1969 CHP Polara

Status
Not open for further replies.
I know that, or so I thought..I've been a polara guy for 33 years, thank you.
I am saying once you've heard the stories of a guy that worked on them for a living you wouldn't have believed what went on.
 
polara71 said:
I know that, or so I thought..I've been a polara guy for 33 years, thank you.
I am saying once you've heard the stories of a guy that worked on them for a living you wouldn't have believed what went on.
Click to expand...

I have read some of the postings from Krautmaster on the dock and I'm not convinced. From what I can tell he worked for New Mexico, he seams to know what he is talking about but it still isn't clear, he talks more about modifying cars than what they came with.

I have spoken with many retired officers and you would not believe the details, it becomes a big blur of aspects of the different years. They recall the 69 being their favorite but often make references to details that are of other years like flipping the air cleaner cover, the big secondary speedometer.

The Dodge-CHP Owners/Service supplement makes no references to any engine other that the standard HP 440 (375hp). It list all the CHP specific modifications so why would it not make reference to different engines?


The CHP 69 Polara are things of folklore, myths and legends. I even feel many of the speeds reported are questionable as the way they were checking was crude at best.


Alan
 
I mentioned sometime ago that the Louisville Police dept ran one 147 mph, new & all stock. I located the original owner on my 72, still in Colorado and retired. It was his first car. The fastest he claimed was 140 mph for some distance and blew the engine up shortly afterwards. I did run into a guy that had a CHP car, I gave Allan his #, and he claimed to have run 168 mph at Road Atlanta with his. Hard to believe that one, but that's what he said.
 
Several years ago I invited Krautmaster to join here but I don't believe he ever did.

The most interesting stories go back five six years and I don't believe they are in the docks archives any longer....shame too. His stories were riveting.
 
I guess the only way to tell is put it on a gun. I have had two 71s where I buried the 140 speedometer, the first one the needle was at the R and pushing the P and probably the fastest I've ever driven but again, who knows
 
When my car is done I fully plan to put it to the test, first on a dyno then...


Alan
 
forzav12 said:
Thanks Alan. I was around for a number of the patrol cars-St Regis, Diplomats, Mustangs, Caprices and even one last 440 that the veterans at the time had hidden in the back(and wouldn't let any of us rooks drive!).
You are correct-none had paint jobs as nice as Ron's or your car-even when delivered. The labor of love that you guys have performed with the CHP restos are indeed impressive. My car is more in line visually, as how the squads would have looked while in service-presentable and clean, but still exhibiting a few bumps and scrapes here and there. There were no corners cut with this car's drive train, however, and I doubt a better performing CHP Polara exists anywhere. I would agree that my starting point would have made a full resto much easier, although I don't believe this car needs one-depending on it's intended usage. I built mine so that it could drive anywhere/anytime at an optimum performance level for this package. It can cruise 350 miles on the open road to Vegas or make a pass down the dragstrip. Should someone decide to take it to the next level, correcting the seat upholstery/dash and a few interior details would be simple enough.
Here is a youtube of my car heading to the Vegas event(I'm on the left)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQzAaEG_h-s
Click to expand...

Very cool!!!

Any more video????
 
polara71 said:
I find it interesting that so many talk about the speed of these cars but so few mention what was done to them to make them that fast.....
Click to expand...

E86 440 is a good starting point....
 
IMG_0913.jpg

Its not easy to take a picture and drive at these speeds, especially in a 45 year old car . I dont seem to have the nuts to run these out anymore

IMG_0913.jpg
 
Come on Dave you just have it on jack stands!![

QUOTE=polara71;280552]View attachment 57520

Its not easy to take a picture and drive at these speeds, especially in a 45 year old car . I dont seem to have the nuts to run these out anymore[/QUOTE]
 
Great shot-love that its running nice and cool too! I have a similar one, but can't post due to the stuff in the background ;)
 
1978 NYB said:
I loved Vanishing Point.......still one of my favorites!

Saw the movie at the drive-in 1973 in my 1973 Challenger.....so cool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh6ET39xtpw
Click to expand...

Me too, here's another of my Challenger-first pic is on the way to the Vanishing Point reunion and Blu-Ray release at Panavision(they wanted my car there and a unit-pic shot through the window of a vintage Police car). Second shot, I'm giving the director(Sarafian) of VP a ride in the Challenger. It was the first time he'd seen the car since the filming in 71-he was very emotional.

DSC_0619.jpgcars,bikes,events 128.jpg

DSC_0619.jpg


cars,bikes,events 128.jpg
 
Excuse me, but maybe I missed something i another thread or such, so are you saying that Challenger is the one, or one of the ones, in the movie Vanishing Point?
 
No. None of the original cars survived. They were badly damaged during filming and returned to Chrysler. My car is probably the most filmed tribute of a Vanishing Point Challenger. It was used in the Audioslave "Show Me How To Live" music video, it was on the cover of Motor Trend Classic, it was used to retrace the VP route by Edmunds when the new Challenger came out(with a million hit video and feature), it was used for a French documentary with the director of Vanishing Point,various other magazines, Featured car and cover of the Inaugural Highway Earth show, many posters available online of this car,etc. The inside trunk is signed by many of the cast and crew, Chris Cornell and other band members,etc. It's evolved over the years to be a very accurate VP Challenger. Under the hood it has a modded 440(like in the movie), optimized suspension and a 5 speed(with proper Pistol Grip of course),etc. Inside and out, its very close to the movie car and has the power/speed to back up the premise of the movie.

https://vimeo.com/10450437 https://youtu.be/3RpPRFkiFzo

http://highwayearth.com/magazine/
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Samplingman
  • Locked
For Sale 1969 Dodge Polara Polara CHP
2
Replies
24
Views
13K
tallhair
tallhair
Back
Top