1975 Police Car

I think you're right Alan, the A38 pkg., is spread out across the build sheet. I believe the Marin County Polara was purchased along with the C.H.P. cars, which explains why it has some C.H.P. options but not all of them.
 
My '71 WSP has a power front seat, but its an "L" code...yours must have more "bling" a year later with the "M" price class designation :icon_pirat:
Interesting, is your 71 a staff car or regular street patrol? I'd like to see some photo's if possible. I've heard that in 72 WSP patrol cars were White with blue interior and staff cars were Gold with Black. I think the rimblow wheel is the strangest option on my car.
 
Interesting, is your 71 a staff car or regular street patrol? I'd like to see some photo's if possible. I've heard that in 72 WSP patrol cars were White with blue interior and staff cars were Gold with Black. I think the rimblow wheel is the strangest option on my car.

howdy...my car is in the gallery here on the site. take a peek at your convenience. i was not familiar with the distinction between patrol and staff, but my car is white with blue interior. thx
 
I think you're right Alan, the A38 pkg., is spread out across the build sheet. I believe the Marin County Polara was purchased along with the C.H.P. cars, which explains why it has some C.H.P. options but not all of them.

yeah, i was wondering how your Marin county car got a "white" steering wheel. I dont know my CHP cars that well but thought that was an obvious feature of them?
 
yeah, i was wondering how your Marin county car got a "white" steering wheel. I dont know my CHP cars that well but thought that was an obvious feature of them?
Yes, it also has the rear window defog which I think is a CHP speck., but it's a standard "T" code 440 not the "U" High Performance. You Tube has a short clip of a original WSP staff car in Gold, I use to know who owned it but I've since lost track of it.
 
Neither my broadcast sheet, nor fender tag show A38 on my car.

The Special Order instructions do. Hadn't noticed that before.


 
Great post! Thank you! There is documentation that A38 was used on 72 Dodges.
 
Stuff like this is PRICELESS.

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I'll be the first to say I goofed when I wrote that. Looks like a 727 to me- my question is, what's the difference between light duty and heavy duty 727s?


Usually, the number of clutches in the clutch packs, valve body calibrations, possibly the hydraulic solenoids.
 
Neither my broadcast sheet, nor fender tag show A38 on my car.

The Special Order instructions do. Hadn't noticed that before.



First "Special Order" sheet I've ever seen! Thanks for posting it.
 
That special order sheet is very cool.

Just went through this whole post and lots of good info. Let me fill in some blanks.

The A38 package started in 1970, you could get either it or a K-Code cop car. I parted out a 1970 Plymouth Fury that was an Island County Sheriff car (Whidbey and Camano Island's in Washington) that was an original A38 car per the fender tag. I'll try to find a copy of it, probably still have the tag too. The "K" code cop cars were used until 1977 and after that they are all A38 for the police package. One weird example was the 76 Dart/Valiant police package as they were A38 only as the K level trim was not available on an A-Body.

A lot of agencies didn't order a K-Code cop cars or an A38 package and the reasons vary. I've had more WSP cars over the years than any other so I know them very well (I used to own the gold 72 in the YouTube video and currently own a 69 Fury WSP, if you own an ex-WSP car chances are I owned it at some point). Starting with the 1969 Plymouth Fury they always ordered the mid-level trim on the cars. Why? Not sure but I have two guesses. One was resell value, a higher trim car with carpets would get more money when sold. The other reason is they always got power seats for the troopers and I don't think it was available in a low level interior trim car.
 
I don't see any holes or mounting brackets on my bench seat, anybody have a photo showing these and the wire harness? It's possible the original seat was replaced? The car is coded for power front seat I'd like to restore this option. Thanks.
 
I don't see any holes or mounting brackets on my bench seat, anybody have a photo showing these and the wire harness? It's possible the original seat was replaced? The car is coded for power front seat I'd like to restore this option. Thanks.

Have you looked under the carpet to see if there's any sign of the wiring harness that would have run to the seat? If the power seat somehow failed and the car was being readied for auction, it might have been a whole lot simpler to just get a manual seat frame and mount the original bench seat onto it. That way there'd be an adjustable seat, and the cost of getting a non-power seat frame was probably a lot less than the parts & labour to repair the power seat. Any power bench seat frame will accept the seat you have now.
 
I've never, ever heard of or seen a 904 behind a big block of any kind. You have a 727A or 727B (small or big block bolt pattern), as well as a 904A or a 904G (small block or Six), but never a 904B. Show me a 904B transmission and I'll believe it.
 
For the power seat it would have wiring going to it, have a picture of what the seat looks like now? Not sure if the bolt pattern would be different on the floor. WSP used a pretty unique cloth pattern on the seats from 70-74, 69's still had a power seat but it was vinyl. The cloth was a lot more comfortable in hot weather. I think I have pics of my 72 WSP car when I did the carpet, let me see if I can find them.
 
The bid process varies from agency to agency. Here in Lompoc California on large purchases like vehicles there is generally a bid process, the requirements are spelled out in a invitation to bid (ITB) or Request for Quotation (RFQ) (I’m not sure what our city uses for what or the differences). In some cases a request for proposal (RFP) is done (again not sure of the differences). Basically the agency spells out the requirements and people bid on it, low bid often wins.

The law in the United States prohibit the manufacturers from directly selling cars, the cars must be sold by a dealer. In the City of Lompoc where they may buy 6 cars at a time some local dealer may put a bid on it but more often than not the contract is awarded to some dealer that is selling cars to a larger agency and can wrap the cars up in those purchases. The City of Lompoc has also done State Contract & Cooperative Purchase (don’t ask what those are).

In all this a department can spell out a Sole Source to circumvent the bid process if they can justify it. Recently the city purchased 6 Ford Explorers from the CHP. The justification was that there wasn’t another vehicle that met the requirements, (again not my arena).

Alan

The difference between Quotes, Bids, and Proposals is a contractual point describing when the offers become legally binding. If you respond to an RFQ (Request for Quotation) you are quoting a price, but you are not legally bound to honor that price or the terms until the buyer accepts the offer, and you (the seller) begin to act on the sale.

RFBs and RFPs become binding documents with the acceptance of the Bid or Proposal by the buyer. Once the buyer accepts, the seller has entered into the contract. Bids and proposals are different primarily for the amount of detail the seller provides, and the level of specificity. Generally speaking, bids are for design specifications, proposals for performance specifications. So you would get a proposal from an architect to design a house: How he proposes to design, spec, lay out, etc. You would get a bid from a contractor to build to the architect's design.

Typically, a fleet would purchase a car through RFP. You would say you want a fleet of vehicles to match a certain set of criteria. The lowest bidder to meet the criteria typically wins. The art of the sale comes in when you influence the writing of the criteria, so your product is the only one that can win.

Alan is also right in describing the statewide contracts. The bidding process is time consuming and expensive. Large agencies, such as CHP, will frequently allow other, smaller agencies to piggyback on their processes.
 
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