometimes it seened that CHP wanted to spread their business around back then. Some brands worked better in some locations than others? And, of course, the "middle-priced" brands had bigger motors than the lower-priced brands, back then.

If you really want to see a "car show", the 1957-'58 "Perry Mason" episodes were that, in many of the episodes, plus the intriguing story lines. Mostly GM, though.

Thanks for mentioning the old tv shows,
CBODY67
 
Perry Mason started out with a Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner retractable Hardtop, then switched to Cadillac to get back to the Ford camp with a Lincoln Continental IIRC, while Paul Drake was most of the time owner of the newest T-Bird models except for a short period with a Corvette.

I also distinctly remember a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad that was seen as a passing car from time to time for the whole run of this Show and one Episode with the Barris styled Buick Villa Riviera.
 
Perry Mason started out with a Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner retractable Hardtop, then switched to Cadillac to get back to the Ford camp with a Lincoln Continental IIRC, while Paul Drake was most of the time owner of the newest T-Bird models except for a short period with a Corvette.

I also distinctly remember a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad that was seen as a passing car from time to time for the whole run of this Show and one Episode with the Barris styled Buick Villa Riviera.

No car for Della?
 
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Della didn’t need a car. She just changed her outfit, let her hair down, and waited on the corner for ‘ a ride.’
 
Perry darn sure wouldn't be taking her anywhere....
Drake surely would...and evidently did.
Thread drift trivia...
Barbara Hale's son is actor William Kaat, of Greatest American Hero fame. He also played Paul Drake, Jr in the Perry Mason movies.
 
Perry darn sure wouldn't be taking her anywhere....
Drake surely would...and evidently did.
Thread drift trivia...
Barbara Hale's son is actor William Kaat, of Greatest American Hero fame. He also played Paul Drake, Jr in the Perry Mason movies.
Greatest American Hero? Is that the one where he finds a super hero suit a UFO drops off?
 
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