72 Fury real Virginia State Police car with #s matching 440 drivetrain

[commando1]

Second

of the day for me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plymouth-Fu...d1e74162a&item=331223406122&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

I began a restoration this legendary Plymouth police car and lost interest in it. It is a real deal marked VA State Police car with all the documentation to prove it.It always draws a crowd at car shows.
The paint is correct VA State Police colors with the blue/grey paint break. All of the paint and body work is done and it has all of the correct, date coded VSP police equipment including a working radar unit, Motorola radio, and siren. It was in service from 1972-78 and then went on to New England where it was used by a small sheriff's department until 1985. I have all of its history documented including original VA State Police fleet paperwork. This car is a rare find.
The interior of the car is the roughest part and still needs some restoration work, mainly the dash and gauges. The door panels are in OK condition, the seats covers have some minor tears and the headliner needs to be installed. I have a new one from Legendary that comes with the car.
The original 440 has been recently rebuilt and it runs great. The transmission is the original HD 727 automatic but it will need to be rebuilt, it will not engage drive. It has an 8 3/4" rear with 3.23 gears. It also has power steering and brakes. Surprisingly, it came from the factory with air conditioning.
The only rust on the car is on the rear bumper from where the chrome began to peel off. The rest of the chrome and trim are in good shape.
I have owned this car since 1999 and representing it the best I can.
The car is also for sale locally and I reserve the right to end the auction anytime.
This is an auction and I will not reveal the reserve.

 

[Wollfen]

Owned it since 99 and has lost interest in the restoration process, damn thats a long resto, I wonder what the reserve is.

 

[monaco75]

Sweeeet! If the reserve is low enough could be one hell of a buy. All the real hard stuff seems to be done. Whos buying it??

 

[amazinblue82]

There are quite a few things to do of course, but it sure looks to be the real thing from this distance and is very complete.

"PK41U" is police, gray over the blue is correct (original color shows on the firewall), interior is correct, I guess the decals/placement/where gray starts is correct for VSP, and it has a few very hard-to-find police equipment (the siren, radios, "gumball") that sure looks like VSP issue to me. Spotlight looks original (though Unity still makes them new as many of you know) too.

btw, my information source on what is "VSP-issue" comes from the VSP where a very nice officer spent hours with me going over my VSP cars a few years back. Most state departments are good about helping if they can and the VSP was a good one.

anyway, seller has the VSP fleet paperwork in hand and that stuff almost never survives in my experience. And with VSP property records of the era long gone, having that fleet stuff is a real plus in documenting its specific VSP duty service.

Anyone with serious interest in it should try to contact the seller to discuss a few more of the "fine points" to help determine what else less/not obvious might need attention? Again from a distance, it seems to me its surely worth saving it.

 

[tbm3fan]

Owned it since 99 and has lost interest in the restoration process, damn thats a long resto, I wonder what the reserve is.

He began the restoration when he drove the car onto his property which is all he knows how to do apparently. How many here, who after getting the car home, wouldn't have taken their vacuum cleaner and given the inside a good go over? Well, he didn't even get that far.

 

[commando1]

We're fortunate to have several dedicated cop car gurus here.
A very well rounded forum indeed.

 

[72Fury]

See, just like that I can fall in love again. Effen interweb.....

 

[polara71]

Is that Ranger Dans car....from Moparts?

 

[MrMoparCHP]

The paint job is moot point, the amount of work this car needs would require a full tear down.

I would bid accordingly.


Alan

 

[commando1]

Looks like someone here is familiar with the car....

Posted via Topify on Android

 

[Big_John]

Geez... back about 1980, I junked a cop car (Onondaga County Sheriff) that was nicer than that.

 

[polara71]

Geez... back about 1980, I junked a cop car (Onondaga County Sheriff) that was nicer than that.

.........................ops:

 

[monaco75]

Now that I see it on the puter, its not looking as good as before... Why can't people wash the damn car before taking pics of it?

 

[M0esy]

Is that Ranger Dans car....from Moparts?

I would say it is, especially since the shot of the red bubble on the roof shows a red Colonnade GM product in the back ground, which Lt. Dan also owns.... I was wondering where he was recently, noticing a lack of posts on Moparts by him.

 

[commando1]

Now that I see it on the puter,

WHOAAA...
Me too. I take back everything I said.

 

[amazinblue82]

I had a chance to see it "on the puter" first time and stick with my observation that its "real" but "obviously needs a few things".

The "real" Mopar squads from this era are hard to find and this one seems to have documentable reality in its favor. Armed with limited and surely uncomplete info, I didn't feel prepared enough to go through a checklist of the good and not-so-good things about it...better informed players in the marketplace will sort all that out.

I have two initial questions when acquiring cop cars: (1) is it real, and (2) can it be saved (and at what cost)? This car appears to be "real" and from what I can tell it can be fully restored at an investment level that likely could be justified based on its value when its done.

But, any not-so-obvious things that can only be learned from closer inspection and inquiry may be the deciding elements as to how much it should transact for "as-is".

This is one car, if I were considering a purchase, where I would want to do a bit more pre-purchase due diligence to confirm what it will take to complete its restoration.